Here’s my 1st lights using a Mono camera , the 2600MM under Sydney’s Bortle 8 skies over the past 2 weeks.
NGC 253 Sculptor Galaxy broadband LRGB Antlia filters
NGC 7293 Helix Nebula narrowband Antlia 3nm Ha Oiii ( captured Sii but it was mostly noise so didn’t use it )
8” f5 Klaus Helmerich Carbon newt
Skywatcher EQ6-R pro mount
The capture side of things was more than double the work of my 2600MC which doesn’t worry me , however I expected better SNR for similar integration time to that of my 2600MC. It is slightly better but not significantly better
I must admit though shooting the Sculptor Galaxy with 90 sec subs through a Lum filter was a bit silly , the histogram was off the richter scale
Total integration for LRGB was around 5 hours
Also capturing the Helix using the Antlia 3nm filters , folk on other forums suggested I push longer subs to achieve better SNR under heavy LP skies, I was using 3min at Gain 100.
Total integration for Ha and Oiii was 8 hrs ( Sii on this object was just noise so I didn’t use it )
Camera worked well
Mount was guiding beautifully over several nights
Filter wheel operated perfectly
Flats a bit of a challenge but found a solution using ASTAP instead of DSS ( a much better stacker at least for Mono data sets used for Startools)
Processed in Startools v1.8
A little disappointed in the fidelity of the images using the 2600MM but I’ve gotta tell myself I’m shooting under a horrible sky and “integration time is the key” always ……..
Man this Mono journey is a lotta work , OSC is a snack compared to capture and processing with Mono.
Heading down to my Dome on Sunday for 2 weeks so hopefully the 2600MM will surprise me under Bortle 3 skies ( pending clear nights )
Looks like a keeper Martin. Hope you get lots more fun images from the new camera.
Did you ever shoot much NB with the OSC? (I've currently gone the opposite direction (KAF8300 mono to CMOS OSC) and will want to try NB at some point regardless of Bayer matrix).
Looks like a keeper Martin. Hope you get lots more fun images from the new camera.
Did you ever shoot much NB with the OSC? (I've currently gone the opposite direction (KAF8300 mono to CMOS OSC) and will want to try NB at some point regardless of Bayer matrix).
Thanks Rob ,
Did I ever shoot narrowband with OSC ?
Certainly did over 3 years with my 2600MC , top camera , started with ZWO Duoband filter , then L Extreme and finally Antlia 5nm Dualband filter which was excellent
Great to see you're up and running Martin and some tidy images to boot well done! I'm sure you'll get the hang of the process with time and I'm looking forwards to see your progress!
Aaaaaah huh!...welcome to reeeal astroimaging Martone
You definitely sound like you are enjoying or at least enthusiastically undertaking, the transition learning curve though, look forward to seeing the forthcoming images
Thanks Dave and Mike ,
I don’t know what I’ve got myself into with this Mono deal but it’s too late now.
Lots of learning along the way ( and clear nights I hope )
Cheers
Martin
