All Sky Camera - ZWO ASI120MC v ASI224MC

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Hi All

I am in the process of planning a simple DIY all sky camera and I have 2 questions.

1 - I was going to use the tried and tested ZWO ASI120MC but I am wondering if there is any merit in spending a little more for the ZWO ASI224MC ? Is the image quality any better ?

2 - I am going to use an old laptop to run this setup, it only has USB2 ports, will this be a problem with these newer USB3 cameras ?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have had both the the ASI120MC and the ASI224MC. The USB 3 camera is compatible with a USB 2 port on the PC, you just don't get the same frame rates. The 224MC was certainly a better performer, both in terms of sensitivity and noise, although the 120MC is fine too.

[SteveNickolls]

Hi, 

I was out last night trailing my new ASI120MM-S in 'All Sky' mode and found the laptop controlled things fine using a 20 m USB 2.0 Active  cable (Lindy make) connected to the camera via the supplied ZWO 3m USB 3.0 cable, no frame drops.  Can't help between the two cameras though.

Good luck on your choice.

Cheers,

Steve

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21 hours ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

I have had both the the ASI120MC and the ASI224MC. The USB 3 camera is compatible with a USB 2 port on the PC, you just don't get the same frame rates. The 224MC was certainly a better performer, both in terms of sensitivity and noise, although the 120MC is fine too.

That's great info, thank you !

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15 hours ago, SteveNickolls said:

Hi, 

I was out last night trailing my new ASI120MM-S in 'All Sky' mode and found the laptop controlled things fine using a 20 m USB 2.0 Active  cable (Lindy make) connected to the camera via the supplied ZWO 3m USB 3.0 cable, no frame drops.  Can't help between the two cameras though.

Good luck on your choice.

Cheers,

Steve

Thanks for this reply, good to know that USB2 works OK for all sky stuff with these cams. 👍

[Al.Grant]

Reading this thread with interest .....

I've recently been running an all-sky camera using an old model ASI120mm and although these cameras are a bit noisy (15-20 sec exposure) I'm fairly happy with the results when using the software (AllSkEye) to subtract a dark frame I'm considering having 2 cameras.   I often travel from my light polluted home to some nice dark skies and want to keep at least one of them as a 'portable' build and one 'fixed' at home.

These 2 images are with the 120mm with no dark frame subtracted, so things look a bit better now

Home skies

Dark skies - new lens

I've been looking at ZWO's offerings and have been considering both the ASI224 and ASI178 as possible options.

As the portable camera will be used under darker skies it seems to make sense to use one with the lowest amount of noise  (no good going for low noise if the neighbours keep switching on security lights!).

I could just accept the noise level and go with another 120mm which would be cheaper, but my thinking (and justification should the wife ask!) is that I could use the better, lower noise camera on my telescopes when not needed for the portable all sky camera.

 

Al