Instrumentation and Equipment

Forgive the newbie question here, I have been reading a LOT and learning as much as I can.  I come from the astrophotography side of things... and so I am just starting to try exoplanet transit viewing with NINA and a great system they have.  Haven't got a full clear night yet, but am running some images through HOPs and just getting used to some things.

1.  I run a RASA 11 with a 1600mm monochrome camera right now.  My understanding is this is a good choice?  fast images in the 15-60 second exposure range will give me more data?  am I correct in that assumption?

This is just a brief placeholder review.  Gary Walker loaned me his ASI2600mm-pro camera, but it has a non-functional sensor temperature readout and so can't regulate the sensor temperature.  He is returning this camera for repair, but will be sending me a second ASI2600 for testing.  When I get that one, I'll do a more extensive test.

I have several cameras in my testing queue, and a couple of remaining posts regarding the QHY600.  For now, I'd like to give some preliminary results for the QHY268M.  As I have more information, and get plots posted on some website, I'll expand this post.

QHY has donated one of these cameras (thank you, Dr. Qiu!), and it was going to be installed on BSM_TX.  Because that camera had issues, I've actually tested my personal QHY268M that will be sent out to TX at least temporarily.

Curiosity question - if you have a one shot color camera but run it in monochrome mode with an appropriate set of filters is that acceptable for taking measurements.

Phil Sullivan loaned to me his set of 1.25" Optolong filters.  I know that James Hamilton (Wisconsin) is going to scan a set with better equipment than I have, so I did not do any spectral scans other than to make sure the bandpass looked reasonable.  I look forward to Dr. Hamilton's report!  The Optolong filters are mostly interference/dielectric and match the Johnson/Cousins bandpass central wavelength and shape.  Since attachments are forbidden on AAVSO forums, I can't include the normal images and plots that I would normally do.

Ok, I know that what I really need is a monochrome camera with the appropriate B and V filters, but I don't that right now. 

What I do have is a Mallincam DS10TEC (color) with a planewave 12.5 CDK. Just thinking about getting started in variable star observing. So, I was wondering what contributions can I provide with my rig. Or, do I really have to wait until I can get a more standard configuration.

https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/blog/coming-soon-new-baader-sloan-sdss-ugriz-photometric-filters/

I wonder whether anyone has tried them already.

Cheers

HB

I am now planning to move from DSLR photometry to CCD photometry. I plan to purchase an ASI 1600MM Pro CCD camera. Although I am primarily interested in determining the period of variable stars and the change of periods. DSLR photometry is well suited for this task. But I want my data to be usable by others. If anyone has experience with photometry with the ZWO ASI 1600MM, please let me know. I currently have a ZWO LRGB filter kit. The "G" filter covers the transmission characteristics of the Johnson V filter quite well.

You are invited to the Portland PDX XIV Alt-Az Workshop!

The workshop focuses on optics, telescopes, mounts, and observing.
 

Hi everybody. You can tell a beginner in the study of variable stars. I have a SW 200PDS EQ6 R Pro telescope and a ZWO ASI294MC Pro astrocamera (CMOS), I wanted to study variable stars. Visually, it seems to be easy to observe, but how can you send data to AAVSO using an astrocamera? I looked at the section where there are programs for exporting data, but either the program is already outdated or paid. I myself use Cartes du Ciel and the APT (Astro Photography Tool) program.