Attaching ASI 6200 camera and ASI EFW filter wheel to Tak Epsilon 130

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Götz Golla avatar
I have spent serveral days now trying to figure out how to attach my new ASI 6200MM camera and ASI EFW filter wheel to my Takahasi Epsilon. I have a tilt in the image train, so I also need a tilt corrector inbetween.

The filter wheel has a M54 female connector whereas the Tak overs a M54 male connection. So it would be obvious to use M54 components for the whole optical train. But I neither have found I a M54 tilter nor are there any M54 extension tubes or spacers on the market. It would be possible to go down to M48, but this will lead to vignetting. There is a good M68 tilter made by Astronomik, but for this I would need an adapter M54 female to M68 male, which is also not to be found.

Are there any Tak Epsilon owners who have solved this problem ? Any advice is welcome.

Goetz
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Jérémie avatar
Götz Golla avatar
The problem is solved. The Astronomik Camera Tilting Unit (CTU) (XL Version) can be be ordered with M68(male) to M54(male) adapters. Together with a 0.5mm M68 spacer the whole system has a backfocus of 56mm. The CTU can be extended by a maximum of 0.8mm. So its even a good solution to just adjust the backfocus precisely. Due to the large diameter of the CTU with respect to the sensor size, tilts can be corrected very precisely. The nice thing about the CTU is that it can be operated during observation. There is no need to disassemble the camera or the filter wheel. Thats so much more usable than other tilting units I have considered before.

Preliminary results from last night show that I have a 0.08mm tilt in my image train along the short axis of the sensor, with a backfocus at the center of the sensor of 56.5mm. The improvement of the image quality is significant.

BTW, has anyone tried to measure the backfocus of the E130 experimentally ? I found values between 56.0mm and 56.4mm in the literature, so I wonder if reducing the backfocus from my 56.6mm might futher improve the image.
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