Imaging accessories, USB hub ordered...

During last months, I have been preparing my imaging setup (mainly for DS photography, partially for solar system imaging also). I will connect all the equipment to one hub, thati s located in the mount. Then I only have to route one USB cable to the mount from imaging laptop. I have selected a MOXA 407-T industrial USB hub for my purposes, delivery is esimated in two weeks. Short specs are:

wide operating tempetature range, -40 to 85°C
DC power input, 12-40 VDC
7 USB ports
metal casing
inputs ESD protected

The prize of this hub is very high, to be honest. I hope this will be "The Hub", that will last for a lifetime - or even longer than that....

Opinion poll, light pollution in Finland

Light pollution, this is the area of nature conservation, that has been ignored way too long. Day by day, less people are able to see the magnificent wonders of beautiful night sky with thousands of twinkling stars. There is also a risk that light pollution affects to humans natural day / sleep rhythm - especially if bright lights are shining through the night. The affects to nature, like birds, needs more investigating. This problem is getting bigger and bigger. Now it is time to make a difference !

Finland’s environmental administration has introduced opinion poll. There you can share your concern of the light pollution problems. For more details about poll and web feedback form (in Finnish only), use following link here.

Imaging laptop, accessories arrived

On last week, I got packet delivery from UPS, ordered accessories arrived:

So there is now a rigid Pelican 1450 -case for imaging laptop (Lenovo EDGE11). All the stuff is needed to put in (laptop, powersupply, display heater, heater controller, usb / ethernet cables). Case also needs suitable connector panel, so there is many things to solve...

The company (Cameranu.nl), where I ordered the equipment, did not make any effort to protect the Nikon CCP2 software package. In the big box, there was no softening material inside at all !!! The disk case has suffered, from the rough handling (see broken lower right corner of plastic cover). CD -disk seems to be in good condition.

Astroimaging, EL foils arrived

Last week I got a a delivery from Glowhut. Feels like christmas now, yippee :-) Both 12V powered A5 and A3 foils will need some enclosure or similar frame, that would support the structure. More on that, later on...

Astroimaging, accessories...

Preparing my photo system this time. I do not yet have a decent solution to take a flatfield calibration images. Many astrophotographers today, use a convenient EL-foil solution. The foil is thin, and provides even illumination. So It was time get ones for myself also:

A5 EL-foil (white)
12V inverter

I will use these in combination with Nikon D200 & 300/4.5 tele lens.

Imaging laptop, controlling Nikon DSLR...

Plan is to dive into the world of deepsky photography, mainly galaxies and star clusters. These will be first targets, since my current camera (Nikon D200) is not yet modified for astrophotography, when H-alpha band is considered. I have planned to use 300mm MF Nikkor tele lens.

For controlling Nikon from the imaging laptop, I have purchased following stuff from Shoestring Astronomy:

DSUSB contoller
Nikon 10pin interface cable

My mount (HEQ5) has certain faults in bearing, tightened propably too much. And go-to kit I already have - that is to be installed. I will use USB2EQ5-cable to connect laptop to the mount.

Imaging laptop, accessories...

Only one "mandatory" software missing, Nikon Camera Control Pro2. Carrying case for the laptop, there was one suitable model from Pelican. Today I placed an order of following gear:

Nikon Camera Control Pro2 upgrade
Pelican 1450 case

Both of them were out of stock currently, delivery shall be estimated in two weeks...