Is it possible to take dark and bias remotely without a mechanical shutter? I noticed many people here in astrobin using their CMOS like QHY and ZWO remotely, just wondering how everyone is taking their dark and bias without shutter.
Dark & Bias without mechanical shutter
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Be a good friend of the remote site manager, and ask them for help to cover your scope (or baffle tube) in a cloudy night. That's what I did when I cannot use the mechanical shutter. If the site is totally unmanned, then I don't know.
I have a "dark panel" positioned right next to my flat panel. It's just a piece of plywood that's painted flat black that sits only about 4" off the end of the scope. I take darks through the SII filter with the scope pointed at the dark panel at night. I try to avoid nights when the moon is near full but it works well any other time of the month. It insures that I'm not pointed into a corner of the observatory where there might be various uncovered indicator lights. I have both of my panels positioned low to the east so that they don't interfere with the horizon. I've been bugging Kevin at Planewave to add the capability for named stored alt-az positions so that I can just click a button to point at my panels without having to look up the coordinates each time.
John
John
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Dark (opaque black) filters are available for purchase and can be installed in your electronic filter wheel to allow you to shoot darks without the need to cover the end of your scope. Here's an example:
https://www.highpointscientific.com/astronomik-125inch-dark-frame-filter-dark-125
https://www.highpointscientific.com/astronomik-125inch-dark-frame-filter-dark-125
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I have a flip panel on the front of the scope and activate the SII filter for good measure. As long as the observatory doesn't have someone working in it its basically pitch black at night with the roof closed.
Thank you all for sharing your experience, much appreciated.
Abdullah
Abdullah
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