Currently sitting in a damp field in North Norfolk - yep, it's Star Party time here in the UK - and realised it has been (yet again) over a year since I last updated my own website...
Things have been busy - the details of which I won't bore you with, suffice to say my astronomy has taken a back seat this last year. Still, things look to be improving time-wise, so I am optimistically saying there will be more activity on here going forward...
So what's changed in TANO over the last year?
Well, the Classic Cassegrain has gone to a new home, and as per the last post, I have (re) acquired a GSO 8 inch RC telescope which I am aiming to pair with my Atik One 6mp CCD. The pixel size on the Atik is 4.54 microns, so running it BIN2 (9.08microns) puts it slap bang in the green zone when paired wit the RC - even with a focal reducer, bringing it from f/8 to f/5.4, is still within the ideal range.
I'm also planning on coupling this to an external filter wheel - a 7-position Starlight Xpress, and a Lodestar for the guiding. This means I don't need to keep dismantling the camera to change from RGB to NB filters, and given the relatively small size of the CCD sensor (12 x 9mm), vignetting should not be an issue at all.
The CCD had to off for a repair not to long ago, and I have not had a chance to connect everything together for testing - so that's a project for when I get back home. Of course, I'll document the project, and we'll see if it's a success!
RC and Atik Suitability
What else...
Well, the automation project has not really moved on... The roof motor is still not installed, and until that is done, the rest of the project can't really move forward either. So, I just need to find the time to get the motor installed and operational, then I can start on the fun stuff...
