Erik Guneriussen:
Hi, this is Erik from AstroPrecision, one of the developers behind the TiltAdjuster instrument.
May my post her is on the edge of what is allowed, if so I assume that it will be deleted.
Tilt is often discussed in relation to the sensor, and while sensor tilt is a factor, the rest of the imaging setup can also introduce tilt. Our goal is to include as much of the optical train as possible, meaning all components behind the telescope should be included in the calibration process.
With the calibration and adjustment methods used in TiltAdjuster, we believe that reducing additional tilt—such as in the focuser—will be fast and precise.
Not all achive the same but one of our customer reported this :
A very successful 1st use of your product – I had my camera dialed in
to a few microns within 20 minutes of opening the box …
As comments above mention, we have had/has some issues which I think is normal for new products. We strive to improve the software, though we may have pushed out recent updates a bit too quickly. To ensure more stable releases moving forward, we will be establishing a beta testing group. Additionally, there have been some installation issues, which we aim to resolve in the next release.
Erik
*** Hi Eric. Glad to see your responing to the discusion. I received your Astro Percision tilter about two weeks ago. I have been dealing with sensor tilt for years. Even though Starligh Xpress adjust tilt in their cameras using a laser tilter device, they still have considerable tilt. As CMOS chips increased in size and pixels got smaller, the tilt issue became more of a problem. I have spent many nights with a small hex wrench adjusting tilt using CCDInspector and ASTAP. I never use the N.I.N.A. meathod.
Years ago I built a tilter jig similar to the one mentione above. It helped alot and I rebuilt/improved it three times. The problem I have was the laser spot is too large and the sensor window reflection interferes But it got me close.
Last week I used your electronic computer monitored tilter. A total jump to the computer age. Not only is the adition of a camera to sence the laser a big improvement, but the addition of soltware brings the process to another level. With it I discovered that, what I thought was good tilt adjustment with my manual star field computer, still larger than the focus zone.
My ZWO ASI2600C with the ZWO 54mm tilter worked very easily with the Astro Precision tilter. My QHY268M with 2" filter wheel and BAAder tilter was more challenging due to the imbalanced weight of the filter wheel. I wanted to incorperate the wheel because it will aways be a part of the chain. I had to us a Blumeoon camer counter weight to off set the imbalance. The process went smoothly.
However, I ran into issues with and Starlight Xpress Trius SX-694 CCD. The camera has a small profile and your tilter overlaps the tilt adjustment screws. So, the Camera had to be elevated. As the orignal poster explained, this caused wobbling in the tilter rotation. I incorporated a manual CCA and that took care of most of the wobbling. The largest issue was the lasaer reflection off of the sensor cover window. That reflection was brighter than the one off the sensor. The software kelp centering on the widow relection. I could not it to switch to the sensor lasre reflection. there were two plus signs in the colimation frame. It was very confusing to know which belonged to the sensor. I resorted to putting the camera back on my hand made tilt adjuster and getiing the sensor tilt corrected as best I could. I then returned the camera back to your electronic tilter. It then choose the correct reflection of the sensor and I was able to proceed. This whole process took hours.
The soft fuzzy side of velcro works fairly well as a berring. I have used that application also. But it allows too much wobble with the camera's 2" insert. The original poster talked about that issue. I think a manual CAA attached to the Astro Precision tilter is needed. Also a treaded connection would be superior with M42, M48 & M54 treade adapters. That is essentially what I did with the M42 tresded SX-694. I will send you photos of the unit I put together. These CAA manual rotaters are reasonably priced. One can get them trough Ali Express or Agena Astro.
Is there a way to program the softwar to always choose the relection angled farterest away from the laser. The sensor reflection dot should alway result angled farter from the laser. Cameras can and do vary in the cover window distance from the chip and its reflectivity. They were minor in the ZWO and QHY, but vert bright in the Starlight Xpress.
Another question I have is the variation of the final Arc/Sec figure of the final adjusted difference of Focal Zone. At one point it was at 4.?? and after decreasing the Red circle considerabely it jumped up to 10.??. Is it measuring the diameter of the red circle or the ratio between the three collimation points? I can see that as the Red circle gets smaller, the ratio difference of the collimation points increase, even though they are lower in nomination.
I have not downloaded the latest update. I have yet to use the Astro Precision tilter on my Starlight Xpress Trius SX-46. it is a large camera with a m72 threaded opening and 4 sets of adjustment screws.
Thankyou for responding to this post.
Lynn K.
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