astro imaging equipment

TOA-130F typical imaging setup.

Telescopes:

Takahashi TOA-130NFB APO Air-spaced Triplet Refractor (130mm, F/7.7, 1000mm) (Arrived 28 Feb 11)

Takahashi FS-60C APO Fluorite Doublet Refractor (60mm, F/5.9, 355mm) (Arrived 1 Mar 11)

Mount:

Takahashi EM200 Temma II German Equatorial Mount (< +/- 5" PE) (Arrived 21 Mar 07)

Camera:

Starlight Xpress SXV-H9C CCD camera (1392x1040, 6.45micron pixels) w/SXV guidecam (Arrived 19 Apr 06)

CCD type: Sony ICX285AL Exview HAD CCD with ultra low dark current, extended IR response and vertical anti-blooming. CCD quality: Grade 1 or better - No bad columns, no dead pixels, no more than 6 'hot' pixels (saturated in <10 seconds). CCD Full resolution Pixel data: Pixel size: 6.45uM x 6.45uM, Image format: 1392 x 1040 pixels. CCD Image area: 8.98mm (Horizontal) x 6.7mm (Vertical). Spectral Response: QE max at 540nM (~65%), 50% roll-off at 400nM and 750nM. Readout Noise: Less than 12 electrons RMS - typically ONLY 7 electrons. Full-well capacity: Greater than 27,000 e- (unbinned). Anti-blooming: Overload margin greater than 800x. Dark current: Dark frame saturation time greater than 100 hours. Less than 0.02 electrons/second @ + 10C ambient. Data format: 16 bits. System gain: 0.45 electrons per ADU. Computer Interface: Built-in USB 2.0 compatible interface. Cooling system: Regulated constant current cooling supply with single stage thermoelectric cooler to give a CCD temperature of approximately 30C below ambient. Size: 63 x 95mm black anodized aluminum barrel with 42mm 'T2' thread at the CCD window end & input/output plugs at rear. Weight: approx. 350g.

Adapters:

Tak TOA130FF (TOA-67FL) Flattener (TOA-130F @ f/7.7):

Tak TOA130R Reducer (TOA-130F @ f/5.8):

Tak TFL0060 Flattener (FS-60C @ f/6.2).

Tak TRD0060 (RD-C 0.72x) Reducer (FS-60C @ f/4.2).

Previous equipment (most recent first):

      William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD Doublet APO (66mm, F/5.9) (19 May 06 - 5 Jul 11 : SOLD to upgrade to Tak FS-60C)

      Celestron 8" CF w/XLT (203mm, F/10) (27 Apr 07 - 11 Feb 11 : SOLD to upgrade to Tak TOA-130NFB)

      Earlier tandem imaging setup (C8 and WO66), January 2009.

      Canon PowerShot S1 IS, 10x optical zoom (Jun 05 : upgrade from Canon A40 ... died Aug 08 and replaced with S5 IS)

   Meade LX200GPS 10" SMT w/UHTC SCT (254mm, F/10) (8 Nov 05 - 28 Feb 07 : SOLD to upgrade to EM200 and C8)

      Orion SkyQuest XT10 Dobsonian (254mm) (May 03 - Sep 05 : SOLD to upgrade to Meade LX200GPS 10")

      Minolta X-370 35mm SLR with 300mm zoom attached (Feb 85 - ?: RETIRED, but still have it)