Gina

The connector is beyond repair as a small gold pin has broken off. I have a couple of other main boards though. I think the 350D will be just an experimental camera for debayering though as adding cooling is difficult. I may well see what the 1000Ds can offer and I expect to see how the 1100D goes. There is also the 450D which has the advantage of an easily removed cover glass. AND... I have just bought another 450D from ebay auctions OK, I know I said 1100Ds were what I really wanted but they are in short supply at a decent price. I'm enjoying myself with this series of projects so don't mind spending some money on it ATM I haven't any aspirations for more telescopes

Got the clips back in but bent a pin on another connector which I think may feed the shutter - getting error 99. Something else to fix under high magnification

Resin has set and I've put the sensor back in the working camera. BUT... the plastic clips have come off the sensor main board connectors and without them I'm just getting a blank image. The clips aren't broken - just seem to have come out so I've either got to get them bacl=k in or see if any of the other mains boards work. I won't risk attacking the CFA until the resin has hardened more. Fully cured apparently takes a week at 20C.

350D sensor photos. Cover glass removed Epoxy potting resin added with syringe and tube from cotton bud Epoxy resin touched up with tiny drips from a toothpickThis resin is quite runny when mixed.

Just checked the 1000Ds. Both working and both with debayered sensors One shows some slight defects but the other looks quite good.

I've taken the sensor assembly out of the non-working 350D, dismantled it and removed the cover glass with my Exacto knife. Just took it very carefully, gradually working round and round the glue line with the tip of the knife slowly increasing the white area. Eventually I got it freed all the way round and lifted the glass off. After getting the white right across the glue area there is a rim on the inside and further careful working is needed to break this. Anyway that's that part done Slowly, slowly catchee monkey Wish this would work with the 1100D cover glass

The glue is extremely thin even a sharp knife barely gets under it.

I think the 1200D would suffer from the smaller pixels when used for astrophotography. The 1100D with its 12Mpx is getting on the small side so going up to 18Mpx would mean even smaller pixels. For AP I would like to see fewer pixels while retaining the Digic 4 image processor but Canon are unlikely to go in that direction!

Have taken the case off No. 3 - the silver one - and can see I haven't touched this as there is a screen over the main board covering the sensor connections with original soldering to the metal frame. As this camera shows no sign of life I think I'll just take the sensor out to work on and test with the working camera.

Found the 300D but not looked at it other than to see that I've had the screws out and connected external power wires. I can see a sensor through gap in side but no idea of its state. As for the 350Ds... Working and has a partly debayered sensor - it is capturing mono images to the CF card in daylight. Non-working. The sensor has had its cover glass removed but CFA is intact. Complete with all screws in place (so probably not touched be me). Put in fully charged battery and switched on but nothing - no sign of life. Silver coloured case. In bits without sensor.

I have yet to see if any of these cameras work - I have two different batteries on charge one for 350D and one for 1000D. I may have one or more additional cameras somewhere about the house - I'm sure I had a 300D but can't find it ATM. If anyone has any preferences as to which model they would like to see my work on, please say as I may have a choice derpending on what works.

I've found :- 4 350Ds - 3 with sensors 2 1000Ds - one complete with screws so probably sensor too - the other without screws so don't know ATM Another - innards only, could be 1000D - takes same battery

I have various other camera models that I can debayer, I think, so I might have a play with those - all good fun I'll see what I can find. I have bought 300D, 350D, 450D, 1000D and 1100D models. Trouble is, some are in bits and I may have a problem working out which bits go with which Actually, some more practice on other sensors would be a help before I go further with the 1100D one, now that I have more facilities.

Yep

Thanks for that and welcome back Luis You're certainly right about the 1100D - not just the CFA but the cover glass is super-stuck on - with a vengeance!

Um... I see no ships... I mean images....

Good thinking Mono CCD cameras are great and more sensitive than DSLRs though the image sensor is often smaller, depending on how much you pay. We who are doing this debayering project are dedicated DIY nuts (or machochists) - with apologies to the others - I'm really just speaking for myself I'm an addict for difficult projects When you save up enough I can definitely recommend Atik mono CCD cameras. eg. the 460EX is very low noise and one of the best.

I use some thin, hard plastic to keep the cold finger away from those tiny SMDs. This was from offcuts from secondary double glasing sheet but any thin, hard plastic will do. I made a T shaped piece so that the lugs stuck out beyond the gap and stopped the plastic sliding in too far when inserting the CF. Plastic in first then CF between plastic and sensor with thermal paste on the CF. The SMDs and plastic insulation limit the thickness of copper sheet for the CF - I used 0.7mm. In spite of the thin copper I managed to get the get the temperature down to -15C with an ambient of +14C.

I've edited the post to show the photos. NO don't file them off

Thank you Russel I already have a photo of the sensor side of the imaging board I think. I can tell you that that what looks like pins are actually tiny SMDs tiny little capacitors or resistors at a guess. If I can't find the photo I'll strip down an 1100D sensor assembly and take another. Happy to oblige Later... Found the photos

Next will be the epoxy potting resin I shall practice on a duff sensor first before tackling this one. I'll add the resin and let it cure before cleaning the muck off the sensor. Then we get to the interesting part

Cover glass photos at different angles.

The cover glass on the 450D comes off easily with an Exacto knife or similar - no heat required

Images from sensor - flat and view through living room window.

Put some insulation tape over the sensor and on the glass. Tried the hot knife - no joy, just turned the glue black where I had gouged out bits that showed white! Then attacked it with an Exacto knife. Another couple of bits of glass broke off - absolutely no sign of it shifting over most of that edge There is now a strip of glass remaining along that edge and the sensor is now clear. In spite of all the precautions, there is some damage to the sensor surface. I think the chances of getting the last of the glass off is negligible Next I put the filters back onto the sensor unit (to avoid any more damage), put it back into the camera and reassembled the camera for testing. The good news - the sensor still works. The bad news - two bright magenta horizontal lines and one black vertical line The glass also pulled the sticky tape down onto the middle of the sensor leaving a sticky patch but I imagine I shall be able to get that off with IPA. I'm not going to try any more to remove the rest of the glass. If I don't succeed in totally destroying the sensor in debayering I shall have to build up the frame to the level of the remaining cover glass before putting one of my spare cover glasses on to seal it. The remaining glass is clear of the imaging area. I'll take and post some pics shortly