Aurora Flatfield Panel

[griz11]

I've been having lots of problems trying to get flats to work correctly. Tried the t-shirt and paper and unfocused shots on a darkening sky. None of them were doing what they were supposed too. Spotted the Aurora flat field panel and decided to try one. I bought the 100mm model as the lens I have is 77 so there is plenty of overlap. Actually it creates a square illuminated section in the middle of the round panel. 100mm x100mm. I just shot 100 to make a master and they do look much better now you can actually see the slight darkness in the corners and bright middle. Easy enough to use it. Just plug it in and hold over the end of the lens. Plenty of area to grip. It will be easy enough to use at night during the run. Nice piece of kit looks very well constructed.

Griz

[Oddsocks]

HI Griz,

I too have a 10" Aurora panel in my observatory, there are just a few issues with it that you have to watch out for.

The wires are very fragile where they connect to the panel and can break easily when the panel is cold and the wire insulation becomes stiff, if this happens while the panel is powered then the power supply will fail as it goes into overdrive under no load condition and the breakdown voltage for the supply capacitors is exceeded.

So to mitigate against this it is a good idea to form the wires into a small 'S' curve where they exit the panel and embed them to the panel edge with a pad of liquid bathroom silicone rubber compound, the idea being that if you tug or pull on the wires the silicone rubber will stretch out the 'S' curve a little an absorb the shock before relaxing back into the 'S' shape again.

I was lucky with mine as one of the pair of wires broke while it was not powered.

I stripped back both the wires to the panel and replaced them with a pair of stronger, silicone coated, low temperature wires with a bigger CSA and also did away with the in line plug and socket and replaced it with soldered in-line joints insulated with self adhesive, waterproof heat shrink tubing.

My panel has been in use for about five years now without failing but I do know of several users who have had the wires break while in use and the power supply fails as a result.

William.

[griz11]

Thanks for the tip I noticed they were very thin wires. I'll probably replace mine as well. I thought a dab of hot glue would do it. Glad I saw that warning on the little power supply. So I didn't plug it in without the panel attached. Why the power supply its out put is 12v is it just to condition the power? I just used it to make a master flat and integrate some subs. They do look better. The bright spot in the center is gone and the corners aren't dark now. I've spent lots of time already trying to make good flats so the cost of the panel wasn't that much really. I want to get rid of those little plugs as well. Although they made it easy to take an old cigar lighter jack and use that to power it without soldering anything. Added a Lanparte external battery for my Canon as well. I've been going through 3-4 batteries a night. Now I won't have that problem. Fits right between the camera and guider on the dual saddle. One less wire to worry about and no running out of juice for the camera. I'm putting servos and a servo controller on the rig as well.

Griz

[Oddsocks]

Why the power supply its out put is 12v is it just to condition the power?

The power supply is an inverter and the output to the panel is high voltage AC.

Gerd Neumann doesn't state anywhere on his site what the voltage is, just that it is high voltage at very low and safe currents.

I used to work on some old medical equipment from the 1950's that used electroluminescent panels as backlights for the dials and meters, those panels worked on 600V A.C so I suspect the Aurora panel probably is working at similar voltages.

That is one of the reasons I did away with the in-line plug and socket and went for soldered joints sealed with heat-shrink tube, a few times I went to use it and the plug and socket was wet with dew, I thought it won't be long before that shorts out at 600V !!!

[ollypenrice]

I will never buy another Aurora panel in my life, quite honestly. The wires, connectors (and power supplies) are totally unfit for purpose and crack at any point where they meet a rigid connection. On three panels I've had failures where the wires leave the panel and the power supply. I managed to fix two of them where they left the power supply but failures at the panel itself (all three of them) were not within my powers to mend. What I'd suggest is that you make sure you reinforce the wires at the supply and the panel so as to avoid any flexing at those points. And then be incredibly careful. Those brittle wires are just itching to fail. Such a shame because they do make good flats.

I recently tried an illuminated LED panel which was cheaper, vastly better made and also made good flats.

Sorry to be negative but constant failures on three expensive Aurora panels (one of them very expensive for the 14 inch) have left me pretty cheesed off.

Olly

[strutsinaction]

Hi Olly

Which LED panel are you using now? I'm using a Aurora (purchased from GN last month) but from what I'm reading it's only a matter of time before the wires break 

On my panel there's a small rubber sleeve covering the wires as they leave the panel. Is this a new feature perhaps to lessen the fragility?

Regards

John 

[griz11]

Yea mine has that as well a strain relief of sorts. Maybe they have reinforced them. I added additional strain relief at the panel and I think I'm going to do away with that coupling since I live right across the street from the lake and it dews up a lot here.

Griz

[ollypenrice]

Hi Olly

Which LED panel are you using now? I'm using a Aurora (purchased from GN last month) but from what I'm reading it's only a matter of time before the wires break 

On my panel there's a small rubber sleeve covering the wires as they leave the panel. Is this a new feature perhaps to lessen the fragility?

Regards

John 

This does sound like something new. At the power supply end you could just wrap the cables round the box and tape them to avoid flexure at the exit.

I'll have to check on the make of flat panel I used recently. It isn't mine, it belongs to one of our robotic owners.

Olly