QSI 583 wsg

allan gould · #1 16-03-2010, 02:39 PM

Well I finally bit the bullet and purchased a new QSI camera with filter holder and guider prism built-in, a QSI 583 wsg. I thought that it would assist with photography from BrisVegas using Narrow band filters (thanks to Gary Beal) in the new Tempest Observatory. It should be a pefect match for my different scope and I can't wait to see what this camera performs like in my hands.
I was most surprised when SHMBO said "If thats what you want, then just get it"

Mind you with Troy and myself purchasing everything thats going, I reakon that SE Queensland will be clouded out by monsoon clouds for the next 3 months.

DavidTrap (David) · #2 16-03-2010, 03:27 PM

Don't worry Allan - I've been doing my bit of drought busting recently. I'll be interested to hear how you go with narrow band from the burbs in Brisbane.

DT

troypiggo (Troy) · #3 16-03-2010, 04:04 PM

Ha. Congrats mate. Very jealous, and the way I'm going at the moment, I won't be far behind you. Haha. Mum's the word.

allan gould · #4 16-03-2010, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by troypiggo

Ha. Congrats mate. Very jealous, and the way I'm going at the moment, I won't be far behind you. Haha. Mum's the word.

What's my Mum been doing? Spending my inheritance I suppose - I'm always the last to know.
I must say that Don and Mathew at Bintel have been superb in putting up with me asking questions and giving good advice - great service, thanks guys.

Tandum (Robin) · #5 16-03-2010, 05:33 PM

Now we know why that cyclone is accelerating towards the coast.
Looking at the 4 day forecast first light must be planned for saturday

Don't worry Allan, I also have a new camera here that hasn't seen a scope yet

allan gould · #6 16-03-2010, 06:00 PM

Its really beginning to drive me nuts (this weather). I went down south for my son's wedding to just near the Great Ocean Road and the weather was beautiful. Warm clear nights with the Milky way screaming out for you to look at it. Just magnificent. No scope

but that didn't matter.
Boy what I gave up to be a Mexiacan and go to BrisVegas........I must either be really stupid or in love with my partner to have moved.

AlexN · #7 16-03-2010, 06:19 PM

Congratulations Allan! You'll love the KAF8300 sensor, and more than that, the ability to shoot narrowband will increase your imaging time 10 fold...

There's quite a few of us here in Brisbane buying new gear at the moment, I suppose we all have to take a portion of the blame for this seemingly eternal stretch of cloud that has covered SEQ for the past month or so..

I really look forward to seeing your results with the QSI583.

allan gould · #8 16-03-2010, 07:45 PM

Thanks Alex, Robin, David and Troy. Unfortunately I have to be patient and wait until it arrives and this latest cyclone disipates. In the grand scheme of things not that much of a burden. Alex, it's been bought mainly for nb work and I hope to get into it asap. The internal update of the software with 4x4 binning and gain setting will be very useful. I looked T all the specs of the a ailable cameras and there is just sooooo much choice for different people/setups and for me the qsi came out on top mainly due to the guiding prism being in front of the filters -a big plus for nb imaging.
Thanks for all the kind comments and Astrofest this year will be a real wonderland of equipment. Can't wait.

AlexN · #9 16-03-2010, 07:49 PM

Oh won't it just... With the recent awesome prices of astro gear, there should be some amazing setup's at Astrofest... I hope to have the 10" F/2.77 / ST8300 / EQ6 combo and the GM8 with a DSLR + 135 F/2L attacking other targets...

Cloudyagain (Neale) · #10 16-03-2010, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allan gould

Its really beginning to drive me nuts (this weather). I went down south for my son's wedding to just near the Great Ocean Road and the weather was beautiful. Warm clear nights with the Milky way screaming out for you to look at it. Just magnificent. No scope

but that didn't matter.
Boy what I gave up to be a Mexiacan and go to BrisVegas........I must either be really stupid or in love with my partner to have moved.

Not sure where you went Allan but I live just west of the end of the Great Ocean Road at Tower Hill on the coast and it is not like that here. Perennially cloudy and you don't have to buy new gear for it to be like that. I am lucky to get 3 or 4 clear nights a month, factor in work and family commitments and that equals about 1 night a month. Not too warm either. Sea mist rolling in now. Frankly I think Qld is a better option.

Congrats on the QSI, I continually consider buying one but I think it would just corrode in the box at the moment.

Cheers,
Neale.

allan gould · #11 16-03-2010, 08:17 PM

I'm thinking of taking the 10"SCT and 127mm apo refractor on both an eq6 and g11/Gemini using the qsi 583 and the qhy8. should give me a lot to do instead of sleeping.

allan gould · #12 16-03-2010, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cloudyagain

Not sure where you went Allan but I live just west of the end of the Great Ocean Road at Tower Hill on the coast and it is not like that here. Perennially cloudy and you don't have to buy new gear for it to be like that. I am lucky to get 3 or 4 clear nights a month, factor in work and family commitments and that equals about 1 night a month. Not too warm either. Sea mist rolling in now. Frankly I think Qld is a better option.

Congrats on the QSI, I continually consider buying one but I think it would just corrode in the box at the moment.

Cheers,
Neale.

Neale
I was at Queenscliffe for four days/nights. Great weather and. Lear skies. I just hope it blows your way.

DavidTrap (David) · #13 16-03-2010, 08:21 PM

I just hope the dollar stays high for a little while longer. I'm waiting for someone in the US to plonk a rather large sum on my Visa and am watching the dollar intently - 0.9157 at present!!!!! I can't afford a new camera this year, so hopefully it doesn't slide too far down over the next 12 months...

DT

allan gould · #14 16-03-2010, 08:28 PM

The dollar being high at the moment also led me to pull the trigger. Hate to say it but I expect troubles in China will lead to an overheated economy there, re-evaluation of their currency and a drop in ours within 6 months. They have just bought too much of Americas debt for money flow

Paul Haese · #15 16-03-2010, 10:04 PM

Allan I reckon you are about the 3rd or 4th person in Australia to buy a 583. I have exactly the same camera and you wait until you see it. It is very small for a CCD camera. That makes it light. I am now using the WSG function and getting good results. Initial use was quite maddening, I will try to come to grips with what I have done in my settings and let you know for guiding purposes.

One thing that I reckon is bad or not so great with this camera is the cooling in summer. I can get -15C at 68% cooling power (actual temperature held) or -45C from ambient. However -20C is not possible at all, except if you have the water cooling unit. This is the price one must pay for a small light unit. It just means you need to take more subs to get slick backgrounds than say something like the FLI. If you can handle that then you will have heaps of imaging with this camera.

AlexN · #16 16-03-2010, 10:26 PM

That is the one thing that had me thinking about the QSI, its tiny... the CCD/CFW/OAG setup is absolutely tiny compared to my setup, and weighs about 1/3rd of my setup too... I suffer the lower cooling as well, however I've not found it a problem thus far, except for when imaging dim targets using exposures that aren't long enough.. As Paul said, this is the cost of having a small setup. The ST8300 is about the same size as the QSI583wsg, but then you have to add the CFW, OAG setups to the ST8300...

You know what would work wonders Alan... If you had both your setups running at the same time, using the 127ED + QHY8 to capture OSC data, and the 10" @ F/6.3 + QSI capturing Ha data, you could collect a heap of Ha Luminosity at the same time as capturing heaps of silky smooth QHY8 colour data, and using something like Registar, you could combine the two, to create a megadata HaRGB shot in one session... This is a method employed by Tom Davis for maximizing data collection...

Paul Haese · #17 16-03-2010, 10:33 PM

Actually Alex you made a good point, the noise only really shows up on objects that are dim. I have been imaging the hard targets of late and the noise has been a pain. My 253 shot was only 7 hours of data and had a really silky smooth background. So longer subs would help reduce the need to histo stretch more and therefore reduce the amount of noise from arising.

AlexN · #18 16-03-2010, 10:56 PM

Indeed.. My image of Eta Carine for example at -10C was only 6x5m L + 3x5min of each colour and its silky.. where as my image of HMSTG195 dark nebulae was 65x5m L and 5x5m of each colour and there was still some noise present... It all comes down to what you're imaging, and how bright you want to make it look.. I think the KAF8300 is superb even at -10c, providing you're willing to put in the time to get a squeaky clean image on really dim targets..

allan gould · #19 17-03-2010, 10:04 AM

Paul and Alex
Just read your latest posts and what you have both said makes a great deal of sense.
Alex - using the QHY to get colour and the QSI for Ha, to be honest I had not thought of. Hmmm - Astrofest with the two scopes/mounts. Its lucky I have a split personality and may be able to manage it.
I realised that the camera was small but maybe the small lack of cooling will not be a problem as you say if I do a lot of long subs.
Paul, thanks for the offer of your expertise with the settings as I'll certainly need some help. I remember when I was trying to get to grips with the QHY8 flat field settings I was all at sea until someone came in and offered their experiences.

h0ughy (David) · #20 17-03-2010, 02:06 PM

congrats Allan. Look forward to seeing it