Sell my ASI 290mc?

[Zuts]

Hi,

I have a ASI 290MC and a ASI 1600MMC Pro. I have been taking some planetary images with the 290, however since the 1600 can take at least 30fps using ROI can anyone think of a reason for keeping the 290 as it seems I can use the 1600 for both planetary and DSO.

Also since the sensor is bigger it is easier to find and frame a planet when using barlows.

I could sell the 290 and get a mono camera which would be more sensitive for guiding.

Also does anyone know what frame rates are possible using the 1600 with various ROI's using USB 2 as at the moment I only have a USB2 powered hub.

Cheers
Paul

[glend (Glen)]

The 1600 is a USB3 camera, and works best cabled directly to your laptop and plugged into an USB3 port there. If an extension cable is required it should be a USB3 Active (powered) cable.

[Atmos (Colin)]

I agree with Glen, I have a USB 3/2 hub that I use for everything other than the camera.

[Marke (Mark)]

Only issue is the 1600 is too slow to be really effective for planets an ASI224 for instance captures Jupiter at 150fps on my scope and Saturn around 100fps . I have a 1600 as well but its no where near fast enough to be serious.

[Zuts]

Originally Posted by glend

The 1600 is a USB3 camera, and works best cabled directly to your laptop and plugged into an USB3 port there. If an extension cable is required it should be a USB3 Active (powered) cable.

Originally Posted by Atmos

I agree with Glen, I have a USB 3/2 hub that I use for everything other than the camera.

Thanks for the advice guys. Still can you think of a good reason why I should keep the ASI 290 as the ASI 1600 appears to be fine for planetary? The 290 OSC could be sold for a mono guider.

Cheers
Paul

[Zuts]

Originally Posted by Marke

Only issue is the 1600 is too slow to be really effective for planets an ASI224 for instance captures Jupiter at 150fps on my scope and Saturn around 100fps . I have a 1600 as well but its no where near fast enough to be serious.

Thanks for that. Does seeing change that fast during lucky imaging that 150 fps is neccessary? Thats around 8ms for each seeing change? Admittedly during a second of good seeing you would get more good frames but wouldn't 30 fps be enough?

Of course I can try my 1600 for planetary but since my imaging skills are not great I don't want to steer myself down the wrong path with a decision just based on my own skills!

Cheers
Paul

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

Hmmm
When I looked at various ZWO cameras for solar imaging - ASI 183 etc I found the frames rates when using a ROI very fast!!!
I'm in the process of changing over from the ASI183 (technical issues when using narrowband solar) to an ASI 1600 and anticipate being able to achieve high frames rates on the spectroheliograph.
(I can get >400 fps with the ASI 174 when applying ROI. I use FireCapture)
https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/product/asi1600mm

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

While not the same brand it is the same chip I can get 110-180fps on ROI on the qhy163... USB 3 is a must tho

[Jeff]

Just looked at the ASI-1600 manual (page 13).
Using a USB3 cable (and preferably writing to an SSD drive) should give you the following FPS when saving as 8-bit raws:

@ 10bit ADC Mode
640x480 125.7fps
320x240 192.4fps

@ 12bit ADC Mode
640x480 80.4fps
320x240 124.4fps

When capturing Jupiter with an ASI-094, I just set an ROI to 296x296 and exposures to 8 or 10 msec. With a C9.25 and 8 msec, you should be able to use a Gain ~300 and get an actual frame rate of at least 100 FPS.

So if you already have another guide camera for DSO imaging, I'd probably swap your 290mc for some cash.

[Zuts]

Hi,

Well i think everyone has answered my question. Apart from pixel size and scope compatibility an ASI 1600 is fine for planetary and I can sell my Asi 290.

Now I have another question. Do you really need 100 plus fps. Does seeing change that quickly?

Cheers
Paul

[Jeff]

It sure does … unless seeing conditions are extremely good.
Especially with longer focal length, where the image tends to dance more.

High frame rates (with enough pixel sensitivity to get a decent histogram) gives much better image detail. I can recall testing from ~10fps, 30fps, 60fps, and 100fps (with corresponding camera gain settings).

The 100fps versions gave "crisper" looking frames generally, plus more good ones within a reasonable capture period.

Enjoy!

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

I can only talk about my solar imaging experience, and say yes....faster frame rates have the potential to freeze those moments of better seeing... better seeing gives better images.

[andyc (Andy)]

My framerates are roughly 40 fps for Saturn, 70fps for Jupiter, 100fps for Mars just now. While I'm not sure that >100 is 'essential' (though why not if you have good image quality at your chosen image scale/gain/focal length combination and your usb can handle the bitrate), a significant increase on 30 is highly desirable. Mostly, you can push the gain a bit and shorten exposures and then get sharper images. I'd love to increase my Saturn framerates, but at my image scale it's not feasible (could do with a 1.5x Barlow!)