posted Jun 11, 2008 11:36 AM by Al Degutis
The Imaging Source has donated two cameras for door prizes at this year's conference:
1) DMK 21AU04.AS - Monochrome USB Astronomy Camera with 60 fps for Astrophotography ($390 value)
2) DBK 21AU04.AS - USB Color Camera without IR Cut Filter with 60 images/s ($350 value)
Many great lunar and planetary imagers use The Imaging Source cameras, including Bob Pilz (2008 speaker) and Alan Friedman (2007 speaker).
For more information, visit The Imaging Source website:
http://www.astronomycameras.com/en/products/
We thank The Imaging Source for their support of the conference.
Al Degutis
http://www.mwaic.com
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posted Jun 11, 2008 10:31 AM by Al Degutis
The following is an announcement from Kevin Nelson of QSI, regarding the new QSI 540 which you'll be able to see at the conference (in addition to their other cameras).
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QSI Introduces the 540 and 540c with larger 4.2mp mono or color sensor
The QSI 540 employs the 4.2 megapixel Kodak KAI-04022 interline transfer sensor with microlens technology. The compact design of the QSI 500 Series allows the 540 to set a new benchmark for size and cost in a high performance, full-featured scientific CCD camera with this large 4.2mp sensor. Introductory pricing starts at $3,995. Deliveries will begin this month.
A total of five configurations of the monochrome QSI 540 and color 540c are available. The slim body QSI 540i and 540ci utilize the electronic shutter built into the KAI-04022 image sensor to control exposures. The 540si and 540csi incorporate the optional internal mechanical shutter in the mid-size body to simplify the creation of dark and bias frames. The full-size 540wsi adds a 5-position internal color filter wheel that holds standard 1.25" filters.
Because the internal color filter wheel is positioned very close to the focal plane in the QSI 540wsi, the 21.4mm diagonal Kodak KAI-04022 sensor experiences no optical vignetting through standard 1.25" filters, even with fast optical systems down below f/4.5. Even below f/4 the very small amount of light drop-off in the extreme corners of the large 2K x 2K sensor is almost undetectable and easily corrected with routine flat field calibration. Without filters, the 540si works with optical systems down below f/2.3, and the electronic shuttered 540i and 540ci below f/1.
We've posted an LRGB image of the North America Nebula captured by Alan Smallbone with the 540wsi with a 5" Borg at f/3.9. No flat field
calibration was applied.
http://www.qsimaging.com/gallery.html
Complete details on the monochrome 540 and single-shot-color 540c can be found on our web site:
QSI 540 - http://www.qsimaging.com/540overview.html
QSI 540c - http://www.qsimaging.com/540coverview.html
Regards,
Kevin Nelson
Quantum Scientific Imaging
www.QSImaging.com |
posted Jun 11, 2008 7:33 AM by Al Degutis
QSI has provided the conference with a 10% off (up to $500) gift certificate for a QSI camera as a door prize. QSI cameras have received rave reviews in the last six month, including reviews by Richard Berry and Craig Stark in AstroPhoto Insight Magazine.
QSI will be at the conference where they will be debuting their latest cameras. Be sure to check them out.
We thank QSI for their support.
Al Degutis
http://www.mwaic.com
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posted Jun 11, 2008 7:22 AM by Al Degutis
posted Jun 4, 2008 11:41 AM by Al Degutis
We are excited to announce that AstroTrac (www.astrotrac.com) is a sponsor of the 2008 Midwest Astro-Imaging Conference. They will be at the conference showing off their acclaimed tracking mount (Sky and Telescope 2008 Hot Product). See the AstroTrac TT320 review in the April 2008 issue of AstroPhoto Insight Magazine (www.astrophotoinsight.com).
They have also donated an AstroTrac tracking mount, with polar scope, as a door prize for the conference ($858 value).
We welcome AstroTrac and thank them for their support.
Al Degutis
Midwest Astro-Imaging Conference Chair
http://www.mwaic.com
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posted Jun 4, 2008 11:29 AM by Al Degutis
Doug Anderson, Shoestring Astronomy, had hoped to be able to present an autoguiding primer at the conference, while Jim Burnell tackled some more advanced autoguiding topics. Unfortunately, Doug schedule has been so busy that he cannot do the presentation. He will still try to attend on Saturday as a vendor. He won't know until just before the conference.
-Al
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posted May 7, 2008 12:18 PM by Al Degutis
Software Bisque is not able to attend the conference this year due to a scheduling conflict, but has generously sponsored breakfast for the event.
Software Bisque is also updating it flagship product TheSky this year to TheSkyX. TheSkyX is faster, more stable, easier to use, and more feature rich than its predecessors. Most importantly, TheSkyX runs natively under today's most popular operating systems (Mac OS X, Windows Vista and Windows XP).
There will be a brief write up on TheSkyX in the NEAIC recap in the June issue of AstroPhoto Insight Magazine.
We thank Software Bisque (http://www.bisque.com) for their support of the Midwest Astro-Imaging Conference.
Al Degutis
Midwest Astro-Imaging Conference Chair
http://www.mwaic.com
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posted May 7, 2008 12:03 PM by Al Degutis
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updated May 7, 2008 12:04 PM
]
We're excited that the following vendors have committed to being at the 2008 Midwest conference:
- Telescope Stability Systems (TSS)
- New Mexico Southern Skies
- AZ SKY SHACK
- Door prize donation: AZ SKY SHACK print of astronomers own photo work (Note - we're not just talking about prints on regular photo paper; more details to follow)
We welcome these new exhibitors and thank them for their support of the conference.
Al Degutis
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posted Mar 8, 2008 8:44 AM by Al Degutis
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updated Mar 8, 2008 8:49 AM
]
Due to a schedule conflict, Robert Nemiroff will not be able to attend the conference. Jerry Bonnell, co-editor of the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD), has agreed to take Robert's place.
We thank Jerry for stepping in to do the presentation
Al Degutis
Midwest Astro-Imaging Conference Chair
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posted Mar 3, 2008 11:35 AM by Al Degutis
Sponsors have been signing up to support the conference since November 2007, so we wanted to provide a current list and give them the appropriate acknowledgment.
- Adobe Systems
- Canon U.S.A., Inc.
- Diffraction Limited
- Quantum Scientific Imaging, Inc.
- Orion Telescopes & Binoculars
- 20/20 Telescopes
- Tele Vue
- Oceanside Photo & Telescope
- DC3-Dreams
- fishcamp engineering
- The Imaging Source
There are others that are still considering their participation, or in some cases, level of participation.
Al Degutis
Midwest Astro-Imaging Conference Chair
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