Then realised these pics are out of date already....
THEN realised that in 2 weeks, any pics I take today will be out of date again.
In any case...
In the pics:
Askar 120APO with Askar 1x Field Flattener.
Player One Artemis C Pro (IMX294) CMOS camera.
Player One Filter Drawer
Player One M54 OAG.
Player One Sedna M IMX178 guide camera
Askar M54 backfocus adjuster.
Emcan Astro EM31 Pro mount
Mele Quieter 4C
Wanderer Astro Wander Box Ultimate V2.
The Player One Camera/Filter Drawer/OAG setup has since been replaced by a ZWO 1600MM Pro + EFW + OAG monochrome setup...
And currently in the post, is a Touptek ATR2600M, 7x36mm EFW and M54 OAG kit...
I thought I'd pick up the 1600MM exclusively for narrowband imaging, and adding luminance to colour data collected with the 294C... After shooting with it for 4 nights, I have decided that I'll move both the 294C, and the 1600MM along to new homes, and upgrade to a the IMX571 kit.
Silly to have gone through 4 cameras since November last year (I had the ST8300M with LRGB filters)
It went as it always does I guess...
I just got back into astrophotography and went straight to the ST8300M as it is the camera I had prior to taking my big break (2013~2023)
We had TERRIBLE weather, and I could not for the life of me capture a full colour image in 1 night, and in some cases, it would take a month worth of shooting through sucker holes to get anything.
Disheartened, I bought my colour camera and sold the ST8300M. It was frustrating, as I knew the benefit of mono, but I just wanted colour pics without cloud ruining it.
It then moved to winter - Narrowband season, and despite all the quality of the current crop of dual narrowband filters, I was simply not happy with the results (Especially the disparity between Ha and OIII captured per sub)...
So, wanting to shoot narrowband more and more, I thought I'd grab the 1600MM... Weather this december/january has been abysmal, but, still better than last year, so, I was able to give the 1600MM a good run, and really feel those mono camera benefits right out of the gate...
This pushed me to finally say, "you know what, I'd rather make 10~12 awesome images a year going 100% mono with a very high quality camera, than make 13~20 significantly lower quality images by blending mono lum/narrowband data from a 1600MM with colour data from the 294C"
M78 - 13h of 180s subs with the 294
Rho Ophiucchi - 2.75h of 180s subs with the 294
2070 - 8h of 300s subs with the 1600MM
Rosette - 7.55h of 300s subs with the 1600MM
Then realised these pics are out of date already....
THEN realised that in 2 weeks, any pics I take today will be out of date again.
In any case...
In the pics:
Askar 120APO with Askar 1x Field Flattener.
Player One Artemis C Pro (IMX294) CMOS camera.
Player One Filter Drawer
Player One M54 OAG.
Player One Sedna M IMX178 guide camera
Askar M54 backfocus adjuster.
Emcan Astro EM31 Pro mount
Mele Quieter 4C
Wanderer Astro Wander Box Ultimate V2.
The Player One Camera/Filter Drawer/OAG setup has since been replaced by a ZWO 1600MM Pro + EFW + OAG monochrome setup...
And currently in the post, is a Touptek ATR2600M, 7x36mm EFW and M54 OAG kit...
I thought I'd pick up the 1600MM exclusively for narrowband imaging, and adding luminance to colour data collected with the 294C... After shooting with it for 4 nights, I have decided that I'll move both the 294C, and the 1600MM along to new homes, and upgrade to a the IMX571 kit.
Silly to have gone through 4 cameras since November last year (I had the ST8300M with LRGB filters)
It went as it always does I guess...
I just got back into astrophotography and went straight to the ST8300M as it is the camera I had prior to taking my big break (2013~2023)
We had TERRIBLE weather, and I could not for the life of me capture a full colour image in 1 night, and in some cases, it would take a month worth of shooting through sucker holes to get anything.
Disheartened, I bought my colour camera and sold the ST8300M. It was frustrating, as I knew the benefit of mono, but I just wanted colour pics without cloud ruining it.
It then moved to winter - Narrowband season, and despite all the quality of the current crop of dual narrowband filters, I was simply not happy with the results (Especially the disparity between Ha and OIII captured per sub)...
So, wanting to shoot narrowband more and more, I thought I'd grab the 1600MM... Weather this december/january has been abysmal, but, still better than last year, so, I was able to give the 1600MM a good run, and really feel those mono camera benefits right out of the gate...
This pushed me to finally say, "you know what, I'd rather make 10~12 awesome images a year going 100% mono with a very high quality camera, than make 13~20 significantly lower quality images by blending mono lum/narrowband data from a 1600MM with colour data from the 294C"
M78 - 13h of 180s subs with the 294
Rho Ophiucchi - 2.75h of 180s subs with the 294
2070 - 8h of 300s subs with the 1600MM
Rosette - 7.55h of 300s subs with the 1600MM
Cool read...you are well stocked, you just need a dark mountain top now
Don,t ask my missus how much it cost, I hope she doesn't sell for that when I fall off the perch..
Left to right
ZWO AN5N with pier extension.
TC40 Carbon Tripod.
Redcat 51, sharing the same base plate with,
Nikon Z6 & 150 to 600 Sigma Lens.
ZWO 120 guide scope.
Bluetti portable Power station.
2 tablets for running both systems concurrently.
All in Tactix cases.
All in Tactix cases.
I am where I want to be with this setup..
Thanks for sharing, Shawn.
I am impressed by not only the equipment, but also the neat fit into the cases and colour coordination.
Can you share any thoughts on handling the foam in the Tactix cases? I have been looking into them, and think I may need to do some serious foam cutting and removal like in your smaller case.
Don,t ask my missus how much it cost, I hope she doesn't sell for that when I fall off the perch..
Left to right
ZWO AN5N with pier extension.
TC40 Carbon Tripod.
Redcat 51, sharing the same base plate with,
Nikon Z6 & 150 to 600 Sigma Lens.
ZWO 120 guide scope.
Bluetti portable Power station.
2 tablets for running both systems concurrently.
All in Tactix cases.
I am impressed by not only the equipment, but also the neat fit into the cases and colour coordination.
Can you share any thoughts on handling the foam in the Tactix cases? I have been looking into them, and think I may need to do some serious foam cutting and removal like in your smaller case.
I had a few pre requisites when I put this together, No case should exceed 7kg and all fit single layer on my back seat. The fact that the AN5N does not need a counterweight made it possible. So I designed the mounting plate for the redcat & the Nikon assy,s to go in the case fully assembled, the asiair is hidden underneath between the two optical assy,s. I wanted a kit that could be assembled and ready to go in 5 minutes, including PA. and yes its doable, there is not a lot of the original foam left in any of the cases. Its that pick and pluck stuff anyway, and you can glue it back in if you goof it up , with a couple of drops of fabric glue, In the smaller case there is only part of the outer ring of foam left, even half of the lower layer of foam has been removed leaving the bluetti is a nice fit along with a couple of 10 inch tablets, and sundry cables for backup, everything else is pre wired, as the AN5N only needs to be plugged into the Asiar,, as you are probably aware that connection is above the DEC axis on the N, so there is no chance of cable issues. Wireless to both the tablets, one from the Asiair mini, the other from the Nikon Z6, both separate wireless connects. I have to unplug the ASI 533 so so it fits in the case though. so its not quite assemble and go, buts its close enough for me..
The original AM5N box is a snug fit in the larger cases if you cut its lid off, again a snug fit with its pier extension with nearly all of the foam removed.. I posted the images with the gear in it so you could see how well it all fits.. Not in the picture is a 240W Solar blanket for charging the Bluetti during the day for remote imaging..
Thankyou John, blew the budget a bit though, a little north of 14k for a remote imaging setup. But I wont be changing anything soon, it all works very very well, and has exceeded my expectations.. Happy camper...
Thankyou John, blew the budget a bit though, a little north of 14k for a remote imaging setup. But I wont be changing anything soon, it all works very very well, and has exceeded my expectations.. Happy camper...
Budgets are meant to be broken, just like rules
You have inspired me, so took a drive to bunnings and picked up 3 of those cases.
You have inspired me, so took a drive to bunnings and picked up 3 of those cases.
Thank you
They are good value, I put a layer of 1cm thick sound deaden material in the bottom of the middle one, kind of like a hyper dense felt mat, and cut a hole exactly the same shape as my dovetail bar to locate in, it cant move anywhere once its in the case..
