Proposed Atik APX60

[ollypenrice]

As an Atik enthusiast of many years standing I'm more than a little excited by this forthcoming model:  https://www.atik-cameras.com/product/apx60/  Until very recently the FSQ106 has been a 'scope without a camera, in that all the large format chips had a pixel size which greatly under-sampled. This new sixty meg (!!!) chip would sample at about 1.4"PP which actually exceeds the optical resolution of the instrument. And the chip is available both in OSC and mono.

I've just noticed that even my best PC has turned pale at the thought of all those short CMOS subs at 60 meg a pop!

Hmmm...

Olly

Edited April 5, 2021 by ollypenrice
Typo

[Dr_Ju_ju]

As well as the cost of the camera, you'll also probably also need to spend the same on computer with guaranteed USB 3.1 \ bus spec hardware.....

[tooth_dr]

The file size would be bigger than 60MB?  The 24 megapixel camera I have which is smaller version of this sensor produces 51MB file sizes, and my 36 megapixel DSLR produces 78MB files.  If that follows each file would be over 100MB?

[Dr_Ju_ju]

With such large files, I wouldn't store them locally on the controlling computer, but to some form of network storage device, but then, to ensure reliable data transfer, I'd forget about using WiFi, and instead use wired Gb (multi) ethernet.

[DaveS]

I think the file size is around 124 MB .

[carastro]

Blimey, better bring my back up drive with a couple of terabytes on it when we come to your place next year.

Carole 

[ollypenrice]

Yes, it's all a bit alarming!

Olly

[DaveS]

But Olly, don't you have *two* Taks there... ?

[JamesF]

25 minutes ago, DaveS said:

I think the file size is around 124 MB .

I agree.  Sixty-one-ish million pixels at two bytes per pixel for 16-bit images, so in the region of 122 million bytes for a mono or raw colour frame.  Or 366MB for a single full colour frame

James

[Adam J]

15 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Yes, it's all a bit alarming!

Olly

Yeah you would need one of these to go with it....

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sabrent-Rocket-Internal-Performance-SB-RKTQ-8TB/dp/B08957PT2K/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?adgrpid=107220330956&dchild=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw6qqDBhB-EiwACBs6x24fmsLVRVhubeUBHS_gsq0xABlZmwPPMYrgAvzKvmhY_ChX3RW_GxoCgf8QAvD_BwE&hvadid=458181730708&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=1006876&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=14370790741565728234&hvtargid=kwd-726731291978&hydadcr=19799_1751391&keywords=nvme+8tb&qid=1617620375&sr=8-3

[Adam J]

3 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

As an Atik enthusiast of many years standing I'm more than a little excited by this forthcoming model:  https://www.atik-cameras.com/product/apx60/  Until very recently the FSQ106 has been a 'scope without a camera, in that all the large format chips had a pixel size which greatly under-sampled. This new sixty meg (!!!) chip would sample at about 1.4"PP which actually exceeds the optical resolution of the instrument. And the chip is available both in OSC and mono.

I've just noticed that even my best PC has turned pale at the thought of all those short CMOS subs at 60 meg a pop!

Hmmm...

Olly

You say forthcoming but it's currently available to order on FLO and has been out for a few months a think. Just 25 days lead time. 

[DaveS]

Here

[DaveS]

Or QHY from Astrograph

[ollypenrice]

7 minutes ago, DaveS said:

Or QHY from Astrograph

I just have a lot of history with Atik, really as a happy customer. They have taken great care of me, understanding my position as a provider in need of very fast service if necessary. I've nothing against other manufacturers but feel a sense of loyalty towards Atik.

Olly

[PadrePeace]

My first desktop came with a 40mb hard drive which we ‘future proofed’ to 100mb.  Moores law... Just saying. 

Noticed that Atik are not altering the retail price by 30% between the two versions as other manufactures do. Or, alternatively, are you paying more for the colour than you should? Hard to say. 

[Freddie]

Atik say on their website it has been delayed and will not be available until the summer.

[Adam J]

11 hours ago, Freddie said:

Atik say on their website it has been delayed and will not be available until the summer.

Yes I see that posted back in Feb on Atik's web page.  Wonder when Atik consider summer to start?

FLO's says 20-25 days right now.  Perhaps @FLO can confirm its availability for Olly's consideration. 

Adam

[newbie alert]

Im more than shocked

A spare FSQ!

[tomato]

If there is a delay, I’m sure Atik’s camera based on this sensor will be worth the wait. The CMOS Horizon II is a quality piece of kit.

[Horwig]

I enquired about the Atik at FLO, and was told it was going to be quite a wait, so went and ordered a ZWO ASI6200 to sit on my FSQ, can't wait for it to arrive, have already gone out and bought a new obsy PC, complete with USB3 and a large hard drive (good old ebay).

 

Huw

[ollypenrice]

On 05/04/2021 at 12:49, DaveS said:

But Olly, don't you have *two* Taks there... ?

No, this is entirely untrue.*

Olly

*We have six. 👹

[gorann]

Hi Olly,

I assume you realize that this is the same chip as QHY and ASI has been selling in their top-of-the-line cameras (e.g. ASI6200) for well over a year. I have the ASI version of it (mono) and have and have had a bunch of other ASIs for many years, and none have ever failed, and I had not heard of any major problems from other users. So I never even had to contact the seller (which would be mainly FLO in my case). So I am not sure that you need to worry about support from the company. But of course in general it is a bit sad that Europe (including UK😉) are not in the forefront on developing the next generation astro cameras, making most of us totally dependent on China for our supply.

Out of curiosity, are you looking for a mono version or an OSC?

Edited April 6, 2021 by gorann

[gorann]

On 05/04/2021 at 13:30, ollypenrice said:

I just have a lot of history with Atik, really as a happy customer. They have taken great care of me, understanding my position as a provider in need of very fast service if necessary. I've nothing against other manufacturers but feel a sense of loyalty towards Atik.

Olly

Actually Olly, your statement here indicate that you had issues with your cameras from ATIK, otherwise you would not need the care of the company. As I said I never had any issues with the working of my ASIs. Maybe it could be that there is less problems with CMOS than the old CCDs?

[Xsubmariner]

I would definitely consider investing in a raid storage system. I have been running a QHY600 mono with my ROR rig since end Dec and even with the limited UK opportunities and a relatively small selection of target Image sets I found my PC (i7) slowed up last week, reason found - the master drive had accumulated 1 Tb of image data in 3 months. For information: each Fits file is 29.878Kb (2x2) and 119.484Kb (1x1), each Master Pixinsight light frame is 179.234Kb and 716.876Kb respectively. I have now changed what files I keep and installed 8Tb backup drives on each PC. I can only imagine how much data you will be collecting given your excellent site/setup.

[gorann]

Just now, Xsubmariner said:

I would definitely consider investing in a raid storage system. I have been running a QHY600 mono with my ROR rig since end Dec and even with the limited UK opportunities and a relatively small selection of target Image sets I found my PC (i7) slowed up last week, reason found - the master drive had accumulated 1 Tb of image data in 3 months. For information: each Fits file is 29.878Kb (2x2) and 119.484Kb (1x1), each Master Pixinsight light frame is 179.234Kb and 716.876Kb respectively. I have now changed what files I keep and installed 8Tb backup drives on each PC. I can only imagine how much data you will be collecting given your excellent site/setup.

Since I started AP in 2015 I have filled two 4 Tb hard drives and two back ups, so totally 16 Tb. They are not very expensive, probably around 200 punds each. I store essentially nothing on the tiny solid state drives you get in computers nowadays.