Change to LRGB

[johnnyt123 (John)]

Hi guys.

For the past few years I have been saving all my shrapnel in a piggy bank.
The time has come to cash it in and turns out I had saved close to $3500.
So my plan is to invest in an Mono CCD for LRGB astro photography.

I am posting this to start getting idea and suggestions as to which would be the best buy for around the $3500 mark.
Sbig, FLI, Atic...etc. I don't know anything about mono ccd cameras.


Thanks.
John.

[JohnH]

Are you needing to include filters and a filter wheel in that budget or will you add those later? Do you want to do NB as well? Should we assume this is for use with the CPC 925?

[johnnyt123 (John)]

The $3500 excludes the filterwheel and the filters.

But i understand that there are come that come with a built in filter wheel.
for the time being i will be using it with the Megrez 110mm ED doublet. I dont have an EQ wedge so i cant use an autiguider and hence am not able to use the CPC 925 for astrophotography.

And i am not sure what you meant by NB John. sorry. still not familliar with all this astro jargon.

John

[JohnH]

NB = Narrowband - most commonly Hydrogen Alpha, Oxygen iii and Sulphur ii filters are used to great effect.

See: http://www.narrowbandimaging.com/home_page.htm

The narrow bandpass gives great contrast and detail - makes you immune to light pollution and even lets you do AP under the full moon. Downsides are only really good for nebulae, colours are false (though you can use blending to get a natural look) and it makes your exposure times longer...

The reason I asked is to understand how many filters you might need to load in the filterwheel (it is a pain to have to swap filters depending on conditions/target).

The QHY range would seem a good match to your budget the 9 perhaps (you might get the filters and wheel inside the budget also if you go that way) - but any of the mono 8300 sensor based cameras should be worth a look.

[johnnyt123 (John)]

Yes narrow band for sure.

I have been looking for 7 position filter wheel for LRGB, Ha, OIII ans SII for a while now. But no one in IIS has put one for sale yet.

I have been looking at
Sbig st8300m
Apogee alta f8300
Qhy 9

Would you suggest any others?

[jase (Jason)]

My recommendation is to go with SBIG. Self guide is best if you're just starting out (or for that matter any time you want to simplify the imaging train). Takes away significant pain and heartache. The 8300 should be a good combo on the Megrez delivering 1.7 arcsec/pixel. Prepare for the learning curve.

[stanlite (Grady)]

I recently purchased a mono setup from Theo (QHY) the QHY9 comes with a 5 position 2" filter wheel for 2500 overnight delivery. I have decided to change out the filterwheel to a 36mm 7 position starlight xpress filter wheel because it has a greater range of filters and runs from USB so only one chord.

I had a quick look at prices to make it OAG too

$2450 + $50 for QHY9
$473 for the 7 position SX filterwheel
$377 for a Baader 36mm unmounted filter set LRGB
$85 delivery for the last two items from teleskop express in germany

Total $ 3435
This gives you the option of ugrading easily to a OAG in the future if you like and also allows you to add the 3 Narrowband filters at a later date to your setup.

Another idea might be to invest in a OSC (one shot Color) CCD so you can build up experience first. I know I am glad I did (even if the CCD at the moment it is experiencing a mid life crisis).

[johnnyt123 (John)]

Hi jase.
Yeah I have been thinking of the sbig Stf-8300 with Autoguider.
But my attention has recently been drawn to Starlight Xpress SXVR-H814 Monochrome CCD.

Stanlite. That is a great setup. Definitely worth considering.

What are your thoughts on the Starlight Xpress SXVR-H814 Monochrome CCD guys?

[johnnyt123 (John)]

Hi guys


I am leaning towards the following packages:
SXVR-H18-FW-OAG
http://www.sirius-optics.com.au/starlight_ccd_image.htm

QSI 683wsg-8 8.3mp Cooled CCD Camera w/8-pos filter wheel and Integrated Guider Port
http://store.qsimaging.com/ProductDe...ctCode=683ws-8

STF-8300M Pro Plus Package w/ Mono ST-i
https://www.sbig.com/products/cameras/stf/stf-8300m/

The starlight express is the cheapest package. If only there was a way around having to pay customs duty and taxes if I purchase the qsi or sbig from overseas I would buy the qsi package.

Which of the above 3 do you think is the best?

[Paul Haese]

If you can put a few more dollars into it, you should consider the QSI range of cameras. The current 583 series are affordable.

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

Having gone through the same process as you I went for the QSI and it have had no regrets. I think the QSI has the closest distance from the chip to the filterwheel - although I'd check to see if the specs have changed. This meant I could save some money and use 1.25" filters with minimal vignetting.
You will need a separate guide camera - I use the dmk41 from my solar imaging setup, and if you haven't already, make sure you've factored in the cost of filters.
Cheers
Andrew

[johnnyt123 (John)]

I feel like the QSI 683wsg-8 8.3mp Cooled CCD Camera w/8-pos filter wheel and Integrated Guider Port is what I am leaning towards.

Now I just have to find somewhere to buy them from. Can anyone give any suggestions? It's a shame Bintel have a monopoly in Australia selling QSI products. They charge one hell of a premium!!!

Does anyone know if you can get a 2 inch 7 position filter wheel with any of these QSI cameras?

John.

[stanlite (Grady)]

you can buy direct from QSI i believe via there webiste. The bintel price is actually pretty good once you look into it a bit more (as i did beiefly)

The QSI 683 wsg is $3790 US on the website and $5299 from bintel.

the current exchange rate is 89.1 cents (this is what the bank will give you not the reported rate which is 92cents) so that $3790 becomes

$4253, then add on GST of 10% it becomes $4680 then add on the shipping options offered by QSI which i found out was $315 USD this is $355AU

so that is now $4680 + 355 = $5035 so bintel is only marking up 5.24% and with the shipping direct you get no local support or warrenty (there is a QSI warrenty but you have to ship back to them. add on to this the cost of filters which QSI will do also at $279 for 1.25" astronmiks which is $313 gives you a package of

AU$5350 from QSI (with filters fitted)
or
AU$5638 from Bintel (if you fit your own filters)

[johnnyt123 (John)]

Grady

you got me thinking now......might just buy it from Bintel....

just gotta save up a bit more...

Was hoping to buy a mono CCD camera and also he Canon 60Da, but seems now will only be getting a CCD camera..

John

[johnnyt123 (John)]

Is it better to get The filter wheel with mounted of uncounted filters.
What's the difference in the final image produced?

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

QSI will fit the filters in their clean room for a fee- is this what you mean? Alternatively, some of the larger filters come without the threaded surround and mounted on the filterwheel differently.
Cheers,
Andrew.

[johnnyt123 (John)]

I mean by the filters that come without the threaded surround and are just the glass on their own Vs the ones that have the threaded surround and can be screwed into position

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

Right - I think the answer depends on the filterwheel and camera combination. I don't see a great deal of vignetting caused by mounted 1.25" filters in the QSI. Certainly nothing that isn't fixable using flat frames. I'm using it on relatively fast systems, f4.5 and f5.
Cheers,
Andrew.

[johnnyt123 (John)]

I see. so i assume that unmounted filters have less vignetting.
I wonder why QSI charge more for them and consider it an "upgrade" when choosing that filter wheel option

[stanlite (Grady)]

While there is not much difference between the mounted and unmounted filters fro a size perspective 31.25mm for mounted and 31mm for unmounted the unmounted filters are able to be used down to f2.5 ratio i believe (it is stated on the QSI website). where as the mounted filters only down to f4, i am not 100% sure but i am fairly confident this is because the mounted filters end up slightly further away from the CCD sensor (only a few mm) but this is enough to limit the F range of the Camera before vignetting occurs.

The unmounted filters can be closer to the CCD surface and therefore can be used on faster telescope systems. As to why they are more expensive, i can t say maybe more workmanship in installing them carefully is needed?