qhy 8 and new dc 2 box temps

[graham.hobart (Graham stevens)]

Hey folks, I got my old QHY 8 serviced and sorted by Theo at Gama and whilst it was there I upgraded the dc box to version 2- so now I am out cooling it down and I know the original camera like mine does not have set point cooling, the TEC is either off or on, but for those who know- what bearing does the temp gage on the DC box have to the sensor temp? is it totally removed. Also There are two arrows , up and down and several LEDs indicating orange/blue etc, is there a good setting for this old cam or is it a case of just turning it on and hoping it hits max cooling then watching the hot pixels?
I tried to take a dark with maxim and the fits header wouldn't tell me the sensor temp, and in nebulosity you can set a temp but it actually doesn't tell you the current temp.
I will ask Theo after xmas but I thought I would ask the brains trust here first and give poor Theo a day off!
Cheers
Graz

[BlackWidow (Mardy)]

Have a look on his web page. I think he has instructions on it to download. Have a copy myself. Yes the voltage will adjust the temps, and the instructions explain the programming and lights



Mardy

[Shiraz (Ray)]

hi Graham
Have you have used the camera much? If not, FWIW I find that there is no real need to use darks. Just use the max voltage to the TEC (I think the 102 turns on in that mode) and then use Nebulosity's bad pixel mapping combined with dither during imaging. That does a fine job of cleaning up the small number of warm pixels and minor residual thermal noise from the QHY8. It's an oldy, but still a very capable camera for the brighter objects.