Can you get by without a cooled astro-camera if you shoot in cold temperatures?

[gorann]

6 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

Do you subtract a master bias or something equivalent from the light subs?  

No, right now I use my cameras on my triple rig with two RASA 8 and a Samyang 135, and there I do not even need flats since the acute light cone of these f/2 scopes does not show dust bunnies. And the slight vignetting is easily taken care of in processing (Gradient XTerminator or DBE). On an ordinary refractor I would probably have to use flats, but I would not worry about any other calibration frames (darks or bias) for these cameras. I think others are experiencing the same thing: that darks and bias are remnants from the CCD era, but I am sure some will scream "I object"😁

Edited November 2, 2022 by gorann

[Ouroboros]

@gorann well, not having to bother with flats and dark would certainly reduce the time it takes to preprocess.  I don’t use bias because I use a master dark. The bias is in the dark anyway. I do use flats (and dark flats) with my ED80 - because I can see dust bunnies - and flats do get rid of  gradient caused by vignetting.

I suppose I really ought to run tests with and without darks and flats.  I guess it’s only necessary to test using 10 or so lights. And then use the various image analysis scripts to look at the statistics. 

[Dark Raven]

There is a mid-way between cooled and uncooled AP cameras. One could use uncooled back illuminated AP camera like ZWO ASI533MM/MC and combine it with Smartphone cooler. Main reason I use it is weight optimisation. I am a mobile imager and I have to travel to dark sites without any access to AC. Having all my gear in backpack limits the weight I can carry. This is of course a compromise, as you can't exactly reproduce the same temperature in order to take advantage of dark libraries, but you still get somewhat cooled sensor.

For now, I get by with 2.4 kg LiFePO4 12 V 18 Ah Battery. Using dedicated cooled AP camera would drastically increase power requirements and subsequently battery weight. Some tests and results are here on forum. In short, you will not be near dedicated AP cameras and 36W cooling but you could get up to -10 'C compared to ambient.
It can get your camera nice and frosty.

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Dark Raven

[gorann]

sorry, wrong post

Edited November 5, 2022 by gorann