The QHY163M camera is a cooled USB 3.0 monochrome imaging camera that is great for both planetary and deep sky. This CMOS astronomy camera sports a 16 MP CMOS sensor made up of 3.8um pixels housed in a sealed chamber that is heated to prevent dew from building up on the sensor or window. This ColdMOS, or cooled CMOS, sensor has an effective pixel array of 4656 x 3522 in a 4/3 format. This sensor has extremely low read noise of 1.2e (high gain) and has a maximum of 22.5 FPS at full resolution and 4K UHD video capability.
The QHY163M camera has a two-stage TEC cooling and temperature regulation system that can cool your camera down to as low as -40C below ambient. QHY has also incorporated anti-dew technology into the QHY163 camera. The CMOS chamber is fully sealed, and includes a silicon gel tube socket as well as a heater to help keep both your sensor and the sensor window dry, even on damp nights.
A built-in 128MB DDRII image buffer provides a safeguard in this CMOS astronomy camera against unexpected drops in data transmission. A frame buffer avoids lost frames during USB transfer by storing image data in the camera itself until it can be safely transmitted. Buffering will also make sure your video runs more smoothly when using a slower computer that cannot always handle high speed data well.
The QHY163M camera has an anti-amp light control circuit to reduce amplifier glow significantly. Ports include a 6-pin RJ11 Guide Port and a 4-pin CFW2 Filter Wheel Port, allowing you to add an optional autoguider or filter wheel to enhance your imaging experience with this CMOS astronomy camera.
