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QHY268M & QHY268C Users Thread (Please share your knowledge and tips)


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10 hours ago, Richard_ said:

So I've finally joined the QHY268 club :) My QHY268M arrived earlier this week along with the QHYCFW3 slim model along with 36mm unmounted LRGB SHO filters. I've got all the drivers and software running fine, and have installed all the filters (see first two pictures below illustrating which side of the filter faces the telescope and which side faces the camera).

Tonight, I mounted the camera to my Redcat and took some flat frames just to see how they look, and more importantly, to see how much dust I left on the filters/sensor. I took them using NINA flat assistant aiming for 30,000 ADU. Light source was a video LED panel with multipe layers of white t-shirt to diffuse the light.

Below are my master flat images (n=15 subs in each master) with an auto STF, in order of LRGB SHO. It looks like I have a small amount of dust on my sensor or telescope lens since the dust motes stay in the same place across different filters, but I'm more concerned with the halo/reflection in my Green and SHO filter flats. I'm sure I orientated the filters in the right direction, but I have read that some people prefer to use the plastic 3D printed masks for mounting filters in the wheel instead of the felt pads provided with the filter wheel. The reason to use the 3D printed masks is to eliminate any issues caused from light rerfracting/reflecting from the edges of the filters.

Do these flats look about right or should I source some 3D printed masks and use them instead? Or perhaps something else is going on?

This side faces the telescope

DSC_1627_copy_3628x2721.thumb.jpg.6235bef8a42f9ba04ff5648f89244fd6.jpg

 

This side faces the camera

DSC_1628_copy_3628x2721.thumb.jpg.0625a7d84ea955e04652f9adf4d04582.jpg


 

Luminance

masterFlat_BIN-1_FILTER-L_Mono_FILTER-L.thumb.jpg.c28b4b1818b2dc38036bf709c14162f4.jpg

 

Red

masterFlat_BIN-1_FILTER-R_Mono_FILTER-R.thumb.jpg.bb1f24f6cf1e0bf9f4be210955befd48.jpg

 

Green

masterFlat_BIN-1_FILTER-G_Mono_FILTER-G.thumb.jpg.0af196c74f8e331e394c770c6ad0f339.jpg

 

Blue

masterFlat_BIN-1_FILTER-B_Mono_FILTER-B.thumb.jpg.1a695baf1ad6f815b18619d911eb0dc7.jpg

 

SII

masterFlat_BIN-1_FILTER-S_Mono_FILTER-S.thumb.jpg.1038a6c44ab35ab8622a5eb66664ceeb.jpg

 

H-alpha

masterFlat_BIN-1_FILTER-H_Mono_FILTER-H.thumb.jpg.51dd6e516e4be210923711e44a57b4cf.jpg

 

OIII

masterFlat_BIN-1_FILTER-O_Mono_FILTER-O.thumb.jpg.ae38540c0c9c706d91bc2978e59e5ac4.jpg

What scope are you using these with, as if it’s a fast scope, then this can be an issue and you need filters specially made for fast scopes, F4 and below…

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Congratulations on the new camera 😊 I would try and get a few images to calibrate and see how they work out, but the SHO flats do look unusual, the Ha appears to be off centre. You could try making a mask for one filter and see if it has an effect before you invest in a full mask.

 

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17 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

What scope are you using these with, as if it’s a fast scope, then this can be an issue and you need filters specially made for fast scopes, F4 and below…

These were taken with my Redcat51 (F4.9), so not really that fast. I will also be using it with my 120mm / F5.2 (reduced) refractor. The 4.5nm EDGE  filters are advertised as working as far down as F3 so I didn't expect any issues with my equipment. 

3 minutes ago, Rob_Jn said:

Congratulations on the new camera 😊 I would try and get a few images to calibrate and see how they work out, but the SHO flats do look unusual, the Ha appears to be off centre. You could try making a mask for one filter and see if it has an effect before you invest in a full mask.

 

Thanks Rob! Just need this cloud and rain to go first (typical Welsh summer lol). 

How would I go about centering the HA filter? Looking at the mounted filters, they're seated well within the recesses, but maybe a couple of millimetre could make it an issue?  

I don't have access to a 3D printer, so I was going to either ask a friend  or an online vendor to print some out. Here are the ones I had in mind:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4820869

I've just seen some masks on FLO too, but due in 15-20 days. Pretty affordable so at least I have some options. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/bes_fm_qhy_36_2.html

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The Ha filter should centre up with the electronics on the filter wheel so I’m a bit puzzled why it should appear to be out of centre. Perhaps try the reproducibility of the centering a few times and see what you get, applies to all the filters as well.

The masks look good either option, I was thinking just knock one up out of black card to test the concept before you spend the money. 

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I've completed a sensor analysis of my QHY268M in SharpCap, but rather than using just the default Gain values in multiples of 10, you can actually define discrete Gain intervals depending on what you are interested in. For the QHY268, the best zone for Readout mode #1 is Gain 56, so naturally you'd be interested in knowing information around here. Fig.1 shows the results from my sensor analysis with some additional Gain values above and below 56, with the desired Gain = 56 highlighted in orange.

As expected, at Gain 56 the read noise falls off a cliff and the dynamic range shoots up which confirms the High Gain Mode kicks in like a switch at Gain 56.

Fig.1 Sensor Analysis Results

1759711937_2022-06-29SensorAnalysisImage.png.d8bc918a2c2cb86ccb0b64aa09138114.png

 

So how can you do this? This topic was raised on the SharpCap forum which I also stumbled upon during my search. The original source of the information can be found using the links below, or you can follow the step-by-step instructions which I've typed out below:

https://forums.sharpcap.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=4941

https://forums.sharpcap.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=4685

 

Step-by-Step

  1. Open up SharpCap and connect your camera
  2. Click on "Scripting > Show Console" (Fig.2)
  3. The console screen should now load (Fig.3)
  4. Select the green text and delete, then copy and paste the following text in place:
SharpCap.SelectedCamera.SetGainsOfInterestForSensorAnalysis([53,54,55,56,57,58])
  1. Replace the values showin within the parentheses with whichever values you wish.
  2. Click the Green play button to execute script (Fig.4)
  3. Close console window, run Sensor Analysis as normal
  4. When complete, you will have the analysis table with the standard values along with the extra gain values you added in as per my picture above

Fig.2

1324475702_1.Showconsole.png.308166380f21d9d6445b86348f3ebe01.png

 

Fig.3

49592275_2.Console.png.4100c9ce8967f66dbb7ef7714871aafa.png

 

Fig.4

1468344729_3.Enterscript.thumb.png.ef2f3869253a724f0d4d6450be26bd85.png

Edited by Richard_
Corrected fig references
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On 09/02/2022 at 20:34, Neil27 said:

Finally worked it out, a big thanks to @teoria_del_big_bang and @The Lazy Astronomer for the help in pointing me to the right links and previous threads. QHY certainly don’t make it easy.

 

B8F5F470-1735-4D5C-8AAC-81D6F1B7B9BB.jpeg

BCB2EC07-BBC1-4C29-82B0-6730EF355D24.jpeg

I was always worried that that filter adaptor would cause vignetting on the Esprit 100, any issues?

Adam

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On 06/07/2022 at 11:10, Adam J said:

I was always worried that that filter adaptor would cause vignetting on the Esprit 100, any issues?

Adam

Hi Adam,

I haven’t tried it in anger yet, a lengthy spell of hospital for my mum and other issues have prevented me from even looking at my gear atm. Hopefully it will all settle down just in time for the dark nights, hopefully!

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I had my first imaging session the othernight using my 120mm refractor (WO FLT120) and I'm delighted with my results so far! I shot the cygnus wall in NGC 7000 using SHO filters and the results have simply amazed me. Before we get there, let's talk back focus distance and generating flats (which I thought would be an issue per my previous post).

Back focus

I created a new topic to talk about this issue as below. For some reason, I can't quite get to back focus distance before running out of inwards travel with my focuser. Whilst I figure out how to resolve that (or if anyone has any advice), I decided to do a test run.

 

Flats

In a previous post I included flats with my RedCat51 as it was convient to set up in the house. I thought the flats looked a little off for the narrowband filters so was curious to see how they would look in my larger refractor. There are three dark spots (10 o'clock, 2 o'clock and 6 o'clock positions) which are exactly where the screws are on the telescope side of the filter which holds them in place. There's probably some light leakage around the edges which is causing this, so a kind user on here has happily created some 3D printed masks (similar to these ZWO filter masks) which could cover the edge of the filter to hopefully minimise or prevent these artifacts altogether so I'll try again once I've received and installed them.

After my imaging session, I took some flats on my FLT120 with the SHO filters and compared to my RedCat51. I generated these flats using an LED video panel and NINA flat assistant. I set the telescope to zenith and placed 8 layers of white cotton t-shirt (i.e. t-shirt folded in half twice) over the dew shield of the telscope and secured in place with a rubber band. I then placed the panel over the t-shirt and ensured it was well centred. I set the colour temperature at 5600K (e.g. white) and brightness to 1% (in daytime you can barely tell it's on, at night it's quite bright!). Within NINA, I asked for about 46% of histogram (30,000 ADU) and allowed a tolerance of 1%. I then captured 10 of these flats and calibrated with the master bias frame (100 x 0.001s captures).

Below, you will see the master flats for RedCat51 (left) and FLT120 (right). Please note, these are screenshots and not saved images :) They don't look too different and you can see the same types of characteristics. There's less dust in the FLT images so I'm glad my pre-clean session went well!

SII Flats

1447791562_RedcatandFLT120SIIflats.thumb.PNG.82f236a03600927d7fde02a6c536b3e7.PNG

 

H-Alpha Flats

1102318852_RedcatandFLT120Hflats.thumb.PNG.923d0f4ac9957f812a254ee12913e397.PNG

 

OIII Flats

2052527172_RedcatandFLT120OIIIflats.thumb.PNG.059edd2df65baf2222dfa561edc3d70c.PNG

 

During my imaging session, I took 300s subs with each filter using Readout mode #1, Gain 56 and 25 offset. Temperature was set to -5C. I managed to get 8 subs for each filter before running out of darkness, so thats 40 minutes total time per filter. Below is an example of one sub from each filter, with the left showing the raw subs and the right image showing the calibrated sub (bias and dark frames). Underneath each image is then the master Light comprising all 8 subs. I'm absolutely blown away by the quality of these images! Coming from the brilliant ASI533 I wasn't expecting such a huge increase in quality. All this with 40 minutes from my Bortle 5 backyard!

Now I just need to resolve the back focus issue and I think I'm good to go!

 

SII

761879682_SIIrawvscalibrated.thumb.PNG.77f6c6ec63bfedbf3e70c7b063111077.PNG

1846430051_MasterSII.thumb.PNG.c83ff3c2ce1dea1e20c433dfdadd9ea6.PNG

H-Alpha

1659766830_Hrawvscalibrated.thumb.PNG.e3ec054428e1dcf33c34b5f9484b66f4.PNG

1700068432_MasterH.thumb.PNG.a56ec51dd2af106204cdcb24a9418836.PNG

OIII

1331589439_OIIIrawvscalibrated.thumb.PNG.f0ce69b14dc1d6a13c2359600ca11ad4.PNG

2016413656_MasterOIII.thumb.PNG.82326503d7f2d2799550fe75821eb685.PNG

 

 

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Per my previous post on Sunday 10th July 2022, I acquired some 3D printed masks (big thanks to @jif001 for providing these!) to use with the QHYCFW3 filterwheel attached to my QHY268M. This would replace the felt pads securing the filter in place and ensure the edge of the filter is masked well to prevent reflections from the edge face of the filter. Below is the post showing the source of the filter masks.

The filter masks were installed per the below picture. I used the same screws as was used with the felt pads. Some of the masks had a little bit of warping so there is a little bit of "lifting" of the masks, but at least the edges have significantly more covering than before.

492378699__imageof3Dprintedmasks.thumb.jpg.9dfbe5ec324f7cccccea9f0e37d54ca4.jpg

 

With the 3D printed masks installed, I took some more flats this morning using the same approach as my previous post, then created master flats using my bias calibration file (note: no dark flats were used). It should be noted that previously I took n=10 flats when the felt pads were installed whereas I took n=5 flats with the 3D printed masks, purely to reduce the amount of files I'd be collecting. This was repeated for all LRGB-SHO filters. A side by side comparison is shown below.

With the LRGB filters, there doesn't look to be a huge difference. With the felt pads, perhaps there was too much light coming in through the sides which ended up with a saturated canvas, whereas the use of the masks shows the true vignetting.

With the SHO filters, there is a significant improvement in the quality of the flats. Shadowing from the three screws holding the filter in place on the telescope side of the filter are no longer visible which shows that the masks have done the job! I did notice a long stripe starting in the upper right corner of the SII and H-alpha filter, and a dark artifact in the lower right corners. Since it's the in exact same place for two filters, the source must be from the imaging train or the camera. With the SII, it looks almost like a smear, so I wonder if this is from the sensor window (perhaps QHY clean the sensor window prior to final assembly/packaging?).

Whilst my flats were correcting my subs OK per my previous post, I'm of the opinion to fix a problem at source wherever possible. Hope this is useful for others.

794077843__imageofflatacquisition.thumb.jpg.b0df6082fd34b60671c621fb1ac0d0e6.jpg

1359713344_Lfilter.thumb.png.e63085bdc76366bf68b96d532771e9b5.png1535861011_Rfilter.thumb.png.da04390e313f86bc2b242f275c918c7d.png2107917428_Gfilter.thumb.png.93b7c8dfd1998cc6713a39ea93811095.png154310835_Bfilter.thumb.png.5b1c633e80af9a8f45e5ef7b83a469c1.png959293282_SIIfilter.thumb.png.5c18be67edf18a52e8eac8f924cefef3.png43742780_Hafilter.thumb.png.956062aad39c569e816c72982e4903c9.png1440449155_OIIIfilter.thumb.png.66307363655dfbdd820f9aa8b499b311.png

Edited by Richard_
Kudos to jif for supplying filter masks
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  • 4 weeks later...

Oh boy, this sensor and camera are simply amazing! Having come from the already well behaved ASI533MC-Pro, I was maybe expecting the same quality of subs but in monochrome and with a larger Field of View. All I can say is that I'm blown away by the quality of the subs and how easy it is to calibrate and work with. A basic stack and screen stretch results in extremely clean images which look good enough without any processing, I can't wait to see how the final image turns out when I have more subs!

I've collected a number of subs on Sh2-171 using the setup in the post above. Filters are Antlia EDGE 4.5nm bandpath and are 36mm unmounted. I've attached some master light images from each filter which were taken over three different nights. All images were shot at Readout Mode #1, Gain=56 and Offset=25 with cooling set to -5C.

  • SII = 28 x 300s = 2hr 20min
  • H = 28 x 300s = 2hr 20min
  • OIII = 48 x 300s = 4hr

Master Lights were created using the Weighted Batch Pre-Processing v2.3.0 script in PixInsight using Master Bias and Master Dark calibration frames. Cosmetic Correction was applied to all subs using a hot pixel map from the Master Dark. Subs from three sessions were calibrated simulatenously (using the keyword grouping tool) and integrated together. All other settings were default or automatic (e.g. pixel interpolation and rejection algorithm). In terms of processing, I only applied an auto stretch so you can see the image in a non-linear state. I didn't use any gradient removal tools (e.g. Normalise Scale Gradient, Dynamic Background Extraction).

 

SII

270965530_Sh2-171SII2h20m.thumb.png.25f5dffe76c1a0ea66bc0bca1318671a.png

 

H-alpha

305387146_Sh2-171H-alpha2h20m.thumb.png.772a17a1e4ea807c0fc7d9052e0a6cf7.png

 

OIII

1821941004_Sh2-171OIII4h.thumb.png.937881c05c98308721d707766bdd2501.png

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1 hour ago, Richard_ said:

Oh boy, this sensor and camera are simply amazing! Having come from the already well behaved ASI533MC-Pro, I was maybe expecting the same quality of subs but in monochrome and with a larger Field of View. All I can say is that I'm blown away by the quality of the subs and how easy it is to calibrate and work with. A basic stack and screen stretch results in extremely clean images which look good enough without any processing, I can't wait to see how the final image turns out when I have more subs!

I've collected a number of subs on Sh2-171 using the setup in the post above. Filters are Antlia EDGE 4.5nm bandpath and are 36mm unmounted. I've attached some master light images from each filter which were taken over three different nights. All images were shot at Readout Mode #1, Gain=56 and Offset=25 with cooling set to -5C.

  • SII = 28 x 300s = 2hr 20min
  • H = 28 x 300s = 2hr 20min
  • OIII = 48 x 300s = 4hr

Master Lights were created using the Weighted Batch Pre-Processing v2.3.0 script in PixInsight using Master Bias and Master Dark calibration frames. Cosmetic Correction was applied to all subs using a hot pixel map from the Master Dark. Subs from three sessions were calibrated simulatenously (using the keyword grouping tool) and integrated together. All other settings were default or automatic (e.g. pixel interpolation and rejection algorithm). In terms of processing, I only applied an auto stretch so you can see the image in a non-linear state. I didn't use any gradient removal tools (e.g. Normalise Scale Gradient, Dynamic Background Extraction).

 

SII

270965530_Sh2-171SII2h20m.thumb.png.25f5dffe76c1a0ea66bc0bca1318671a.png

 

H-alpha

305387146_Sh2-171H-alpha2h20m.thumb.png.772a17a1e4ea807c0fc7d9052e0a6cf7.png

 

OIII

1821941004_Sh2-171OIII4h.thumb.png.937881c05c98308721d707766bdd2501.png

Superb….👍🏼
try Darks as you have but Dark Flats instead of bias frames, as this seems to work better with these cameras, also about 4-5 second flats and dark flats, is optimum…

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11 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

Superb….👍🏼
try Darks as you have but Dark Flats instead of bias frames, as this seems to work better with these cameras, also about 4-5 second flats and dark flats, is optimum…

Thanks Stuart! Yeah this is the strange thing, I used to calibrate my ASI533 flat frames with dark flats as I just couldn't get it to work properly with bias frames. Strangely enough I don't seem to have that problem with this sensor, which is awesome as it saves me clogging up disk space with dark flats. With each of my SHO filters my flat exposure times are between 6s and 10s which is perfect. I've not tried LRGB yet so maybe they'll need to be treated differently as I'm expecting the exposure time of my flats to be much shorter than narrowband. 

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32 minutes ago, Richard_ said:

Thanks Stuart! Yeah this is the strange thing, I used to calibrate my ASI533 flat frames with dark flats as I just couldn't get it to work properly with bias frames. Strangely enough I don't seem to have that problem with this sensor, which is awesome as it saves me clogging up disk space with dark flats. With each of my SHO filters my flat exposure times are between 6s and 10s which is perfect. I've not tried LRGB yet so maybe they'll need to be treated differently as I'm expecting the exposure time of my flats to be much shorter than narrowband. 

I have heard, that if you have dark flats less than 4 seconds, pixinsight and WBPP does not like them, just an FYI

Many do use bias, but I have heard many recommend dark flats instead… 

I use 4 second flats, as I can set the brightness of my panel to give 4 seconds, it’s one of the deep sky dad, motorised panels that’s fixed to the end of the scope, it’s really superb

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11 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

I have heard, that if you have dark flats less than 4 seconds, pixinsight and WBPP does not like them, just an FYI

Many do use bias, but I have heard many recommend dark flats instead… 

I use 4 second flats, as I can set the brightness of my panel to give 4 seconds, it’s one of the deep sky dad, motorised panels that’s fixed to the end of the scope, it’s really superb

Thanks Stuart, I'll keep that in mind about PI and dark flat exposure length. 

Nice, I've seen those flat panels and they do look awesome. I don't use a fancy flat panel, I've got a battery powered video LED panel. I set the brightness to minimum level (1% lol) and use four layers of white t-shirt, so I'm doing the best I can to reduce the brightness.

In NINA I can see there's an option to shoot flats as "dynamic brightness" which I'm guessing is how you do yours? 

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8 hours ago, Stuart1971 said:

I have heard, that if you have dark flats less than 4 seconds, pixinsight and WBPP does not like them, just an FYI

Where have you heard that Stuart as I think that's a new one to me? The majority of my LRGBSHO flats/flat darks are under 4 seconds and as far as I can tell they're ok and I get no reported issues but if I need to do something different it would be good to know......

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2 hours ago, scotty38 said:

Where have you heard that Stuart as I think that's a new one to me? The majority of my LRGBSHO flats/flat darks are under 4 seconds and as far as I can tell they're ok and I get no reported issues but if I need to do something different it would be good to know......

A few guys on the Pixinsight FB group told me the same thing, but maybe it’s just personal choice, but mine are 5 seconds long anyway, if it works then all good, was just passing on some advice I was given, I am new to PI…👍🏼

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10 hours ago, Richard_ said:

Thanks Stuart, I'll keep that in mind about PI and dark flat exposure length. 

Nice, I've seen those flat panels and they do look awesome. I don't use a fancy flat panel, I've got a battery powered video LED panel. I set the brightness to minimum level (1% lol) and use four layers of white t-shirt, so I'm doing the best I can to reduce the brightness.

In NINA I can see there's an option to shoot flats as "dynamic brightness" which I'm guessing is how you do yours? 

Yes, Dynamic brightness, that was the phrase I was looking for…..😂😂

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24 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

A few guys on the Pixinsight FB group told me the same thing, but maybe it’s just personal choice, but mine are 5 seconds long anyway, if it works then all good, was just passing on some advice I was given, I am new to PI…👍🏼

Ok thanks, I can sort of see how it could be a problem for a sensor if it's not of a suitable length to calibrate correctly, indeed for my 294m I have to be careful, but other than that I cannot imagine why PI itself would care if you see what I mean.

Is the issue not with PI as such but rather one of ensuring that proper calibration is able to take place? I'm just wondering if the reasoning for longer flats to address some "quirky" sensors has grown arms and legs and has now even morphed into becoming a PI problem 🙂 🙂

All that aside the sensor that's the subject of this thread is far from quirky and should not need any special treatment whatsoever......

Edited by scotty38
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23 minutes ago, scotty38 said:

Ok thanks, I can sort of see how it could be a problem for a sensor if it's not of a suitable length to calibrate correctly, indeed for my 294m I have to be careful, but other than that I cannot imagine why PI itself would care if you see what I mean.

Is the issue not with PI as such but rather one of ensuring that proper calibration is able to take place? I'm just wondering if the reasoning for longer flats to address some "quirky" sensors has grown arms and legs and has now even morphed into becoming a PI problem 🙂 🙂

All that aside the sensor that's the subject of this thread is far from quirky and should not need any special treatment whatsoever......

it may well be, but I was just told by more than one person to make sure the dark flats and flats were at least 4 seconds, I just took them at there word, and assumed, rightly or wrongly, that they knew what they were talking about..but will ask the question again and see, I will let you know…👍🏼

Changing the subject, what is the distance from the sensor to front of the camera on the 268m..? looking at getting the mono version to go with my OSC, but want to check on fitting in my train…

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34 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

it may well be, but I was just told by more than one person to make sure the dark flats and flats were at least 4 seconds, I just took them at there word, and assumed, rightly or wrongly, that they knew what they were talking about..but will ask the question again and see, I will let you know…👍🏼

Changing the subject, what is the distance from the sensor to front of the camera on the 268m..? looking at getting the mono version to go with my OSC, but want to check on fitting in my train…

If using the QHY268M with the QHYCFW3 then the back focus of the sensor is 12.5mm. If using a different brand filter wheel, it is 14.5mm. This is different to the QHY268C so take that into account with your image train. 

See the bottom of the Specification table on QHY's website below:

https://www.qhyccd.com/qhy268ph-m-c/

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  • 3 weeks later...

For owners of the QHY268c, here is a crude but effective method to adjust tilt on the camera. I usually rely on adjusting the three screws  on the camera ‘wedge’ but after 90 minutes of backwards and forwards from laptop to camera,  I thought there must be an easier way. The tilt was all on one side on the short side of the sensor, so maybe a semi-circular shim of the correct thickness placed under the ridge of the adapter on the appropriate side would work. The only material lying around that would do the job was clear acetate, so I cut out two shims of 0.06mm and 0.3mm thickness. I put the thicker shim in first, but the tilt was worse, so I swapped it to the other side of the holder and voila! the tilt was almost eliminated, see before and after cropped images. The camera is held in place by the lateral screws, so hopefully by not being under great compression the shim material will not flow too much and the tilt will not return, but time will tell.

Not the most precise and elegantly engineered solution I’ll grant you, but cheap and quick, and reduces my embarrassment somewhat when folks pixel peep my RASA images.

D8A42330-59D6-4247-87F4-022FFCD8B0A8.thumb.jpeg.80c369f951167bfc50c470a198d4b07e.jpeg
6D97FB42-BE3F-40EE-B792-82D52802FBC7.thumb.jpeg.c58b925ce0a655f9b16bb7251995c484.jpeg

C779A5AC-8334-45CE-9FFE-63D355FE7E6A.jpeg.6565de3c10190fa61f7128e4d26a42dd.jpeg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi @teoria_del_big_bang@Richard_@tomato and others on this thread.  My QHY268M arrived today with the CFW3 filter wheel.  I have spent a somewhat frustrating day wrestling with the QHY drivers.  I have in particular struggled to get SGPro to recognise the camera. I then had a problem with SGPro persistently crashing after failing to download frames and giving nonsense temperature readings for the camera.   I have finally managed to get SGPro and the camera and filter wheel talking to each other consistently after multiple driver reinstallations.  The temperature readings for the camera make sense and SGPro is downloading fames.  The only difficulty is that the frames downloaded by SGPro look like this and variations of this (and in Nebulosity the frames are the same):

SGPro:

SGPro.jpeg.0c0e5885810fbe1d0b924bfa208d4739.jpeg

And Nebulosity:

Nebulosity.jpeg.29ba53277b8a697dea24f6a427e27f2e.jpeg

Any ideas?  I wonder if it is a data transfer issue as my USB3 to the camera at present goes through my Pegasus PBA as the set-up is remote controlled.   I have upped the USB Traffic setting in the driver window to 50 but this did not help. Any ideas grateful received.

AMcD

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Looks like a comms  issue to me, have you tried connecting the camera directly to a pc with a short usb lead? It works fine on usb 2.0 with downloads of about 2s. The other thing you could try is using the QHY app, very basic but it might reveal something if the images are ok. I received mine in June and didn’t have any problems with driver installation.

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17 minutes ago, Rob_Jn said:

Looks like a comms  issue to me, have you tried connecting the camera directly to a pc with a short usb lead? It works fine on usb 2.0 with downloads of about 2s. The other thing you could try is using the QHY app, very basic but it might reveal something if the images are ok. I received mine in June and didn’t have any problems with driver installation.

Many thanks @Rob_Jn.  I have just finished trying it with a direct connection to the computer and it works fine!  Should have tried that before posting 😃  It looks like the Pegasus PBA USB hub is corrupting the communication as I have plugged it into the PC with a relatively long USB3 cable.

Many thanks for your help, I am most grateful.

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