Stand-alone CCD camera ASTREL AST8300-B-M-FW

ASTREL AST8300-B-M-FW stand-alone CCD camera.

Astrel ccd cameras are at the forefront of a revolutionary new concept in astrophotography. Now, the camera itself will work completely autonomously, greatly simplifying its operation and image acquisition! The main idea is that the camera works by itself because it has a built-in processor inside that can control the CCD sensor, the autoguiding system, the mount and any other accessories. It carries a whole set of applications ranging from real-time image viewing control, focus enhancement, sequence acquisition control with various filters, and even plate resolution for astrometry, and it can also be operated off-line.

The Astrel AST8300-B-M-FW camera recommended by Telescopiomania experts is based on the KAF-8300 8-megapixel monochrome CCD sensor and is equipped with an integrated 7-position filter wheel. It also incorporates a manual vacuum system to avoid ice condensation on the sensor. This camera represents a new CCD camera concept that guarantees the absence of condensation working with temperature gradients of -42°C with only 2.4 A of power consumption.

Optionally you can control the camera using a 5" high resolution touch screen, or use wifi to connect to your smartphone, tablet and of course PC.

The camera provides a full set of built-in applications for creating and managing photos. The applications are displayed on the LCD touch screen in standalone mode or are available via VNC when used with PC / Tablet / Smartphones. The applications have two customizable aspects: daylight and night mode.

On startup, the camera displays a desktop that allows the user to access installed applications. Astrel Desktop appears as a typical Linux desktop where the icons of a set of pre-installed applications are located.

When in Liveview mode, the camera is placed in 10x5 binning, which provides very high sensitivity and very fast readout: with an exposure of a few seconds, even faint objects will be visible on the screen, allowing quick and easy framing of the target. Exposure can be increased and decreased on the fly.

The user can activate the focus mode by selecting a star on the screen. The camera starts to download a small area around the selected star at 2-3 frames per second, while displaying the FWHM and focus graph, allowing fast and accurate focusing. The dimension of the area surrounding the star and the exposure can be changed in real time.

For each filter, you can define and perform a sequence of exposures, with different binning, exposure time and readout mode. The user can choose the name of the photo and save/load presets to speed up operations.

You can also select a temperature set point, as well as the minimum number of seconds required to raise and lower the Peltier temperature. A temperature graph covering the previous 5 minutes is displayed to monitor the accuracy of the temperature control.

In a photo sequence, the camera displays the photo information, current exposure in the sequence, time remaining, current temperature, power and supply voltage. When the image is touched, the corresponding image intensity value is displayed in the value box.

The "Filterwheel" tool is used to control, when available, the integrated filter wheel, to select a filter with the search and focus tool. When the wheel is turned on it automatically moves to its default position.

The camera comes with KStars / Ekos and Cartes du Ciel planetarium applications already installed, with which the camera could control virtually any mount.

The built-in autoguider tool is based on the Linux "Lin_guider" program and is used to compensate for tracking errors of the telescope mount during exposure time.

Highlights:

• 6.5e- rms total noise using low-noise image acquisition mode
• Powerful 1GHz microprocessor for wireless stand-alone operation (no PC required). AST8300B series cameras are equipped with a 1000MHz Cortex-A9 processor.
• Simple and easy to use as a PC with operating system, graphical desktop, web access, applications that can be created, installed and deleted..
• Optional 5", 800x480, removable, full color touch screen
• Integrated Gbit Ethernet connection and WiFi connection to PC / Tablet / Smartphone
• 8 GB internal storage (expandable up to 64 GB), plus USB pendrive, or external hard drive
• Open source camera processor code available for user to experiment with specific software ideas and applications
• 2 HS USB, TX / RX serial port, I2C, SPI
• Output power supplies: + 3.3V, + 5V, + 12V DC
• User-configurable I/O lines to implement triggers, alarms, custom interfaces..

Sensor specifications:

• CCD: Truesense (Kodak) KAF-8300 (Monochrome)
• Resolution: 3326 x 2504 pixels
• CCD size: 17.96 x 13.52 mm
• Total pixels: 8.3 million
• Capture: ~ 25,500 e-
• Dark current: 0.015e- / pixel / second at -20 ° C
• Antiblooming: 1000X

Camera features:

• Sampling mode: digital multisample CDS
• A / D converter: 16 bit
• Gain: 0.91 e- / ADU
• Total noise: 6.5 e rms
• Binning modes: up to 10x10
• Digitizing rate: 270 Kpxls / sec (approximately 30 sec)
• Max delta cooling: -42°C
• Temperature: ± 0.1°C regulation
• Power supply: 12VDC @ 2.4 A max for 100% operation including Peltier
• Free filter assembly service (on request)
• Shutter: mechanical
• Camera body size: 130 mm diameter x 76 mm
• Thread: T, M42 x 0,75
• Weight: 880 gr (with integrated filter wheel, without screen and filters)
• Backfocus: 25 mm (including integrated filter wheel)

Base package includes:

• Protective foam filled case for camera and accessories
• AST8300B camera body
• Vacuum pump with pressure gauge, with built-in tubing and seal
• Ethernet cable
• Battery power cable, power cord extension with cigarette lighter socket plug

Optional accessories:

• 5" full color LCD touch screens to use the camera in standalone mode
• Wireless mini keyboard with touchpad and LED backlighting
• Select up to 7 specific filters for the integrated filter wheel
• USB-serial programming tools
• Opto-isolated mount cable
• Power supply

ASTREL AST8300-B-M-FW stand-alone CCD camera.