Jump to content

SkySurveyBanner.jpg.21855908fce40597655603b6c9af720d.jpg

Celestron Skyris 445M Firstlight on PBK LOHA Stage 2 PST


Psychobilly

Recommended Posts

Finally managed to get some relatively cloud free captures of the sun before it slipped behind the trees with the new Celestron Skyris 445M camera on the PBK LOHA Stage 2 Mod PST... These are 1200 frame sequences at 30 fps the cameras 12 bit output seems to allow the capture of surface and some prom detail in the same exposure...

I'm using an I5 based latptop with USB3 and capturing to  a Samsung Pro 256GB SSD  at 30 fps  with Klutzy processing in Registax v6

I have uploaded the images to Flickr!

8 bit Jpeg

10192571576_12b337b0fc_c.jpg
Skyris 445M Test 1 LOHA 10-10-2013 16-09 BST by psmithuk, on Flickr

16 bit Tiff

10192622293_a9dfb9edcf_c.jpg
Skyris 445M Test 1 LOHA 10-10-2013 16-09 BST by psmithuk, on Flickr

10193011264_9df745b18c_c.jpg
Skyris 455M Test 2 LOHA 10-10-2013 16-15 BST by psmithuk, on Flickr

Thanks for looking

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 68
  • Created
  • Last Reply

I only get about 45 mins when  i get home from work before the sun drops into the trees .. We finish early on Fridays so hopefully get a chance to do more with it tomorrow...

The Scope is on the EQ3 Pro at the the moment and is beeing blown about a bit.. I really need to modify my pier to take the EQ6 and use that because the scope was rock solid on yours at Kelling...

Certianly looks like an interesting camera... comapred to the DMK21AU04AS I used to use...

Peter...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...and here's one with the camera's big brother the 274 and my SF70.  Not ideal conditions as there was some high cloud so not a rigorous test.  I want to test this camera alongside the DMK41.

post-374-0-38513000-1381445340_thumb.jpg

Helen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks good Helen...

Is that on USB2 or USB3 and what sort of frame rate were you getting...  USB3 doubles the frame rate on the 445M...

Ken - I am not sure what I need to do to tweak the tuning on Photobykev's modified Lyra Optics 102mm/f11 (aka PBK LOHA) .... I will have to have some lessons on how to use it from him :)

Details of the PBK LOHA are on Kev's Blog here...

http://www.photosbykev.com/wordpress/2011/11/29/pst-modifications/

There are two focusers the remote controlled  two speed one which is  in front of the etalon assembly and the manual Borg Helical one behind it

I also have a number of  possible CODEC options RGB24, Y800 and Y16... The cameras produces 12 bit Mono images  so I am not sure which is the best CODEC to use...

Any advice on how to optimise the setup gratefully received :)

This Solar stuff is all new to me...

Peter...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Peter,

The rubber knurled tuning ring on the PST etalon...just give it a nudge either way and you'll soon get the idea...

The filaments achieve better contrast at one setting and the proms at another...

You can effectively "chase the Doppler Shift" in filaments and proms...

Onwards and upwards

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This was usb2 Peter as I currently haven't got a usb3 port. I was getting 15fps though which wasn't bad. File sizes are bigger than the dmk and registax took a bit longer! I was a bit confused to start with as I couldn't find how to alter the gamma in icap despite going all around the software and the help. Eventually last night I found the bit on the celestron site which says they've disabled it - but they don't say why!

Need some more sun to practice on now!

I use y800 codec and generally no gain. You'll soon get a feel for tuning and the processing. Here's a good start on Mark Townley's sitehttp://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/p/imaging-tutorials.html

Have fun!

Helen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure why Kev would have motorised the crayford focuser, perhaps he can explain. In my mind, you need to position the etalon at the -200mm position and lock it off. Then you only need use the helical for fine focus.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Allan: I think it was easier to motorise than the Helical and can give you hands off fine focus control when working at longer FL's your not making big changes to the position just small tweaks... Kev's mod scheme means you can aslo turn the scope back into a normal 102mm/f11 Achro for Lunar etc so then it makes senses having the focuser motorised..

Helen: There seem to be quite a few features "disabled" at the moment... I'm finding  V6 easier to use than V6.1 which is producing all sorts of artefacts... V6 onwards seems to properly support multiple CPU's so works quite quickly on my I5...

There are camera firmware  Driver and software updates on the Celestron and  AstronomyCameras sites but they helpfully tell you that the updates might stop the camera working... So I haven't bothered yet especially seeing as they don't tell you what the updates do...

The 445M is giving me 4 times the number of Pixels at half the frame rate of my DMK21AU04AS over USB3.0 or quarter of the frame rate over USB2.0  you can see the difference between the 12bit and 8 bit as well... the chip size has only increased from 1/4" to 1/3" as well

I'm happy with how it seems to be performing....

An I5 or I7 laptop with USB3.0 would seem to be ideal  for you Helen :)

Peter...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just had a frustrating hour Peter.  Scudding cloud, so needed to grab what I could when the sun appeared, but I actually managed to get nothing at all before it completely clouded over  :sad:   Camera and software worked great yesterday, but all sorts of problems today including not responding, it telling me the camera is in live view but not producing any images and so I should change the codec (which didn't then do anything!), and a BSOD!  I had the live view but no picture problem with the DBK and the PC in the obs and never got it resolved so use firecapture there.  Might have to try that.  My usual solar machine is the little N10 netbook, but I've been using my proper Toshiba laptop (i3 or maybe even i5) for testing given the file sizes!

Looking at the forecast it could be Tuesday before I get another go!!!

Helen 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Peter, I'm interested in Kevs autofocuser. Can you give any info and a couple of pics of it. I want to try to find a way of using it on my feathertouch.

I bought the scope of Kev completed... I just checked his LOHA PST Mod blog and there's no info of pics  of the motor focuser mod on there... Next time I get the scope out I will take some pics...

The new camera is proving to be a bit of a cloud magnet and once the clocks go back I wont have a decent view of the sun again from the house  until the spring...

Peter...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.