Primaluce Lab GIOTTO 255 Smart Flat Field Generator

GIOTTO 255 is the Smart Flat Field Generator we designed to help you capture flat calibration frames for telescopes with aperture up to 255mm. GIOTTO uses many LED lights at a color temperature similar to the Sun, a specially designed light diffuser and, thanks to the included thumbscrews, you can easily lock it in front of telescopes with external tube diameter from 217mm to 279mm. GIOTTO is provided with integrated electronics that allow you adjust GIOTTO’s light intensity by 100 steps (0 to 100%), USB-C port to let you connect to your EAGLE or any standard Windows computer for remote control with PLAY or ASCOM driver, WiFi connectivity to let you wirelessly control it using your smartphone or tablet via the included Virtual HandPad and 12V power port! And if you want to automate the capture of your calibration files or if you're searching for the best way to remotely open and close your telescope, you can add the optional ALTO telescope cover motor and use GIOTTO as a remotely controlled motorized cap!

Calibration is important in astrophotography because results are greatly improved by capturing special calibration frames called flat, dark and bias and using them during processing. In particular, flat frames are recorded by pointing your telescope at a white surface and it allows to mitigate effect of vignetting and shadows created by dust on the optical system. GIOTTO is the smart flat field generator that helps you capturing flat calibration frames for your astrophotography.

GIOTTO 255 flat field generator has a maximum illuminated diameter of 255mm so we suggest it for telescopes up 220mm diameter. When you choose a flat field generator, we suggest you to choose a model with illuminated panel larger than telescope optics. Diameter of your telescope external tube should be lower than the flat field generator maximum illuminated diameter.

GIOTTO 255mm Smart Flat Field Generator - main features:

• Designed for telescopes with aperture up to 255mm
• LED lights at color temperature similar to sunlight, to provide a neutral color tone
• Special designed light diffuser for an even illumination
• Adjustable light intensity by 100 steps (0 to 100%)
• It natively runs off of a 12V power source to avoid the need for external power units
• Included thumbscrews for an easy lock in front of telescopes with external tube diameter from 217mm to 279mm
• USB-C port to let you easily connect it to your EAGLE or Windows computer
• WiFi connectivity so you can wirelessly control it using your smartphone or tablet via the included Virtual HandPad
• Control and capture flat frames with PLAY astrophotography software for EAGLE or Windows
• ASCOM driver to let you control it through third party softwares
• Optional ALTO telescope cover motor to convert GIOTTO in a remotely controlled motorized cap
• Weight: 0.8 kg (1.8 lb)

GIOTTO includes electronics for USB or wireless remote control

In the bottom part of GIOTTO you find the control panel with USB-C port to let you easily connect it to your EAGLE or standard Windows computer. It also comes with WiFi connectivity so you can wirelessly control it using your smartphone or tablet via the included Virtual HandPad! In order to power GIOTTO, you don't need a separate power unit, since it natively runs off of a 12V power source so it's easy to power together with your astrophotography telescope.

GIOTTO 255 is designed for telescopes with aperture up to 255mm

Using GIOTTO 255mm is very simple: when you want to record your flat frames, you can simply attach GIOTTO 255mm to the front of your telescope by locking it in place with the included thumbscrews that allow you to use it with telescope with external diameter from 217mm to 279mm. This way you are not forced to keep the flat field generator with your hand in front of your telescope during flat frames acquisition or to move your telescope from your target and point it to the Zenith if you can't keep the flat generator in position by hand. Thumbscrews are made up of plastic so they do not ruin your telescope tube when you lock GIOTTO on it.

GIOTTO is easy to use and it helps you in recording flat frames

You can control GIOTTO with PLAY astrophotography software that we designed not only to control PrimaLuceLab devices but also to let you do astrophotography in the easiest way. In fact PLAY comes also with a special wizard that allows you to easily record calibration files for your images. And if you want to use your preferred Windows astrophotography software, you can also control GIOTTO by using other softwares thanks to the dedicated ASCOM driver.

Use the Virtual HandPad to control GIOTTO even without a computer

You can even control GIOTTO without a computer by connecting your smartphone or tablet to GIOTTO WiFi network and by using the included Virtual HandPad. Here you can turn the light on and set brightness. You can also save your preferred settings and recall them very easily, for example by saving different values when you use different filters!

Convert it in a remotely controlled motorized cap by adding ALTO telescope cover motor

If you want to automate the capture of your calibration files or if you're searching for the best way to remotely open and close your telescope, you can add the optional ALTO telescope cover motor and use GIOTTO as a remotely controlled motorized cap! We designed ALTO to be easily connected with our PLUS clamp to any Vixen or Losmandy style dovetail bar that is already present in many telescopes (like SCT, Aplanatic SCT, RCT, etc). If your telescope has a short bar (for example in refractors or newtonians) you can easily add a longer dovetail bar to let you clamp ALTO just above or below the front end of your tube! This design allows you to adjust GIOTTO and ALTO positions to allow an optimal opening and closing of your telescope.

If you are thinking that image calibration and removal of dust and vignetting is a problem only for us modern astrophotographers, it seems like even Giotto, after completing his painting of Halley’s Comet in 1301, had the same problem!

Giotto di Bondone: Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages

Giotto's masterwork is the decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel, in Padua, which was completed around 1305. When Pope Benedict XI sent a messenger to Giotto, asking him to send a drawing to demonstrate his skill, Giotto drew a red circle so perfect that it seemed as though it was drawn using a pair of compasses and instructed the messenger to send it to the Pope. The messenger departed ill-pleased, believing that he had been made a fool of. The messenger brought other artists' drawings back to the Pope in addition to Giotto's. When the messenger related how he had made the circle without moving his arm and without the aid of compasses the Pope and his courtiers were amazed at how Giotto's skill greatly surpassed all of his contemporaries.

from: Wikipedia (picture: Posthumous portrait of Giotto di Bondone, made between 1490 and 1550)

Some items that are showing as in stock are in stock at our holding warehouses, not at the shop. To double check the stock levels at the shop, please contact us on 01909774369 or sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

The delivery times for most items is 1 - 2 days but again, please double check stock levels on important orders before placing an order via the website.

The delivery costs for courier next day are for mainland UK only. If you live in the Scottish Highlands/Islands, Channel Islands or Northern Ireland, then a shipping surchage will apply. please contact us for prices. Smaller items can still go 1st class via Royal Mail.

Please note that if you are wanting to take advantage of our Saturday and Sunday timed services or next day pre 12 or pre 10:30 services, you MUST check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. Also, orders using the Saturday and Sunday services must be placed before 1pm the previous working day. Also, please remember to check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. If the stock is not at the shop, we won't be able to ship on any of the timed services. 

Please note International customers will need to contact us for a shipping price prior to ordering via the website. We don't ship all items internationally. It is at our discretion what we ship outside of the UK. This all depends on the size and weight of the items. Please get in touch with us for any postage costs. Please note we do NOT ship telescopes or heavy items outside of the UK. This is due to massive postage costs and problems regarding returns.

If you have any questions regarding stock levels or delivery, please get in touch.

Zygo Interferometer Testing For ED Refractor Telescopes!

We are extremely pleased to announce our Zygo Interferometer is now installed and ready for use! Our experienced staff can test refractor lenses up to 120mm aperture and provide a comprehensive 2 page report showing the optical quality and Strehl ratio, plus much more information. We are using the very latest Zygo MX software to provide a more detailed report compared to other standard reports.

The interferometer is essentially a measuring instrument. Within the interferometer is a calibrated laser that is pointed through the optical test surface, then onto a high quality reference sphere, then back through the test subject then to an internal camera which gives us the measurement on the screen. From this, we can adjust the position of the test optic and the reference sphere to obtain a perfectly calibrated system. The more central the laser to the test optic and then on return, the better and more accurate reading and measurement we can take. This takes a lot of adjustment to get the best results from the optical surface. Once the measurement has been taken, we are provided with a series of results that show the optical quality of the surface plus other information. Continue reading for an explanation of the individual values and you can also see a test report that was done on one of our RVO Horizon 60 OTAs. 

We are offering certain telescopes with a Zygo test at an extra cost. Mainly ED doublets and triplets. All available telescopes with a Zygo test report are listed here. Just select Zygo Test Report from the drop down box at the top of the listing and we will test the optics in house and provide a full 2 page report with your scope. This will show you the optical quality of your telescope optics. We can also offer this service on your refractor telescope. Please get in touch for more details about this. 

At Rother Valley Optics, one thing we pride ourselves on is customer service and quality of our equipment. When we test your telescope, we will ensure that it is of the highest quality otherwise, we will reject the scope under our strict quality control and test another model for your peace of mind. One of the main values to look at when testing a refractor is the Strehl ratio. The higher this number, the higher quality lens you have. At Rother Valley Optics, we will guarantee the highest possible Strehl ratio for your telescope.  We will aim to provide 0.95 Strehl or higher on Takahashi, RVO Horizon, William Optics and many more! Generally, the higher the Strehl ratio, the lower the Astigmatism and Coma meaning a better image quality from your instrument. 

Other measurements such as the PV and RMS are important too. With these measurements, the lower the number the better as it shows less curvature on the lens. The flatter an optical lens, the better it will perform. The PV rating (Peak To Valley) is a measurement from the highest point (Peak) to the lowest point (Valley). From this we get the RMS (Root, Mean, Square). This is a similar figure to the PV and measured exactly the same way. The RMS is basically an average height difference from the PV so again, the lower the better. As you can see form the example below, we measured an RMS of just 0.027 wave which is a very good value.

We also measure the Power with our systems which is essentially the error from the reference sphere to the test optic. The reference sphere we use on our system is a very high quality sphere so the closer to zero the Power, the less error between the 2 elements thus ensuring a higher quality optical surface. 

You will also see some more values such as Astigmatism and Coma. Again, these are measured by the interferometer when we take measurements of the optical surface after adjustment. These are values which ideally would be at 0 but as our test optics are all curved lenses, there will always be astigmatism and coma present. The lower the number, the less of these aberations you will effectively see but with most refractors, you can buy field flatteners which will compensate for the coma anyway. The astigmatisms value is explaining the error between the symmetrical curvature of the lens. Basically, no lens will be perfectly symmetrical, the lower the astigmatism, the more symmetrical the lens surface is. 

Once the Zygo test report has been completed, the optical alignment is thoroughly tested and tuned to ensure they are spot on before they leave us. 

All available telescopes are on the website at the link below and ones we've tested already that are available straight away are also listed.

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/zygo-tested-refractors.html

Here is an example of the test what we provide. This was a test on one of our Horizon 60 ED OTA's.

For any questions about this amazing new service, please either call 01909774369 or email sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

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