New Kit- Atik 428EX

[Zakalwe]

I wanted a narrower FoV and also wanted to try Ha imaging, so I ordered and received this little lot from Ian King (great retailer, BTW)

Atik 428EX, Xagyl filterwheeel, LRGB Baader filters and Baader Hydrogen alpha filter.

First thoughts? I initially thought that Atik have copied the QHY design- cylindrical aluminium body, desiccant port, USB and fan at the rear. The dimensions are almost exactly the same as my QHY8L too. It feels like a weighty piece of kit and the finish on the body is superb. The Xagyl filter wheel seems spot-on too. Its nice and light and very thin (17mm).

I've messed about to get the spacing somewhere near to the 56mm that the Televue TRF-2008 requires and have it all hooked up and running some darks. The camera doesn't half put out a racket! he cooling fan is tiny and makes a LOT of noise. I am also surprised at how weedy the cooling is. The cam is running in my house and it cannot drive the temps below -7???

I'm also looking at a 300 second dark, shot at -5C. The dark noise seems to be very even, with quite a few "hot" spots in it (though, I guess that's why we do take darks!). I'm not sure if they are hot pixels or not? There doesn't seem to be any amp glow worth talking about, which is good.

[melsky]

Looks very nice, can I ask if you're after a narrower field of view why is it still necessary to have the TRF-2008 Reducer/Flattener in the image train?

[Zakalwe]

The TRF speeds the scope to f5 which makes a noticeable difference to the exposure time. I'm going to try it without the reducer too.

[melsky]

Lets hope we get some clear skies soon so you have a chance to give it a go.

[Zakalwe]

Lets hope we get some clear skies soon so you have a chance to give it a go.

You and me both. It's been depressingly bad over the last few months. And the odd time that I have a clear sky I am away somewhere or have an early start the next morning.

[mhard26339]

I will be interested to see more results, this is one of the cameras on my short list!