Quote:
Originally Posted by JimsShed
I made a cooler for my ZWO ASI185MC. Similar body to your 224's. Here in Brisbane over the summer the best delta I could achieve was about 15 degrees. So for me that translated from avg 34c sensor temp down to 15c. And after all that, my images were no better.
My camera was mounted in the eyepiece diagonal and everywhere that wasn't covered with the neoprene insulation was very cold to touch just like a cold can of beer. The problem with the DIY approach is the coldness doesn't get directly to the back of the sensor, and unfortunately I couldn't put a heat sink directly on the back of the sensor because there is a circuit board there. If you had a mill to machine some sort of enveloping heat sink around the perimeter of the sensor you might get a better result.
The other problem you will run into is the lack of cooling temp consistency from one night to the next, and even throughout the night; you would need to write some software to monitor the temp and regulate the cooler so you weren't constantly having to make new sets of darks for each temperature level. Sigh.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JimsShed
Forgot to mention. I also got full-on condensation on the filter I had put in front of the camera to protect the sensor.
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Thanks Jim,
Very useful to know.. as you probably know, our heat & humidity is even worse up here in Cairns.. that's why I was considering just heat sink & fan, to try & avoid that moisture problem...
It's gone off my list of priority projects at present but, next time I'm in Jaycar I might see what the bits will cost.. having said that though, if you got little improvement with a 15* drop in sensor temp.. I suspect chasing 5* will probably just be a waste of time.
Cheers
Carlton