Reviews

In 2008 I bought a modded 40D from Eric Lo in Melbourne. I was had gotten back into DSO imaging in January and had been using a 400D to image deep sky objects. The 400D was ok but I wanted more, I wanted my Ha images to be red and I wanted to avoid doing darks and take up valuable imaging time; and the 400D was not going to cut it for much longer. The modification that Eric had done on the 40D was to enable the transmission of Ha light to be gathered by the sensor; that passed one of my criteria. Some testing of the camera proved that the filter was good and the camera could capture lots of Ha detail in the correct colour (not blue). I then decided to send the camera off to Central DS for their cooling modification. As it turned out the modification that Eric had done was not compatible with what the guys at Central DS wanted to do. So I allowed them to take out the new filter and install their own spectrum enhanced filter.

Astro 40D
In 2008 I bought a modded 40D from Eric Lo in Melbourne. I was had gotten back into DSO imaging in January and had been using a 400D to image deep sky objects. The 400D was ok but I wanted more, I wanted my Ha images to be red and I wanted to avoid doing darks and take up valuable imaging time; and the 400D was not going to cut it for much longer. The modification that Eric had done on the 40D was to enable the transmission of Ha light to be gathered by the sensor; that passed one of my criteria. Some testing of the camera proved that the filter was good and the camera could capture lots of Ha detail in the correct colour (not blue). I then decided to send the camera off to Central DS for their cooling modification. As it turned out the modification that Eric had done was not compatible with what the guys at Central DS wanted to do. So I allowed them to take out the new filter and install their own spectrum enhanced filter.
Build Quality
The 40D itself has all the structure that people have come to expect. However, what I am referring to is the modifications that Central DS conducted. Upon opening the return packaging I was stunned at how the whole modification seemed to fit as though it had always been there and that is was designed as part of the original camera. Each of the outer covers to the camera was cut and fitted perfectly without any traces of damage or burring. In a word it looked sweet. The cooler seen above is made from sturdy construction; it seems that the cooler is made from heavy aluminum. Working The first tests I conducted was the unit taking images with and without the cooler in operation. Without the cooler operating the noise while doing darks was as per a normal digital SLR. Lots of red spots at ISO800 at 10 minute exposures. Then when I ran the cooler for a couple of minutes and waited for the system to establish its operating temperature the results were completely different. There was no sign of noise in image taken at the same ISO for periods of 20 minutes. However there was a gradient on the dark which was discovered by a fellow imager at SCP. This had me concerned, so after an email to Central DS with the attached image and an explanation of when where and how I took the image they came back with a valid reason for this. It seems that there is a problem when taking images with this camera during day light hours. So if you wanted to use one of these with a dual purpose of astro imaging and day light photography then you might need to think again. The next test I conducted was the use of the camera with Images Plus bulb control program and the USB cable. A friend who had a 40D modded just before I did a problem with the USB board dying on him within a couple of days. I checked mine and it worked fine and to this date (2 months later) it has worked on each occassion. With Images Plus and the single USB cable there is no need for a bulb capture cable as all the commands travel to and from the camera through a single cable. My first images taken with this camera were conducted on the 20" at Stockport. I have to say the level of detail seen over a single 10 minute sub really had me wondering what I would get with my 4" Takahashi refractor. I was not expecting anything as bright from a light polluted environment and it is a 4" refractor afterall! A week later I imaged the Lagoon with 9 subs at 15 minutes with the Takahashi. The subs were totally smooth with no noise evident even at full resolution and the Ha data was just jumping out. Subsequent images of the Tifid on another night were cut short by cloud, however even 3 subs at 13.5 minutes produced a really solid image. Final Comments This camera is superb, it takes great data, has none if little noise whatsoever and is a hell of a lot cheaper than buying a STL11000. It will limit how far I can go with my imaging of deep sky objects; I mean I probably will not be winning any David Malin awards with it. However I am really happy I made this choice. Its though very expensive to get this modification conducted. It was over 1600 US dollars and so it is not for the budget conscious. That said, if you want killer images cheaply and want to cut out half the drama with DSO imaging this is the way to go.

		EARTH & COSMOS

Astro 40D