The Sun in Ha13/10/12 with new DMK41

[KE400]

Hi Folks

My new shiny DMK41 arrived yesterday from Flo, couldn't wait to get it going today and thankfully Apollo was good to us today. The 41 looks to be a nice performing ccd for solar.

The close up images are with the DMK21 + 2.5 powermate.

Hope you like

Solar-Mosaic-2-DMK41 by KE 400, on Flickr

The-Sun 13.10.12. by KE 400, on Flickr

The-Sun 13.10.12. by KE 400, on Flickr

Solar-Mosaic-DMK41-13.10.12. by KE 400, on Flickr

[Photosbykev]

Very nice detail, the DMK21 and 41 work very well for solar imaging

[KE400]

Thanks Kev, I agree yeah, both look to be very good performers.

[DrRobin]

Nice images and your 41 is certainly shaping up. Wish mine had arrived and I ordered it before you.

[KE400]

Don't worry Robin, the 41 will certainly be worth the wait. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it, let's hope for some nice winter sunny days ahead.

[sologuitarist61]

Very nice images

[KE400]

Thanks Richard

[thenews24]

DMK41 is pretty sweet I must say, very nice upgrade and nice images. Doesn't look like you're having too many dust bunny issues, unless your processing took them out. My dmk seesm plagued with them constantly. Avistak seems to handle them pretty well without flat fielding. But I have been getting pretty good with lens cleaner and a q-tip.

[KE400]

Thanks for the kind words, I also suffer from the dreaded dust bunnies sadly. I have a decent cleaning kit and have to pay several visits too and fro during cleaning to get rid of them which is a pain but needs must!

I find the 21 at higher mag shows them the worst, so far the 41 has been dust free but that's probably because it's new.

[DrRobin]

Hi,

I use a Sensor Pen to clean the CCDs and then dust off with a (rocket) blower, this usually gets rid of them first time. I have tried Eclipse and pec pads but it's a fine balance between cleaning the sensor and putting too much fluid on. The fluid would be great for really stubborn grime, but a bit of light dust is easier with the pen.

The reason you notice them more with a Barlow is that the Barlow compresses the distance from the surface of the ccd to the chip and therefore they become less out of focus. The bigger the Barlow, the more the problem.

I bought an IR filter for another project and think I will try this over my DMK41 just to keep the dust out. Any dust will be so far out of focus it won't matter.

[Montana]

Excellent results you'll just love the DMK41

Alexandra

[DrRobin]

Just turned up, fingers crossed for lunch time, it is bright and sunny now and looking promising.....

[JamesF]

Some very nice images there.

James

[KE400]

Thanks James

[KE400]

Great news Robin, it's not so good south of you sadly, clouded so far but will hope for a reprieve!

Good luck

[DrRobin]

Oh yes, I see now. Bright and sunny here and my office faces north, so I didn't see the cloud. I just wandered in to another office and I see what you mean. The satellite pic shows the cloud over Teesside, hopefully it will move off further south for you.

[JamesF]

Not too far south, thank you very much

James

[KE400]

I'm resigned to the fact that I'll have to wait till next time home now till I get out again, (back to work tomorrow).

I look forward to seeing what you guys get up to over the next 2 weeks to keep me going though, the good news for you is that I will guarentee nice weather for the next 2 weeks as it always happens while I'm away haha

I'm really happy with the outings I was fortunate to have recently though so won't be too down beat.

[DrRobin]

Hi Kevin,

Okay, what started as a half hour go, turned in to an hour and a quarter. Oh well. First problem, my DMK41 over-expossed, no matter what I did. Eventually, I put my 2x Barlow in and it was spot on, trouble is my 2x is nearewr 2.5x with a DMK and that then took a large number of shots to get the whole disc. Did you have this problem?

Problem number 2 was cloud. It seems to hide behind the hill until I actually go outside and then lines up to come across.

Problem number 3 my mount wouldn't track. I thought it was the poor north alignment but after 20 minutes fiddling, realised the battery was going flat. A quick call to a colleague and a fresh battery was obtained.

Problem number 4, more cloud, then more tracking issues, then more cloud. I just completed the whole disc in 14 exposures (hope I have it all), but only 500 frames per exposure and I am just processing now and will post in a new thread.

[KE400]

WOW sounds like it was some hour and a quarter!

I can't say that I have encountered any over exosure issues when I was out with the 41. My settings when imaging solar are that I have the 2 check boxes ticked so that ICCap auto deals with the exposure and gamma. If the image looks too bright I then uncheck and adjust depending on the given image result.

I have also been suffering tracking issues too. I've a problem with my mount in that for some reason the hand controller does not power up when connected so I've been using EQMOD and solar tracking but it has still suffered terrible drift. My only way around has been reducing the capture times to 500 frames too. I was hoping that this problem is resolved when I get the other issue sorted, (have emailed Flo today).

Them pesky clouds, I have been tempted all day to go for it but to the South the clouds have remained so I didn't bother as I knew I would get very frustrated!!!

[DrRobin]

Hi,

Still processing the images into a full disc. My laptop has just about run out of steam and it is getting too late to put my desktop on so looks like I will have to finish it tomorrow at work. There are 14 frames and some of them show great detail.

I am not sure what was going with the over exposure on the 41, I will need to check it tomorrow.

I remember your problems with handsets, but thought you had got it sorted. When you are back you can try my EQ6 handset and lead if you want? I am using a Merlin mount for solar and have an eq3 as well.

[Montana]

Was this overexposure using an Ha filter (Ha is far too dim to ever get overexposure), if so, you could be one of the lucky few with the faulty batch of DMK41. This is a recognized fault, you need to submit your serial number to Imaging Source and if it is, they will send you a software update.

Alexandra

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Lovely! You were really lucky to get a shot at the sun so soon after the arrival of your shiny new toy. Must have built up some good karma.

[DrRobin]

Hi Alexandra,

Thanks for the tip about the DMK41 problem. It looks like mine has that problem as it was on my Lunt and my DMK21 was working correctly. When I started yesterday without the barlow it just wouldn't go low enough, almost as if the exposure wouldn't go beyond a certain point, say 1/50th sec. I then tried it on the barlow and sudenly it worked fine. I reckon that my barlow will increase exposure time by about 3 times, so it must have taken the camera over the magic setting. I have emailed IS with my serial number, so lets hope they get back to me soon, not that there is any chance is using the kit for the next couple of days.

My 14 picture Mosaic from 15/10/12, is now refusing to load on my desktop (very slow), but I have a new fast PC at work which I will try it on, just loading all the software now.

[DrRobin]

Hi Alexandra,

I received a firmware upgrade from IS and got chance to test the camera before upgrading. It was still over exposing. I then upgraded the camera, but unfortunately the sun had gone. I did try the camera in my office and it now appears to go to a lot shorter exposure time, so thanks for the information.

Strange that me and Kevin should both get a DMK41 from the same place at the same time and his was okay and mine wasn't?