New to the forum

[pyrasanth]

Hi,

My name is Mark & I'm new to the forum & Atik CCD cameras. What I know about CCD imaging I could fit on the back of a beer mat- so not much!

I have an Atik 490 EX OSC with the intention to use it on my Celestron 11" HD at the prime focus of a Hyperstar. This was really the reason for the selection of the OSC. I might get a 460 mono at some point for filter work at the other end of the telescope.

I have progressed from a DSLR, if it can be called progression but know very little about the mechanics of using CCD cameras. It sounds daft but I understand more about using a mono CCD camera with filters than the OSC which whilst it looks simple on the surface can be a lot harder to grasp when you consider binning & the effects on the colour channels.

If somebody could help with a few questions that would be a good start.

If I take a picture at a binning of 1x1 what do I get in respect of the output file?- is it an RGB image which can be opened in popular programs like photoshop or do I need a specialized application like astroart or MaxIM.

If I Bin at 2x2 or above do I get a mono image or something different- at what point dos the colour information disappear. I assume at some level the Bayer filter becomes "knocked" out?

The 490 EX OSC looks very nice but I question if the mono version would have been a better option all though it is the recommendation for short focal length work with the hyperstar being a good example.

[Dave92F1]

If I take a picture at a binning of 1x1 what do I get in respect of the output file?- is it an RGB image which can be opened in popular programs like photoshop or do I need a specialized application like astroart or MaxIM.

You get a FITS file.  If it's a monochrome camera, you get a monochrome image.  You can convert the FITS file to a JPG or PNG or whatever with specialized software, but for image manipulation FITS is usually better.

If I Bin at 2x2 or above do I get a mono image or something different- at what point dos the colour information disappear. I assume at some level the Bayer filter becomes "knocked" out?

I have a mono camera, so I'm not 100% sure, but I think you still get a RGB image; the camera bins 2x2 sets of Bayer filtered pixels together to make a larger Bayer filtered pixel.