My Patreon: www.patreon.com/cuivlazygeek My Merch Store: cuiv.myspreadshop.com/ Get the ZWO CAA! Note that there's apparently been so many orders that ZWO has trouble manufacturing enough of these to meet the demand so you'll have to reserve your place in line and be patient! Agena Astro: bit.ly/40Ai6yg High Point: bit.ly/4jlIKSW All Star Telescope: tinyurl.com/5n942xwx First Light Optics: tinyurl.com/yh69r25s Astroshop eu: tinyurl.com/ycx7wdbz Also check @lukomatico 's look at the CAA and his warning! ruclips.net/video/RKJ9z6y8BHM/видео.html ZWO ASI2600MC Air smart camera: tinyurl.com/tr2r3esn (ZWO) or bit.ly/3SV04Co (Agena,) or bit.ly/3SZARXx (HPS) Askar SQA55: bit.ly/4hEfW7l (Agena) or bit.ly/48u4PJC (HPS) or tinyurl.com/24mek4vc (FLO) or tinyurl.com/5yw5ccrd (All Star Telescope) For any affiliate link purchases, make sure to accept cookies if prompted! Amazon affiliate: amzn.to/49XTx01 Agena affiliate: bit.ly/3Om0hNG High Point Scientific affiliate: bit.ly/3lReu8R First Light Optics affiliate: tinyurl.com/yxd2jkr2 All-Star Telescope affiliate: bit.ly/3SCgVbV Astroshop eu Affiliate: tinyurl.com/2vafkax8
The CAA looks great! I'm using the ZWO ecosystem (except for William Optics and Astro-Physics scopes), so I'll give it a try. Thanks for your thorough and informative review! Clear skies.
Thanks for the review, Cuiv. I got my ZWO CAA about 2 weeks ago (yep, ordered it in the very first minute after it was released on Dec 26)! It's fantastic! Was worth the wait. I was able to do multi-night imaging sessions of multiple targets at different angles of composition, and select the image composition for each target uniquely. It's amazing how ZWO has thought thru everything. The only thing that has confused me a bit is - At one point, it showed my current camera angle to be 180 degrees, but then in the exact same position when I turned it on the next time, it said it was at 0 degrees. Not sure if I misunderstood something, or if it defaults to some angle like 0 degrees when it wakes up after power on. I need to figure that out. ZWO might fix that with a software feature so you can say what the 'current angle' is (like they did with their EAF 'current position' setting). Or it might have an encoder internally that encodes the 'absolute' angle.
Yep, this is exactly what I want to use it for, although mostly for planetary imaging where I do animations of Jupiter rotating over a couple of hours, or of the moons of Saturn moving over a few hours and that kind of thing. I use my Celestron 8" EDGE HD on an evolution mount, and while I can realign the individual images in post-processing, it would be nice to have one less step to do.
If you are using a Petzval Design or external Flattener or reducer, and are getting dust donuts from these optical lenses , it would be nice to know if the rotation repeatability is accurate enough to return the rotation angle close enough so that the dust donuts from these optics without having to redo flats every time a rotation is applied.
Another great review, thank you Cuiv 👍 That said, I really look forward to ZWO hopefully moving towards developing a comprehensive "Alt-Az mode" with their ASI ecosystem that can be adapted for either large Dobsonians or super portable rigs. For example, this CAA could be used to compensate for field rotation when coupled with a Guide Scope and an ASI Air operating in Alt-Az mode where the Ephemerus solver would adjust the PHD pulse based on the Alt-Az scope direction. As an "Influencer", hope you can help convince ZWO and NINA developers to develope the Alt-Az imaging ecosystem which would benefit our hobby immensely. Keep looking up and enjoying the journey ✨️ Cheers! Cameron
Great video. I do wish you'd tried to use it with an OAG. I really want one, but want to see someone use it with an OAG. It was helpful to see and Nina that there's options to limit the range. But how much clearance is there?
Great Video Cuiv ❤. So does that mean flats taken after going through different rotations and then returning to the original rotation work just as well, because of the high precision?
I literally just watched Lukes video before yours I'm betting you both put them out at the same time lol, the CAA is a nice size as others seem to be pretty big for what they do whether I get one or not remains to be seen as I've always got by without. Great video as always Cuiv clear skies
Another good video Cuiv, introducing a new piece of equipment! I can see that this rotator and others would be impossible(?) to use with an Celestron SCT and OAG, with a such a tight back focus.
This rotator is clearly developed to be used with the ASi2600MC/MM Duo in mind seeing the integration in the ASiAir software. Or you could simply use another OAG instead of the thick boy from Celestron.
One of the issues I have experienced is the cable snagging on the EFW while it rotates. Unfortunately, the camera and EFW rotate together. It snags on the corner of the circuit board budge of the EFW.
Great Video Cuiv! I am thinking about to afford the CAA too. I just don't know how to use it with filter drawer/ wheel plus OAG on my 0.8x reducers. On the 1.0x flattners it is no issue because there is usually an extension ring on the flattner. Looks like you had to have a couple of cups of coffee the following morning. Indicates that the CAA granted just a very short night to you. 😂
I had that exact same banding issues with my 533 MC pro and after talking to ZWO support, they said it was a warranty issue and needed to be repaired so I sent it off last week.
I’m waiting for the CAA to start showing up in the field of my local astronomy club before I jump in, but it does look well thought out and executed. If anyone has specific recommendations for configuration with a 1600mm and EFW, I’m definitely interested in hearing your thoughts.
Hey Cuiv, great video again as always; hope you are doing well over in Tokyo. How was your overall experience with this entire scope setup? What you used in this video is EXACTLY the setup I am hoping to get over the next year or two; Askar SQA55, ASI2600 Duo Air, AM5N mount, and then the EAF and CAA from ZWO to top it off and make it a true EAA system. Would you recommend this setup as a first "real" telescope setup once I save up more and graduate from my Seestar S50? Thanks again for the great reviews and tutorials, take care! - Austin R
It's a missed opportunity the should have made more accurate(smaller divisions) it would have been useful for long exposure on alt/az mounts like the Meade/Celestron fork mount or NexStar arm mounts.
My Patreon: www.patreon.com/cuivlazygeek
My Merch Store: cuiv.myspreadshop.com/
Get the ZWO CAA! Note that there's apparently been so many orders that ZWO has trouble manufacturing enough of these to meet the demand so you'll have to reserve your place in line and be patient!
Agena Astro: bit.ly/40Ai6yg
High Point: bit.ly/4jlIKSW
All Star Telescope: tinyurl.com/5n942xwx
First Light Optics: tinyurl.com/yh69r25s
Astroshop eu: tinyurl.com/ycx7wdbz
Also check @lukomatico 's look at the CAA and his warning! ruclips.net/video/RKJ9z6y8BHM/видео.html
ZWO ASI2600MC Air smart camera: tinyurl.com/tr2r3esn (ZWO) or bit.ly/3SV04Co (Agena,) or bit.ly/3SZARXx (HPS)
Askar SQA55: bit.ly/4hEfW7l (Agena) or bit.ly/48u4PJC (HPS) or tinyurl.com/24mek4vc (FLO) or tinyurl.com/5yw5ccrd (All Star Telescope)
For any affiliate link purchases, make sure to accept cookies if prompted!
Amazon affiliate: amzn.to/49XTx01
Agena affiliate: bit.ly/3Om0hNG
High Point Scientific affiliate: bit.ly/3lReu8R
First Light Optics affiliate: tinyurl.com/yxd2jkr2
All-Star Telescope affiliate: bit.ly/3SCgVbV
Astroshop eu Affiliate: tinyurl.com/2vafkax8
This is awesome. Everything works beautifully together
I've ordered it at the end of December and still awaiting the unit ;) so I'm imaging vicariously through you, Cuiv.
Once PHD2 is calibrated it will automatically adjust for any change in polar angle.
The CAA looks great! I'm using the ZWO ecosystem (except for William Optics and Astro-Physics scopes), so I'll give it a try. Thanks for your thorough and informative review! Clear skies.
Thanks for the review, Cuiv. I got my ZWO CAA about 2 weeks ago (yep, ordered it in the very first minute after it was released on Dec 26)! It's fantastic! Was worth the wait. I was able to do multi-night imaging sessions of multiple targets at different angles of composition, and select the image composition for each target uniquely. It's amazing how ZWO has thought thru everything. The only thing that has confused me a bit is - At one point, it showed my current camera angle to be 180 degrees, but then in the exact same position when I turned it on the next time, it said it was at 0 degrees. Not sure if I misunderstood something, or if it defaults to some angle like 0 degrees when it wakes up after power on. I need to figure that out. ZWO might fix that with a software feature so you can say what the 'current angle' is (like they did with their EAF 'current position' setting). Or it might have an encoder internally that encodes the 'absolute' angle.
Be nice if they offered rotation at Sidereal speed to fit to Alt Az mounts to counter Field rotation...
Isn‘t this feature implemented yet? That would be exactly my use case.
Yep, this is exactly what I want to use it for, although mostly for planetary imaging where I do animations of Jupiter rotating over a couple of hours, or of the moons of Saturn moving over a few hours and that kind of thing. I use my Celestron 8" EDGE HD on an evolution mount, and while I can realign the individual images in post-processing, it would be nice to have one less step to do.
Thanks Cuiv!
If you are using a Petzval Design or external Flattener or reducer, and are getting dust donuts from these optical lenses , it would be nice to know if the rotation repeatability is accurate enough to return the rotation angle close enough so that the dust donuts from these optics without having to redo flats every time a rotation is applied.
Another great review, thank you Cuiv 👍 That said, I really look forward to ZWO hopefully moving towards developing a comprehensive "Alt-Az mode" with their ASI ecosystem that can be adapted for either large Dobsonians or super portable rigs. For example, this CAA could be used to compensate for field rotation when coupled with a Guide Scope and an ASI Air operating in Alt-Az mode where the Ephemerus solver would adjust the PHD pulse based on the Alt-Az scope direction. As an "Influencer", hope you can help convince ZWO and NINA developers to develope the Alt-Az imaging ecosystem which would benefit our hobby immensely. Keep looking up and enjoying the journey ✨️ Cheers! Cameron
Now we are waiting for a 2600MM-AIR with an in-camera filter wheel AND an in-camera CAA ! Yep 😂
You're the lucky one. I ordered mine, still waiting. But I'm looking forward to play with this cool stuff!
Great video. I do wish you'd tried to use it with an OAG. I really want one, but want to see someone use it with an OAG. It was helpful to see and Nina that there's options to limit the range. But how much clearance is there?
whoa I was just watching one of your older vids where you were talking about such a mythical rotator
Great Video Cuiv ❤. So does that mean flats taken after going through different rotations and then returning to the original rotation work just as well, because of the high precision?
I literally just watched Lukes video before yours I'm betting you both put them out at the same time lol, the CAA is a nice size as others seem to be pretty big for what they do whether I get one or not remains to be seen as I've always got by without. Great video as always Cuiv clear skies
Another good video Cuiv, introducing a new piece of equipment! I can see that this rotator and others would be impossible(?) to use with an Celestron SCT and OAG, with a such a tight back focus.
This rotator is clearly developed to be used with the ASi2600MC/MM Duo in mind seeing the integration in the ASiAir software. Or you could simply use another OAG instead of the thick boy from Celestron.
Ive been happy with the WandererAstro rotator.
One of the issues I have experienced is the cable snagging on the EFW while it rotates. Unfortunately, the camera and EFW rotate together. It snags on the corner of the circuit board budge of the EFW.
Great Video Cuiv! I am thinking about to afford the CAA too. I just don't know how to use it with filter drawer/ wheel plus OAG on my 0.8x reducers. On the 1.0x flattners it is no issue because there is usually an extension ring on the flattner.
Looks like you had to have a couple of cups of coffee the following morning. Indicates that the CAA granted just a very short night to you. 😂
I had that exact same banding issues with my 533 MC pro and after talking to ZWO support, they said it was a warranty issue and needed to be repaired so I sent it off last week.
My worry with rotators is with my 7x 2" filter wheel hitting the mount if I rotate too far.
I’m waiting for the CAA to start showing up in the field of my local astronomy club before I jump in, but it does look well thought out and executed.
If anyone has specific recommendations for configuration with a 1600mm and EFW, I’m definitely interested in hearing your thoughts.
The only thing we need now is the ZWO flap panel.
Hey Cuiv, great video again as always; hope you are doing well over in Tokyo. How was your overall experience with this entire scope setup? What you used in this video is EXACTLY the setup I am hoping to get over the next year or two; Askar SQA55, ASI2600 Duo Air, AM5N mount, and then the EAF and CAA from ZWO to top it off and make it a true EAA system. Would you recommend this setup as a first "real" telescope setup once I save up more and graduate from my Seestar S50? Thanks again for the great reviews and tutorials, take care!
- Austin R
So could ASIair or PHD2 use this to correct for field rotation on an Az-Alt mount?
Wouldn't you only need a rotation of 0 to 180 or +/- 90 since it doesn't matter if it is upside down?
Can you reach 55 mm with a Mono-Cam + Filterwheel + OAG + CAA?
Many thanks very informative. I am still waiting for mine 🙀😢
Now all that's left for ZWO to release is a ASi2600MM Duo Air.
It's a missed opportunity the should have made more accurate(smaller divisions) it would have been useful for long exposure on alt/az mounts like the Meade/Celestron fork mount or NexStar arm mounts.
Its taking too long to deliver... I dont know why, I ordered 2 hours after launch.
So now you can do your mosaics easily, can't you?
Threads are off..looks so wonky donkey
Can it be used to correct field rotation on an Alt-Az mount?