I'm at a crossroads and undecided

[MarkS]

If only there were mono versions of some of those DSLR chips.  A cooled astro-camera made from one of the those would be worth having!

For instance, if Sony made mono versions of the chips in the QHY10 and QHY12 (both of which are APS DSLR sized colour chips) they would definitely knock spots off the Kodak KAF8300.

[Carole]

It looks like the QHY8L range only seems to come in OSC.  I am definitely leaning towards a Mono with a large chip, but seems like it's going to have to be the Kodak sensor. 

Must look into the guarantee side of things.

Carole

[mickw]

The guarantee would be for the camera itself, if it stops working the supplier of the camera has to repair/replace, if the components aren't available the camera should be replaced by the dealer.

[Mike]

With Starlight Xpress cameras the after sales support is excellent. With my SXV-H9 I had a few issues that Terry at SX fixed, free of charge and very quickly, well after the product was out of warranty. A look around the forums will show other people have had similar experiences. They are a great company to deal with and really look after its customers.

[RobertM]

It's a very good point that Mike made and one that's often overlooked.  The SX service has always been exceptional with repairs at very reasonable cost and quick turn around time.  For instance a complete peltier module replacement for my M25 - cost £40.  You would be lucky to get any change from £300 just for sending a camera back to the states and that's just for the return insured postage cost !

Robert

[Carole]

That is a good point Robert and Mike, but I have had a look at the SX cameras and haven't yet found one that has the chip size and is comparable in price.  The Atik383L I can get for £1500 from Teleskop Service.  The QHY8L I was thinking of seems to be only OSC.

Am I wrong?

Carole

[Carole]

I have bitten the bullet and bought a 2nd hand Atik 383L mono. 

As this has a larger FOV than the 314L+ I am planning initially to add Ha to some of my existing DSLR RGB images, and then as I get used to it and can afford it, will add filters.  I am keen to do narrowband especially given my LP location, already have a 2" Ha filter, though I bought it for the DSLR so it's only 12nm.

Should be receiving the Atik on Tuesday .

Carole

[Carole]

OK, my 2nd hand Atik383L has arrived.  It has hardly been used and seems to work fine.

Any-one an Artemis user?

Just need to understand the looping and "live view" function a bit better for alignment and centering.
Currently I have to wait a few seconds to see stars move and it's a delayed reaction.  Also my software was freezing a lot last night, I am wondering whether I have a USB problem.  Lower cooling took ages as if I tried to hurry it (and hurry = very slow), again that "hung".  Only managed to get down to -1 after ages. 

Carole

[JohnP]

Carole - I use Artemis Capture all the time. All I do for centring image is set to short exposure & then just loop - it just keeps taking images & downloading till you stop it... In fact I use same function for taking & downloading my LX images. Not sure on Live view...

When you say cooling takes a long time how long are we talking - The 314 takes 2-3 mins to get from say +20 to -5 - The 314 has a max deltaT of 27 deg - I think your 383 can do like 40deg so even on hot summer nights you should be able to get down to -15 or -20deg or so I think? (obviously last 5 deg might take a while)

John

[Mike]

To speed things up just for alignment and rough focusing bin the image by 2 or 3.

[Rocket Pooch]

Hi Carole,

If its taking 8-12 seconds to download an image its a full frame, if its about 2-3 seconds then its a subframe (providing this is supported by the software).  Subframes are quicker for focusing.

I'd have a good read of the manual for the software and check the Atik group on yahoo to ask these questions because I don't think anyone here has one of these Atik's?  So although some have used the software the 314 is a lot quicker to use than a 8300 based camera.  Not sure about the cooling my QSI get to -20 in about 45 seconds.

Doing what mike suggests is a good idea esspecially if you have an HA filter on because you will only be getting a small amount of light through to the chip.

I'm impressent you nanaged to hijack your own thread

Chris

[Carole]

To speed things up just for alignment and rough focusing bin the image by 2 or 3.

Ah yes, that sounds a good idea Mike.  

When you say cooling takes a long time how long are we talking

I can get down to about 2 degrees reasonably quickly, but when I click on the set point cooling and try to run it a couple of degrees lower, it would only move down the scale by about 0.2 degrees at a time and then take about 15 secs to reduce by that 0.2 degrees.  If I tried to reduce it qucker than that it would just not respond and excuse the pun "freeze on me".  So over all it took around 15 - 29 minutes to reduce by about 3 degrees from about +2 degrees.  I hope that makes sense.  

I'd have a good read of the manual for the software

I did that when I had the Atik314L+ and the manual doesn't tell you anything much of use, it assumes you know how to work it.  I have joined the Atik forum and can ask for help there, but just wodnered whether any-one here used it.  

All I do for centring image is set to short exposure & then just loop - it just keeps taking images & downloading till you stop it...

That's what I was doing last night John, but the response was very slow even despite lowering the exposure down to a very small figure.  In fact it was playing catch up, so when I thought I was slewing in one direction it would go in the opposite direction because it was on a delayed response, this resulted in me not knowing which way to go at times.  

Plus Artemis also froze a few times.  Which is why I am wondering if it was more to do with a USB problem rather than the software.  

I am using the Artemis I installed with the Atik314L+, would it be better if I uninstalled and re-installed from the disc supplied with the 383?

I'm impressent you nanaged to hijack your own thread

I did wonder about starting a new thread, but thought it was a sort of continuation of the story.  

John, as you're round the corner from me and use Artemis, would you mind if I popped round some time and we took a look?  Though I guess we do need some stars.  

I am sure I will muddle my way through without, but a smoother ride would be preferable.

Thanks
Carole