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Old 24-01-2015, 08:04 AM
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Eden (Brett)
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Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 399
Hi Jeff,

Glad you are enjoying the move from DSLR to cooled CCD imaging.

I have the QHY12 here, it's a great camera which has performed well for me under a variety of conditions.

The cameras "Fast" mode is intended for use when previewing a target or performing any focusing tasks, not for long-exposure imaging. This is due to the fact that although sensitivity is increased and the time taken to read the image from the camera is reduced, it is done so at the expense of increased noise and disables the anti-blooming gate, which is practically a "must have" for long exposures.

I've tried numerous times to tweak the gain and offset using the so-called scientific method but did not see any measurable improvement. As a result, I have always run the camera at Gain 0 Offset 125 with satisfying results. Perhaps I was missing something in the process, might be worth another try! The other problem with Gain and Offset calculation is that any values you come up with are only good for whatever temperature you obtained them at, requiring you to reevaluate them at different times of the year when you may need to run the camera at different temperatures.

Enjoy your new camera!

Last edited by Eden; 24-01-2015 at 10:51 AM.
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