[PRejto (Peter)]

I'm imaging with two scopes on one mount. A TEC180 for luminance and a TEC140 for color. Automating is proving very vexing and I'm ready to try simplifying. Eliminating a FW and lots of re-focusing will certainly help. Thus, the idea of replacing my mono camera (Trius) on the TEC140 is gaining some traction.

Currently my setup yields the following:

TEC180/KAF8300 CCD: .88 arc-sec resolution FOV: 37 x 49.4

TEC140/Trius .95 arc-sec FOV: 35 x 43.7

The resolutions and FOV are similar so combining goes well. I do, however, not especially like having a smaller FOV for colour.

Here is what I'm considering, though open to suggestions (please):

ICX815 (ATIK490 or Trius 814c) .78 arc-sec FOV: 35 x 43.7

ICX613 (QHY12) 1.08 arc-sec FOV: 56.7 x 83.2

The QHY appeals with larger pix and well depth (5.12 microns, 32,000 well) vs the ICX815 (3.69 microns, 15,000 well). But the ICX613 is noisier at 8-10e- vs the ICX613 5 e-.

Then there is the QE to consider where the ICX815 seems lots better. The one factor possibly in the ICX613's favor might be the bit of blue issue and the TEC140. My Trius sometimes reveals a problem where the ICX613 might act a bit more like a KAF type chip.

Anyway, I'm not ready to spring on either camera and would appreciate any that I might have missed. I have looked at the QHY10 as a possibility (1.27 arc-sec resolution and a large FOC: 57.2 x 83.6). I Think I would prefer to have the higher resolution of the QHY12.

Any feedback much appreciated!

Peter

EDIT: I just heard about the SBIG STF8050SC. It would give me 1.16 arc-sec resolution and FOV 48.1 x 64. I can't find out very much about this camera but seems to perform a lot like a KAF8300.