TI450 f4 (Namibia)

lukas_demetz

Hi there,

this is an update to the status of our new coming system, a 450mm diameter f4 astrograph made by Italian Telescopes.
It is currently being integration tested in Tuscany, and I wanted to show you some previews.

Spoiler: It is very promising 🙂

So, is it ready? Not yet, we will make sure it gets on the road when it is confirmed it can fully perform. But a FWHM of 1.3" under the sky in Tuscany is very good 🙂

SkG

Any update to its status?

lukas_demetz

We have the old scope removed and the mount put back. All cabling will be changed bow, and the mechanics of the dome overhauled, before mounting the scope.

lukas_demetz

Slow progress... The old iDK2 has been removed, and the mount set up for its upcoming Alt-Az operation:

We need to cleanup the dome ring now, it looks like a small gecko caused a short circuit... Before adding the scope we will make sure it works correctly, afterwards the new scope i gonna be mounted and all new cabling put inside. Fingers crossed

lukas_demetz

System is ready for testing, finally!
With some luck we shall have some first images tonight. And with alot of luck, the collimation is good enough to work. However, do you spot the detail that might make the whole ordeal stop tonight? 😅

lukas_demetz

I am not sure if I shall post this or not, but anyway: Last night we ran some tests with the TI450. As to be expected with a new systems, some issues are lurking around. We have to recollimate it a bit, and get the hang of the new focuser and rotator drivers, but things are looking promising:

UjvarosiB

These are some amazing news, good job! I like especially the big FOV, it will be a comet hunting beast 🙂

lukas_demetz

@UjvarosiB Yes, this is gonna be a beast, however it will need some time to tackle a few driver gotchas.
Also, collimation is suboptimal as well 🙂

lukas_demetz

So, some more progress. The rotator is working quite well:

(3 minutes shot, this is a corner of the image)

Now, weather will prevent working on it for a while, we do expect to tackle the final "big" item around Christmas (weather permitting): Collimation

We need to realign the secondary and work a little on the primary, but shall be relatively easy.

All in all its a very promising system. The huge FOV combined with the high resolution (0.46"/pixel) and surprisingly good illumination of the field (basically no vignetting) shall make for some great data 🙂

lukas_demetz

We are still having some driver issues with the focuser and mainly rotator which prevent us from going online. The collimation would be decent now, but we cannot assess it completely until the rotator is working flawlessy.