PegasusAstro Flatmaster 250 - dimmable EL Flatfield Panel up to 10" Diameter

PegasusAstro Flatmaster 250 - dimmable EL Flatfield Panel up to 10" Diameter

The FlatMaster 250 is PegasusAstro´s bigger flatfield electroluminescent panel. It provides a uniform source of illumination for up to 10" and produces high quality flat field frames for astrophotography and photometric captures.

Dimmable EL Panel

Unlike other EL panels in the market, the FlatMaster can easily adjust its brightness. Forget sheets of paper between your telescope and the panel. Remote control the EL lamp of your panel. Store the brightness per filter and immediately retrieve the value you need.

Please note that FlatMaster can boost its brightness via the supplied software, but it will require to be plugged into a USB3 or USB3 SuperSpeed / charging port. A USB3 port can provide twice the current of a normal USB2 port.

Manual Button

Device has a small push button which sets five (5) levels of brightness. In case you would like to manually operate the FlatMaster, no problem, just click the push button to control the brightness.

One cable operation

Only one cable (USB) is required to provide power and control of your flatpanel.

Standalone Software

Software allows to set filter names and store / retrieve brightness levels of your FlatMaster panel

Native support by most popular imaging software

FlatMaster is supported by most popular imaging software like SGPro, APT, Voyager or N.I.N.A

How do I get a good flat field image?

A good flat compensates for edge shading (vignetting), but also for darkening caused by dust on the filter, sensor or corrector. The background becomes even, the contrast can be raised further to make finer details visible in faint nebulae. The following basic settings should be noted:

The ISO or gain setting must be the same as for the lights, i.e. the actual astrophotography.

Telescope, camera and accessories, such as filters, off-axis guider etc., must be the same as for the actual exposure, also the position of the focuser should be unchanged.

The exposure time should be so short that nothing is "burned out", i.e. overexposed. Only in this way can the flat unfold its full effect. We recommend an exposure of 30-50%. The flat should not be burned out, but it should also not have any unexposed areas.

How do I find the right exposure time with the shooting software, for example Maxim DL?

The ADU value (Analog Digital Units) helps here. Every capture program shows this value when you move the mouse over the image. In the center of the image, where the illumination is highest, the ADU value is highest. The longer you expose, the higher this value becomes. If the ADU value is higher than the maximum value of the camera, the image is overexposed. A camera with 16 bits has a max. ADU value of 65536, one with 14 bits has 16384, one with 12 bits only 4096.

The exposure time of the flat should be so short that in the middle of the flat the ADU value is at most 50% of the maximum value of the camera. Then the flat looks well exposed. We recommend to take at least 10 flats per exposure and to process them to a "master flat".

If the flatfield box is too bright, that means it always produces overexposed images, then a white paper, which is fixed in the flatfield box, helps. This will dim the light and allow for slightly longer exposure times.