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Subject: Re: [M]: CCD Imaging
From: User971066@aol.com
Reply To: mapug@shore.net
Date: Tue Oct 07 03:23:08 1997

I've commented on the 416XT before, but I'll repeat what I've said for
newcomers.

Until I was recently able to upgrade my laptop (Hitachi M-100D) to 16Meg of
memory, I had used the version 2.x software exclusively. Images were
downloaded via the serial port at 38k - just a bit slow. I binned most
images 2x2 to cut download times slightly.

I have been very happy with images of the moon and many deep-sky objects
taken at the prime-focus (or sometimes with a 2x barlow) of my 12.5"
Newtonian.

With the addition of more memory, I just tonight tried version 6.0 - supplied
by Meade
on disk. I can now download via serial port at 115k. I have found a few
more problems with the 6.0 than I found with the 2.x. I am using both with
Windows 95.

Tonight, for example, I tried a histogram equalization of an image on the
screen. I got what I wanted, but the image was also flipped upside down!
There is a command to
flip images vertically which fixed the image. One more bug! The version 6.0
also crashed more often. I make sure the camera has been reset and then do a
warm boot into Windows. When I run Pictor and reconnect the camera,
everything is fine until the next crash.

I tried images tonight of Jupiter using the Cass focus of my reflector and a
2x barlow.
I haven't had a chance to work on the raw images, but they don't look too
bad, at least
considering the rather poor seeing conditions.

All in all, my 416XT has functioned fairly well. I've had it for just about
1 year - bought it with the 201, software, and case. Given the fact that
Meade will probably (crossed fingers) fix the software, I think it's a good
deal.