"All sorts of scopes and cameras, since my page serves as the home page for the JSCAS CCD Interest Group. Most of my images (but not all) were taken with my 32-inch f/4 Newtonian and the CB245. The 32-incher is mounted on an equatorial platform. I will soon be taking a lot more with my 17.5-inch f/4.5 scope."
"Mostly deep-sky (and mostly galaxy) images by Ed Grafton and myself. If you have built a cookbook camera (or even if your haven't), you need to sign on to the page and take a look at it. I talk about the Cookbook camera system quite a bit!"
On this page we demonstrate what can be done with a small (6 inch, f/8.4) homemade Newtonian telescope and a Cookbook 245 CCD camera with the Low Dark Current modification.
More than just pictures is presented; information about the object and links to other sites with more information are added. Topical information such as animations of the movement of Comet Hale-Bopp through the solar system is also provided. We feature images of Messier objects, NGCs, the Moon, and comets. Contributions from other amateurs who don't have their own home pages are welcomed.
"Most of my images were taken with 20cm f/4.5 Newtonian from my home observatory near Coonabarabran using my CB245 camera in 378x242 mode. I have used the LDC modification on all of the recent images."
Here are just a few of the images you will find: globular cluster 47 Tuc, tri-colour image of C1996/B2 with a 171mm f/1.9 lens, nebulosity near eta Carinae, the region around eta Carinae in H-alpha, objects in the LMC, M8/M20 region with a 171mm f/1.9 lens, the complex nebular region around R Cra, and the galaxies NGC 247, NGC 1313, NGC 1365, NGC 4945, NGC 6822 (Barnard's galaxy).
"Since my scope was computerized just last year, I mainly enjoy imaging bright showpiece deep-sky objects. The 20 images on my page include the best nebula, clusters, and spiral galaxies I have imaged so far. All images are single exposures of only 30 seconds each."
"I have a 13.1-inch f/4.5 home-built Dobsonian which is computerized using Mel Bartels' software. This upgrade converts a "light bucket" into an incredibly versatile portable observatory capable of finding, tracking, and slewing. This upgrade also allows Dobs to be used for CCD imaging or astro-photography. I built the CB245 with low-dark-current mod and also use a forced-air convection cooling head instead of the water pump."
A dauntingly large and wonderful collection of images taken with many different CCD cameras, including, of course, the Cookbook 211 and the Cookbook 245 cameras.
Maintained by Steven Williams of the Grove Creek Observatory in Australia.
Rick Colman's site contains a variety of resources for CCD enthusiasts oriented toward the CookBook camera, with lots of other information as well. Large number of CB245 images, with some older CCD-10 images and contributions from others.
Contains CB245 images taken with 22-inch Kuhn Telescope (Ritchey-Chretien) at the Orange County Astronomers observatory near Anza, CA. Also contains CB245 images taken with an 8-inch SCT and an 80mm refractor. Mostly deep-sky objects with some comet images as well. Some comparison images showing the effects of different types of image processing, different scopes with the same camera, etc.
The camera is a CB245 with LDC modified in some areas. The 12V 80W Peltier is from a camping refrigerator, the camera housing is a bit enlarged, and the preamp and A/D converter are in a box mounted on the camera housing. The telescopes I use are 10-inch f/20 Schiefspiegler and 10-inch RC-Cassegrain with f/8 and f/15 foci. Both instruments are located at the public observatory in Hagen, Germany. The site is in German but all of the images are easy to find.
I make every sort of image when weather and time allow. My camera is in use since two months and still in testing. But check out my images of NGC6946 or Hale-Bopp! Please be patient: the link is sometimes very slow.
This practical and well-documented article by Mel Bartels of Eugene, Oregon describes his 20-inch computer-controlled telescope that can be built at a very reasonable cost, and shows images taken with a Cookbook 245.
This site covers the theory of operation, circuit diagrams, and a downloadable
driver software.
NTO is the name of an CCD amateur group in Madrid, Spain. We have some Cookbook cameras, and we have a lot of images taking with them and with different telescopes: C-11 on a Losmandy mount, C-8, LX200, Vixen 130 mm, etc. There is a CCD course for new users in Spanish, advice for Cookbook builders, a collection of CCD images, and a field-of-view calculator. Spain has a long tradition in astronomy. Today CCD cameras are starting to be popular, we related our experience in some conferences and a lot of people asked about building the Cookbook camera.
Además, un grupo de aficionados a la Astronomía con un especial -y a veces desmedido- interés por superar las barreras de la Astronomía tradicional, empeñada en observar lo que no se ve y tomar hermosas fotos con poco -o nulo- valor científico. Las herramientas que nos permiten ir más allá son nuestra colaboración mutua y continua, nuestra inmedible paciencia y afición, y , cómo no, nuestras cámaras CCD.
Nos hemos dado cuenta enseguida de que hay que tirar hacia las CCDs (salvo que seas un masoca o un fotógrafo). Por eso nos estamos armando de todos los maquinillos que podemos. Ahora tenemos varias CB 245, una artesanal basada en TH7852, una HI-Sis 22, una ST4 y otra ST7. En cuanto a tubos, nos hemos armado con tres C8, un C11, un Lx200 8", un Newton Vixen 130, un Newton casero 200 y un Pronto.
Lo que peor llevamos es el tema de las monturas y los sitios estables
de observación. De momento nos defendemos con el maravilloso cielo
rosa de Pozuelo (Madrid) y alguna salida esporádica a la Sierra
Norte, entre vacas, cerdos y polillas (Braojos, Robledillo), pero no olvidemos
que esta Nueva Astronomía fue alumbrada en Madrid , bajo la luz
de la Luna y las farolas; esta es la forma real de sacarle partido a la
aficion, desde "tu propia casa".
Our group has a number of members who have built the Cookbook Camera plus the dark current modification. We've recently added some new pictures to the site.
Members: Tim Bennett has 10-inch f/8 homemade Newtonian. This unit was
mounted inside a portable observatory trailer but has since been installed
inside a new two story observatory outside of Essex, Ontario; Al Legary
has a DS16 16-inch f/4.5 Newtonian. This scope was installed inside a home
built two story observatory outside Essex, Ontario; J.D. Wilkens has a
10-inch f/10 LX6 unit; David Marchand has a 10-inch f/6.3 and 4-inch f/10
and modified to accept regular camera lens. Al Legary likes to image nebulas
in tri-colour while Tim Bennett likes planetaries and comets. Anything
deep sky for the rest of us.
I've set up a web site with deep-sky images, mostly galaxies, taken with my Cookbook 245 and 10-inch SCT along with some pictures of the observatory and telescope. The site is still under construction, soon I will be adding more text on how amateurs can improve their images etc.
I have written an article on my imaging techniques that should be coming
out in the April 1997 issue of Sky and Telescope. I hope it will get a
lot of amateurs "cranked up" about building their own CCD cameras!
If you maintain a Web site with Cookbook images and information on it, please provide the following four items:
2. Write a paragraph about the Cookbook camera and the telescope or telescopes you are using. Be complete so that users with similar equipment will know to hotlink to your site. Don't leave out your name!
4. Write a paragraph to tell us what sorts of images we will find on your site -- planetary, deep-sky, galaxies, or whatever you it is that you have. Tell us about your observing philosophy, too. And when you add stuff, please keep us up to date. Thanks!
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