grinning like a cheshire cat...

[troypiggo]

Something got delivered today... :D

[Octane]

Congrats, bro.

Now, for the floods/cyclones to begin...

H

[troypiggo]

Begin? You mean continue...

[DavidTrap]

Looks good Troy.

Mine arrived yesterday - big storm overnight. Woke me up at 3am...

DT

[bloodhound31]

WHOA! You lucky thing you!!

Baz.

[TrevorW]

now who's been a good boy then

[Dennis]

Hey Troy

That looks like its going to provide you with heaps of fun when the weather finally cooperates! Love that case colour!

Cheers

Dennis

[multiweb]

Ooo...QSI... noice! :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Oh yeah...looks very purdy indeed, good choice of filters too :thumbsup:

Mike

[jjjnettie]

Oooh Aaahhhh

[strongmanmike]

Glen McGrath :P

[peter_4059]

very nice

[jjjnettie]

I'd rather the camera thanks Mike. :lol:

[troypiggo]

Clouds clouds go away, come again another..... never!!!

Must say it's very impressive. Build quality looks top notch. Comes with a Pelican case. Might play with some darks libraries tonight :D

Did I mention.. :D :D :D :D

[troypiggo]

Your name has been popping up everywhere I shop lately. LOL. Astrodon filters website, also got Cheshire collimation kit and there's your mug again! Haha.

[peter_4059]

Did Christie buy the story you got your 40D powder coated blue?

[troypiggo]

LOL. I'm scared to bring it up. I think I need to sell a whole lot of stuff quickly so I can at least say it didn't cost me anything.

[DavidTrap]

I must agree - the machining is very nice. I didn't realise that real Pelican cases have a two-stage clip. I thought about doing dark libraries, but I'll wait till I see what the cooling is like during the hot weather. Might have to settle on -15 until the winter months arrive. I think the water cooling option will be necessary for next summer, but it seemed like too much trouble whilst learning. I found a cheap 12v pump on eBay - will let you know how it goes.

Hope this weekend's forecast improves :prey: :prey:

DT

[peter_4059]

I think Allan Gould has been getting down to -20 without any issues over Summer David.

[telecasterguru]

I want one I want one.

[RobF]

I think I really need to get my "boys toys" budget looked at :mad2:

Congrats on the new arrival Troy :thumbsup:

[DavidTrap]

They quote a 38 degree delta, or 45 with water cooling. I haven't spoken to Allan yet to see what he is using. Other units have better cooling, but the compact all in one package was soooooo appealing.

I fired mine up last night and in 24 degree ambient, I could get it to -20 at 88% cooling power. That wasn't taking images, and I have read that it may initially settle at -20 at under 90%, but then go back up to 100% after a while.

Experience will tell.

DT

[Jen]

:thumbsup::thumbsup: good on ya Troy :D
theres nothing like the awsome feeling of a bit of astro retail therapy :lol:

[troypiggo]

Just fired it up in 32 deg ambient and it got down to 0 deg in under a minute. Whoah. Can you tell this is all new to me?

[DavidTrap]

Just did a bit of fiddling tonight. I could sustain -15 at an ambient of 24 degrees with 88% cooling, but not -20. Above was a mistake.

DT

[marc4darkskies]

Good one Troy! Congrats!!

Does it come in any other colours? :question:;)

Cheers, Marcus

[troypiggo]

Thanks Marcus! No other colours unfortunately :) That's ok, the blue looks cool.

[Paul Haese]

Nice going Troy and welcome to the club.

Just to settle some ambiguity here; As David said -38 from ambient and -45 with water cooling. I have been using -20C on nights where the ambient lets me, but on hot nights you cannot reach -20C. If the ambient is 20 degrees and stays there you cannot reach -20C. Added to this, be mindful that if you are at -20C at 80% power before you start imaging you will not have enough head room. That extra 20% is not enough to maintain that temperature. It will heat up quickly taking images and struggle to stay at -20C. During Autumn and Spring -20C is often the case and water cooling is unnecessary.

In my estimation this is the only bug bare of this camera. I have suggested to QSI that a larger cooling TEC unit be installed and have the design changed a little. Something is being considered but it will likely be sometime yet before larger cooling units will be available.

Great camera otherwise, and you will enjoy many of its features. As Ford would have said, Yes you can have any colour you like so long as it is blue.;)

[peter_4059]

I wonder who is responsible for this? :cloudy::cold::rain::windy:

[troypiggo]

:lol: just looked at SkippySky and all I can see is red for the next week!

[DavidTrap]

There's a Split Enz song that comes to mind...

I've heard of a couple of other big purchases in SEQ lately - obviously none of us have read the predictions of a return to more frequent La Ninas over the next decade or two!!

Paul - from what I read that slow download and cooling are the major issue with the camera. There were so many other pluses though.

DT