Page 98 - BBC Sky at Night - September 2017 UK

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FIRST LIGHT See an interactive 360° model of this camera at
www.skyatnightmagazine.com/qhy367c

QHYCCD QHY367C

CMOS colour camera

A well-cooled one-shot camera with excellent sensitivity

WORDS: PETER JENKINS

HY’s latest one-shot- SKY SAYS… and as long as 60 minutes. It is capable
VITAL STATS colour camera, the of recording 3.2 frames per second at
QHY367C, is a high- A versatile one- full resolution. Reduce the resolution
• Price £4,199 Q resolution CMOS device shot-colour by selecting a ‘region of interest’ and
• Sensor Sony capable of Solar System camera that you can increase the frame rate up to
IMX094 CMOS pushes the
• Pixels 7,376x4938 imaging but primarily intended for 83 frames per second.
(4.88µm square) deep-sky astrophotography. boundaries of
• Resolution The camera uses Sony’s IMX094, GH!QLWLRQ"DQG" Optional streaming
36.4 megapixels one of the highest-resolution full frame sensitivity There is no physical manual in
• Exposure range (36x24mm) colour sensors available, the box, nor any software; both
60 microseconds to create an instrument that QHY dubs are available as downloads from
to 60 minutes a ‘COLDMOS’. The sensor is cooled by a QHY’s website. QHY provides both EZCap
• Read Noise 2.4e at two-stage TEC (Peltier cooling system), which and SharpCap for camera control and image
unity gain provides cooling of up to 35º below the ambient capture, as well as the necessary drivers.
• Dimensions 90mm temperature. This results in low noise and a huge 14 ASCOM drivers are available if you want to
diameter, 110mm long
• Power 12V power stops of dynamic range. Both the sensor glass and connect the camera to other capture software,
adaptor 3.5A the glass for the optical window have such as MaxIm DL or Sequence Generator Pro.
• Weight 788g anti-dew heating, which works exceptionally well SharpCap can be used to enable a live video
• Extras USB 3.0 cable, and is particularly useful when humidity is high. feed from the camera for capture or even for
power cable, 2-inch The resulting RAW file size of an individual live broadcast. The live broadcast feature
nosepiece, angle exposure is almost 71MB, which means the may be useful for members of astronomy
WWW.THESECRETSTUDIO.NET X 6 • Supplier Modern (a USB 3.0 cable is included), providing extremely their scope either live or as a webcast.
adjustment ring
camera’s USB 3.0 connection is a welcome one
societies who want to share the views through
Astronomy
short download times; in our case, quicker than
The camera is supplied with an M54 to 2-inch
• www.
two seconds for each full frame capture. The
adaptor and an angle adjustment ring. Other adaptors
modernastronomy.com
128MB DDRII image buffer acts as a cache to insure
will be available, including one to fit Canon or
• Tel 020 8763 9953
against frame loss, especially useful when shooting
videos for planetary imaging. Of course, this all Nikon lenses for wide field views. A 2-inch infrared-
cut filter is recommended for planetary work; it
means you need a powerful computer to process was not available to us at the time of the review,
such large files, and one with a USB 3.0 port. but can be supplied as an optional extra.
The QHY367C uses a rolling shutter design, The QHY367C is simple to use. Attach it to a
allowing exposures as short as 60 microseconds 2-inch drawtube, then connect a 12V power >
SONY IMX094 CMOS CHIP
The full frame Sony IMX094 chip diagonal (43mm). You need to ensure
has an impressive resolution of 36.4 that the image circle provided by your
megapixels. It measures 36x24mm, telescope provides adequate coverage,
providing a 7,376x4,938 pixel array particularly if you are using a flattener/
where each pixel is 4.88x4.88µm. reducer, otherwise vignetting may occur.
Extremely low noise can be achieved Many telescopes are available that
when the sensor is cooled by the provide a large enough image circle
two-stage TEC (Peltier cooling system). so check when buying this camera
Image captures can be ‘binned’ at that your intended scope and field
2x2 to further increase sensitivity. flattener/reducer (if you use one)
One thing to bear in mind is its large provide a large enough light cone.

skyatnightmagazine.com 2017