ST8300M arrived.

[AlexN]

Well, My ST8300 Arrived today at 11 am.. I've had some fun getting it all fitted up to the CFW etc.. To my surprise, the FLI CFW and SBIG Camera did not burst into flames when I touched them together! :D

Driver install is done, and I've had a quick play with it, in a 28.7 degree room the camera cooled to -10c in less than a minute and is sitting at -10c now on 81% cooler load... within spec..

Its running a 5 minute dark now at -10c, and I will post that up soon..

The camera is a lot smaller than I'd imagined it to be.. and actually looks very nice indeed..

There will be pics of the setup and a dark frame image or two later today...

I dare say first light is not going to be today.... The clouds are thicker today than they've been all week..

Excitement rating: 13^10/10 :D

[Octane]

Congratulations!

H

[mill]

5 minutes are long gone :p
Wish i had my cam now, it is going to be clear for the rest of the week here.

[AlexN]

Heres the 300s dark, resized down to fit on the forums, and stretched fairly heavily..

There is a slight gradient, this is likely my fault, as the camera is sitting face down on a coffee table, and not exactly what I'd call "Dark"

The fan is quite a lot quieter than some of my previous cameras... Its slightly louder than my QHY8 which was silent, but much quieter than the Starshoot Pro, ST-9 or ST-10

[Omaroo]

Hmmm.. congrats Alex :)

My next camera too I think. :thumbsup:

[telemarker]

Well that's torn it. Nothing but cloud for a month I'll bet. ;):P
Seriously, congrats on the new toy and look forward to some outstanding shots.

Regards
Keith

[telecasterguru]

Alex,

Congratulations on the imager now get out there and image.

Frank

[Octane]

Chris, I've just sent Peter Ward an email.

I'm a bad boy.

H

[mill]

That is a good looking dark frame there Alex :thumbsup:
I did read that the 8300 chips had a lot of hot pixels but i don't see many at all.

[multiweb]

Whoohoo!...does this mean the clouds are going to part now? ... apparently YES! :D Saturday looks good. Not in QLD though. :P I see no other choice for you :shrug: than to post the camera down to Sydney and I'll happily test it for you ;)

[AlexN]

Thanks Everyone,

Chris - Cant go wrong mate.. Its small, relatively light, quiet, cheap and from what I'm seeing in these dark frames, fairly clean at -10c. I cant wait to try it out at night when its cooler and I can drop that to -15 ~ -20c

Kieth - Yes, Im keen to get out and do some imaging.. As this will be my first foray into LRGB imaging, or narrowband with a mono camera, I don't expect fantastic results straight up... It will take some getting used to. But I'll definitely be giving it my all..

Humayun - Sometimes being bad is being very very good! :D

Martin - looking at the darks at full size, there is a few... maybe 30 spread across the image in random locations... Nothing in the grand scheme of things.. It does look very very clean even at -10c.. It can only get better from there... one would imagine :D


As an Aside, Just plugged it all into MaximDL 5, ST8300/FLI 2-7/QHY5 - Everything connects up fine, filterwheel does its thing, guider will run looping exposures while the CFW is changing filters, and while the camera is taking exposures...

All ready for first light.. :D

[Terry B]

You are a bad man.
It will rain for another month.:P

[strongmanmike]

:clap::clap::clap:

"Alex and his new camera" :camera:

might make a good childrens story..?

You "may" regain "some" of your sanity now :whistle:

Mike

[gbeal]

Well done mate, get cracking and post some images, it deserves it.
Gary

[mill]

If you send it over to my place now, i can BURN it in for ya.
It is crystal clear here for the rest of the week according to the weather bureau.
(Bugger it has changed already :p ).

[AlexN]

A few pics to get the juices flowing...

now, in the first pic, I'd already screwed on the rather large FLI AD-2 adapter for attaching the camera to the CFW... so it looks a little strange front on, but you get the idea.. I've also fitted the handles to the camera so I can attach it to the scope somehow.. the imaging train from the focuser back is about 2.4kgs and about $7k worth... A few dollars more than I'd like to see hitting the floor should something go pair shaped...

Anyway.. its ready to rock! And look... It was meant to be... My QHY5 and ST8300 are practically the same colour (in real life they appear much closer in colour than in the pics) Oh and excuse the low image quality, Mobile phone camera used... :) MMMM Tasty Toys!!

[Tilt]

Great looking imaging set up you have there now Alex, how long until it goes into IceTrade ;)

Michael

[AlexN]

Depends on how soon I can afford a STX-16803, a filter wheel and a set of 50mm square filters... Not any time soon i'd imagine.. :) I'm giving this setup a lifespan of 3 years in my service... The camera is heaps more than I can handle, it will probably take me 3 months to get to a point where I can use it to even a quarter of its potential... and many years before I grow out of it...

[CometGuy]

Thanks Alex,

More rain and cloud for SEQ!

Anyway I think you will like your ST-8300, the Kodak sensor has plenty of sensitivity and when cooled has very little dark noise.

Terry

[rogerg]

nice camera! congrats :thumbsup:

[Tilt]

I give it 18 months... tops :D

For the meanwhile, congrats on the new gear. I eagerly await first light, once the weather clears of course :)

Michael

[TrevorW]

More toys for Alex to play with

:cool::D

[zipdrive]

It looks pretty cool in red, Congrats!!!:D

[AlexN]

Nah.. I wont have the money for an STX 16803/CFW and filters in 18 months... Thinking more like 2 years to have the cash up... and even then, I'll evaluate if Im using the ST8300 to ANYWHERE near its potential.. if not, (which is VERY likely) that saved slush fund will be dumped into a TMB/LZOS 130mm F/7 or a 10" Deepsky Instruments RC.

[Tilt]

Good point, nice back up plan :thumbsup:

[avandonk]

Good on you Alex. I know it will perform as good as that stretched dark.
I am up to my armpits in anti freeze and bubble wrap lashing up the fridge to the freezer to cool my 5DH.

To have my sensor at -10C the fridge has to be at -27C!

If I was not slightly insane I would just give up and buy an astro dedicated CCD. Then I could not modify anything.

Looking foward to some of your images taken with the new machine.

Bert

[AlexN]

Hehe, Yea Bert, I dont think somehow that your mind would be too impressed with you if you had nothing to tinker with! :)

I can't for the life of me think where the bubblewrap would go? or is it insulation inside the fridge??

[mill]

It must be insultion for his head to keep it warm next to the fridge :P

[avandonk]

I can't find the mandrel for my hole saws. So I have the freezer door ajar with bubblewrap plugging the gaps. This is so the tubes carrying the coolant can get to the little Peltier fridge. As Homer said 'is there nothing
gaffer tape cannot do!' I will add that for bubble wrap.

At least your new camera is tried and tested and a known performer.

I will drill the holes in the side of the freezer when I work out who borrowed my mandrel.

Bert

[marki]

Gee Alex you want to get it a little colder then that as there is a big difference between -10 and - 20 degrees C (told you they were quiet ;)). Last night was about 30 odd degrees and the camera was sitting on -20 at about 77 - 80%. best you find a temp that it can consistently achieve so your darks library does not need to be too big. Finally built mine out to 30 mins but I doubt I will need subs this long for anything much. Congrats on the new toy and I wish you luck with the OAG as I have pretty much thrown my hands into the air ( once again) and reverted to a guide scope (much easier).

Mark

[AlexN]

Mark, I've been playing with the cooling, doing comparative tests between a 5min dark at -10 vs -20, not a lot of difference really... and once you subtract the darks from the lights, whatever noise there is will be largely negated anyway... I've got my dark library in the works at the moment... got 10x5, 10x10, 8x15 (so far) will do 10x20 over night.. all at -10c.. should be enough... With my scope the OAG is no different than a guide scope, the focal length of my old guide scope was 434mm vs the 480mm of my imaging scope.. My guider was never adjustable, and I'd used OAG's before in my C11 and in the RC, so I figured I'd go back to it... its just, neater.. tidier.. I love them..

[Matty P]

Congrats Alex. That is a great looking setup you have there. Can't wait to see what you'll be able to produce with it!

I'm sure it'll perform as good as it looks. :D

Man I'd love to get myself a cooled CCD camera. Maybe I should get a job first... haha. :rolleyes:

Good luck with the weather and congrats once again. :thumbsup:

[Bassnut]

Very cool Alex,specially the "pme red" , will match future purchases ? ;)

[netwolf]

Congrats Alex, looking forward to the images you take with this. BTW what brand Off-axis guider are you using in your image train?

[AlexN]

Thanks Matt, Yeah having a job helps! Tell you what, If I could have a setup like yours and no job I'd be stoked!! :D

Fred - Yes yes.. PME red is exactly what I thought when I pulled the camera out of the box... A sign of things to come perhaps.. :D

Fahim, The OAG is the Lumicon Newtonian/Refractor Easy Guider. Its really quite good. For longer focal length work (>1500mm) it can be tricky at times, but for short stuff its fantastic, especially with the QHY5.. when I first tried one I was using a DBK31 for guiding, and it was nowhere near as sensitive as the QHY5. With something like the Starlight Xpress Lodestar you could probably use an OAG on any focal length setup without a worry in the world..

[strongmanmike]

Oooooh, very shnazzy Alex :evil: :evil2:but yes most likely :cloudy:

[batema]

Hi Alex,

Congrats on your camera. I looked at these when you first mentioned them amd thought a couple of grand is pretty good value but you mentioned that the optical train was approx $7000. If its not rude how does the optical train break down in Aus dollars as I don't fully understand all the additional requirements. Can't wait to see some images. The weather says it should be fine from Wednesday on hopefully.

Mark

[AlexN]

Yeah mate.. the sky here is teasing me tonight.. I could see jupiter through the cloud before, and see patches of clear sky.. but I followed my better judgment and stayed inside taking darks.. the clouds rolled in pretty quick and we got a few mm of rain about 20mins later..

I'll post up some full resolution stretched darks to my pbase account tomorrow..

[AlexN]

Mark - The prices break down as follows..

ST8300 - $2900
FLI CFW 2-7 + AD2 adapter + customs duties = $1630
Custom made adapter from CFW 2-7 to T thread ~ correct length for optimal spacing between the sensor and flattener = $200 with shipping
Baader MPCC = $250 odd (from memory)
Lumicon OAG = $375
QHY5 - $350 (from memory)
Astrodon LRGB Filters (second hand off the forums for a STEAL) = $375
Astodon 5nm NB filter set + shipping/customs duties $1750

Total = $7830 AU... Wow.. scarier than I thought... Must call the insurance company tomorrow :eek:


Of course, if you went for the colour ST8300, the price difference would be amazing... $4057 if you went for the colour sensor as you wouldnt need the CFW or filters, probably less because you could use an off the shelf T-thread extension tube to get the correct spacing for the camera -> flattener. I could have made the whole setup ALOT cheaper myself, as I could have gone for something like the Orion 5 position 2" CFW for $650AU, and Baader 2" mounted Ha SII OIII filters for $700ish... I figured however if im going to buy a mono CCD im either going to go all the way, or not going to bother... I'm happy I went the way I did..

[batema]

Thanks. I can only imagine how much fun you had today. ENJOY IT.

Mark

[AlexN]

Constant smile all day mate... ear to ear!

[RobF]

Looks like a beautiful piece of work Alex.

Good to see you getting darks together while the clouds are around. Looks like we might just get some stars this Fri night according to Skippy. I wish Astroforecast.org would stay up - its nice to be able to see far enough ahead to know there's at least ONE night over the next week you can bother setting up for....:P

[AlexN]

All I have left to do for the dark library is the 20min and 30min frames at bin 1, and 5min/10min Bin2 frames.. then I'm set..

Hopefully i'll get a chance to point it at the sky before too long mate... Im itchin to get it out there!

[Manav]

Congrats on your new purchase! Just goes to show the amount of learning and detail present in astrophotography as a hobby. Good luck with the next session and hopefully you'll capture some nice images! Don't forget the PNe's! ;)

[rnl]

be careful not to use the "fast" download in Maxim (if you are using that software). I did and had "amp glow" on the st8300m photos and darks. Matt Thomas at SBIG told me that when "fast" is enabled the amp stays on.

[AlexN]

Thanks Yugant, Yeah once you move to a mono camera there is SO much to learn.. things like the fact that the thickness of a filter will affect the spacing between your flattener/sensor etc.. I never would have thought that... There is still so much to learn, but I guess that's what keeps me keen..

Richard, Thanks for that mate, got it covered.. I never have the download speed on fast.. I'm not concerned about a few seconds longer to download an image.. Its faster than my Orion SS Pro/QHY8/ST10 to download an image even at normal download speed...