SLL and SX Trius 694 / Filter Wheel - summer objects

[arkosg]

Hello everyone,

After a bit of a hiatus, I was able to get out again and enjoy new moon/clear skies from a slightly less light-polluted viewing location. ?

For those who have seen my past posts, I'm still using StarLight Live 3.3 with a SX Trius 694 camera, now with SX filter wheel.  I alternate between using an 8" SCT and various Borg refractors - these shots are with a 5" Borg, with exposures < 30 s.  The combination works well, overall, and SLL controls the filter wheel which makes jumping between L,R,G,B and Halpha filters really easy and fun!  The only major issues I have are that (on my Mac) SLL seems unable to run the Trius in anything other than 2x2 binning.  I haven't been able to get a PC to test whether this is only a Mac related issue, though others have apparently been able to use this camera in all the various binning modes via SLL windows.  I also have focus/framing problems if exposure time is set to 1s (camera drops out and SLL freezes up).  To facilitate not having to refocus, everything was shot through either an L filter, R+G+B filters, or Halpha filter (all Astronomik 1.25", in a single filter wheel).  It generally worked really well, but occasionally I would switch colour filters to do a composite and SLL would stop stacking and I've had to start my colour composite from the start again.  But a fantastic feature of SLL!

Enjoy the shots - these (and others not posted) were all taken over a few hours time in the early morning.  I love how much - and how quickly! - you can view with EAA!

Cheers,

Greg A

[arkosg]

So a follow up.  Got out a second time in a week (!), this time with a smaller 3" Borg refractor, same mount/camera/filters.  Some slightly longer exposures, but still all under 1 minute, and typically less than a half a dozen images to a stack.  The skies at this location were perhaps a little darker, but more humid conditions.  A lot of the shots were Halpha images this time 'round.  Enjoy!

Greg

 

 

[Martin Meredith]

Hi Greg

Good to see you here again. I think its been a slow year for many of us... You're getting some excellent results with the Trius. I love the FOV, especially with the 3" Borg (e.g. fitting M31 in a single field). I have a 77mm Borg that I bought for EAA but have been having so much fun with my 8" Newt that I haven't fully got round to testing it, but your results have inspired me to have a go at the next opportunity (although with my Lodestar the FOV won't quite be so impressive).

Martin

[RobertI]

Somehow missed these, fantastic results, that is a brilliant combination of camera and scope. I was out with my 72mm frac and lodestar last night, quite pleased with the results, but yours are in a different league.   Will post my in a separate thread.

[arkosg]

Thanks Rob and Martin for the kind comments, and to everyone else for your likes!  It's gotten smoky here on the West Coast, as smoke from fires burning in California up through the pacific NW and into BC have all combined to make our skies hazy and indistinct this past few days (I hear it's been smokier for much longer for some areas, so I won't complain too much....) .  Anyway, thought I'd share some shots from the last round of EAA a little bit ago, with the 5" Borg refractor at f/5 and the Trius 694 and filter wheel combo, short exposures and usually only a few subs.  Some Halpha shots too.  The skies during this session were definitely slightly hazy (this was before the main forest fire smoke moved in), but even so got some decent results.  

I don't have Don's lovely dark skies, but I was thrilled to finally be able to get a reasonable view of the Helix (it's VERY low here, even at the best of times, and with the hazy skies I was doubly uncertain it would turn out....).

Cheers.

- Greg A

 

[RobertI]

Really nice captures, must have been fun watching those appear on the screen. That Trius looks like a really sensitive camera, I had a quick look at the spec and it seems to be almost as sensitive as the Lodestar (with of course masses more resolution) and a lot more sensitive than the Ultrastar? Presumably if you bin, you still get a decent resolution but it is even faster?

[arkosg]

Hi Rob,

I'm running the Trius 694 in 2x2 binning mode.  There seems to be a bug in SLL for the Mac that won't allow me to run it 1x1 (crashes) or any other binning mode (distorted images).  

Luckily, 2x2 seems to be useful in terms of balancing resolution with sensitivity; it isn't quite as sensitive as the Lodestar X2, but close enough, and with larger FOV and higher resolution, even at 2x2.

I haven't had a chance to use the Ultrastar, so can't say how that compares....

Cheers,

Greg A