Altair 294 fan cooled camera - any users here?

[glend (Glen)]

I have seen a few mentions of the Altair 294 camera on the CN EAA forum, just curious if anyone here on IIS is using this camera? There are two versions of this camera, one with a TEC and one with just a fan; As I would be using it for EAA, chip direct TEC cooling is probably not important, and the simple fan cooling system might be fine. Any experience?

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Glen, have they discontinued that model? I’m only seeing the TEC version on Altair’s website.

I agree that cooling is probably not that important for EAA as it tends to be more of shorter exposures.

What you have to consider is the thermal noise at your average evening temperature. With these recent Sony sensors, it can work out to be a fraction of the read noise - although since it accumulates with time, exposure time is relevant.

FWIW, I have a 183 mono which isn’t cooled or fanned at all I and use it for deep sky with my faster scopes, and the thermal noise is almost negligible. Would a cooler camera be better? Yes, but at extra cost.

It’s all about perspective...