Are Starlight Xpress dead in the water?

[newbie alert]

1 hour ago, Richard Wesson said:

You appear to be reacting as if you have been personally attacked and are becoming overly aggressive and rude. This forum is not the place - the rest of the discussion, including Adam has been quite civilised. 

Depends how you see it.. if you want to see it like that then it's not my problem

I don't see the relevance of the post other than to cause damage to SX.. somehow ( Adam) sees it that if he titles it "Are starlight xpress dead in the water" they're going to make him a camera with a 533m chip.. why doesn't he just buy a 533m for qhy or zwo, it's like asking zwo to make a CCD, but not directly,  but via a forum.. like he's having some sort of influence by insulting them

Sorry that you see it from that side of the fence

[Stu]

@newbie alert, if you cannot respond pleasantly on the thread, please don’t comment further. Thank you.

[DaveS]

Given that Steve has implied that SX are working on a new range of cameras (Hooray!) this is what I might hope / expect to see:

IMX 533. Possibly, though I suspect the margins might be small. The sensor would fit into the current Trius 694 sized body, though I would hope / expect USB 3 connection.

IMX 571. Almost certainly, given that everyone and his brother have cameras based on this. Would fit into a Trius 26C body, with the comments above.

IMX 455. Ditto, and would fit into a SX 35 body.

Bigger than that, and things become much more uncertain.

IMX 461, Possibly given that both QHY and ZWO have cameras based on this sensor. In any case it wouldn't be cheap, and would likely need a new body, though the Trius 56 might be big enough.

IMX 411. Very unlikely. QHY have a camera based on this sensor and it's crazy expensive.

GeSense 4040. Could be a possibility. FLI and QHY have cameras based around this sensor in various forms, sort of a modern SCMOS take on the ancient KAF 16803, and would be a fit for the SX56 body.

 

Now waiting to get shot down.

 

In any case SX don't do cheap, so expect sapphire windows and dry argon filling. We're not looking at ToupTek / Risingcam prices.

Edited August 21, 2022 by DaveS
KAF, not KAI plus added comment.

[saac]

You know what, I would love SX to make something akin to the ASiAir. I know they won't, it's not the type of thing that is in their product line, but I would like to see some competition in the market,  especially from a UK company. The ASiAir is a really great product but it does lock the user into ZWO products.  I'm a proud owner of one SX camera, bought second hand, and I would love to own a new one in the future. 

Jim 

[Phillyo]

On 18/08/2022 at 19:29, newbie alert said:

Not too sure on why that's any concern of you..

Why don't you just let them get on with development of there next generation cameras, they're not the high volume mass production market, zwo have that pretty much cornered

Starlight xpress, atik, QSI, Sbig, FlI all have low volume high quality end sorted

If you want to support a UK based camera manufacturer then buy one of their cameras.. simples..

No it's not a CCD/ CMOS debate, but which came first.. the chicken or the egg...

The egg came first  

[Adam J]

7 hours ago, saac said:

You know what, I would love SX to make something akin to the ASiAir. I know they won't, it's not the type of thing that is in their product line, but I would like to see some competition in the market,  especially from a UK company. The ASiAir is a really great product but it does lock the user into ZWO products.  I'm a proud owner of one SX camera, bought second hand, and I would love to own a new one in the future. 

Jim 

The product that will replace the ASI air will be the ASI air but not locked to anyones products. It will eventually force ZWO to also open up the ASI air, but until then I dont see much benefit in SX falling into the same trap.

[newbie alert]

1 hour ago, Phillyo said:

The egg came first  

And it came from?

[newbie alert]

8 hours ago, saac said:

You know what, I would love SX to make something akin to the ASiAir. I know they won't, it's not the type of thing that is in their product line, but I would like to see some competition in the market,  especially from a UK company. The ASiAir is a really great product but it does lock the user into ZWO products.  I'm a proud owner of one SX camera, bought second hand, and I would love to own a new one in the future. 

Jim 

Hi Jim, the air is essentially a raspberry pi with zwo software already installed..

Not sure if they still run them but Atik did a similar thing a few years back..  It won't be in a similar price bracket thou

[saac]

2 minutes ago, newbie alert said:

Hi Jim, the air is essentially a raspberry pi with zwo software already installed..

Not sure if they still run them but Atik did a similar thing a few years back..  It won't be in a similar price bracket thou

Yep it runs on a  Rassi Pi but it is the software and particularly the interface which has made it what it is.  I honestly think it is one of the best pieces of ASTRO kit available at the moment - it just works. I do hope SWO eventually  open it  up. 

Jim 

[newbie alert]

7 minutes ago, saac said:

Yep it runs on a  Rassi Pi but it is the software and particularly the interface which has made it what it is.  I honestly think it is one of the best pieces of ASTRO kit available at the moment - it just works. I do hope SWO eventually  open it  up. 

Jim 

Atik version is called atik base

https://www.atik-cameras.com/product/atik-base/

[saac]

3 minutes ago, newbie alert said:

Atik version is called atik base

https://www.atik-cameras.com/product/atik-base/

Thanks for that I wasn't aware ATIK produced it. StellareMate I guess is also an alternative. 

Jim 

[Phillyo]

8 hours ago, newbie alert said:

And it came from?

Dinosaur 🦕 

[newbie alert]

8 hours ago, saac said:

Thanks for that I wasn't aware ATIK produced it. StellareMate I guess is also an alternative. 

Jim 

Stellarmate, astroberry as alternatives

[BlueAstra]

I’d just like to say that I have owned starlight xpress cameras for many years and have been very pleased with them. On the odd occasion that I have needed some service I have received exemplary service and advice from the company. I currently own a SXVH16, SXVH18, SXVM25C and an SX Lodestar, with my rig currently using the 16 and the lodestar. I would have no hesitation in buying new cameras from the company, and I hope they have a long and successful future supported by the UK astronomy community.

[Adam J]

1 hour ago, BlueAstra said:

I’d just like to say that I have owned starlight xpress cameras for many years and have been very pleased with them. On the odd occasion that I have needed some service I have received exemplary service and advice from the company. I currently own a SXVH16, SXVH18, SXVM25C and an SX Lodestar, with my rig currently using the 16 and the lodestar. I would have no hesitation in buying new cameras from the company, and I hope they have a long and successful future supported by the UK astronomy community.

I hope so too, I just recognise that they need new cameras for that to come about.