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Re: (meteorobs) Image intensifier deal

> << 
>  In case some may be interested in video recording of meteors Stano
>  Components recently acquired lots of reconditioned Gen 2 image
>  intensifiers (so called Astro grade) with a sales price of $199.
>  If groups are interested I was told they would drop price even
>  further for qty 5.
>  
>  STANO Components 
>  P.O. Box 2048 
>  Carson City, NV 89702 
>  702-246-5281 or 702-246-5283 
>  FAX: 702-246-5211
>  email: info@stanodot carson-city.nv.us
>  http://www.stano.night-vision.com/
>  
>  I am not connected with Stano Components in any way, and speak
>  only for myself.
>  
>  Glenn Jolly
>  
>   >>
> ------------------
> I have one of these...and haven't had much success in recording
> meteors...maybe I'm doing something wrong?...but can't seem to pick up stars
> dimmer than 0 magnitude.
> George Zay

Well,
if everybody is talking bad about Stano, I have to bring in a good word
for him. Our series of video meteor cameras (including my AVIS) contains
those MCPs from Stano, and we made not the worst experiences.

Generally it is quite difficult to find a good supplier for image
intensifiers, especially if you are outside the U.S. I still have not
yet found the ultimate answer were to buy intensifiers best.
 
We experienced, that Stano sells intensifiers of moderate quality at good
prices. 'Astronomy Grade' means, that all of the intensifiers have 'some'
problems. From the seven devices we bought a year ago, one could be used
without restriction. 5 others had a big dark spot in the field of view, so
that we had to reduce the photocathode diameter from 25 to 20 mm. Finally,
one of those could not be used for meteor observation at all.

If it were my choice today, I now would purchase the more expensive
'professional grade' devices. It would be ideal if you could check the
intensifier before you buy it. This way you could ensure not to get one
that is really useless.

The price is fair, even though Stano gives no specs with his
intensifiers. By chance, Mirko Nitschke found exactly the same intensifier
in a catalogue from some Japanese enterprise. They advertised with the
slogan, that their MCPs fulfil US Mil Specs. Not only that we got all the
technical data from there, but also a price that knocked us off the feed:
It was about $8,000 for a new device...

Finally, those MCPs have less power than first generation intensifiers
with three amplification levels. You need a fast lens to get acceptable
limiting magnitudes, and you restricted to smaller fields (or your lm
breaks down).
With a 1.8/50mm lens you have a field of view of ~25 deg with lm
near 8 mag for stars. I recently got a cheap Russian 2.0/35mm lens, which
performed very well during the Perseids. The limiting magnitude was near 7
mag with a field of view of almost 40 deg diameter (using a good Stano
MCP). For double station observations I prefer the standard 0.75/65mm
lens, which records stars down to 8.5 mag.
BTW, I got the Russian lens from the Czech enterprise Dedal
(http://wwwdot dedal.cz/NV_C_EN.html). They do also sell night vision systems
with Russian image intensifiers. So far, I have no experiences with them.
However, Pavel Spurny from Ondrejov Observatory intends to get a systems
from there. I hope that he can provide me with some hints soon.
Sirko

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