Suitable CCD/CMOS for FSQ85-EDX

[SyedT]

Hi all,

Switching back to refractor imaging for the winter, I'm not that happy with the FOV of my FSQ85 and Atik 490EX. 

I'm looking to go for a mono CMOS/CCD which will give a wider FOV, e.g. capture the full extent of M31 and some of the surrounding area. I do have a 1.01x EDP flattener which I can use to cover larger sensors, and use 7x36mm unmounted Chroma LRGB/NB filters.

Would appreciate any pointers as to which direction to go towards. I've looked at some full-frame sensors, particularly the ZWO 6200MM and Atik 16200, but have been put off by the fact that the filters and imaging circle won't be large enough to cover these properly.

Cheers

Edited October 4, 2020 by SyedT

[david_taurus83]

Theres now a 294MM?

FLO currently have stock..

[SyedT]

2 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

Theres now a 294MM?

FLO currently have stock..

Thanks David. The 294MM just about fits in M31 into the view. Ideally, I'd like a larger FOV than that. Any other suggestions? It would be nice to go to an FSQ106 and 50 mm filters, but it's not really an extra expense I can justify at the moment.

[david_taurus83]

What about a different scope? Flat field quad 70mm at f5 and a camera? Depends on your budget really.

[SyedT]

15 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

What about a different scope? Flat field quad 70mm at f5 and a camera? Depends on your budget really.

I've become quite used to the pinpoint stars and lack of haloes which comes with my current setup, so wouldn't want to change scopes! Guess I need to keep looking around, perhaps a mono iteration of the 2600MC might be on the cards.

[AngryDonkey]

Personally I think the soon to be released QHY268 Mono would be a great camera for this scope. 

[SyedT]

9 hours ago, AngryDonkey said:

Personally I think the soon to be released QHY268 Mono would be a great camera for this scope. 

Very interesting find, thank you for that! It does seem like it would be a great match.

[Miguel1983]

On 05/10/2020 at 23:34, SyedT said:

Very interesting find, thank you for that! It does seem like it would be a great match.

I'm guessing ZWO will follow soon with their mono version of the 2600MC, that would be a camera i'd like very much, but i think that chip size would need 2" filters ?

[kirkster501]

I ran a very similar setup albeit with the Atik460EX on my FSQ85.

This is native FL on the FSQ85 with just an LDAS LP filter and QHY268C.  Note, no FR.   It would be much wider of course had I used the FR - which I no longer do.

[newbie alert]

Mosaic would be far cheaper!😉

[kirkster501]

2 hours ago, newbie alert said:

Mosaic would be far cheaper!😉

Mosaic?  In the UK? I struggle enough to get one panel done where I live, let alone four or twelve (or more).

[ollypenrice]

I've no experience of the flattener you mention but the standard Baby Q does not come close to covering full frame. We've experience of two instances of the 'scope here and both produced heavy coma on the long ends of the chip. Have you seen evidence that this flattener lets the Baby Q cover full frame? I wouldn't take someone's word for it without proof.

You might be lucky to catch the whole of Andromeda in any refractor setup. I needed a 2-panel with full frame at 530mm. M31 tends to be bigger than you think! (Note the left hand side in this orientation...)

Olly

[newbie alert]

1 hour ago, kirkster501 said:

Mosaic?  In the UK? I struggle enough to get one panel done where I live, let alone four or twelve (or more).

12 panes on m31?  What sort of fl are you using? 

I can just about squeeze it in with a 460ex and a 400fl esprit, I'm aware that I'm clipping the outer arms abit, so 2 or 4 panes are are adequate depending on orientation.. the 490 has the same size sensor,  just more smaller pixels

[SyedT]

  

On 06/12/2020 at 06:09, Miguel1983 said:

I'm guessing ZWO will follow soon with their mono version of the 2600MC, that would be a camera i'd like very much, but i think that chip size would need 2" filters ?

I wrote to ZWO and they've said the 2600MM will likely come sometime in 2021. I've ordered the QHY268M which will be shipping from 15th Jan.

On 23/12/2020 at 09:20, kirkster501 said:

I ran a very similar setup albeit with the Atik460EX on my FSQ85.

This is native FL on the FSQ85 with just an LDAS LP filter and QHY268C.  Note, no FR.   It would be much wider of course had I used the FR - which I no longer do.

 

Wow, that's lovely! I find I would get a better field without the reducer, and I've added a field flattener to improve results a bit and it seems to have worked. I've ordered the QHY268M, looking forward to getting it!

On 23/12/2020 at 09:34, newbie alert said:

Mosaic would be far cheaper!😉

In terms of money? Yes. Time? No! 😖

On 23/12/2020 at 12:19, ollypenrice said:

I've no experience of the flattener you mention but the standard Baby Q does not come close to covering full frame. We've experience of two instances of the 'scope here and both produced heavy coma on the long ends of the chip. Have you seen evidence that this flattener lets the Baby Q cover full frame? I wouldn't take someone's word for it without proof.

You might be lucky to catch the whole of Andromeda in any refractor setup. I needed a 2-panel with full frame at 530mm. M31 tends to be bigger than you think! (Note the left hand side in this orientation...)

Olly

Stunning work as usual Olly. I've not used a full-frame camera myself so can't comment on the results, but doing some reading around I found that the best size to aim for is APS-C with the 1.01x flattener, so I've ordered the new QHY268M which is shipping in January. I've been working on M31 as a 2-panel mosaic, but the weather and moon have not been on my side unfortunately and I don't have as much data as I'd like. I've taken a screenshot of what the QHY268M's field would look like using SGPro's Framing and Mosaic Wizard. I would probably miss out the faint outer halo particularly to the left, but should get most of it? 

[ollypenrice]

1 hour ago, SyedT said:

  

I wrote to ZWO and they've said the 2600MM will likely come sometime in 2021. I've ordered the QHY268M which will be shipping from 15th Jan.

Wow, that's lovely! I find I would get a better field without the reducer, and I've added a field flattener to improve results a bit and it seems to have worked. I've ordered the QHY268M, looking forward to getting it!

In terms of money? Yes. Time? No! 😖

Stunning work as usual Olly. I've not used a full-frame camera myself so can't comment on the results, but doing some reading around I found that the best size to aim for is APS-C with the 1.01x flattener, so I've ordered the new QHY268M which is shipping in January. I've been working on M31 as a 2-panel mosaic, but the weather and moon have not been on my side unfortunately and I don't have as much data as I'd like. I've taken a screenshot of what the QHY268M's field would look like using SGPro's Framing and Mosaic Wizard. I would probably miss out the faint outer halo particularly to the left, but should get most of it? 

This is what you'll get, courtesy of Registar. Mine overlaid over a screengrab of your screengrab above. (!!!🤣)

 

Olly

[SyedT]

On 24/12/2020 at 19:07, ollypenrice said:

This is what you'll get, courtesy of Registar. Mine overlaid over a screengrab of your screengrab above. (!!!🤣)

 

 

Olly

Thanks Olly, that's really helpful. I'm looking forward to getting the 268M, will post with feedback once I've done some test runs.

[SyedT]

If anyone is interested, I've received the 268M and have done an initial test run: 

QHY268M Unboxing & Test Run