First Light EOS 2000D Astro Modification – Western Veil :)
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 12:34 pm
Hi all,
since I was often annoyed by missing reds with my unmodified EOS 2000D, I decided to do a full spectrum modification (please see below). And I also bought an L-eNhance duo-band filter to get access to all those beautiful nebula targets.
For first light, I headed for the Western Veil. Everyone here was talking about it and so I wanted to see it with my own eyes - ahem – camera.
- 200/1000 GSO Newton / SkyWatcher EQ-5
- Baader MPCC
- L-eNhance
- EOS 2000Da, APT
- 50/200 Guide Scope, ASI 120 MC, PHD2
- 22 x 240s @ ISO 1600 (~ 1.5 hours)
- flats, bias
Unfortunately it rained the day before and after some time there was a lot of dew – on the scope, the camera, the notebook – everywhere. And I assume, there was also dew on the secondary mirror and this causes the big halo 52 Cygnus shows. But I’m quite happy with this image, nevertheless.
I underestimated how much light the duo-band filter cuts off and I had to prolong exposure time from 90s to 240s and ISO setting from 800 to 1600. I was afraid, that this would cause troubles with increased noise (particularly together with high temperatures here in Europe right now), but that was not the case, as far, as I can see.
The processing with ST was some kind of first light for me too. But ST is awesome, it gets better, the more features I use. I used Compose module for the first time and bi-colour processing worked like a charm. Simply great . I don’t know, why the OIII regions are green and not blue, but I will figure it out And the SVDecon module once again did a great job for clarity and tightening the stars.
Regarding the astro modification I read a lot about it on CN and other sites (Gary Honis) and it took some time for me to decide to try it, because I was afraid of breaking the camera. But then I found the video of this guy here and it helped me a lot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0omuDroX7Tk
Since he speaks French, I did not understand a single word. Maybe I should have learned French in school and not Latin But it was no problem at all. The most difficult part was the adjustment of the sensor. It is adjusted with 3 screws and I was afraid to tilt it. I marked the screws beforehand and as far as I can judge, I reassembled it without noticeable tilting.
Anyway it took 3 hours for me to accomplish it and afterwards I felt pretty burnt out. Decades have left their mark on me …
Best regards, Dietmar.
since I was often annoyed by missing reds with my unmodified EOS 2000D, I decided to do a full spectrum modification (please see below). And I also bought an L-eNhance duo-band filter to get access to all those beautiful nebula targets.
For first light, I headed for the Western Veil. Everyone here was talking about it and so I wanted to see it with my own eyes - ahem – camera.
- 200/1000 GSO Newton / SkyWatcher EQ-5
- Baader MPCC
- L-eNhance
- EOS 2000Da, APT
- 50/200 Guide Scope, ASI 120 MC, PHD2
- 22 x 240s @ ISO 1600 (~ 1.5 hours)
- flats, bias
Unfortunately it rained the day before and after some time there was a lot of dew – on the scope, the camera, the notebook – everywhere. And I assume, there was also dew on the secondary mirror and this causes the big halo 52 Cygnus shows. But I’m quite happy with this image, nevertheless.
I underestimated how much light the duo-band filter cuts off and I had to prolong exposure time from 90s to 240s and ISO setting from 800 to 1600. I was afraid, that this would cause troubles with increased noise (particularly together with high temperatures here in Europe right now), but that was not the case, as far, as I can see.
The processing with ST was some kind of first light for me too. But ST is awesome, it gets better, the more features I use. I used Compose module for the first time and bi-colour processing worked like a charm. Simply great . I don’t know, why the OIII regions are green and not blue, but I will figure it out And the SVDecon module once again did a great job for clarity and tightening the stars.
Regarding the astro modification I read a lot about it on CN and other sites (Gary Honis) and it took some time for me to decide to try it, because I was afraid of breaking the camera. But then I found the video of this guy here and it helped me a lot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0omuDroX7Tk
Since he speaks French, I did not understand a single word. Maybe I should have learned French in school and not Latin But it was no problem at all. The most difficult part was the adjustment of the sensor. It is adjusted with 3 screws and I was afraid to tilt it. I marked the screws beforehand and as far as I can judge, I reassembled it without noticeable tilting.
Anyway it took 3 hours for me to accomplish it and afterwards I felt pretty burnt out. Decades have left their mark on me …
Best regards, Dietmar.