I have been wanting to try out the Mallincam DS10c with my f/5.5 80mm ED refractor telescope (MCR-80) and decided to use it the last couple of nights in spite of less than ideal conditions. The moon was half full and the skies were not fully clear, but it did give me an idea of the field of view of this combination and what it could do (FOV is 2.24 x 1.68 degrees).
I used them on my SkyProdigy mount, which turned out to be a very lightweight and portable setup (with AutoAlign built in). I can easily set it up inside and pick up & carry the entire assembly outside to my driveway. Each component can also be carried on a trip without taking up a lot of room. I screwed the DS10c onto the 2” focus adapter of the MCR-80. Due to the Moon, I also decided use my 2” Baader Moon and Skyglow filter.
I used them on my SkyProdigy mount, which turned out to be a very lightweight and portable setup (with AutoAlign built in). I can easily set it up inside and pick up & carry the entire assembly outside to my driveway. Each component can also be carried on a trip without taking up a lot of room. I screwed the DS10c onto the 2” focus adapter of the MCR-80. Due to the Moon, I also decided use my 2” Baader Moon and Skyglow filter.
The following images show the Andromeda Galaxy and Orion Nebula from last night, and the Moon from the night before. I tried some fainter DSOs but due the conditions they did not show up as well. I plan to try again on a clear, dark night without a filter.
Here is the image of the Moon, which gives you an idea of the Moon light conditions and the field of view of the 80mm refractor combined with the DS10c 21.6mm sensor.
The following M31 Andromeda Galaxy live image capture is a 5 second exposure (video mode), bin 2, gain 40 and histogram 78-175 with live averaging of 10 frames (the image updated every 5 seconds)
This M42 Orion Nebula live image capture is a 2 second exposure (video mode), bin 2, gain 40 and histogram 20-165 with live averaging of 10 frames (the image updated every 2 seconds)!
The image below is a zoomed (cropped) image from the one above and is lightly enhanced (with less than 2 min of post processing using Windows Photo).
I used a Remote Video Astronomy (RVA) configuration so I could do my viewing inside to escape the cold outside. Once I carried the assembled telescope, mount and camera to the driveway and turned it on, I used the SkyProdigy Auto Align feature enabling me to be operational very quickly. I slewed to Vega and used a focus mask for focusing using my laptop at the mount. I then ran my USB3 active extension cables to extend the DS10c USB3 cable to my laptop inside (ahh, warmth). I used SkyFi at the mount and a tablet running SkySafari Pro 6 to control the mount from inside.
This portable configuration can easily be run completely on battery, or powered from a single AC extension cable. I can provide 12v power to the SkyProdigy mount from a small rechargeable Anker 14400mAh battery (or similar) and the SkyFi can run on 4 AA batteries. I can also provide 5v power to the active USB3 extension (which powers the camera) using a small rechargeable Anker battery as well. I have successfully used two 10m USB3 extension cables (about 64 feet total extension), and only had to supply 5v power to the one that connects to the Camera’s USB3 cable.
So far I have been very pleased with the DS10c using short exposures in video mode and live averaging of 10 frames with every telescope I have tried it on.
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