The QHY 163M is a high-end Monochrome CMOS camera with an inbuilt cooling system, capable of producing very high end images of a wide range of celestial objects! This is a full color CMOS imaging system with many fine features worth boasting over- ranging from a high power dual stage TEC cooling system to remarkably low baseline read noise. These solid features are only parts of the whole in the end though, single components of the standard expected of each and every component in these top notch cameras. The end result of a wide array of high quality components used to create a single high functioning whole? This beautiful peace of work, capable of astroimaging at a glorious 4k resolution with 30 FPS, and ideally suited for planetary and lunar imaging while retaining the capacity for deep sky imaging as well!
Let’s start with a look at the advantages of a Monochrome sensor; escaping your dependence on dark skies with a few filters and adapters! That’s right; not only is it possible to, with the use of filters, produce full color images as an end result of your work with a Monochrome camera, it’s possible to use one to image from the depths of light polluted urban environments- not right out the box, its true; but with a set of workable narrowband or LRGB filters and a monochrome camera you can image almost anything from almost anywhere! Take imaging away from expensive and unwieldy trips up into the mountains, and into your backyard.
To get a bit more in depth, lets start with a closer look at one of the core facets of this marvelous imaging device: the two stage Thermo-Electric cooling system that keeps the cameras internal temperature regulated smoothly and cleanly, reducing dark noise interference and all around improving your imaging experience. This powerful cooling system is capable of attaining a cooling delta of -40 degrees celsius lower than the average temperature of the cameras environment. This is of particular value on a warm summer night, where higher temperatures could cause dewing or other sources of internal interference in the cameras mechanisms. In general the lower temperatures attainable through high power cooling are a great boon to quality imaging. Speaking of dewing, this camera has another potent countermeasure to prevent that from even being a possibility worth considering, in the form of a fully vacuum sealed sensor chamber combined with both a silicon gel tube socket and a window heater that all combine to keep everything perfectly dry within that chamber.
Moving on to another exemplary trait of this splendid camera, lets talk about the inbuilt 128MB DDRII image buffer that is another excellent component of this camera. This buffer exists to safeguard you from unexpected drops in transmission, and to ensure that every pixel that you’ve captured after a long night of imaging can be safely transferred to your computer for processing without data loss in transit. This frame buffer accomplishes this all by storing image data in the camera itself until they can be safely transmitted. This can also help your data run more smoothly on slower computers when linked to them.
In summary this camera is designed to clear away as many obstacles as possible between you, and capturing the most beautiful full color images of the starry night skies possible. We’re comfortable saying that its likely to do a good job of it to boot, with the heavy duty cooling and numerous other high quality features of this camera combining to make your hobby as easy as it could be. And due to it being of a CMOS format rather than CCD, all this top notch quality and advanced technology is being offered at a supremely affordable price!
