Combination CCD imaging kit including:
- TRIUS PRO-694 Blue Edition Camera
- Lodestar PRO Guider
- Midi Filter Wheel with built-in OAG (with 7 x 1.25″ filter wheel carousel)
Camera Details
- Medium format, high resolution ‘Exview’ CCD chip, with 6,050,000 x 4.54uM square pixels in a 15.98mm diagonal array.
- Exceptionally low dark signal – No dark frames necessary for most deep sky objects.
- Excellent QE of 77% peak in yellow light, 65% at Hydrogen alpha (656 nm).
- Three port powered USB hub built-in. Can drive a Lodestar PRO or Ultrastar PRO + SX filter wheel.
- High performance two stage cooling for better than -40C delta T
- Dry Argon CCD chamber fill for improved cooling performance.
- Exceptionally effective anti-blooming with minimal effect on linearity and no lost active area.
- Back focal length 16mm +/-1mm.
- High speed USB 2.0 interface for approx. 2.5 second downloads.
- Built-in triple powered USB hub for guider and filter wheel control.
- Single USB cable control for all features – get rid of that dangerous cable tangle!
- Very low power consumption. Less than 1.5 amps at 12v DC.
- Compact and lightweight – only 75mm in diameter x 70mm long – less than 500 grams load on the telescope.
Specification
- CCD type: ICX694AL Exview CCD with ultra low dark current and vertical anti-blooming.
- CCD Full resolution pixel data: Pixel size: 4.54uM x 4.54uM, Image format: 2750 x 2200 pixels
- CCD Image area: 12.49mm (Horizontal) x 9.99mm (Vertical).
- CCD quality: Grade 1 or better – No bad columns, no dead pixels, no more than 50 ‘hot’ pixels (saturated in <10 seconds).
- Spectral Response: QE max at 580nM (~77%), 50% roll-off at 360nM and 770nM.
- Readout Noise: Typically only 3.5 electrons RMS.
- Full-well capacity: Greater than 17,000 e- (unbinned)
- Anti-blooming: Overload margin greater than 800x.
- Dark current: Less than 0.002 electrons/second @ – 10C CCD temperature.
- Data format: 16 bits.
- System gain: 0.27 electrons per ADU
- Computer Interface: Built-in USB 2.0 compatible interface.
- Image download time: Typically 2.5 seconds at full resolution.
- Power requirements: 115VAC / 240VAC @ 12VA, or 12VDC @ 900mA max.
- Cooling system: Regulated set-point cooling supply with thermoelectric cooler to give a minimum CCD temperature of approximately -40C below ambient.
- Size: 75 x 70mm black anodised aluminium barrel with 42mm ‘T2’ thread at the CCD window end & input/output plugs at rear. CCD alignment screws are provided for setting the chip parallel to the focal plane.
- Weight: approx. 450g.
Loadstar Pro details
The Lodestar PRO is an upgraded version of the very popular Lodestar X2 autoguider with quicker download times and lower read noise electronics. The original Lodestar used the ICX429 Exview chip from Sony and offered excellent sensitivity. However, the Lodestar X2 and the Lodestar PRO utilise Sony’s upgraded version of the CCD, the ICX829, with considerably improved QE and read noise. This new ‘Exview 2’ chip approximately doubles the Lodestar sensitivity and adds nearly a full star magnitude to the minimum guide star brightness. We have also redesigned the boards so that a standard RJ12 guide socket can be used. This will please many users who have found the small ‘ZH’ cable socket to be too delicate.
Specification
- CCD – Sony ICX829AL ExView2 monochrome CCD
- Pixel count – 752(H) x 580(V)
- Pixel size – 8.6 x 8.3uM
- Optical size – 6.47 x 4.81 mm
- Read noise – Typically 5.5 electrons
- Gain – 0.4 e/ADU
- Barrel size – 31.75mm dia. x 85mm long (1.25 inch eyepiece push fit size)
- Barrel thread – 25.4mm x 0.75mm ‘CS’ mount lens thread
- Computer connection – ‘Mini B’ USB socket for USB2.0
- Output connection – Standard RJ12 autoguider socket
- Output type – Opto-isolated 4 lines (N,S,E & W) pull down with common return line
- Download rate – Approx. 10 frames per second in binned 2×2 mode (recommended)