Time to get things back on track...

[Euan]

My season went off the rails with all the snow in December. It was impossible to open the obs and I gave it a break for a while. When I got everything back up and running in January I noticed something wrong with the 383L+. it turned out the corner of the CCD was cracked

Thanks to fantastic service from Atik, I now have a brand new CCD camera

Over this time I've been trying to deal with focus issues between different filters. I've upgraded the helical focuser on the 77ED to the dual speed feathertouch, and added motor focusing. Time to get things back on track before I start to run out of darkness

[Ad Astra]

Hello Euan!

Looks like a really nice kit you have there! Nice to hear that the folks at ATIK took care of you as well.

Just curious, how short do the nights get that far north in Scotland?

Dan

[collangm]

That's good to hear that your CCD issues were sorted so promptly. It's heart-warming to hear of a company giving good customer service, sadly something few and far between these days!

Out of interest, how old was the 383L+?

Gary

[Euan]

Just curious, how short do the nights get that far north in Scotland?

For about 4 months in the Summer it's not worth even thinking about using my gear. I usually use this time to make upgrades to the kit and automation. Last year I did the EQ6 hypertune

Out of interest, how old was the 383L+?

They are great CCD cameras, especially given the price. I had the first version QHY8 before this and it gave me a lot of problems, although to QHY's credit they seem to have got over a lot of those early design issues. With the experience I've had so far with Atik I wouldn't be switching back even if I was ever tempted by price.

Overall I can't speak highly enough of the 383L+ and especially the support from Atik which is excellent.