QSI 532ws-M1 CCD Camera, Celestron EdgeHD 925 and
Astro-Physics 1200GTO German Equatorial Mount
The QSI 532ws-M1 camera mounted on a Celestron EdgeHD 925 telescope and Astro-Physics 1200GTO German Equatorial mount. AC power cord and a dual HDMI cable is the only connections between the monitor table and the telescope. The table is on wheels and follows the telescope as it is moved out on the driveway. The Apple Mac mini is mounted on the pier at the top. This reduced significantly the amount of cables between the table and the telescope. The Apple keyboard and mouse are Bluetooth wireless. The mount power supply and 12 V power supply is in plastic boxes on the bottom of the telescope. Plastic boxes located on a shelf below the table contain red lights, star charts, telescope cover, and other supplies used for observing and imaging.
The older setup with a Windows 7 laptop computer took a lot of time to cable up the telescope to the table with the Windows 7 laptop computer and power supplies. Now the Mac mini computer and power supplies are mounted on the telescope pier.
Camera
- The QSI 532ws-M1 CCD camera is a cooled camera used for astrophotography imaging.
- QSI 532ws-M1 CCD Camera Specifications
- The QSI 532ws-M1 CCD Camera uses a Kodak KAF-3200ME CCD sensor that is optimize for scientific measurements with its linear response.
- The camera has very high quantum efficiency
(PDF) using Kodak Enhanced Spectral Response and Microlens technology.
- Kodak KAF-3200ME (PDF data sheet) Full Frame CCD sensor
- CCD sensor size 14.85mm x 10.26mm
- 6.8µm × 6.8µm pixel size
- 2184 x 1472 active pixel array (3,214,848 total pixels)
- 16-bit A/D conversion
- Thermoelectric cooling
- USB 2 interface to computer
- QSI Manual and documentation web page
- QSI 532ws-M1 Camera Performance
Telescope
- Celestron EdgeHD 925
- f/10 configuration
- 235 mm (9.25") aperture
- 2350mm focal length
- f/10 focal ratio
- f/6.2 configuration
- Optec, Inc Lepus 0.62X telecompressor with 19392-67 T-thread mounting adapter
- 1457mm focal length
- f/6.2 focal ratio
- The Field of view 35.04 x 23.62 arcmin
- Image scale 0.96 arcsec/pix.
- Orion Telescopes & Binoculars FlexiShield flexible telescope dew shield
- The aluminum tray on the front of the EdgeHD 925 is for holding the flat field panel
(Spike-aTM Flat Fielder).
- Kendrick Astro Instruments Dew remover system
- 50 mm visual finder with 1X finder mounted on its side
- Meade DSI Pro III camera
- Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens
- T-ring to Nikon lens adapter
- 20 mm T-ring tube
- 2 mm T-ring spacer
- 20 mm T-ring holder
- Low profile T-ring to DSI Pro III adapter
- Adjustable camera mount
Guiding
Telescope Mount
- Astro-Physics 1200GTO German Equatorial Mount (1200GTO)
- Astro-Physics DOVELM2 8.5" Dovetail for Losmandy D Series Plate
- Astro-Physics 1200RPA Precision-Adjust Rotating Pier Adapter with Azimuth Bearing
- Astro-Physics 10X48P Pier for 1200 Mount
- Astro-Physics PS15V10AC 15 VOLT - 10 AMP Load Regulated Power Supply
- Astro-Physics 18SCWT 18 lb. and 5SCWT 5 lb. counterweights
- Astro-Physics GTOCP3 Control Box
- SkyFi Wireless Telescope Controller connected to the top RS-232 port on the GTOCP3 Control Box
- Southern Stars SkySafari Pro for Mac OS X
- JMI Telescopes TPWUAP: Wheeley Bars for Astro-Physics Pier Mounts with TPWLWUPG 5" Wheel Upgrade
- Wheeley Bars makes it very easy to move the telescope out of the garage and on to the driveway.
Computer
- Apple 2.5 GHz Mac mini mounted at the top of the AP1200 tripod.
- 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
- 8GB memory
- 500GB hard drive1
- Intel HD Graphics 4000
- OS X Mountain Lion
- Four USB ports
- Apple Bluetooth wireless keyboard
- Apple Bluetooth wireless mouse
- Two Samsung 22 inch HDMI 1080p TVs for computer monitors
- LAN Cat6 cable to remote control
MacBook Pro for astronomy inside the house
Links
© 1998-2013 David Haworth
