Thanks for the information Robin !
I'll probably not join the groups. I've given up on Meade, given the lack of
any real test engineering and quality control in their electronics from the
216XT/416XT camera through the Autostar software, and my personal experiences
with the former.
I saw the Pro version when I visited the Meade website to get some information
on the cameras.
One thing that I wonder at is whether they're only using the heat sink to cool
the CCD. If this is the case then the CCD will only cool down to ambient air
temperature, at the very best. No matter what CCD they use, this will still
give more dark current than cooling the CCD further using a Peltier cooler
would. Of course, since it appears that they're using the power through the USB
for the unit, they couldn't afford the Peltier cooler power-wise.
Whether this will lower the price range on lower priced CCD cameras only time
will tell.
Another thing - most of the deep sky images were taken through fairly large
instruments. This means the exposure times can be shorter and still give good
signal to noise ratios. However, it does beg the question of how well these
cameras will perform on smaller instrument in the 4 to 8 inch aperture size
range. I personally operate with equipment this small, and signal to noise
ratio is a problem with these instruments because not as much light gets to the
sensor each second. I'm guessing that a significant portion of the people
looking at this camera are also in the 8-inch or smaller instrument group. M42
doesn't count in my books - it's so bright that almost any telescope and camera
can be used with success.
Don't get me wrong. I believe those images were taken through the camera, and I
believe it is a serviceable camera. I'm raising concerns based on my experience
through more than a decade of imaging with various cameras, one of which was the
Meade 216XT. My own personal view is that at that cost you ALMOST can't go
wrong. The only question I have is the robustness and utility of the software,
and how much image processing was done to get the images you see, something even
I don't hint at with my own creations (see
http://mysite.verizon.net/res07oeg/id11.html for examples).
Richard, if you decide to go with this camera, keep good notes, and write an
objective review on a weblog and let us know what you think, pro AND CON. This
is almost the only way we're going to get objective views of any equipment,
given that the manufacturers are not going to do it for obvious reasons.
Good Luck !
--- Dave
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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
"Robin Leadbeater" wrote in message
...
"David Nakamoto" wrote in message
news:8DOke.145$Pm3.87@trnddc08...
SNIP
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.
Hi David, Richard
Did you see Meade have now brought out a DSI Pro version which has a
monochrome chip and a built in filter slide?
I expect the performance of the established players offerings are still
better than the DSI, but by pitching the DSI at a low price Meade will sell
many more and the economies of scale mean they will probably get closer than
one might otherwise expect. (Imagine how much a planetary imager which
produced the sort of results the Phillips Toucam gives could have sold for!)
There is lots of feedback from DSI users on the various Yahoo groups eg
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DeepSp...ger-uncensored
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DeepSkyImager
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Meade_DSI
Here in the UK though, the Meade pricing policy of 1USD=1UKP tends to make
"proper" alternatives like the Artemis from Steve Chambers more attractive.
http://www.artemisccd.co.uk/
I have yet to take the plunge though ;-)
Robin
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Robin Leadbeater
54.75N 3.24W
http://www.leadbeaterhome.fsnet.co.uk/astro.htm
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