Thank you very much! This is the tutorial that ZWO should have made. This process involves exposing delicate optics to the bare air for a decent chunk of time, so I'm surprised that the manufacturer doesn't seem to have a well made walkthrough of their own.
Thank you for this, it means a lot to me! :) It is definitely a fun process to set up, but made me nervous because of the sensitivity of the optics. Any small mistake or a small screw falling could be devastating to the equipment.
Most of the other manufacturers create these sorts of videos, it's surprising that ZWO doesn't bother. Its important to note that all you're exposing is the optical window of the camera, and your filters. While yes, dropping a screw on them wouldn't be fantastic, it will not destroy your camera... But you shouldn't need a video to tell you 'don't drop metal screws on your $1000 narrowband filters'. At the end of the day, @Hidden.Light.Photography did a great job on this video - and I think it is definitely comforting for people to watch someone else do the job as they do it - but honestly, building an imaging train is not difficult, and people have been doing it in almost the exact same way since the very early 2000's.... The process is quite well established, and while yes, the first time you do it, its daunting, after you've done a few, you start to realise that its no big deal at all, and while you have to be careful, you're handling hazardous materials.
Thank you for providing this video. I'm greatly disappointed at the lack of documentation from ZWO. That seems to be the trend with equipment manufacturers these days. They send you the gear and rely on content creators to provide the know-how.
I think you’ll be very happy with it and it makes switching filters literally thoughtless. It couples very nicely with NINA’s advanced sequencer as well. Wishing for clear skies for you and please let me know how it turns out when you get a chance to use it :)
I got my chance this past weekend. I imaged the Soul Nebula in SHO. The amount of extra detail over an OSC camera is amazing. The only real problem I had was tracking down a light leak that my OSC camera wasn't sensitive enough to reveal, but that's fixed now. I really appreciate your help. I don't think I'll be turning back now.
That video is gold and ZWO should probably reference it. I've noticed your tilt plate has some kind of o-ring, I don't remember seeing that in mine. Can you comment on what you are using? Assuming it is to mitigate light leak?
Thank you, I appreciate that! If you’re referring to matte black ring on the tilt plate around 4:17 it’s a darkening ring for light leaks. This is a brand new camera as of a day prior to the video so it might be something ZWO implemented recently if you don’t see it on yours. The camera is an ASI2600MM Pro.
@@Hidden.Light.Photography Interesting, I don't remember mine coming with it. I guess ZWO reviewed the design as there were report of light leak at the tilter plate. Thanks for the follow-up info!
@@Hidden.Light.Photography 2600mm pro and the 2600mc duo, both about a year old or so. Haven't tried to take out the tilt plate from the DUO yet, will check when I install the Photon Cage.
@@Hidden.Light.Photography right now I’m just running a WO GT71 ZWO AM3, Asi533mc, ZWO 130mm mini guide cam and just bought a filter wheel, because once I start imaging sessions, I’m too lazy to get out of my pickup and change filters lol
We all start somewhere, welcome to the hobby! I love the 2600mc. I was running that prior to the 2600mm and still run it. I have a whole series going over multiple pieces of equipment, workflows and processing. Let me know if you need help with anything :) What are you. Currently running for your setup?
That’s a very nice setup! How do you like it so far? Throw some stuff at me, let’s see what we can do! I hear you on the weather, it’s been very unusual lately. My best advice for this is plan ahead of time. In other words, if possible, have your sequence set up, framing etc. set up your equipment as early as possible so you can just jump right in and start imaging as soon as it gets dark. I run NINA so I am able to set up my framing, load it into the sequence, set up my sequence and save. From there, all I have to do is load the sequence and hit play. That saves a ton of time and really optimizes dark skies.
Is there an email that I could use to ask you direct questions. I did something different when I got into this hobby, I was taught how to process the data first and now after getting the rig, I am learning the imaging part. I still get stuck at times, I need some tweaking
You should add back 1/3 of the filter thickness to your back focus. The change in index of refraction effectively shortens the path. Glass has an index of refraction of about 1.5. This means the effective distance is only (3/2)^-1 = 2/3 of the filter thickness. So if you have a 3mm filter, the optical path is only 2mm.
This is a very interesting, confusing and highly debated subject. This is how I’ve experienced this subject with my own equipment and have had great success. Now, this can be different for some depending on their equipment and how things are set up. From final mirror or lens to the focal plane is a specified distance as per manufacture. We need to align our camera sensor to the focal plane in order to focus. Yes, filters modify that by 1/3 of the glass thickness as glass has a different refraction rate than air. Let’s take 3mm since that’s the example you used. That means that our focal plane is now 1mm farther out so we need to move our camera sensor 1mm by means of draw tube. In the case of the coma corrector I use, skywatcher wants 55mm back focus from coma corrector flange to camera sensor on order for the entire field to be corrected. Adding a filter is affecting where the focal plane is located, however, the distance that I need to move my sensor is with the draw tube rather than spacers between the filter and camera sensor. In my personal experience with my equipment I see this when I switch filters and then I’m out of focus. I move my draw tube to refocus and still have a perfect field yet still get focus. If I space the camera sensor from the filter, I then have focus, but my field isn’t fully corrected because I changed the recommended distance from coma corrector flange to camera sensor. Again, this may be different for some with different equipment, however, let’s take Don Goldman into account where they measure from back of telescope to focal plane. One way I try to think about this is the light is essentially coned where the widest part is the final mirror or lens and the point is the focal plane. As you move your draw tube out, you are introducing the filter to a narrower part of the cone and moving in you are introducing the filter to a wider part of the cone.
Yes and I agree, however, this is due to the 55mm of back focus required by the coma corrector. If I eliminated the coma corrector from the imaging train, I could run an OAG and all that would happen is my draw tube would be lower in order to line up with the focal plain. I have plans in the near future to go over OAG and demonstrate this.
@@Hidden.Light.Photography Yeah but most people will want to run a coma corrector, reducer/flattener on their scopes etc. I mean not always, but not being able to and still have a rotator (or oag) I think the oag is better to have than the rotator, it's kind of lame is all, I DO Have a manual rotator I suppose since it's small, I can take the place of one of the spacers, and perhaps be lucky enough to get it all in with a reducer/flattener but I haven't tried yet, and that's not ideal. if anything, just to get the OAG out of the FOV, and not much more lol. Unless I want to go out and rotate for each object, which defeats the purpose of all the other automation haha.
Absolutely! Keep them in an order you’ll remember and program NINA or the software you’re using with the order you have them :) Have you been doing mono long?
This is such a helpful video ❤ for my upcoming setup this month.
Thank you and very happy to hear this helped :) What setup are you looking at?
Very nice! Exactly what I wanted.
Thank you and I’m glad this helped :) Have you used a filter wheel before or is this your first one?
Thank you very much! This is the tutorial that ZWO should have made. This process involves exposing delicate optics to the bare air for a decent chunk of time, so I'm surprised that the manufacturer doesn't seem to have a well made walkthrough of their own.
Thank you for this, it means a lot to me! :) It is definitely a fun process to set up, but made me nervous because of the sensitivity of the optics. Any small mistake or a small screw falling could be devastating to the equipment.
Most of the other manufacturers create these sorts of videos, it's surprising that ZWO doesn't bother. Its important to note that all you're exposing is the optical window of the camera, and your filters. While yes, dropping a screw on them wouldn't be fantastic, it will not destroy your camera... But you shouldn't need a video to tell you 'don't drop metal screws on your $1000 narrowband filters'.
At the end of the day, @Hidden.Light.Photography did a great job on this video - and I think it is definitely comforting for people to watch someone else do the job as they do it - but honestly, building an imaging train is not difficult, and people have been doing it in almost the exact same way since the very early 2000's.... The process is quite well established, and while yes, the first time you do it, its daunting, after you've done a few, you start to realise that its no big deal at all, and while you have to be careful, you're handling hazardous materials.
Good instructional video.
Thank you! Are you currently running this filter wheel or looking into getting one?
Excellent advice many thanks 🙏
Thank you and you are very welcome! Were you coming across an issue or just getting it installed and connected?
Another excellent video Tony.
Thank you! How’s your project coming along?
Which one? Lol. Working on separate stacks for Bodes and started Whirlpool.
Both haha. Whirlpool is fun. I’m going to reimagine it this year
Thank you for providing this video. I'm greatly disappointed at the lack of documentation from ZWO. That seems to be the trend with equipment manufacturers these days. They send you the gear and rely on content creators to provide the know-how.
You are very welcome for this :) I have noticed that with a lot of gear as well. How are you liking the filter wheel so far?
I'm really looking forward to using it but, sadly, I've had only cloudy nights since I got it.
I think you’ll be very happy with it and it makes switching filters literally thoughtless. It couples very nicely with NINA’s advanced sequencer as well. Wishing for clear skies for you and please let me know how it turns out when you get a chance to use it :)
I got my chance this past weekend. I imaged the Soul Nebula in SHO. The amount of extra detail over an OSC camera is amazing. The only real problem I had was tracking down a light leak that my OSC camera wasn't sensitive enough to reveal, but that's fixed now. I really appreciate your help. I don't think I'll be turning back now.
The difference can definitely be astounding and I’m very happy everything is working! If you don’t mind me asking, where was the light leak you found?
Loved the video. Thank You.
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it! Are you running a filter wheel currently or thinking about it?
That video is gold and ZWO should probably reference it. I've noticed your tilt plate has some kind of o-ring, I don't remember seeing that in mine. Can you comment on what you are using? Assuming it is to mitigate light leak?
Thank you, I appreciate that! If you’re referring to matte black ring on the tilt plate around 4:17 it’s a darkening ring for light leaks. This is a brand new camera as of a day prior to the video so it might be something ZWO implemented recently if you don’t see it on yours. The camera is an ASI2600MM Pro.
@@Hidden.Light.Photography Interesting, I don't remember mine coming with it. I guess ZWO reviewed the design as there were report of light leak at the tilter plate. Thanks for the follow-up info!
You’re welcome! What camera do you have and how old is it?
@@Hidden.Light.Photography 2600mm pro and the 2600mc duo, both about a year old or so. Haven't tried to take out the tilt plate from the DUO yet, will check when I install the Photon Cage.
Awesome! How do you like the duo? I was considering that one.
Love the skywatcher in the background! Is that a 6 or 8 inch?
Thank you! It’s an 8”. What are you running?
@@Hidden.Light.Photography right now I’m just running a WO GT71 ZWO AM3, Asi533mc, ZWO 130mm mini guide cam and just bought a filter wheel, because once I start imaging sessions, I’m too lazy to get out of my pickup and change filters lol
Very nice! I hear you there lol. I try to stay as automated as possible.
Now I am a beginner and after seeing this, I have a ways to go before this step. I will stick with my zwo 2600mc pro for now but thanks.
We all start somewhere, welcome to the hobby! I love the 2600mc. I was running that prior to the 2600mm and still run it. I have a whole series going over multiple pieces of equipment, workflows and processing. Let me know if you need help with anything :)
What are you. Currently running for your setup?
hi, i own all zwo equipment, am5, 2600mc pro, zwo 65 mm scope, asi air plus, zwo 30mm guide scope and 120 guide camera
and yes i need help. my biggest problem is my weather conditions, i dont get enough shooting time
That’s a very nice setup! How do you like it so far?
Throw some stuff at me, let’s see what we can do! I hear you on the weather, it’s been very unusual lately. My best advice for this is plan ahead of time. In other words, if possible, have your sequence set up, framing etc. set up your equipment as early as possible so you can just jump right in and start imaging as soon as it gets dark.
I run NINA so I am able to set up my framing, load it into the sequence, set up my sequence and save. From there, all I have to do is load the sequence and hit play. That saves a ton of time and really optimizes dark skies.
Is there an email that I could use to ask you direct questions. I did something different when I got into this hobby, I was taught how to process the data first and now after getting the rig, I am learning the imaging part. I still get stuck at times, I need some tweaking
You should add back 1/3 of the filter thickness to your back focus. The change in index of refraction effectively shortens the path. Glass has an index of refraction of about 1.5. This means the effective distance is only (3/2)^-1 = 2/3 of the filter thickness. So if you have a 3mm filter, the optical path is only 2mm.
This is a very interesting, confusing and highly debated subject. This is how I’ve experienced this subject with my own equipment and have had great success. Now, this can be different for some depending on their equipment and how things are set up. From final mirror or lens to the focal plane is a specified distance as per manufacture. We need to align our camera sensor to the focal plane in order to focus. Yes, filters modify that by 1/3 of the glass thickness as glass has a different refraction rate than air. Let’s take 3mm since that’s the example you used. That means that our focal plane is now 1mm farther out so we need to move our camera sensor 1mm by means of draw tube. In the case of the coma corrector I use, skywatcher wants 55mm back focus from coma corrector flange to camera sensor on order for the entire field to be corrected. Adding a filter is affecting where the focal plane is located, however, the distance that I need to move my sensor is with the draw tube rather than spacers between the filter and camera sensor. In my personal experience with my equipment I see this when I switch filters and then I’m out of focus. I move my draw tube to refocus and still have a perfect field yet still get focus. If I space the camera sensor from the filter, I then have focus, but my field isn’t fully corrected because I changed the recommended distance from coma corrector flange to camera sensor. Again, this may be different for some with different equipment, however, let’s take Don Goldman into account where they measure from back of telescope to focal plane. One way I try to think about this is the light is essentially coned where the widest part is the final mirror or lens and the point is the focal plane. As you move your draw tube out, you are introducing the filter to a narrower part of the cone and moving in you are introducing the filter to a wider part of the cone.
SO no way to use OAG with all this? that is so lame, would nice to have a rotator as well.
Yes and I agree, however, this is due to the 55mm of back focus required by the coma corrector. If I eliminated the coma corrector from the imaging train, I could run an OAG and all that would happen is my draw tube would be lower in order to line up with the focal plain. I have plans in the near future to go over OAG and demonstrate this.
@@Hidden.Light.Photography Yeah but most people will want to run a coma corrector, reducer/flattener on their scopes etc. I mean not always, but not being able to and still have a rotator (or oag) I think the oag is better to have than the rotator, it's kind of lame is all, I DO Have a manual rotator I suppose since it's small, I can take the place of one of the spacers, and perhaps be lucky enough to get it all in with a reducer/flattener but I haven't tried yet, and that's not ideal. if anything, just to get the OAG out of the FOV, and not much more lol. Unless I want to go out and rotate for each object, which defeats the purpose of all the other automation haha.
I agree 100%, it can be very annoying. I was trying very hard to find rotators and filter wheels that are thin enough to be able to include OAG.
After LRGB, i did HA S11 O111. ITS KINDA LIKE 123 after the simple order of LRGB.
Clear skies
Absolutely! Keep them in an order you’ll remember and program NINA or the software you’re using with the order you have them :) Have you been doing mono long?