Finger Lakes Instrumentation sections: 
 » Cooled long exposure CCD cameras. 
 » Accessories including focusers and filter wheels. 
 » Image Gallery. Yankee Robotics sections: 
 » Cooled long exposure CCD cameras. 
 » Image gallery. 
 » Articles. Apogee Instruments Inc: 
 » Ascent series up to 16MP cooled CCD, USB 2.0. 
 » Kodak Interline CCDs. 
 » Kodak Full Frame CCDs, internal shutters. 
 » Hamamatsu Back Illuminated CCDs. 
 » EMCCD Interline Transfer CCDs. 
 » Sony Interline CCDs. 
 » Filter Wheels and Accessories. Opticstar sections: 
 » Cooled, long exposure cameras, 3.3MP CCD, USB 2.0. 
 » Auto-Guiding systems, complete solutions. 
 » Video cameras for planetary use up to 5MP, USB 2.0. 
 » Video cameras for deep sky and planetary use, PAL. 
 » Imaging accessories. Ascension telescopes and accessories: 
 » Apochromat ED Triplet Refractors 
 » Achromat Doublet Refractors  
 » Eyepieces including zoom eyepieces. 
 » Guiding eyepieces. 
 » Extension tubes. 
 » Flip mirrors. 
 » Imaging filters. 
 » Barlow lenses. 
 » Binoviewers. 
 » Red dot finders. 
 » Eyepiece projection kits. 
 » Mirror and prism diagonals. A&M Advanced Telescopes sections: 
 » Super apochromat refractors. 
 » Schmidt cameras. 
 » Ritchey Chretien catadioptrics. 
 » Maksutov Cassegrain catadioptrics. 
 » Dobsonian reflectors. 
 » Telescope accessories. 
 » Image gallery. 
 » Articles. Shoestring Astronomy sections: 
 » Autoguiding connectivity kits and interfaces. 
 » Shutter control units for DSLR cameras. 
 » Focus motor controllers.
Auto-Guider System
Opticstar AG-130M COOLAIR
£199.95
The Opticstar AG-130M COOLAIR auto guider system includes: camera, control box, cables and software.
Ascension 80ED Triplet
£475.00
The Ascension 80ED Triplet APO from the premium range of
Ascension telescopes. Alumi- nium case and accessories included as standard...
The Imaging Source
Imaging Source CCD camera.
£229.00
The DMK / DFK / DBK series of CCD video cameras from The Imaging
Source feature a FireWire or USB 2.0 computer interface.
Colour Filter Wheel
Colour Filter Wheel
£84.95
The Colour Filter Wheel has 5 filter positions for standard 1.25" aperture filters.
Watec WAT-120N+
Watec WAT-120N video camera
£399.95
The new Watec 120N+ is a monochrome 0.00002 Lux video camera. It is Watec's most sensitive camera.
Sky-Watcher EQ6 PRO
Sky-Watcher EQ6 PRO mount.
£849.00
EQ6 PRO is the extra heavy duty, computerised mount from Sky-Watcher with a load capacity of 25kg.
Mintron 12V6HC-EX
Mintron 12V6HC-EX video camera
£249.95
The 12V6HC-EX is Mintron's most sensitive starlight video camera.
Apogee Ascent A2000
Apogee Ascent A16000.
£1866.00
The A2000 incorporates a Kodak CCD, 1600x1200 pixels. Maximum quantum efficiency 47%.
SXVF-H36
SXVF-H36
£4450.00
The Starlight Xpress SXVF-H36 is a new 16 mega pixel camera with fast USB 2.0 interface.
Auto-Guider Kits
Shoestring auto-guiding kit
£63.20
Elegant, low-cost Auto-Guider connectivity kits from Shoestring Astronomy.
DSLR Shutter Control
Shoestring DSUSB
£56.80
Computerized DSLR shutter control with the DSUSB unit from Shoestring Astronomy.
Video Imaging
Opticstar PL-130M COOLAIR
£149.95
The Opticstar PL-130M COOLAIR is a 1.3MP mono- chrome video camera for planetary imaging.
M.I. G1-0400 Guider
MI G1-0400.
£340.00
The G1-0400 is an advanced guiding camera with an air-cooled Sony CCD.
Apogee Ascent A16000
Apogee Ascent A16000.
£3735.00
The A16000 is part of the latest series of advanced CCD cameras from Apogee featuring sealed CCD
chambers purged with Argon for outstanding performance.
FLI Digital Focusers
FLI Precision Digital Focuser
£1070.00
The Precision Digital Focuser (PDF) from FLI is thin, accurate, repeatable and rock solid.
New Address
Opticstar is Moving to New Premises
posted: 27th June 2008
New premises. We are moving to new premises on the 4th of July 2008. We expect a certain degree of disruption between the 4th and 6th July but we will be back in business on Monday 7th July operating from the new premises.
Opticstar Ltd, 87 Washway Road, Sale, Gr. Manchester, M33 7TQ, UK.

During this short period orders can still be placed over the Internet as usual. This is the first step in our efforts to offer you the best service possible, competitive prices, a wide range of products and a new 1800 sq. ft.
(164 sq. m) retail showroom with customer parking opening in early 2009.
more
Auto-Guiding
Guide and Image Deeper - Much Deeper
updated: 27th June 2008
Opticstar AG-130M COOLAIR New software for the Opticstar AG-130M COOLAIR is now available to download. Support for longer exposures up to 10 seconds, binning 2x2 and 4x4, region of interest (ROI), StarView video, and much more. The AG-130M can control the vast majotiry of telescopes via the guide port.
New bundled applications: Nebulosity Lite, PHD Guiding and Craterlet.
New bundled plug-ins for: AstroArt and MaxIm DL.
Opticstar AG-130M / PL-130M
Improved sensitivity with maximum exposure times up to 10 seconds.
Download the new User Guide in PDF format.
more
Cooled CCD Cameras
High Resolution Imaging in Colour
updated: 20th June 2008
Opticstar DS-335C ICE
Images captured by the Opticstar DS-335C ICE.
The Opticstar DS-335C ICE is a peltier cooled, 3.3 mega-pixel colour CCD camera with a Sony CCD, fast USB 2.0 computer interface and software for camera control and image processing. Version 3 software is now available to download for Nebulosity, AstroArt and MaxIm DL. It includes: 1x1, 2x2, 4x4 binning in colour and monochrome. New Windows Vista support.
more
Premium Telescopes
Ascension ED Triplet APOs
posted: 27th June 2008
Ascension telescopes
Ascension APO (apochromatic) refractors use a high quality Japanese triplet apochromatic lens objective made of premium FCD1 ED (Exremely Low Dispersion) glass to achieve images of high contrast and virtually free of secondary colour. Fully (broadband) multicoated lenses ensure maximum light transmission.
more
Planetary Imaging
1.3 Megapixel Video Imaging with up to 10s Exposures
updated: 27th June 2008
Opticstar PL-130M COOLAIR
Superior sensitivity and less noise during longer exposures.
The PL-130M COOLAIR is an air-cooled 1.3 Megapixel video camera with a typical speed of 12 frames per second in full resolution. It is also capable of much longer exposure times and high sensitivity in single shot mode. Bundled with a wealth of software including plug-ins for MaxIm DL, AstroArt...
more
Cooled CCD
Lower Cost and High Performance Apogee Cameras
updated: 9th May 2008
Apogee Ascent Apogee Instruments has been in development of a lower cost, high performance follow on to the successful Alta line.

The new Ascent series of CCD cameras fill the current void of lower cost cameras with higher speed and smaller footprints. Many applications can achieve excellent results without the ultimate in cooling or very low readout noise.
Apogee Ascent series.
more
Peter Shah, astrophotographer in residence.
Peter Shah is our astro- photographer in residence.
Product Reviews
Apogee Alta
posted: 28th December 2007
Apogee CCD cameras.
"The quality exceeds anything I've been able to do in the past with film or any other CCD camera." Senior Editor Dennis di Cicco of Sky & Telescope in a Test Report, June 2007 issue.
more
Sample Images
Opticstar DS-335C ICE
updated: 13th June 2008
Sample image.
The Eta Carina nebula shot by John Haunton with the Opticstar DS-335C ICE.
Opticstar News
New Product Catalogue
updated: 28th December 2007
Opticstar product catalogue.
Download the Opticstar 2008 product catalogue here.
more
A&M 152mm f/8 Review
"Fantastic Performance" "Beauty of a Ferrari"
posted: 14th November 2006
A&M 152mm f/8 TMB.
Read the latest review about the A&M 152mm f/8 A&M/TMB on Cloudy Nights. According to the review this telescope combines the "beauty of a Ferrari" with "fantastic performance". The review also states that "the manufacturer's claims are valid".
A&M 80mm f/6 Review
"Best Of Breed"
posted: 19th September 2006
A&M 80mm f/6 A&M/TMB.
The A&M 80mm f/6 A&M/TMB has been reviewed in Cloudy Nights and it has been hailed as the "best of breed". The review concludes by saying "offers stunning performance while standing out from the crowd, look no further".
Astro Gallery
Finger Lakes Images
updated: 25th October 2007
Astronomy gallery
Browse stunning images by amateur astronomers.
more
© Opticstar Ltd 2008