First Light QHY9

Hagar (Doug) · #1 24-01-2009, 12:03 AM

Well I did it. Bought a new camera. A QHY9, 8.6mega pixel mono CCD and filter wheel. I am yet to aquire filters but have a whole lot to learn all over again so Mono will be enough for a little while.

Tonight is less than perfect with a lot of dust in the air but I thought I might give NGC253 a go.

Image Capture: EZCap and QHY9 at -20 degrees C.
Telescope: Takahashi FS102 at F8
8 X 5 minute images stacked using IP3
Gain 1 Offset 130
I had a few glitches with calibration files but will work them out again so the original image was cropped to remove some calibration rubbish.

Lots to re-learn and then colour combination. God help me.

monoxide · #2 24-01-2009, 12:16 AM

lookin good Doug, is there a filter wheel for it yet? i remember seeing the design + prototype but not much more

renormalised (Carl) · #3 24-01-2009, 12:24 AM

Pretty good first light there, Doug. Once you've ironed a few things out and get those filters, we'll be looking forward to some "uber piccies" a la Doug

Hagar (Doug) · #4 24-01-2009, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monoxide

lookin good Doug, is there a filter wheel for it yet? i remember seeing the design + prototype but not much more

Yes the filterwheel is finished and fully integrates with the camera and capture software. I have one in a box and it looks very good but I may have to wait a while for some filters.

gregbradley · #5 24-01-2009, 12:43 AM

Wow, that is an excellent start.

Greg.

Matty P (Matt) · #6 24-01-2009, 01:19 AM

Looks excellent Doug. Congrats on the new camera. Very promising indeed.

What is going to happen with the QHY8 now that you have the QHY9?

strongmanmike (Michael) · #7 24-01-2009, 01:57 AM

Exciting times ahead for you Doug

Yes you will find LRGB imaging somewhat more time consuming too but the mono nature of the chip and thus higher res will be worth it

Good start

Mike

Alchemy (Clive) · #8 24-01-2009, 06:41 AM

well doug im fascinated about the new camera... perhaps you could give us a few details of its performance, is it as smooth as the qhy8 ... what sort of chip. etc etc. bang in a pic of it... is it bulkier than the 8 ( side by side pics perhaps)

off to have a look at your other image now...

cheers clive.

atalas · #9 24-01-2009, 09:42 AM

Congrats on the new camera Doug !

avandonk · #10 24-01-2009, 09:50 AM

Sounds like you have a lot of learning to do Doug, but is that not where all the fun is. When looking for filters have a look at these

http://www.sciencecenter.net/hutech/...lter/index.htm

Hutech have only compared them to their own but the super anti reflection coatings would really minimise any reflections wth bright stars in a field of dim nebulosity.

Looking foward to more images.

Bert

AlexN · #11 24-01-2009, 12:41 PM

Looks good Doug!

Did that have a UV/IR filter on the QHY9? the stars look a little large, but the detail in 253 indicates that the focus was good..

Looking forward to many more shots, and watching you progress and master LRGB imaging.

lesbehrens (Les) · #12 24-01-2009, 04:08 PM

very cool.

KenGee (Kenith Gee) · #13 25-01-2009, 03:09 AM

Welcome to the mono club! With flexibility comes lost more learning. Great first outing.

Terry B · #14 25-01-2009, 11:09 AM

Excelent Doug.

Hagar (Doug) · #15 26-01-2009, 07:46 AM

Thanks for all the comments but I still have a long way to go.
The camera is so much more sensitive than the QHY8 that I am even having trouble taking flats with my EL sheet. On the lowest shutter speed I am completely oversaturating the flat image. I cannot get the ADU count down below 12K and I really want it down at about 9K as the FW capacity is 27.5K. Looks like another layer of opaque material on the frront of the sheet is required.