First light with new Atik383L

[Magnum]

Amazingly it was clear last night until 1:30am so allowed me to get first light image with my new (2nd hand) Atik 383L CCD camera. Wasn't expecting it to be clear so had to rush out after dinner to set camera - reducer spacing and re balance the mount, had no image planned so decided to go for the Heart Nebula as I have several images with different cams and scopes to compare to. Unfortunately I hadn't realised when I started that the almost full moon was quite close as it was hiding behind the house DOH :-p and consequently lowered the contras of the data. The much larger chip allowed me to almost fit the whole heart in without needing to use a smaller scope. This is total of 4.5hrs of data comprised of 18 x 900 second exposures in Hydrogen Alpha, using my Altair Wave 102 Triplet & 0.8 reducer at f5.6. As normal for my CCD images I didn't use calibration frames at all, just dither guiding combined with sigma rejection stacking in MaximDL, processed in photoshop. Must say im rather happy with the camera so far.

 Using this camera with the KAF8300 sensor is a bit different than what im used to with the Sony sensor in my old 314L. With the Sony the individual subs are so clean you can almost get away with 1 sub and still look decent, but with the Kaf sensor the individual subs come in quite noisy looking, but when you start stacking them it cleans up remarkably fast, and actually id say the final result is a little smoother in the end. But its the larger field of view I bought it for and it doesn't disappoint.

Lee

Edited October 16, 2019 by Magnum

[tooth_dr]

2 hours ago, Magnum said:

Amazingly it was clear last night until 1:30am so allowed me to get first light image with my new (2nd hand) Atik 383L CCD camera. Wasn't expecting it to be clear so had to rush out after dinner to set camera - reducer spacing and re balance the mount, had no image planned so decided to go for the Heart Nebula as I have several images with different cams and scopes to compare to. Unfortunately I hadn't realised when I started that the almost full moon was quite close as it was hiding behind the house DOH :-p and consequently lowered the contras of the data. The much larger chip allowed me to almost fit the whole heart in without needing to use a smaller scope. This is total of 4.5hrs of data comprised of 18 x 900 second exposures in Hydrogen Alpha, using my Altair Wave 102 Triplet & 0.8 reducer at f5.6. As normal for my CCD images I didn't use calibration frames at all, just dither guiding combined with sigma rejection stacking in MaximDL, processed in photoshop. Must say im rather happy with the camera so far.

 Using this camera with the KAF8300 sensor is a bit different than what im used to with the Sony sensor in my old 314L. With the Sony the individual subs are so clean you can almost get away with 1 sub and still look decent, but with the Kaf sensor the individual subs come in quite noisy looking, but when you start stacking them it cleans up remarkably fast, and actually id say the final result is a little smoother in the end. But its the larger field of view I bought it for and it doesn't disappoint.

Nice image and congrats on the purchase!  I also use the same camera.  It's my first CCD, so I've no comparison, save that it is a LOT better than the DSLR it replaced!

I would still recommend using at least flats with the camera, (lthough I use a full set of calibration frames), as it will make post processing easier.

 

[Magnum]

Thanks, ive never found I needed flats with my Atik314 as its a little sensor and I make sure I have no dust in my system. But yes I may need to use flats for LRGB with the larger sensor, though Ha is much more forgiving and I can't detect any vignetting or uneven illumination so far in the first light subs. in rare occasions that I have had issue in the past I find it simpler to correct with Maxims Flatten background tool, its like DBE in Pix insight.

I know I will get flack for this , but as long as the images look good to me I m happy 😛

Lee

 

[tooth_dr]

3 minutes ago, Magnum said:

Thanks, ive never found I needed flats with my Atik314 as its a little sensor and I make sure I have no dust in my system. But yes I may need to use flats for LRGB with the larger sensor, though Ha is much more forgiving and I can't detect any vignetting or uneven illumination so far in the first light subs. in rare occasions that I have had issue in the past I find it simpler to correct with Maxims Flatten background tool, its like DBE in Pix insight.

I know I will get flack for this , but as long as the images look good to me I m happy 😛

Lee

 

Fair enough!  As long as you are happy.

[Magnum]

6 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Fair enough!  As long as you are happy.

Didn't mean to dismiss your advice, I try to comment too fast sometimes. :-p, I guess part of it depends on the particular scope and filters etc as to how flat the raw subs will be, I may just be lucky that both of my refractors seem pretty good in this regard, and I have the time to keep cleaning my filters and optics 😛  but gives me something to do when its cloudy.

Lee

[kirkster501]

Very nice.

I have been extremely pleased with my Atik camera.  I am looking into a 383L too.

[newbie alert]

Great job lee,enjoy the camera and keep those images coming