ASTRO : Old camera - old favorite - M20

Clouds cut this one short ... 14 by 120 sec with no darks or flats (I
had less than 20 minutes to cover up for an approaching storm).

This is not a big expensive camera but an old MX7C with a parallel port
interface upgraded to usb 1.1; the telescope is an LX200 12" classic on
a Losmandy Titan mount. I found a good guidance program recently for
the Televue guide scope and Mintron Video cam and life is sweet. No
darks, no flats ufortunately (weather), little anti-bloom in AA4 and hot
pixel removal in Photopaint 9. Recently got the guidance dialed in
IMHO, finally.

- cheers - Rod

rod wrote:
Clouds cut this one short ... 14 by 120 sec with no darks or flats (I
had less than 20 minutes to cover up for an approaching storm).

This is not a big expensive camera but an old MX7C with a parallel port
interface upgraded to usb 1.1; the telescope is an LX200 12" classic on
a Losmandy Titan mount. I found a good guidance program recently for
the Televue guide scope and Mintron Video cam and life is sweet. No
darks, no flats ufortunately (weather), little anti-bloom in AA4 and hot
pixel removal in Photopaint 9. Recently got the guidance dialed in
IMHO, finally.

- cheers - Rod

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Excellent considering the short exposure time. Small chips often don't
need flat fielding when used for imaging, they do for photometric work,
at least my ST-7 does. Sony chips have low dark current so in two
minutes a hot pixel map may be all that's needed. So you have the
perfect camera for such imaging. Other than its small FOV it's just as
useful as more modern cameras.

20 minutes to get torn down is an eternity. Running remotely before I
put in a cloud/rain sensor I was imaging in the east not even knowing it
was raining on the setup. Fortunately the dew shield kept the optics
dry but the camera was soaked. Never missed a beat however. Still that
caused me to cough up the money for that cloud sensor!

Rick



--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

Thanks Rick - I can actually take it down in about 5 minutes using a
roll-able pvc shelter box I created. Web shopping and saving pennies
for a couple of new toys this year ;) - take care - Rod


Rick Johnson wrote:
rod wrote:
Clouds cut this one short ... 14 by 120 sec with no darks or flats (I
had less than 20 minutes to cover up for an approaching storm).

This is not a big expensive camera but an old MX7C with a parallel
port interface upgraded to usb 1.1; the telescope is an LX200 12"
classic on a Losmandy Titan mount. I found a good guidance program
recently for the Televue guide scope and Mintron Video cam and life is
sweet. No darks, no flats ufortunately (weather), little anti-bloom
in AA4 and hot pixel removal in Photopaint 9. Recently got the
guidance dialed in IMHO, finally.

- cheers - Rod

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Excellent considering the short exposure time. Small chips often don't
need flat fielding when used for imaging, they do for photometric work,
at least my ST-7 does. Sony chips have low dark current so in two
minutes a hot pixel map may be all that's needed. So you have the
perfect camera for such imaging. Other than its small FOV it's just as
useful as more modern cameras.

20 minutes to get torn down is an eternity. Running remotely before I
put in a cloud/rain sensor I was imaging in the east not even knowing it
was raining on the setup. Fortunately the dew shield kept the optics
dry but the camera was soaked. Never missed a beat however. Still that
caused me to cough up the money for that cloud sensor!

Rick

Good job. I look forward to the day when I can take astro images even 1/2
as good as this.

looks good to me Rod

welcome!


"rod" wrote in message
...
Clouds cut this one short ... 14 by 120 sec with no darks or flats (I
had less than 20 minutes to cover up for an approaching storm).

This is not a big expensive camera but an old MX7C with a parallel port
interface upgraded to usb 1.1; the telescope is an LX200 12" classic on
a Losmandy Titan mount. I found a good guidance program recently for
the Televue guide scope and Mintron Video cam and life is sweet. No
darks, no flats ufortunately (weather), little anti-bloom in AA4 and hot
pixel removal in Photopaint 9. Recently got the guidance dialed in
IMHO, finally.

- cheers - Rod

Nice picture by the old lady.
I also have a Mintron camera lying around that I used as autoguider before I
got my SXV-H9 plus SXV Guider. The Mintron is a very capabole guider, but it
needs a lot of cables...

Stefan

"rod" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
Clouds cut this one short ... 14 by 120 sec with no darks or flats (I
had less than 20 minutes to cover up for an approaching storm).

This is not a big expensive camera but an old MX7C with a parallel port
interface upgraded to usb 1.1; the telescope is an LX200 12" classic on
a Losmandy Titan mount. I found a good guidance program recently for
the Televue guide scope and Mintron Video cam and life is sweet. No
darks, no flats ufortunately (weather), little anti-bloom in AA4 and hot
pixel removal in Photopaint 9. Recently got the guidance dialed in
IMHO, finally.

- cheers - Rod

John C. wrote:
Good job. I look forward to the day when I can take astro images even 1/2
as good as this.

Thank you very much - I've banged my head against the wall a number of
times trying to feel some satisfaction with this one. The reds and
blues are far more difficult that I imagined. - care - Rod

Thank you very much - thanks a big compliment coming from you. I've
finally save enough money to improve the old setup. It going to take
about 9 months to get everything in place.

btw - although I don't check out this place often, your work is amazing
and thank you for your posts. - cheers - Rod


Richard Crisp wrote:
looks good to me Rod

welcome!


"rod" wrote in message
...
Clouds cut this one short ... 14 by 120 sec with no darks or flats (I
had less than 20 minutes to cover up for an approaching storm).

This is not a big expensive camera but an old MX7C with a parallel port
interface upgraded to usb 1.1; the telescope is an LX200 12" classic on
a Losmandy Titan mount. I found a good guidance program recently for
the Televue guide scope and Mintron Video cam and life is sweet. No
darks, no flats ufortunately (weather), little anti-bloom in AA4 and hot
pixel removal in Photopaint 9. Recently got the guidance dialed in
IMHO, finally.

- cheers - Rod