First Light. QHY9, Ha, Polluted Sydney.

[Ross G]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Great Ha shots Ross. Adding to these with O111 and S11 so you can do narrowband images would be the go.

A slight amount of coma in the corners. Either spacing of your reducer is off or you need a flattener. Usually a reducer and flattener are 2 different things. Reducers sometimes will give elongated stars in the corners if their corrected circle is too small or the spacing is wrong and flatteners should give round stars to the corners with the correct spacing.

Greg.

Hi Greg,

Thanks, I'm glad you like the photos.

I think I had better learn how to do RGB colour before I even attempt narrowband colour....a lot of reading to do over the next few rainy days!

The Eta C and Rosette photos were shot without the focal reducer/flattener. The Horse Head was shot with it, but I still have to get the spacing right with the QHY9.

Thanks again.

Ross.

[Ross G]

Originally Posted by telemarker

Hi Ross,
Lovely contrasty images, I think the Rosette is a ripper. What bandpass is the Ha, 7, 12nm? Does a grat job.

Regards
Keith

Hi Keith,

Thanks for your kind comments. I was pleasantly surprised at how much detail came out in the Rosette. It was 19 x 10min exposures

The filter is 12nm.

Cheers.

Ross.

[midnight (Darrin)]

Good to see you are very happy with your choice Ross. It's nice to be able to capture that detail from your location.

A lot of potential there as the finer detail in your 2nd image is definitely showing potential.

Good luck!!
Darrin...

[alpal]

I am very interested in the QHY9.
see:
http://www.modernastronomy.com/camerasQHY.htm


It has a bit smaller sensor than my DSLR & it would be great to have a larger sensor:

Canon EOS 1000d = 22.8 x 14.8 mm.
QHY9 = Kodak Sensor Size: 19.7 x15.04mm

Does Sony make a larger sensor that is available as a mono ccd?
I have read that the Sony chips have less noise.

Choosing a mono CCD camera is a difficult task but the QHY9
seems to be excellent value for money.

[Ross G]

Originally Posted by midnight

Good to see you are very happy with your choice Ross. It's nice to be able to capture that detail from your location.

A lot of potential there as the finer detail in your 2nd image is definitely showing potential.

Good luck!!
Darrin...

Hi Darrin,


Yes, the QHY9 wirh Ha filter does show a lot of potential and as soon as we get any clear weather here in Sydney I will experiment further. I have attached an old Nikon 180mm lens to it which shows promise.

Thanks.

Ross.

[Ross G]

Originally Posted by alpal

I am very interested in the QHY9.
see:
http://www.modernastronomy.com/camerasQHY.htm


It has a bit smaller sensor than my DSLR & it would be great to have a larger sensor:

Canon EOS 1000d = 22.8 x 14.8 mm.
QHY9 = Kodak Sensor Size: 19.7 x15.04mm

Does Sony make a larger sensor that is available as a mono ccd?
I have read that the Sony chips have less noise.

Choosing a mono CCD camera is a difficult task but the QHY9
seems to be excellent value for money.

Hi Allan.

Thanks, I got your pm.

The Sony chip in the QHY8L is slighlty larger than the Canon chip, however, you cannot get these chips in mono cameras.
One of the advantages of the QHY9 is that it cools to -50c below ambient. This helps keep the noise down and is great for Sydney summers.

Ross.

[gregbradley]

KAF8300 chip is the current popular choice in mono and is a reasonably sized chip. It is sensitive, low noise, seems to be very defect free high resolution and is "inexpensive".

It suits many setups well as the small pixels match faster scopes and small aperture.

It will always outperform a DSLR as it is CCD and cooled and is 16bit and mono with no Bayer Matrix reducing the resolution (4 pixels to make one colour pixel).

To get larger than that in mono you'd have to go KAF6303 (APS sized)
KAI11002 (Canon 5D sized full frame 35mm) KAF16803. The price goes up a lot with each increase in size.

Greg.

[alpal]

Hi Greg,
Thanks for that advice.
I checked out the specs - of the cameras you mentioned -
in terms of price in dollars per mm of diagonal & area in mm2.
The QHY9 is good value.


http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=11935
SBIG STX KAF-16803 CCD Mono Camera
4096 x 4096 pixel array at 9u = approx 38.9 x 38.9 mm = 52 mm diagonal $10,000
= $192 per diagonal mm. or $6.06 per mm2
　
http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=319-320-324-1386-11926
SBIG STX KAF-6303 CCD Mono Camera
Array: 3060 X 2040 Pixel: 9u = 27.5 x 18.4 mm = 33.1 mm diagonal.
$8,000 = $242 per mm of diagonal. or $15.81 per mm2
　
　
http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=15110
ATIK 11000 Large Format CCD Camera - Kodak KAI-11002 Mono
　
Imager Size: 43.3mm diagonal $5800
= $134 per mm of diagonal $6.06 per mm2
Chip Size: 37.25mm (H) x 25.70mm (V)
　
　
　
http://www.modernastronomy.com/camerasQHY.htm
QHY9 - Kodak KAF-8300 8.6 mega pixel chip and available as a mono camera
(filter wheel/filter bundles available) or as a one shot colour camera.
18.13 x 13.7 mm (using actual active pixels )
22.7 mm diagonal. ,
$2215 = $98 per mm of diagonal. $8.90 per mm2
( $1920 for colour version, $2215 for mono version )
　
　
　
Here's a good example of where a cooled DSLR with sensor filter removed
still can't beat a QHY9.
http://philhart.com/content/qhy9-vs-astro40d
　
Anyway Ross's 3 pictures are magnificent - so much detail.
I almost must have one - it's only just over 2 grand & maybe even a colour one would suit me
now & it's still a big step up from an EOS 1000d.
On the other hand there are extra expenses: filter wheels etc for the Monos
& a suitable OAG arrangement.
I don't know if I could use my TS9 OAG.
Perhaps there is an adaptor?

cheers
Alpal

[gregbradley]

You can also pick up used SBIG ST8300's very cheaply on Astromart. There is one now for US$1500. Thats about AUD$1400. PLus shipping anf GST so about AUD$1850.

Greg.

[alpal]

Thanks Greg,
I think that camera must be sold - I can't find it.

One thing I find with the QHY colour cameras is that they quote
" Color method: RGB BAYER film on CCD "
see link:
http://www.gamaelectronics.com.au/QHY12.html

Do they mean a Bayer Matrix - RGGB?
I googled RGB Bayer Film & it doesn't seem to exist.

Surely an astro colour camera would be just RGB?

[Ross G]

Hi Greg, hi Alan

Greg, thanks for the info on the other monochrome ccd's available.
The advantage of the QHY9 is that it's light weight allows me to use it on my current setup. Also, it's smaller chip hides a lot of the edge defects in my telescope.
A larger chip would not only involve a more expensive camera for me, but I would certainly have to upgrade my telescope and also my mount...a huge expense!

So Alan, that is where you have to be careful when choosing a ccd...the domino effect could be severe!

As to the RGGB Bayer matrix. This is correct. Two pixels are assigned to green to help mimic the characteristics of the human eye and it is the standard used on most OSC cameras.

However, Greg has mentioned that Kodak has bought out a chip that does have an RGB bayer matrix. This might be of benefit to astrophotography.

Alan, the most important thing, however, is to get the most out of whatever camera you have at the moment. It's the best way to learn and the best way to understand what your future needs will be.

Thanks.

Ross.

[alpal]

Originally Posted by Ross G

Hi Greg, hi Alan

Greg, thanks for the info on the other monochrome ccd's available.
The advantage of the QHY9 is that it's light weight allows me to use it on my current setup. Also, it's smaller chip hides a lot of the edge defects in my telescope.
A larger chip would not only involve a more expensive camera for me, but I would certainly have to upgrade my telescope and also my mount...a huge expense!

So Alan, that is where you have to be careful when choosing a ccd...the domino effect could be severe!

As to the RGGB Bayer matrix. This is correct. Two pixels are assigned to green to help mimic the characteristics of the human eye and it is the standard used on most OSC cameras.

However, Greg has mentioned that Kodak has bought out a chip that does have an RGB bayer matrix. This might be of benefit to astrophotography.

Alan, the most important thing, however, is to get the most out of whatever camera you have at the moment. It's the best way to learn and the best way to understand what your future needs will be.

Thanks.

Ross.

Yes to upgrade to a larger chip than now I would possibly
need a larger secondary to get good flats.
There is also a domino effect if you go mono because you
need to change & refocus different filters -
a filter wheel & lots of mucking around with software.

Pure RGB would be better.
That way each colour would get equal light.

Yes - I hesitate to jump yet because there are still some
things I need to master.
I have just started using PHD guiding to speed up drift alignments.
I am trying to shorten the setup times as I lose too
much data wasting time to setup.
I also haven't loaded EQMOD yet which would save time
framing targets & help in pointing accuracy.

Another post here refers to
14% of focal plane tilt in CCDinspector.
That looks like a program I need too.

On the other hand - why bother setting everything up
& doing so much work to just get unmodded uncooled DSLR data?
Isn't that where you're coming from too?

[Ross G]

Good morning Alan,

No, my point to you is the opposite.
Assume the camera/scope/mount/software you currently have is all that you will have for the foreseable future.
Use it as much as you can. Get the most out of it. Even push it beyond its limits. Appreciate every photo you get out of it.
This is how you will learn and improve.

If you are always waiting for something better that's "..just around the corner..", you'll end up with a garage of rarely used expensive equipment and little to show for it.

So just get out there, use your current equipment and be proud of every photo you produce.

So that we don't go too far off topic in this thread, pm me.

Good luck.

Ross.