Altair 269MC Pro Cooled - Gain Settings

[brenski]

Is there a way to calculate a starting point for Sharpcap Gain settings for the Altair 269MC Pro (Cooled)?

For example, a basic formula that would involve the DSO/Cluster/Galaxy's Mag and the local Bortle value?
I'd be looking at 30-40 exposures

thanks

[admin]

Hi,

no, sadly it's not a simple calculation, as things like the read noise at the gain level chosen, the f-ratio of the telescope and the QE of the sensor come into it. The best thing to do is to use SharpCap's smart histogram 'Brain' function which does all these calculations for you and will suggest the best settings to use based on an actual measurement of the sky brightness in the region of your target. See https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/4.1/#The%20 ... n%20Window

cheers,

Robin