Arrrggghhh! Help me decide please!

[Thalestris24]

Which cooled mono cmos - 1600MM-Pro or QHY163m?? On the face of it there's little to distinguish between the two. Same sensor, similar price etc. I see the zwo has a 256mb buffer compared to the qhy's 128Mb but I can't see that would make any practical difference for longish exposure dso imaging. Both have amp glow suppression? Heated windows? Usb hub not a factor. I wouldn't be using with a filter wheel - just a filter drawyer with 2" Ha. Is there anything to distinguish between the two that might tip the balance??

Thanks for any replies

Louise

[spillage]

or the atik horizon!!

Although I am very happy with my 1600mm and using usb3 it seems fine.

[Thalestris24]

2 minutes ago, spillage said:

or the atik horizon!!

Yeah same thing but a lot more expensive!

 

[spillage]

This is true, but I have seem people swaying towards the atik purely for the support/service side. I think the qhy has the sensor further back than the zwo so with 1.25" vignetting may be more of an issue. 17.5/18mm for the qhy  and 6.5 for the zwo.

[Thalestris24]

19 minutes ago, spillage said:

This is true, but I have seem people swaying towards the atik purely for the support/service side. I think the qhy has the sensor further back than the zwo so with 1.25" vignetting may be more of an issue. 17.5/18mm for the qhy  and 6.5 for the zwo.

As I say, I have 2" narrowband filters. I wouldn't pay that much extra for a brand (unless I was wealthy!).

Louise

[ollypenrice]

44 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

As I say, I have 2" narrowband filters. I wouldn't pay that much extra for a brand (unless I was wealthy!).

Louise

For me 'brand' is about empty snob value whereas local repair and proven, fast and attentive after sales are solid and tangible benefits. If you need, them they instantly become the most important aspect of the whole deal. I'm a long term customer of Atik because, generally speaking, their products are amongst the most keenly priced, the most reliable and the best performing on the market. On the two occasions when I've needed help (which in the commercial use of five cameras over more than ten years itself says a lot) the after sales has been ultra fast and efficient.

However, this time they are more expensive, something on which I can't comment and I realize that price matters.

Olly

[wimvb]

When I was in the market for a cooled cmos, qhy was better engineered than zwo (window heater, buffer, amp-glow suppression). But I also read more reports of software issues with qhy cameras. And qhy response wasn't always fast (enough). This was a while ago, but still something you might want to check. I decided for zwo, mainly because of better stability and faster response when there were (software) issues.

Again, this was some time ago and this kind of situation can change very fast. It may no longer be an issue.

[Thalestris24]

Yeah, I know you're a loyal Atik supporter Olly! But £1549 v £1179 for the qhy... The Atik is a bit late joining the party so might still have issues that need ironing out. In any case, that still doesn't help me choose! Any possible purchase won't be until the New Year so no rush

Louise

[Thalestris24]

4 minutes ago, wimvb said:

When I was in the market for a cooled cmos, qhy was better engineered than zwo (window heater, buffer, amp-glow suppression). But I also read more reports of software issues with qhy cameras. And qhy response wasn't always fast (enough). This was a while ago, but still something you might want to check. I decided for zwo, mainly because of better stability and faster response when there were (software) issues.

Again, this was some time ago and this kind of situation can change very fast. It may no longer be an issue.

Thanks for the comments!

Louise

[Andyb90]

Is the difference in back focus a consideration? I'm really glad of the short back focus with the asi1600. I have an OAG (which I've had to move closer to the telescope for focusing), filter wheel and adapters. My flattener spacing is 63mm and I'm finding every mm counts.

Andy.

[Thalestris24]

10 minutes ago, Andyb90 said:

Is the difference in back focus a consideration? I'm really glad of the short back focus with the asi1600. I have an OAG (which I've had to move closer to the telescope for focusing), filter wheel and adapters. My flattener spacing is 63mm and I'm finding every mm counts.

Andy.

Hi

Thanks - spacing not an issue though!

Louise

[RichLD]

@Thalestris24 - I have the QHY163m and am extremely happy with it. Works great on USB2 and is a very clean camera.

Here's a Pacman that I captured with it on Friday night - 28 x 600s -15c G10 OS 70

 

 

[Thalestris24]

I see there's also a qhy183m 20Mpix (cooled AA mono Hypercam?) which may be available in the uk early in the new year. Smaller pixels and a 1" chip. Might be a little cheaper? Not sure yet. Peak qe of about 84% - maybe good enough for some eaa?

I suppose zwo will bring out a version too....

[wimvb]

1 hour ago, Thalestris24 said:

I see there's also a qhy183m 20Mpix (cooled AA mono Hypercam?) which may be available in the uk early in the new year. Smaller pixels and a 1" chip. Might be a little cheaper? Not sure yet. Peak qe of about 84% - maybe good enough for some eaa?

I suppose zwo will bring out a version too....

According to qhy it will be $ 150 more than the colour version. I wonder if they buy mono chips or convert colour chips to mono. On their forum, qhy seems to refer to mono sensors as "monochrome", and mono-debayered sensors as "debayered". This sensor/camera is refered to as "monochrome".

Btw, mono full frame seems the next step, with sensors available next year.

http://qhyccd.com/bbs/index.php?PHPSESSID=5asjo95lkps3p4v0d88h18kt60&topic=6052.0

Exciting!

Btw, qhy boast amp glow suppression, but zwo don't understand how this is possible. Their solution to the amp glow problem seems to be limited to shorter read times with the memory buffer.

[Thalestris24]

Full-frame will forever be outside my financial reach. I believe the 183M sensors are manufactured as mono. The spec on them seems quite good.

Louise

[Gina]

Same here!