Hi folks,
first of all I'd like to say hello to the whole community... this is my first post here since I've just registered 🙂
Actually I write here as I'm seeking for some advice. I've been imaging for years with a Starlight Xpress Trius-694 which works flawlessly, but recently I've decided I'd like to go with a somewhat biigger chip. And everybody is saying wonders about the ASI1600 mono camera, which also has a very attractive price tag, so I'm thinking about getting myself one.
Two questions, though, come to my mind:
1) With my TEC140 scope, that would go for a resolution of 0.8 arcsec/pixel which seems a bit low -though with my Trius694 I image at 0.92 arcsec/pixel. Would you say that this is a big difference that would be very demandin on the quality of the sky? I don't feel anything like this with the Trius694, but maybe your opinion will make me think about that more carefully.
2) Even worse, with the Trius694 I've never had to take darks due to the low noise of the camera (the guys at Strlight Xpress explicitly say they are nocessary). But as far as I know, this is not the case with the ASI1600 because of amp glow, etc. Now I know darks must be taken at the same exposure length and temperature of the main images, but... I usually take 10min subs, so I'd require 10min darks. With flats and bias I use about 30-40 subs, and if I do the same with darks, that is something like 300-400 mins. If they have to be taken a t the same temperature as the lights, that would make me think I have to take my darks right after my lights... but common! That's about 6 hours for darks! I can not do that just after imaging.
So I guess darks can be taken the next day, in the morning for instance? But how do you guarantee the temperature is the same as when you were taking your lights (at night)? Does the camera has a temperature setting point as the Trius694? The latter allows me to tell to use the cooling stage until the sensor is a -20 celsius for instance. Can this be done with the ASI1600?
Or how do you handle all that?
It is obvious that there is something I'm missing, so please tell me how things are being doen with this camera, I'll be very glad to hear from you.
Best regards and thanks in advance,
Ferran.