Meade DSI Pro easy TEC cooled :) GOLD <3 Round #1 testing Done and the Winner is??

[2stroke]

Heya guys i got a dsi pro a while back off another user of iis for the use as a guide cam. When i first got it i was thinking why is there a fan on the rear and whats the side port for? Did the orig owner do some kindia on LX mod or something like a guide interface? Anyhow time went on and i just kept using it as a guide cam until the other day came and i thought that the sensor could do with a clean.

I always pull down webcams and plantery imagers to get the dust totally off the sensors so it doesn't get caught between the sensor glass and housing. I opened this baby up to first see the fan was running from the usb power (explains the massive power draw and usb probs with to many devices at one). Next i thought ill pull back to see what the hell this port was for and to my surprise the orig owner placed a 10mm by 10mm TEC to the orig heatsink which is placed up against the ccd:eyepop:. What a dam smart mod, its only maybe 4.5watts but because its right on the ccd its pure love as its handles that load with ease lol. :thumbsup:

Well guys kudos to the orig modder, this is gold and lol you went a different path by not placing massive a tec and then massive heatsink on the back of your dsi pro :) I will do some testing and post back here for you guys of cooled and non cooled :) This thing maybe will pull sub zero temps, but i cant measure unless the meade software gives a read out of temps :)

Disclaimer : I'am a n00b, If you feel insulted in anyway don't take it to heart.

[allan gould]

I'll follow this with interest. Thanks for posting.

[peter_4059]

The original black DSI's didn't have temperature indication.

[kinetic]

Jay,

when you go down the path of experimenting with this project, you will, no doubt probably call on the knowledge and details of DSI mods other idiots like me have
posted here and elsewhere.:D
Especially if things don't exactly work as you expected.

There is a benefit to having that knowledge freely available in forums like this.
It saves you wasting time.
It saves you wasting money.
It saves you looking like a fool on a public astro forum.
There are a lot of factors involved in TEC cooling a CCD successfully.

I wish you luck with it.

Steve

[2stroke]

Lol cheers Steve meant it in the term that it was very cheeky and thinking outside the box not an insult :) I have next to no knowledge compared to others on this forum and have very little experience with TEC's and ccd. Everyone fails with mods lol, this isn't even my mod and for all i know the EMF made by the TEC, this close to the CCD and PCB components could make things 10 times worse mate. I have now edited so there is now 100% less insult :)

Anyhow I will get some results in for you guys using 10second darks from PHD and then into FITS Lib and you can be the judge :) Personally I have no idea how to image with the DSI because i have only ever used it for guiding , kccdtools isn't playing nicely :( I did some quick ones last night and it does look good but i want a more controlled testing first.

Cheers Peter i thought there might have being something in Envisage, lol i have never used it just seen there was a temp thing there.

[2stroke]

10sec darks made in PHD for PHD use, stock and the TEC cooled, they are displayed in FITS Lib for your analysis, more testing to come when i get Envisage or kccdtools doing a 5min dark exposure :) I can see some glow from the TEC cooled but those hot pixels melt away :) Time for me to figure out how to use the meade dsi for imaging and not just guiding lmao, so this testing can move onwards.

[2stroke]

Now here Fits for both darks set 7000 black level to 18000 white level for people who have no idea how to read the data. It's very clear the TEC kicks some serious butt and that this mod is 100% successful ATM. There will be more testing to come as this must be proven :) I was hoping the TEC would help with glow but its to early yet to state, It does however help those hot pixels :) No ice found on the sensor and i have removed the fan because its not needed to dissipate the small load of a 4.5watt TEC. TEC currently running on 3volts only, i believe it can max out at 3.8volts though since i can't count the runs and work out the amp's and ac resistance ect there no chance for me to know what the TEC's true ratings are. No condensation found either and this is because of the silicon based TIM insulating around the unit cold face edges and sensor edges.

These are jpeg images not FITS/Tiff/RAW from screenshots so the larger square blocks are just the compression from jpeg not what you really see (its nice and smooth on my screen :) with the TEC cooled:) This is only for the people who dont know about compression methods. Want me to upload the real deal Fits then give the owners of IIS some donations for server bandwidth and space lol

[2stroke]

lol will retake images, maxim dl did save correctly