New Toy has finally arrived

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

My new QSI683ws-8 arrived this morning so I wasn't hanging around the office for a chat this afternoon. I've installed the drivers, got the LRGB Ha, OIII and SII filters installed in the wheel and fired it up - all working nicely. I'm planning to use Neb 3 to drive it and was pleased to see it caters for an 8 position wheel and you can name the filter positions. The camera is quite a bit heavier than the QHY8 and I'm picking up a rolled aluminium plate to stiffen up the focuser area tomorrow.

I plan to spend the weekend taking darks.

Sorry about the weather SE QLD

[allan gould]

Way to go Peter. I figure another 2-3 weeks of rain should see you out unless you sacrifice a virgin or two.

[RickS (Rick)]

Hope you have fun with it, Peter. New toys are always good

I received a STL11K a couple of days ago and I'm finishing up the bias and dark frame library tonight. Sounds like we'll need to sacrifice more than a couple of virgins to avoid a lengthy deluge...

[allan gould]

Well my new Moonlight stepper motor was delivered today, a works perfectly with the sharpsky controller. It must be going to deluge in Brisbane at least for us three.

[RickS (Rick)]

I'm predicting waterspouts and a rain of frogs and salamander.

[DavidTrap (David)]

Geez Men!!!!!

There was a hint of a letup in the rain this weekend - I was thinking of calibrating some focus curves for the Robofocus I have recently installed on my VC200L, and maybe even getting some NB data from the backyard.

Very envious of your 8 position filter wheel, cooling and download speed Peter - enjoy! (Unfortunately, I'll be swapping NB filters in and out of my camera) Hopefully I'll catch up with you one day to have a look at the upgraded beast!

Rick - look forward to seeing your new beast as well!

Allan - hope you get your focusing sorted. I've got Focusmax working with my system, so if I can help, let me know.

DT

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Thanks fellow Brissie imagers. Very happy with it so far. Half way through capturing darks and 7 timer is forecasting clear skies tomorrow.

Fingers crossed x

[RobF (Rob)]

Yum.
Astro-goodness!

[whzzz28 (Nathan)]

Originally Posted by peter_4059

Sorry about the weather SE QLD

Damn it Peter!
I knew we had someone to thank for all this rain. Was waiting for said person to cough up their guilt!

Seriously though, nice camera.
Sadly my budget looks to only allow me to afford a QHY9 set
Saturday/Sunday isn't looking too bad though.

Not liking the looks of Tuesday though. 5 degrees? in Brisbane? that's unpossible!

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Sorry but it had to be done. Promised the family this would be the last big purchase.

The astro gods look like they are going to show some mercy soon.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

geez
boys and their toys

Nathan....5C? I dream of 5C. they've predicted frosts for all next week, and the temp getting down to -1.

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

geez
boys and their toys

Nathan....5C? I dream of 5C. they've predicted frosts for all next week, and the temp getting down to -1.

I reckon it's going to be a cold astrofest this year.

[ozstronomer (Geoff)]

Great to see the new camera has arrived..

Weather looks like it will clear this weekend so you can get all the bugs out before 10days of clear skies at Astrofest

[allan gould]

Peter, the way you are going you will need a canoe with that freezer suit.
David, if I get into problems I will give you a bell. Thanks.

[h0ughy (David)]

oh man - G11 - u beaut camera - its a wonder you havent upgraded the optics...... SCope setup envy here....

[troypiggo (Troy)]

If you want to ease the weather, I'll take it off your hands, straight swap, for my slightly used 583ws-5.

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Optics might have to wait until next year Dave. Troy - I might hang on to the 683 but we could swap filters if you want.

ps picked up the rolled 3mm plate from Pronto this morning.

[whzzz28 (Nathan)]

Originally Posted by peter_4059

The astro gods look like they are going to show some mercy soon.

They sure do. Tonight isn't looking too bad, its slowly clearing, but i have a feeling the seeing is going to be bad.

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Not a bad night here tonight so got to try out the new camera. I spent the first few hours seeing how parfocal the Astronomik filters were. Using the Bahtinov mask they look pretty good.

Next I had a play with the coma corrector spacing. Based on the QSI engineering drawings I calculated I needed 16mm however the best correction was more like 22mm so I've probably mis-read the drawings.

With the moon pretty full I decided to shoot a few Ha subs to finish off the night and claim a first light. Here's a mix of 5 and 10 min subs - all up 90 minutes. Guiding wasn't great as I didn't bother drift aligning.

It's quite a steep learning curve but happy to report the QSI is working well

[RickS (Rick)]

Very nice, Peter!

I have got the STL11K dialed in and humming away. I got a bunch of V curves done for FocusMax and now I'm doing some test shots on the area around M8. The FOV on the FSQ-106 is nice and big!