Altair Astro 178 vs ASI 178 (mono versions)

[vineyard]

Hello,

Hope all well.  I was wondering what (if any) difference there was between these cameras (or people's general experiences w the two different makes).  They seem to be the same chip but there is a meaningful price difference.  Has anyone used both to be able to share first-hand comparisons?  (I would be using it for lunar/solar mono).

Thank you & cheers.

[Adam J]

44 minutes ago, vineyard said:

Hello,

Hope all well.  I was wondering what (if any) difference there was between these cameras (or people's general experiences w the two different makes).  They seem to be the same chip but there is a meaningful price difference.  Has anyone used both to be able to share first-hand comparisons?  (I would be using it for lunar/solar mono).

Thank you & cheers.

I would not call £23 between the two that significant? What prices are you looking at? 

[david_taurus83]

Altair offer fan cooled and tec cooled cameras. Are you sure your not looking at the fan cooled Altair v the ASI183 Pro (tec cooled)?

[Robindonne]

I noticed also some worthy differences.  Not just the price(not big), but also the amount of modes and buffersize.  I think choosing one over the other, mostly over the zwo version, can benefit.  
 

 

[vineyard]

On 23/01/2021 at 16:46, Adam J said:

I would not call £23 between the two that significant? What prices are you looking at? 

 

On 23/01/2021 at 16:59, david_taurus83 said:

Altair offer fan cooled and tec cooled cameras. Are you sure your not looking at the fan cooled Altair v the ASI183 Pro (tec cooled)?

FLO are showing the ASI 178MM at GBP346, and Altair Astro are showing the GPCAM3 178M at GBP299+change?

@Robindonne yes that's part of what I'm trying to get a sense of from more experienced folks, esp for lunar/solar.

Stay safe all

[david_taurus83]

1 hour ago, vineyard said:

 

FLO are showing the ASI 178MM at GBP346, and Altair Astro are showing the GPCAM3 178M at GBP299+change?

@Robindonne yes that's part of what I'm trying to get a sense of from more experienced folks, esp for lunar/solar.

Stay safe all

I was gonna say the ASI is USB3 but just checked and so is the Altair. But then all the Altair cameras tend to be cheaper. The new 26C is a good £200 lower than the ZWO and QHY variants.

[vineyard]

1 hour ago, david_taurus83 said:

I was gonna say the ASI is USB3 but just checked and so is the Altair. But then all the Altair cameras tend to be cheaper. The new 26C is a good £200 lower than the ZWO and QHY variants.

Yes, this is what I'm sort of scratching my head about - you'd think China would have lower production costs etc and so ASI would be cheaper (eg Moravian is more expensive than ASI), but it's the other way around.

Any user feedback from anyone on the Altair GPCAM3 178M?  (Thank you if so!).