astro imaging equipment

For prints:

astro imaging equipment

Third Planet Optics (TPO) Ritchey-Chretien (RC) and AP1100GTO at work...

FS-60C typical imaging setup (old setup).

Telescopes:

TPO 12" Truss-tube Ritchey-Chretien (304mm, F/8, 2432mm) (Arrived 28 Nov 22)

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:

Astro-Physics 1100GTO (+/- 3.5 PE before correction! ( Arrived 16 Dec 22)

Main Camera:

QSI 690wsg CCD camera (3388x2712, 3.7x3.7µm) (Arrived 28 Nov 17)

QSI 690wsg 9.2mp Cooled CCD Camera w/Integrated Guider Port.
Camera Mounting Options: T-mount adapter and 2" nosepiece.
Guider Mounting Options: CS/C-mount.
5-position Filter Wheel for Threaded 1.25" Filters.

Model 690 CCD Image Sensor Specifications:

CCD Manufacturer & Model	Sony ICX814
CCD Architecture	Interline Transfer
Microlens	Yes
Anti-blooming	Yes - 800x suppression
Imager Size: (WxH)	12.48mm x 9.98mm
Pixel Array (WxH):	3388 x 2712 active (9.19 megapixels)
Pixel Size:	3.69µm x 3.69µm
Pixel Full Well Depth	18,000 electrons
Absolute Quantum Efficiency	Peak: 77% at 560nm
Pixel Dark Current	<0.002 electrons per second at -10°C
Intrinsic Read Noise	3.1 electrons RMS
Dynamic Range	75db

Model 690 Camera Specifications:

Thermoelectric CCD Cooling	Temperature regulation +/- 0.1°C, @ 0°C to -40°C CCD temperature
In free air, Fans @ Full Speed	Typically 40°C below ambient air with 85% cooling power
Cooling Fan Control	Intelligent, user configurable
Camera Gain	User Selectable High Gain 0.16 e-/ADU (default), Low Gain 0.36 e-/ADU
Digital Resolution	16 bits (both High Quality and High Speed mode)
Total System Read Noise	3 electrons RMS typical in High Quality mode 7 electrons RMS typical in High Speed mode
Pixel Dark Current	<0.002 electrons per second at -10°C
Weight (wsg model)	1300g

Filters:

1.25" Astrodon LRGB Tru-Balance I-Series Gen 2 Filters

1.25" Astrodon Ha (656.46nm) filter (3nm FWHM)

Guide Camera:

Starlight Xpress Lodestar Guide camera (ICX429AL Sony Exview, 752x580 pixels, 8.2 x 8.4µm) (Arrived 23 Apr 12)

Adapters/Configurations:

TOA-130F @ f/7.7 (Tak TOA130FF - TOA-67FL Flattener):
TOA-130F @ f/5.8 (Tak TOA130R Reducer... old/earlier camera setup):
FS-60C @ f/6.2 (Tak TFL0060 Flattener... old/earlier camera setup):
FS-60C @ f/4.2 (Tak TRD0060 - RD-C 0.72x Reducer) - not pictured.

DSLR Camera (ultra-widefield):

Canon T3i Digital Rebel w/Canon 18-135mm lens (Arrived 24 Dec 13)

Samyang 14mm, F/2.8 lens (Arrived 6 Mar 22)

Point and Shoot Camera (planetary):

Canon SX420 IS (Arrived 13 Sep 21)

Light Box:

I built this double diffusion-layer light box myself in Dec 2010. This is used for taking flat frames following imaging sessions in "calibration" steps and is necessary to remove optical system effects and sensor imperfections (common with all modern CCDs) from final images. It is powered by 9V DC with either a battery or power cable (power controls on opposite side of box in left image, while image on right shows box in use with TOA):

Previous equipment (most recent first):

Takahashi EM200 Temma II German Equatorial Mount (< +/- 5" PE) (21 Mar 07 - 17 Mar 23 : SOLD to upgrade to advanced AP mount)

Orion 150mm Maksutov-Cassegrain Reflector (150mm, F/12, 1800mm) (1 Jul 21 - 4 Dec 22 : SOLD to help fund upgrade to TPO 12" RC Truss Tube)

QSI 540wsg CCD camera (2048x2048, 7.4x7.4µm) (22 May 12 - 18 Dec 17 : SOLD to upgrade to QSI 690wsg)

Starlight Xpress SXV-H9C CCD camera (1392x1040, 6.45micron pixels) w/SXV guidecam (19 Apr 06 - 28 Jun 12 : SOLD to upgrade to QSI 540wsg)

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 and used for most Planetary captures - camera died Aug 08, replaced with Canon S5 IS, which in turn I later sold and replaced with Canon T3i in Dec 2013)

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 (RETIRED, but still have it)