Bart Veltman tries out new ATIK camera
Gepubliceerd op 07-10-2008
Bart Veltman, a key member of our astrophotography workgroup, has experimented with his new ATIK CCD camera to take images of objects in the sky.
Experiences with new ATIK CCD camera
Bart Veltman reports his experiences with the new ATIK CCD camera he bought recently. Finally I was able to get the first photographic results with my new Atik 314E camera. I bought this camera on the starparty last spring in Drenthe, a province up north in the Netherlands. I had to wait months before the camera was delivered and after that months before getting a clear sky that could be used for observing and which did not conflict with my schedule at work. The night was actually for with uncertaincies and I did not expect to get any good result that night! I had previously changed my EQ6 mount from hand-control to goto but had no experience yet with it. Also auto-guiding was new to me and it was the first night that I tried this out as well. 
Even though I say it myself, the first results are not that bad after all. Of course I can comment myself on the images and indicate where things can be improved. The image is not completely sharp due to my inexperience with the software delivered with the Atik camera. Het eerste resultaat ziet er, al zeg ik het zelf, niet eens slecht uit. Toch is er wel het een en ander aan op te merken. For the same reason I did not set all the settings correct which resulted in an image with only a quarter of the resolution possible with the camera.