Where to find examples of how to setup my camera

[SimonM]

@Terry_Fitzpatrick

If I change orientation, I always redo the flats (I use a master flat dark, though I accept that flat-darks are fairly quick to produce) as they are correcting for two things. First, dust bunnies, and these will tend to be on the camera sensor window (at least these will be the most prominent) and so will not change with camera orientation. Second, though, is vignetting, and that will change with the orientation of the camera.

Hi Terry

Redoing flats - always a good idea but is it necessary for field rotation (framing the target)?

Here is a picture of my setup - scope with focuser, with field flattener (1:1), focus motor, OAG, guide camera and image camera (ASI294MC). I haven’t tried it, but I can also transfer the OAG, guide camera and image camera to another scope e.g. an SCT (for the brave) by varying only the extension tubes in front of the OAG.

The guide camera and image camera are aligned with both sensors stacked with long both edges aligned and the prism also aligned. There are no further adjustments e.g. to focus moves everything together.

For AP it is a sealed setup, when attached and mostly sealed when removing the assembly including the field flattener. I do need to clean the optical window of the imaging camera (I have a new APSC style cleaning pad/solution because you can see a smear on it, otherwise not too bad e.g. dust bunnies.

For rotation, I can either loosen the back of the focuser e.g. for initial setup of the whole assembly using the a pair of locking plates. I don’t need to touch this because the whole OTA and imaging assembly can be rotated in the mount cradle. This allows framing of the target and another area of sky for the guide camera (not needed).

The dust bunnies are largely attached to the optical window of the imaging camera, so don’t move about and the effects on a flat e.g. adding/removing from the mount (including rotating) shouldn’t require regeneration? At the same exposure temperature/gain (0 C and 120 gain) there shouldn’t be a need to redo flats, darks or flat darks man that flats and dark flats even with rotation to frame the target? Or they can be done the next day? The vignetting shouldn’t change anything if I rotate the OTA for framing?

Simon