Has anyone purchased and installed this flat panel for refractors? I'm considering setting up at a remote site and will require some way to make flats:
https://shop.deepskydad.com/product/stellarvue-svx152t-flap-panel-fp1/
Thanks,
Jerry
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Those look pretty heavy duty and LED illumination is nice as well. It should allow for fairly short exposures.
I use an Alnitak Flip-Flat from Optec on my refractor in Chile and it works great. My only quibble is that they use an EL panel that doesn't have enough output in the deep red, which requires pretty long exposures for Ha and SII filters. You can find it here: https://optecinc.us/collections/alnitak-astrosystems-devices/products/19050
John
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Thanks John, I'll check out that one too..
Jerry
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I owned a DeepSkyDad flat panel for my 70mm refractor and I was very please with this product.
Just be aware DSD produce their product on demand. So take that into consideration. It took about 60 days to receive my order.
I now own a edge and rasa 8" and use a WandererAstro Flat Panel V4-EC. You also have dew protection integrated and position encoder. The motor is a beast, not a servo like the DSD one. Both work egally well in my opinion.
The mounting option is less sophisticated than DSD but its a very good product to be honest.
Their software is kind of old school but they just release a better one.
With nina I had some issue, but I think its more related to my computer than the flat panel.
Pricewise with shipping they are pretty close.
Karl
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I have used both the flip flat that John recommends and this: https://www.wandererastro.com/en/col.jsp?id=150
the one reservation I have about the flip flat is that it does not as supplied from the factory fold back 270 degrees but instead stands vertical relative to the OTA. Makes it something of a sail. Chris White will modify it for you to fix that, but that makes the total cost expensive. I did this because I already had a flip flat and it works well. But so does the wanderer Astro.
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I've got an RB Focus flip flat. Great quality, fast communication, no complaints.
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I have a DSD for my Epsilon 130 and it produces nice flats on a fast system that can be tricky for flats. It also is heated and the closure is very positive for dust control.
One small caveat is that it will not always "latch" open against the magnets if the scope is in an odd position where it has to work against gravity. Closing does not show this issue and the opening "issue" can be "fixed" by just including a slew to a flat friendly position prior to opening the flat. Once open and "latched", it stays nicely. I am working on 3D printing a heated dew shield where the flat panel can be placed at the end of that, giving me the best of both worlds.
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What I understand so far is that:
1) the Flat LED and cover that attach to the objective lens must have a heater. Otherwise, it collects dew and when in closed position the dew will drop on the objective lens.
2) the device must be attached so that the LED panel, when not in use, is resting against the side of the scope, not above it. If it were above, it would interact with the wind and could affect guiding. This is what I was informed by a person who owns a commercial observatory and has seen happen.
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Bill McLaughlin:
I have a DSD for my Epsilon 130 and it produces nice flats on a fast system that can be tricky for flats. It also is heated and the closure is very positive for dust control.
One small caveat is that it will not always "latch" open against the magnets if the scope is in an odd position where it has to work against gravity. Closing does not show this issue and the opening "issue" can be "fixed" by just including a slew to a flat friendly position prior to opening the flat. Once open and "latched", it stays nicely. I am working on 3D printing a heated dew shield where the flat panel can be placed at the end of that, giving me the best of both worlds.
Hi Bill,
What exactly is that "flat-friendly" position? Would it be the home position when the scope if facing north as if it were to be polar aligned?
Thanks,
Jerry
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I use following product. I set scope at ZENITH position. I set the brightness to 25-30% using which gets me around 2-5 seconds FLAT Field exposure.
https://www.primalucelab.us/calibration/giotto-flat-field-generators/ |
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Dhiraj Patil:
I use following product. I set scope at ZENITH position. I set the brightness to 25-30% using which gets me around 2-5 seconds FLAT Field exposure.
https://www.primalucelab.us/calibration/giotto-flat-field-generators/
Thanks, but that won't work at remote sites. The flat panel must be attached to the scope and the opening, closing, heating and turning the panel on and off must be remotely controlled via ASCOM automation.
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Jerry Gerber:
Bill McLaughlin:
I have a DSD for my Epsilon 130 and it produces nice flats on a fast system that can be tricky for flats. It also is heated and the closure is very positive for dust control.
One small caveat is that it will not always "latch" open against the magnets if the scope is in an odd position where it has to work against gravity. Closing does not show this issue and the opening "issue" can be "fixed" by just including a slew to a flat friendly position prior to opening the flat. Once open and "latched", it stays nicely. I am working on 3D printing a heated dew shield where the flat panel can be placed at the end of that, giving me the best of both worlds.
Hi Bill,
What exactly is that "flat-friendly" position? Would it be the home position when the scope if facing north as if it were to be polar aligned?
Thanks,
Jerry
It is a scope position where gravity will help to open the panel fully to the 270 degree position where it sticks against the magnets on the motor box and locks into the open position. Closure seems to work fine in any position.
Basically with the motor box on top of the scope where the panel tends to settle against it (and the magnets) when it opens as opposed to below the scope where it would have to push itself up against gravity to reach the magnets on the motor box.
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Jerry Gerber:
Dhiraj Patil:
I use following product. I set scope at ZENITH position. I set the brightness to 25-30% using which gets me around 2-5 seconds FLAT Field exposure.
https://www.primalucelab.us/calibration/giotto-flat-field-generators/
Thanks, but that won't work at remote sites. The flat panel must be attached to the scope and the opening, closing, heating and turning the panel on and off must be remotely controlled via ASCOM automation.
There is a motorized operator available for these as well (bottom of the page).
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Hi,
I have the latest 270° version from WandererSstro with integrated heating.
it has a build-in rotational encoder for determination of open and close position. In the beginning was a bit of fiddling to setup but now works well on my remote site.
the DSD looks good to me. Most of the flat panel are with an EL foil which have a quite low frequency, so needs flats in 1-2 sec range to overcome.
so having a proper LED solution, which requires a good light guiding plate and Diffusor to provide even illumination, can be interesting as the PWM frequency for dimming should usually be higher vs an EL foil allowing for shorter flats. But this is to be checked because if it is a normal Arduino doing the job inside the standard frequency is with just 980Hz also not very high.
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Regarding this flat panel for a 6" Stellarview refractor:
https://astrohutech.store/product/wandererastro-flat-panel-v4-ec/
How does it attach to the scopes dew shield? Bolts or screws? Velcro? Obviously it must remain secure regardless of where the telescope slews or tracks...
Thanks,
Jerry
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Jerry Gerber:
Regarding this flat panel for a 6" Stellarview refractor:
https://astrohutech.store/product/wandererastro-flat-panel-v4-ec/
How does it attach to the scopes dew shield? Bolts or screws? Velcro? Obviously it must remain secure regardless of where the telescope slews or tracks...
Thanks,
Jerry
My guess with an industrial zip-tie similar to the Alnitak flip-flat.
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The Wandererastro website states it comes with 4 nylon cable ties.
Personally, if I were at a remote location, I would use something more like this. Cable ties and such will most likely come lose over time.
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Bob Lockwood:
The Wandererastro website states it comes with 4 nylon cable ties.
Personally, if I were at a remote location, I would use something more like this. Cable ties and such will most likely come lose over time.
The industrial ones tightened with a zip-tie tool aren't going anywhere. That being said, this metal clamp with some protective rubber underneath would work great.
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Bob Lockwood:
The Wandererastro website states it comes with 4 nylon cable ties.
Personally, if I were at a remote location, I would use something more like this. Cable ties and such will most likely come lose over time.
What is that called Bob?
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Hey Jerry,
Home-Depot, they show up to 6-7" . Just put two together if it needs to be bigger. It would also be a good idea if you do something like this
would be to line the inside of the clamp with something like sticky felt to protect the scope.
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Bob Lockwood:
Hey Jerry,
Home-Depot, they show up to 6-7" . Just put two together if it needs to be bigger. It would also be a good idea if you do something like this
would be to line the inside of the clamp with something like sticky felt to protect the scope.
Thanks Bob!
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Jerry Gerber:
Has anyone purchased and installed this flat panel for refractors? I'm considering setting up at a remote site and will require some way to make flats:
https://shop.deepskydad.com/product/stellarvue-svx152t-flap-panel-fp1/
Thanks,
Jerry
Just as a personal preference, I would prefer to have a fixed flat panel mounted on either a wall or a dedicated stand - it is one less moving part that could potentially fail, and it reduces the amount of weight on the mount (which may not be a concern) but also does not introduce any potential oscillation modes like the flip flats do. I have seen guiding performance diminish wildly with any amount of wind simply because the entire flat panel oscillates in the wind and brings the rest of the scope with it... even in pretty mild wind. This of course gets worse the larger the scope and a 150mm+ flat panel gets fairly large. I personally have a spike-a-flat panel mounted on a sandbagged TV stand which my scope points at when I park. It has worked very well for me and there are zero tradeoffs for the actual imaging portion.
CS,
Charlie
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Charles Hagen:
Jerry Gerber:
Has anyone purchased and installed this flat panel for refractors? I'm considering setting up at a remote site and will require some way to make flats:
https://shop.deepskydad.com/product/stellarvue-svx152t-flap-panel-fp1/
Thanks,
Jerry
Just as a personal preference, I would prefer to have a fixed flat panel mounted on either a wall or a dedicated stand - it is one less moving part that could potentially fail, and it reduces the amount of weight on the mount (which may not be a concern) but also does not introduce any potential oscillation modes like the flip flats do. I have seen guiding performance diminish wildly with any amount of wind simply because the entire flat panel oscillates in the wind and brings the rest of the scope with it... even in pretty mild wind. This of course gets worse the larger the scope and a 150mm+ flat panel gets fairly large. I personally have a spike-a-flat panel mounted on a sandbagged TV stand which my scope points at when I park. It has worked very well for me and there are zero tradeoffs for the actual imaging portion.
CS,
Charlie
Hi Charles,
Yeah, I've heard the same thing now from several people. It gives me pause as to purchasing a flip flat device. I don't particularly like the idea of something attached to the objective end of the scope either.
I'm going to investigate further.
Jerry
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8.77
22.40
7.78
1.43
0.00
8.02
5.21
0.00
3.61
0.00
6.08
1.81
