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Hello! I am considering putting a telescope in a remote hosting site. I am thinking about many details, including how to make darks and flats. I could get a Moravian camera that has a mechanical shutter, but it has the same sensor as the ASI6200 which is about $2000 less and has an electronic shutter. Has anyone used a dark filter (opaque to make darks) in a filter wheel? Does it work well or are there light leaks? As far as flats, I'm not sure the scope I'd put there, an Askar 151PHQ, has a dew shield that can handle an automated LED panel that opens and closes in front of the dew shield. I'm hoping the remote side has a flats panel on the wall that I could use. Jerry |
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Hi Jerry, there's loads of good advice on here, but i've been prepping for this myself. I'm going with a TOA-130, asi6200mm, and have been using the deepskydad Flat panel with for a bit now. It does flats as well as anything I've used (sky, giotto, amazon led panel) I haven't tried darks with it, but I suspect if you do those on a night when the roof is closed for whatever reason and the flat panel closed, that should have leakage. (could be wrong though) |
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| I have a "dark filter”. It does work for taking flats at night, but in broad daylight my ZWO EFW leaks enough light to be visible in the darks. In other words, the limiting factor is not the filter (which is a piece of aluminum, so perfectly opaque), but the rest of the hardware. |
22.58
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My camera doesn’t have a shutter and I don’t have enough slots in my filter wheel for a blocking filter so I use the SIi filter to take darks. I usually wait for a cloudy night when the roof is closed to take dark data and it works well. My two current scopes have mirror covers and that’s even better. A shutter is the best solution but you still have to take dark data at night so a shutter isn’t at all essential. John |
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I'd recommend a flip-flat for any refractor. It will keep dust levels down, allow for fantastic automatic flats which you need to take for every filter that you use so not relying on a wall panel is a nice thing (also allows for a rotator to be used). I never took remote darks without paying for remote hands to do so. I left a heavy duty outside capable telescope cover in my gear basket, and I had them cover everything when parked. With the flip flat cover closed, camera on cool and the scope cover strangled around the mount i was able to take darks If i needed too but I only did this once and never again... big expense for no reward on a cmos camera. I did this on a cool winter night when the observatory wasn't open so residual heat from tec cooler didn't make the entire thing warm up. your remote obsevatory if hosting with one of the commercial ones probably has a pretty standard way of helping you achieve remote darks and may even remove camera and put it in a box to assist if you go that route. |
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My obs is pitch black at night when the roof is closed so I only do Sii filter. Never had to cover the tube. For flats, sky flats are the most cost effective option but they can be tedious. |
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For the darks just use the HA or SII filter at night when the roof is closed (eg bad weather) and there wont be any light leaks. For the flats, skyflats work fairly well, actually most of the times better than with a led panel for me. edit - wow didnt notice the last comment gave my exact same advice |
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Emilio Frangella: Yeah…three of us have given the same advice so it must be a good way to go! |
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Jerry Gerber I do use a dark filter in my filter wheel. I have not seen any big problems with light leaks. I only take them at night, not during the day time. However since the exposures I take tend to be fairly short, a small light leak would not be a big problem for me. Also, it is nice to be able to get fresh dark frames any time I want. bob |
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| I use a dark filter in my 8 position wheel for shooting darks. As others have noted, there are too many light leaks for daytime dark shooting, but that was true of shutters too. With remote set-ups it is a nice convenience not have to ask staff to put a cover on. But on roof closed nights, John's SII filter approach can work. |
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I have used the DSD on my Epsilon in a dark home observatory during the day and with an S2 in place. It works fine since it has a very tight seal compared to other flip flat devices. At F3.3 that is a pretty tough test. OTOH, I also have a Moravian at my remote site since there is nothing better than an actual shutter.... |
