Thread: ZWO or Altair?
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Old 26-06-2018, 09:25 AM
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sil (Steve)
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Canberra
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brenchen View Post
I doubt it, they seem to have a pretty different product line, and being a British company, I doubt they'd be rebranding someone else's product.
WRONG, British brands do it all the time with outrageous markups too using cheapest quality chinese rubbish. Stanley Gibbons "hardware" is all like this and all misrepresented by SG on specs.



I've never heard of anyone having problems with ZWO cams (I have several and they are superb), all complaints are really because people dont learn how to use imaging cams properly not because of the cams themselves. ZWO is one of the rare Asian companies that build for quality not down to a price and their cams have spoken for themselves no matter the price point. Imaging cameras regardless of brand at the same price points tend to all use the same imaging sensor and comparisons are easily found if you search google for "brandx model123 vs ZWO" and decide for yourself the pros and cons. I have no reason to look elsewhere these days outside of ZWO, my old ASI120MC is at least six years old i think and still performs great, I recently upgraded it with a newer zwo and the old one will be installed on another scope. As with any brand of imager you need to comprehend what the specs mean in terms of your target imaging in order to make the correct purchasing decision regarding model. For most zwo models its typically the Qhy5 equivalent thats its closest rival. You should check FireCapture supports the Altair you are considering I wouldnt go near any consumer imager that was tied to its own propriety software.

The electronics in ZWO are compact and reliable with good cable connections and the heatsink case design is great but their cooled models are even better, cooling the sensor quickly to a stable temperature. Fans in the cooling models are dead quiet (double check in your software they are turned on with a target temperature!). The design of ZWO tries to ensure it wont hit your mount when imaging at the zenith, they are as discrete as possible. Buying directly from the zwo website is easy and painless, the cams are well packaged for transit and the prices hard to beat. If you're worried about a local dealer to support you I have to ask Why The Hell? What abuse are you intending? Or are you too lazy to read manuals and learn how to use your gear? Instructions are on the zwo website, follow those and you'll be imaging without hassles. Unlike webcams and other astro imagers zwo drivers have been the most painless to get operational unlike the Orion imagers which would fight with my laptops built in webcam drivers and were painfull to get working. ZWO simply does everything as easy and painless as possible, I've never even had the slightest reason to contact zwo, I don't know if other brands are similarly bulletproof but on my experience I would pick ZWO on brand alone as one I can trust.
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