Hi Richard,

Well, I personally don't consider it much information transfer on my part. I
have not worked with this device, but I do know that if reasonable results are
achieved that are not from Meade (no company should be trusted with what they
post as results from their telescopes. Look at the ads toting the visual views
through a manufacturer's telescopes! ) then they'll be posted here or there
sooner or later. Whether such websites will pop up on a Google search is
anyone's guess.

My personal experience with Meade electronic software is that they don't do full
regression testing, and I suspect they don't do a full suite of tests before
releasing the software. They really need to hire a qualified test engineer to
get this part of their business up to even commercial industry standards. This
lack of testing has cropped up with the 216XT (which I had first hand experience
with) and 416Xt cameras, and the autostar in the early days of both devices.
Whether they have learned their lesson is up for debate.

I don't recognize any of the names on their list of users on their website. I
admit I'm not that plugged into who's who in CCD imaging among amateurs, but
lack of a host of recognizable names begs for a little caution in taking the
user's testimony at their value. Also, most of the images are of bright
objects, but there are some fainter ones in the mix.

One deception I did pick up on (the deception is subjective, but it does raise
red lights in my mind). The cooling devices efficiency is not given. Usually
it's 20 degrees Celsius below ambient, but in this case they don't give a
figure. This makes it more difficult to judge how the camera might be
performing, since sensitivity is partially determined by how low the CCD sensor
is cooled. I don't trust manufacturers who don't give a precise list of the
technical features of their cameras.

Granted that it is prices much lower than other cameras WITH THE SAME HORIZONTAL
AND VERTICAL resolution, but I suspect you get what you paid for. If it were
possible to economically make a camera that low in price with features of
cameras many times that value, Starlight Xpress and SBIG would have produced
one. They're competing quite strongly against one another, so it's not like
they can rest on the laurels.

Sincerely,
--- Dave

-------------------------------------------------
Pinprick holes in a colorless sky
Let inspired figures of light pass by
The Mighty Light of ten thousand suns
Challenges infinity, and is soon gone




"Richard Carlson" wrote in message
...

Thankyou David for your post. You're the first person to answer some of my
thoughts about the DSI Meade Imager.

Richard