3.3 MP CCD Camera

[alandee]

Hi Folks, I noticed in a magazine that space & astronomy has a 3.3 mp camera with cooling for under a grand. Has anyone had any experience with them ? It seems a little too cheap ?!?

http://www.spaceandastronomy.com.au/prod548.htm

[leon]

Hi Al

No experience with this little unit but i sure sounds impressive, might be worth researching this furher.

Leon

[Striker]

Looks identical to the SAC 10 chip...same CCD chip.

The reason it's cheaper probably due to being serial port....I dont know why anyone is dealing with serial port connection anymore...the sac 10 is USB and guiding ports so that will make some difference to the price.

The Sac 10 is $950 USD

[seeker372011]

This camera is designed by Qhy who I think also designed a number of CCD cameras sold by some well known companies. Issue is have seen very images taken with this and the few on Qhy's site are nothing to write home about.

Qhy has also got a parallel port version out I seem to recall

you can read more here:

http://qhy.lamost.org/3megaccd/



You can email him and he will respond and answer all your questions..he also has a forum where people post images but the language is Chinese so thats a bit of a problem (at least for me!)

I thought long and hard about getting it -you can buy direct from him..but in in the end wussed out. I will revisit this decision sometime in the future..by which time he will probably have a 6 mega pixel version out

[Gama]

2 things you need to consider. Pixel size and resolution of its converter.
The pixel size is small, and suited to small scopes or scopes with very fast optics, or camera lenses.
The converter is 12 bit, which is what DSLR have, so nothing fancy. But OK.

Your only other issue is download speed, if you can live with it, then its should suffice.
I almost bought this camera a long time ago.

[alandee]

I just thought it sounded interesting, your right seeker, the photo's on the site are pretty naff.
It's parallel port, I know it sounds average, but at least every old lappy you can leave outside has a parallel port :) and newer lappys also have parallel, so in some ways it is a good choice.
seeker thats some great info, cheers. I'm just looking for an sbig or yankee robotic equivalent for reasonable $$ ( yeah right ! ) Check out http://www.yankeerobotics.com/images.html for some of the best astro pics I've seen short of hubble. Mind you for 15k aud you'd want something special I suppose :) Suppose I'll just keep saving for the time being !

[Gama]

Before you go spending squillions on CCD cameras, maybe start with a good cheap DSLR.
Once you have mastered imaging, and need the high resolution and sensitivity of the big guns, then look at the main line cameras.

I personally have the SXV-H9, plus a Canon 20D and now a Nikon D200 for imaging.
Im pretty happy with the results im getting with all of them, but im very impressed with the DSLR range, and now in particular the D200.

Heres an image or M8 i took with my 14" RCX and a Canon DSLR. From memory the exposure was around 3 or 4 stacked 1 minute shots.

So maybe look in that direction for now..


DOH !.. I just read you have a D70. Well, you have a GREAT, GREAT camera. Man oh man you really need to see what that camera of yours can do. You need to know that the sensor in it is whats in an SXV-M25.. So utilize it.
Mind you, you really need to rip that filter off on the CCD though.

[alandee]

:lol: Yep, well, it's ok. I'm comfortable with it and I like it, and I'm happy with what I can get out of it, but I'm begining to think I may be ready to move on up. I use the d70 in my day to day as well so unfortunately I can't get it modded till next financial year when I can update. By then I'm hoping to have saved enough to 'step up'.

[iceman]

I've tried one of QHY's astro-cameras, teh 1280x1024 resolution jobs. My laptop couldn't handle transferring that much data and I could only do 5fps, and I couldn't get a live preview.

[alandee]

Pretty much shags that idea then ;)
thanks folks, I'll keep saving ..