RedCat and Dedicated Astro Cameras - Forums

Topic starter

Aug 2, 2020

Greetings,

I suspect that many of you, like me, are (were) using some kind of DSLR with your RedCat. I will soon be at the point (for a variety of reasons) that I will switch over to an astro camera. I am disinclined at this time to get a different scope and want to stay with the RedCat for the next year or so. I am only now beginning the process of deciding on an astro camera.

My question is this: if you're using a dedicated astro camera with your RedCat, what kind of astro camera do you have/recommend for use with the RedCat? I want to make sure that my FOV isn't changed too much (with my current setup I'm at 5deg x 3.5deg) and that my resolution (2.63"^2/pixel) isn't actually worsened by switching. I'm new at AP and don't know much about the technicals, so forgive any appearance of ignorance here.

Thanks for your advice.

Clear Skies,
Daniel

Well written Respectful

Dominik Weinbrenner

Nov 9, 2021

Use this calculator to look at your pixel scale with different astro cameras: https://astronomy.tools/calculators/ccd_suitability

Well written

urmymuse

Nov 9, 2021

I have seen lots of people using the ZWO ASI 1600 MM with the RedCat including me !

It is apparently seriously "under sampled" but the results i got were loads better than when I used my DSLR so am guessing the fact it mono and cooled over compensates for the under sampling

But i am fairly new at all this as well and can only go on the results i got

All the best for your journey on this !

Supportive

Dominik Weinbrenner

Nov 9, 2021

You can use drizzling to regain some of the resolution.

M_Johnson

Nov 9, 2021

I too have been using a DSLR for the better part of a year and am just waiting for Black Friday to see if the ZWO ASI533mc goes on sale. It will be a bit undersampled with the Redcat but I am also looking to broaden my horizons with an 80mm telescope in the future. Should be just about right for that size. I have looked and researched until I was blue in the face and finally decided on the 533.

Bryan

Nov 10, 2021

As mentioned above dithering and drizzling will help. I decided to go with the 183 color camera, with the crop that puts me at 667mm. There are some great targets at this range and some so large I'm learning how to better frame and plan mosaics.

I will be adding a mono camera in the future to get beyond light pollution and I'm considering going wider with the 2600mm pro. The bit depth and fov is my two biggest deciding factors.

Bob Stevenson

Nov 10, 2021

Hi Daniel,

A ZWO ASI1600 will get you a slightly smaller field of view at about 4.05 x 3.06 degrees, and 2.27 arc/pixel. But the bang for the buck is the best thing about the ASI1600. If you want more field of view with the same pixel size, you need a bigger (more expensive) sensor. So it really depends upon your budget!

I have had good success with the RedCat and ASI1600, with drizzling.

Regards,
Bob

Well written Helpful

John Sim

Nov 10, 2021

I'm using a QHY268C, which has an APS-C sized sensor, with my Redcat and am very pleased with this combo. I do notice an improvement using drizzle integration at this image scale.

Well written Concise

DustSpeakers

Nov 10, 2021

I also use the ASI 1600 MM pro with the Redcat 51 and I’m really happy with the results

Daniel Erickson

Topic starter

Nov 10, 2021

Thank you one and all, for responding. For what it's worth, I posted this in August of 2020 and it was only approved in November 2021 and posted live, so I'm not sure what the delay was about. In the meantime, since there were NO answers on the thread until yesterday, I was on my own and ended up getting the 183MC. I love it completely and think that it is the perfect pairing for the Cat series. Sampling is in a sweet spot so no drizzling required, the well depth is deep enough to deal with my B7 skies, and the detail I can get has been more than I could have hoped for. Sure, I lost a bit on the FOV, but I have no complaints whatsoever.

Well written

George Karantzalos

Nov 11, 2021

I use the 183MM with my Redcat and I am very pleased with the results. I am at 1,98 arcsecs and I prefer mure denoise over drizzle cause I have cleaner images to process and until now I never felt that I needed more resolution. The 3x2 degrees fov is big enough to fit the most popular targets and image framing is very easy with the Redcat rotator and N.I.N.A.

Helpful Concise

Etienne

Oct 24, 2023

Got the ASI2600MC DUO from ZWO and it has been a blast.
The redcat has a full frame image circle, so the integrated guiding chip get all the light it needs. If you thought about upgrading your camera, the DUO is an awesome fit for the redcat

Danny Lee

Oct 24, 2023

Etienne:
Got the ASI2600MC DUO from ZWO and it has been a blast.
The redcat has a full frame image circle, so the integrated guiding chip get all the light it needs. If you thought about upgrading your camera, the DUO is an awesome fit for the redcat

Congratulations on the 2600 Duo, glad you're enjoying it.

I use a 2600MC pro with my Redcat 51 so basically the same camera without the second sensor. As others have said already, the combination is pretty badly undersampled but I've been happy with my results. Like you I wanted something with a similar field of view as the DRLR I was using previously, plus it will also sample nicely when/if we pick up scopes with a little more focal length.

Well written Concise Supportive

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