nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

I used my Atik 383L OSC camera on an AT65EDQ refractor and AVX mount. A total of 50, 180 second subs were taken, 100 flats, 20 darks and 50 bias frames completed the supporting files. The data was processed in Pixinsight.

I have been running two rigs the last few nights (skies have been moonlit but reasonably cloud free) For close to 2 hours the images were horrific - moisture frosted images (on sensor) ...but I noticed as the images were coming in and over a 2 hour period the moisture seemed to be less and less until it completely disappeared.

This morning I put a flat panel on the kit and the first pics had the same moisture issue - so I kept the camera on ...waited two hours and returned to take the flats and the moisture was gone - When I finished the flats I removed the desiccant tabs cooked them in the oven for two hours at 200 degrees......I will re-insert after the camera sits for 24 hours - per Atik's advice. I never use this camera that I don't have a heck of a time getting results.

I have attached the results.

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

I forgot to add the file! Here she blows!

(Download)

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Well, the image looks very good and detailed, albeit bright for my tastes.
I'm surprised you were shooting 180 second subs. Mine 'blow out' at a much less exposure.
In fact, I've been fiddling around at 1.5 to 3 second subs with the Infinity OSC.

I did get very brave the other day, and took the back off my Infinity to look for any sign of desiccant tablets. None found.
But I admittedly did not dig deep. Just the back and stared into the PC board. (And there certainly was nothing to write home about.)
But I'm not about to dig any deeper. Nor remove anything else like the lens retainer.

At any rate, I wouldn't kick your 383L OSC out of bed for eating crackers. The image looks great to me.

If I lived next door, I'd show you how to do a vacuum drying of the camera. Opening up the desiccant chambers, and putting the camera in a suitable chamber, like a wide mouthed Mason jar. Then use a vacuum sealer to do a dry vacuum sealing on the jar.
We do vacuum treatment on refrigeration systems. And one time we were vacuum treating electrical coils for contactors and relays when a power plant got flooded.
We had a large Bell Jar vacuum chamber. I'd put the coils in it and pull a vacuum on them. Any moisture boils off under a vacuum at normal temperatures. And that dried out the coils enough to past testing so they could be returned to service.
Vacuum treatment of large power transformers to dry them, and the insulating oil, was a fairly routine service when testing shown it was due.

Anyway, at least you have desiccant tablets to work with.

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

You are right......overexposed at 180.

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

The ATIK 383L OSC must be a fairly low sensitivity camera. Anything I have would be totally blown out with 3 min. subs on the AT65EDQ! Even my QHY 183C with its 2.4nm photosites would be saturated.

bwa

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

It was much "hotter" prior to calming it down in PixInsight. It had been so long since I had used the Atik that I trusted the hystagrams that rendered a pretty left centered pattern --- but there was some clipping on the highlight side - but stars cause that too in most of my images with any camera.

Because of the frost on the camera when I started....I really didn't expect any decent data....and why I continued to image is normally not like me since the early data was all unusable - normally I would have pulled the camera and used another but for some reason I continued to let it rip...and an hour into the session noticed that a lot of the frost looking stuff was disappearing. I guess the sensor heat may have had some affect even though I had cooled the camera to a -30.

But you are right - 120 second subs would have been better...perhaps even 90 seconds.

stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast

It's got a lot of detail Ed , keep it and add to it, next time shoot 2 sets of sequences "Core data and outer areas" I believe you'll be pleased with the results. I'm still adding to mine and one day I'll have a finished image.