Build your own astrophotography light box

[bloodhound31]

G'day again!

I have been having lots of fun this week, building a lightbox. I would like to share it, seeing as it was so much fun and is a must for astrophotography as far as I can tell so far, experimenting with "flat" frames in my image stacking and processing.

Here is a complete tutorial on building the lightbox.
http://www.asignobservatory.com/LightBox.aspx

My good friend Ron from www.aussiepeople.com.au (http://www.aussiepeople.com.au) has been kind enough to load this up for me during his Easter break. Bless you Ron.

I hope everyone gets something out of this and has fun building one of their own!

HAPPY EASTER!

Baz.

[Zuts]

Hi,

If you go to this link http://www.astrophotoinsight.com/ you can download this months copy. It shows how to get flats without a light box by pointing your scope at your laptop screen.

Paul

[citivolus]

I've seen laptop reviews where they stretch a light image of the screen and show just how uneven the lighting is with certain LCDs. While it may be a possibility for some, I know that both my current and last laptops would not provide a good result in that respect, as the middle of my screen is about 20% dimmer than the sides. That would have interesting implications to the results.

[bloodhound31]

I can't speak for the laptop screen thingy, except to say it would be really hard to aim my fixed scope at it, or else try to hold my lappy up in front of the scope.

It is so easy to take flats now with a lightbox. I don't have to change the orientation of my scope or camera after taking lights. I just pop the lightbox on the end, switch it on and take a few 2ish second exposures. EASY!

I did a simple and quick single frame exercise to show how it works (link below)
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=29952

Baz.:D

[Zuts]

Well, I am definately in the market for some flats, so i may have to give your box a go as well.

Cheers Paul

[bloodhound31]

Cool Paul,

At the very least, it is one of the more "fun" DIY projects to undertake.

I had a ball making this thing! Hope you do too!:thumbsup:

Baz.:D

[Ric]

Hi Baz, that's a great looking setup.

The plans look great, I definitely be making one of these on the next rainy weekend.

Cheers