So close I can smell it

[strongmanmike]

After the privilege of sharing in the excitment of using Houghy's new rich field setup with new you-bewt DSLR at SPSP, my own outfit is aaaaalmost ready :party:

The weather is fickle in Newcastle today otherwise I was going to set'er up outside and workout balance and cable routing etc ready for first :astron:..but didn't want to give her first :rain: instead :P

Here are some pickies of the new camera

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/more_proline_images

Here are some pickies of the ASA N12 with new camera attached all ready to be mounted on the NJP

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/proline_on_asa_n12

First light should be very soon...drum role....

Mike

[Astroman]

Man thats an impressive setup.

[jase]

Looking good there Mike. I'd be interested to see how you balance your DEC/RA. There would be some considerable weight with such an imaging train.

[Dr Nick]

Cool, can't w8 'till 1st light...

[strongmanmike]

Hi Jase

Hopefully like this..?

This is a similar sized camera - the SBIG STL11000M mounted "underneath" an ASA N10 OTA (I have the larger ASA N12)

I was really hoping to play with the balance this afternoon but the weather was just too unsettled to risk it :(

Hopefully all will be ok?

Mike

[davidpretorius]

wow, that is impressive!

[davidpretorius]

and that last photo of the setup is also impressive!

[jase]

I think you've got the right idea Mike. You'll need to face the imaging train down and possibly slightly offset to one side to help keep you worm/gear in meshed.

Certainly, many others with the ASA have the same concept - http://www.poigetdigitalpics.com/asaAstrograph.html

Eagerly awaiting the first light image... show us what you've got;)

[RB]

**DROOL DROOL **

Can't wait for first light Mike !!!

[strongmanmike]

Sheesh me too! :lol:

Hey! I'm also looking forward to what "you" do with the FSQED too :thumbsup: I'd love one of those scopes!

John Gleason (if you know him) has just spent a month in Australia up at Coonabarrabran with his huge ProLine 16803 (37mm X 37mm chip) on an FSQ106 and he is absolutely extatic with the performance. Again the focuser was a bit of an issue operating at near its practical weight limit he says.

I'm getting the 1.8X ASA extender when it becomes available next month but I might have to get the 0.75X ASA reducer too for my N12 giving me 850mm FL at F2.75 so I can go a bit wider, the standard 1080mm FL at F3.6 and 2050mm FL at F6.8? ...Sheesh, imagine a 12" F2.75 coupled to the ProLine :eyepop:

Any way lets not get too far aheah of myself, still gotta climb the ASAFLI learning curve yet :P

Mike
BTW your web site is excellent and I love the two options you have for observing sites - your a very lucky bugger! :thumbsup:

[h0ughy]

free bibs ---get your free bibs, drool all you like.

very nice teasing Mr Mike Strongman

[strongmanmike]

These are good ones I believe Houghy? :thumbsup:

http://www.baby-bib.com/category/646111521/1/Drool-Bibs.htm

[h0ughy]

Lol

[Garyh]

I need a bib too!!!.....drool drool...
yeah getting all the gear balanced nicely will take a bit of practice I say.
How do you intend on balancing the OTA with such a heavy camera one end?
Some sort of sliding wieghts?

[jase]

Hi Mike,

Really enjoy John Gleason's images. He does some incredible Ha work. I could imagine the original FSQ focuser would be at maximum capacity with the PL16803. Tak have "beefed up" the focuser on the new FSQ-106ED to circumvent this. The FSQ with an 88mm image circle would have no problems in handling the 37mm x 37mm chip. In fact the FSQ will accomodate the largest CCD chip available today - The Fairchild CCD595. Its an 85Megapixel camera with a chip size of 80.6mm x 80.6mm - http://www.fairchildimaging.com/products/fpa/ccd/area/ccd_595.htm

Does the PL16803 require square filters? Thats whats holding me back at the moment. As your chip gets larger, filters become extremely expensive (especially for narrowband work). I know Custom Scientific produce square filters, but they are double even triple the cost of a 50mm unmounted filter (which isn't cheap when you consider the CS 50mm unmounted 10nm Ha filters costs $A800).

Thanks for checking out the site - still work in progress.

I wish you some clear dark skies so you can get acquainted with your new setup.:thumbsup:

[EzyStyles]

great setup mike can't wait for first light.