first light with atik 383l mono

[toxic]

after have a heck of a time getting it all set up i find out there is not enough power from my maplin power supply to run the azeq6 gt - atik 383l - and the filter wheel so without the filter wheel i get this 1 single 600 second exposure before the clouds role in. i know its a bit out of focus and no darks or flats just a test, but if this is what is in store for me with this then im a very happy person.

btw how the heck do you flats with the atik 383l.

[Thalestris24]

Hi Toxic

Nice sub from a nice camera! (one that I can't afford!!). I imagine you do flats in the normal way? You'll probably have to experiment to get the exposure right.

Happy imaging!

Louise

[fatwoul]

You should be happy that's a very promising start.  

What do you plan to do about your power supply issue?  Second supply?  I don't know about the alt/az EQ6, but my NEQ6 always behaved much better on 15V rather than the stated 12V.  Obviously, do so at your own risk, and I forget the source that recommended it.  I used a power supply similar to this one: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/maplin-90w-universal-slim-laptop-power-supply-with-usb-charger-n07jc

If you do decide to use a second supply, I'd say definitely run the camera and filterwheel on one, mount on the other.

[swag72]

The only thing about flats with the 383 is that they have to be quite long otherwise you will get a shutter gradient in them. When I say quite long, I think you are looking at anything over about 2-3 seconds. 

[toxic]

You should be happy that's a very promising start.  

What do you plan to do about your power supply issue?  Second supply?  I don't know about the alt/az EQ6, but my NEQ6 always behaved much better on 15V rather than the stated 12V.  Obviously, do so at your own risk, and I forget the source that recommended it.  I used a power supply similar to this one: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/maplin-90w-universal-slim-laptop-power-supply-with-usb-charger-n07jc

If you do decide to use a second supply, I'd say definitely run the camera and filterwheel on one, mount on the other.

thanks fatwoul and thats what i intend to do as soon as i can find the rite psu.

thanks sara its a nice cloudy day i think ill do some flats lol.

thanks louise yip not cheap but needed to get it right first time it will be the only ccd i get  this century.

[Kbramley]

Great start with the 383L, its a great camera for the money. Things I have found useful from using mine are

1) Keep plenty of dessicant tablets handy, I had bad frosting initially and required a clean out by Atik. Email Vince at Atik and they will send some extras.

2) Cool down in steps of say 5Deg to help reduce frosting/thermal shock

3) Warm up using the "warm up" option in Artemis capture to again avoid issues

4) I run mine at -20Deg C, this appears to keep the noise under control and also allows me to have a good set of darks, also there hasnt been an occasion yet where -20 hasnt been achievable with the available cooling delta. You could go cooler, slightly less noise however in summer you may struggle to get below -20 or mid session get it drifting up.

5) Dont run the camera at 12V, it can cause noise issues, I run mine at 13.7V and its quite happy, along with the mount

6) as mentioned use flats of at least 3secs to avoid shutter shadow, i have made my own light box with variable brightness so I can get the best level at 3s

7) Download the latest version of Artemis capture to get the "Markers" function, makes aligment over different nights much simpler, and the histogram is useful too.

hth

Keith

[toxic]

thanks for the tips keith i have only had it down to 5c which is the default setting i havent tried it lower yet lol all new to me.

where do you get your 13.7 volt power supply.

[Kbramley]

I got a fusion 5-15V 15amp 200w regulated power supply from eBay, probably not as robust as a maplin one but works a treat for me.  Only complaint I have with it is that the rear fan is a little noisy. Something like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/370778947246 , you can get cheaper versions that are not adjustable but I liked the extra flexibility this offered.

Keith

[Uranium235]

Its more like 13.5v, but I would advise against running it at 15.

Flat lengths should also be a little longer, something in the region of 6-10 seconds to be sure - especially when binning (as anything less than 6s will be interfered with by the shutter). You might also find that you will need 2" filters, I ran mine with 1.25" for a while with the 80ED at just over f6 - but on the 130pds @ f4.5 the smaller filters really started to cut into the light cone (and it cant be fixed with flats).

[toxic]

Its more like 13.5v, but I would advise against running it at 15.

Flat lengths should also be a little longer, something in the region of 6-10 seconds to be sure - especially when binning (as anything less than 6s will be interfered with by the shutter). You might also find that you will need 2" filters, I ran mine with 1.25" for a while with the 80ED at just over f6 - but on the 130pds @ f4.5 the smaller filters really started to cut into the light cone (and it cant be fixed with flats).

hi uranium 

have done flats today at between 2 and 6 seconds in increments of .5 seconds 10 of each and i have the 36mm filters unmounted what do yo think of them.