NGC 7000 HaHaRGB

[MartinB]

Just about forgotten how to set up it's so long since I've been out. This was a first run with my new QSI 532WS cam. Bit windy so decided to keep it simple and use a small refractor on NGC7000.

This is 20x300 secs Ha unbinned and RGB binnedx2 22 each of 28:30:35 secs

ZS66 with WO field flattener, guided with ED80, QSI 532 WS camera.

Ha for luminence HaRGB colour. Captured and combined in Maxim and processed in PS

I was surprised at how well things went without a properly dark sky. It wasn't until 3.00am that the images started to deteriorate.

Still got a lot to learn with the new cam but pleased so far.

(click to enlarge)

[RobH]

That's come out very nicely Martin.

Tried it last night myself but I seem to be suffering from some guiding problems...should be fixable though!

Cheers

Rob

[Jeff RV]

OOH! that's a nice one Martin, 3.00am let me think what was i doing :scratch:

oh yeah ZZZZZZZ.

[MartinB]

OOH! that's a nice one Martin, 3.00am let me think what was i doing :scratch:

oh yeah ZZZZZZZ.

So was I Jeff! Just had the mount on a timer so that it stopped tracking as it crossed the meridian.

[Tim]

Nice image Martin, thos emassive nebs just blow me away.

Im intrigued by the timer to stop the tracking, how do you work this? It could mean extra z's for me good self

Cheers

TJ

[Jeff RV]

OOH! that's a nice one Martin, 3.00am let me think what was i doing :scratch:

oh yeah ZZZZZZZ.

That's the way to do it, He! He!

So was I Jeff! Just had the mount on a timer so that it stopped tracking as it crossed the meridian.

OOH! that's a nice one Martin, 3.00am let me think what was i doing :scratch:

oh yeah ZZZZZZZ.

So was I Jeff! Just had the mount on a timer so that it stopped tracking as it crossed the meridian.

That's the way to do it!! He, He.

[LostNSpace]

Very Nice Martin, Some lovely detail in there

Mark

[MartinB]

Thanks Mark

Nice image Martin, thos emassive nebs just blow me away.

Im intrigued by the timer to stop the tracking, how do you work this? It could mean extra z's for me good self

Cheers

TJ

The mount runs off the mains . I just had a look at when the target was going to cross the meridian and plugged the mount into a normal timer, the sort you have on the dishwasher for economy7. Just had a nervous peep out of the window when I got up for work this morning to make sure the lawn wasn't strewn with bits of mangled mount and scope.

[Beyond_Vision]

Very smooth capture Martin what spec is the camera?

Regards

Kevin

[MartinB]

Very smooth capture Martin what spec is the camera?

It has the Kodak 3200 chip, the same as in the SBIG ST10. It isn't anti blooming which makes it very sensitive. The chip isn't huge but a lot larger than the Sony 285. It has regulated cooling down to 38deg below ambient and a built in motorised filter wheel. 6.8 micron pixels. QSI have packed some clever stuff into the camera and the images are very clean. The only problem with it is the ££££. I got it from Ian King. It is the camera that Nik Syzmanek used for his review for AstronomyNow so I got it a bit cheap (relatively speaking) http://www.iankingimaging.com/show_products.php?category=113 - half way down the page.

[Beyond_Vision]

Very smooth capture Martin what spec is the camera?

It has the Kodak 3200 chip, the same as in the SBIG ST10. It isn't anti blooming which makes it very sensitive. The chip isn't huge but a lot larger than the Sony 285. It has regulated cooling down to 38deg below ambient and a built in motorised filter wheel. 6.8 micron pixels. QSI have packed some clever stuff into the camera and the images are very clean. The only problem with it is the ££££. I got it from Ian King. It is the camera that Nik Syzmanek used for his review for AstronomyNow so I got it a bit cheap (relatively speaking) http://www.iankingimaging.com/show_products.php?category=113 - half way down the page.

Spotted that one on Ian's website the otherday it looks very well enginered from the pics I have seen.

[MartinB]

It's lovely Kevin. I would hate to drop it!

[Tim]

counts me out then, being a clumsy beggar and all.

TJ

[moondog]

Excellent image Martin - the new set up works well.

8)

MD

[MikeD]

Top job Martin, nice detail.

Mike.

[FLO]

Ian had your camera with him at the talk he gave at the NLO earlier this year, very nice it was too 8)

[steppenwolf]

This is a very nice detailed image, Martin and a very nice camera too. I devoured Nik's review with great interest and wondered about the lack of the ABG and it's impact on bright stars although as you know, I had to adjust the settings of this on my own camera to get the best balance of well depth V anti-blooming!

Looking incredibly critically at your image, although blooming is just perceivable (if you use your imagination :shock: ) on some of the brightest stars, their effect is mitigated by the lower exposure times of the RGB channels so based on this image, I suspect that this is less of a 'problem' than I had envisaged it to be and the added sensitivity surely makes up for it! I think that the blooming shown on Nik's M31 image perhaps showed it at its worst!

Now, on the subject of 'anti', the question that I really want answered is are you going to use anti-freeze in your coolant?

A great image from a superb camera, I hope you have lots of pleasure from it and I look forward to seeing the results.

[MartinB]

Thanks Steve. Yes the NABG is a 2 edged sword. I think if I had a really dark sky and could take long exposures I would probably stick with ABG especially the more sensitive Sony chips but with my skies my exposure times are pretty limited by sky glow so I don't expect to have to shorten exposures much, if at all. I did have some very small blooms on the 5 min Ha subs at F4.8 and treated these manually. I'm going to invest in Ron Wodaski's deblooming software which does a very good job apparently.

What is this about antifreeze?? The camera contains Argon which is apparently super effective in sealing the chip from damp. This gradually seeps away over 3 years and then you have to rely on dessicant. There is a chamber for this.

[steppenwolf]

What is this about antifreeze??

I seem to recall that there is a water-cooling port on the camera?

I'm going to invest in Ron Wodaski's deblooming software which does a very good job apparently.

There is also a 'Remove Bloom' function in MaximDL if you use that software.

[MartinB]

Ah yes, you can add water cooling. I don't think I'll bother though. Most of the year I will be able to get down to -30 and it's diminishing returns after that. The water cooling can also cool the body of the camera and then you have to deal with dewing. I hadn't thought about the water itself freezing!!

I'll have a look at the Remove Bloom tool in Maxim, I didn't know about that. Thanks Steve