[rcheshire (Rowland)]

I thought that I'd round off by saying that this project was worthwhile if only for it's educational value. The camera cooling system has since been dismantled, the camera restored to its original condition and given to a relative, who is enjoying their first entry level DSLR - a worthy cause.

If you really want a hardcore DSLR cooling experience then I suggest heading over to Stargazers Lounge and checking out Gina and YesYes efforts with a Canon 1100. I just don't have time to continue with the project, although it would have been nice to get the sensor defogging working.

This modification was always limited to 2 degrees above dew point to be certain of a clear sensor. Works great in a dry climate summer night. Cooling down 25C or so quickly and maintaining temperature. The winter advantage was prevention of sensor heating.

One of the bug bears of this project was the dreaded low pass / anti-aliasing filter, a feature of DSLR's. It is better removed for sharp images, however, I used it, unwittingly, to seal the modified sensor assembly from moisture, but in the end, didn't have the desire to pull it all apart and replace it with coated glass or complete the messy job of sealing the astrodon filter / sensor face.

Soft images were always going to be a problem with this set up. Anyway it was great fun and a superb learning experience in areas that previously were unknown.

I am posting the code, including the oddball camera and dithering control code, which sequences the entire imaging session

The dithering mechanism has been converted to push button control - there doesn't seem to be a simple way of automatically sequencing it with the CCD camera - need to find a creative solution.

Some of this stuff might be useful with modification for the hardcore DIY'ers.