ZWO Archives - Modern Astronomy

ZWO ASI2600MC Pro Colour

Bernard Karpinski — Fri, 01 Apr 2022 11:59:40 +0000

ZWO ASI2600MC PRO Colour APS-C CMOS USB3.0 Deep Sky Imager Camera

ZWO ASI2600MC Pro Colour, after the recent appearance of the “zero amp glow” ASI533MC-PRO, here is another “zero amp glow” camera with a larger sensor, 16 bit ADC, huge dynamic range and a pixel size that would suit many small to medium sized amateur APO telescopes (or small SCTs etc.)

The ZWO ASI2600MC Pro Colour uses Sony’s latest back-illuminated IMX571 APS-C format native 16-bit ADC sensor. It has an ultra-high 14 stops dynamic range, ultra-low 1.0e readout noise and an innovative breakthrough resulting in zero amp-glow. It is a camera born for the lover of astrophotography.

Amazing Craftsmanship, Lightweight body, Solid image quality:

We have been working hard to reduce the weight of the camera while improving the performance of the camera. After years of technical accumulation and repeated weight loss experiments by ZWO engineers, ZWO finally concentrated the ASI2600 to 0.7KG.

APS-C format:

The ASI2600MC Pro uses APS-C format, the sensor length and width are 23.5mm * 15.7mm and the diagonal is 28.3mm. This is a 26MP camera with a small pixel size of 3.76um that can accommodate a large well depth of 50ke.

Native 16bit ADC:

ASI2600MC Pro is our first batch of CMOS astronomy cameras with 16bit ADC. This 16bit ADC is not a CCD 16bit ADC, and it can really achieve a dynamic range output of 14 stops. This significantly improves the image sharpness and contrast, and the color changes are smoother and more natural.

IMX571 backlit sensor:

Sony’s back-illuminated CMOS image sensor improves sensitivity and noise reduction – the key factors to enhancing image quality, while radically realigning their fundamental pixel structure from front-illumination to back-illumination. It has retained the advantages of CMOS image sensors such as low power consumption and high-speed operation.

With a conventional front-illumination structure, the metal wiring and transistors on the surface of the silicon substrate that form the sensor’s light-sensitive area (photo-diode) impede photon gathering carried out by the on-chip lens. A back-illuminated structure minimizes the degradation of sensitivity to optical angle response, while also increasing the amount of light that enters each pixel due to the lack of obstacles such as metal wiring and transistors that have been moved to the reverse of the silicon substrate.

Sony has newly developed a unique photo-diode structure and on-chip lens optimized for back-illuminated structures, that achieves a higher sensitivity and a lower random noise without light by reducing noise, dark current and defect pixels compared to the conventional front-illuminated structure.

Camera Performance

The ASI2600MC Pro has excellent performance with a dynamic range of up to 14stops. When the gain value is 100, the magical HCG high gain mode is turned on, the readout noise is greatly reduced, and the dynamic range is basically unchanged. It is recommended to set the gain to 0 or gain 100 in deep space.

Zero Amp Glow

Traditional CMOS sensors produce a weak infrared light source during operation quite often seen in the corner of uncalibrated images as the tell tale signs of ‘amp glow’. As the ASI2600MC Pro uses zero amp glow circuitry, you won’t have to worry about amp glow even when using high gain, long exposure imaging.

With amp glow – exposure 300 second exposure

ASI2600 frame with no amp glow – Exposure 300 second

Anti-dew:

ASI6200MC Pro comes with the polyimide heater that can avoid any dew problems. The heater can be turned off in software if you want to save power.

QE value:

We suppose that the QE peak value of the ASI2600MC Pro is above 80%.

Two-stage TEC cooling, ultra-low dark current:

Like the ASI6200, the ASI2600MC Pro also uses two stage TEC cooling and can lower the CMOS sensor temperature to more that 35c below ambient, which can greatly reduce dark current generation and sensor noise even with extended exposure times.

The unique dark current suppression technology can even further reduce dark current noise.

At a cooling temperature of 0 °, the dark current noise is only 0.003e/s/pix. Which means 300s exposure can only cause 0.9e dark current noise, which is less than the readout noise. While at a cooling temperature of -20 °, the dark current can even reduce to 0.00021e/s/pix, which is completely negligible!

If you are having any trouble with the cooling, please check out the following page on the manufacturer’s website before contacting us:

Click here: Why the cooler does not work?

DDR3 Memory Buffer

The ASI2600MC Pro is equipped with a USB 3.0 transmission interface and a built-in 256MB DDR3 cache to ensure stable and secure data transmission. Under long exposure, it effectively avoids frame dropping and greatly reduces the glow effect caused by slow reading speed.

Mechanical Diagram

What’s in the box?

NB.Cooled cameras need a 12v power adapter!

The best solution for 55mm back focus length

Connecting Diagram

Nikon-T2 adapter
EOS-T2 adapter
2” filter (optional)
Nikon lens
Canon lens

Drivers and Softwares:

This website has newest camera drivers and many DSO and Planetary capture software. Please make sure the newest driver and software has been installed before you start shooting:

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/software/

The QHY equivalent is the QHY268C Camera

The post ZWO ASI2600MC Pro Colour appeared first on Modern Astronomy.

ZWO ASIair PRO Smart WIFI Accessory

Bernard Karpinski — Sun, 21 Feb 2021 22:19:23 +0000

ZWO ASIAIR PRO is a smart WiFi device. It is equipped with a lightweight power management module, ample USB interfaces, and multiple dovetail mounting methods.

With these rich features of the ASIAIR App, the whole procedure from device integration to image capture runs particularly smoothly.

ASIAIR PRO is the second generation of ZWO that has been continuously improved and newly designed since the first generation of ASIAIR was released in July 2018.

NEW FEATURES OF THE ZWO ASIAIR PRO

PRO SOFTWARE FEATURES
The new Asiair Pro comes with amazing new features such as Live Stacking, Automated Meridian Flip and more!
The Asiair app is compatible with iOS, iPadOS and Android, plus through emulator software you can run it on Apple laptops or computers as well.

IMPROVED STORAGE
A 32GB TF card provides 20GB free space for the user, plus the included 64GB U-Disk (USB memory) provides additional storage. If necessary, further storage can be added by user provided external storage.

POWER OUTPUTS / INPUTS
DC 12V@5A (Min voltage is 11.5V; Max supported current is 6A).
4 output ports; 12V input is recommended, but do not to exceed a total of 6A on all ports, as too high current will cause overheat problem.

The voltage and current of power outputs are 12V@3A.
The port type for the power outputs is 2.1*5.5mm centre positive.

IMPROVED MOUNTING
ZWO redesigned the case for easier and more stable mounting by using the dovetail bar on your scope or a clamp.

NEW CNC-MACHINED ALU CASE
A beautifully designed and machined CNC case contains the new electronics. Aluminium is excellent for dissipating heat, whilst there is almost no effect on the WIFI signal.

FURTHER INFO

ASIAIR PRO is a smart WiFi device. It is equipped with a lightweight power management module, ample USB interfaces, and multiple dovetail mounting methods.

With these rich features of the ASIAIR App, the whole procedure from device integration to image capture runs particularly smooth.

ASIAIR PRO is the second generation of ZWO that has been continuously improved and newly designed since the first generation of ASIAIR was released in July 2018.

Outstanding Features

1. Excellent craftsmanship, strong tactile appeal

Superb craftsmanship with a strong tactile appeal ASIAIR PRO shell is made out of aluminium and processed by CNC tech. After the surface is anodized, it not only protects the shell well, but also has a comfortable feel. The size of the whole machine is 92 x 67 x 35 mm, making its size and weight excellent, which can be easily grasped by hand.

2. Unique look and easy installation

The slot/port position of ASIAIR PRO is nice and symmetrical, with M4 and 1/4 inch openings on the bottom and the side. With the use of the dovetail, the installation and removal become easy. The whole machine adopts bright vibrant Ferrari red tones, and the front is painted with laser star maps of the constellation Ursa Minor and Ursa Major, which is very beautiful.

3. Integrated power management, more storage space

ASIAIR PRO is equipped with a lightweight power management module. There are four DC 5.5 x 2.1 mm power outputs on the side of the body, one DSLR shutter release port, two USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports each. The power supply is stable and reliable, the interface is rich and diverse, and the wiring is easy and orderly. It also comes with 84 GB of free storage, so you can capture images freely.

Note：Must use an external 12V power supply to power ASI6200/ASI2600/ASI533 cameras

4. LED indicator, clearly indicates the working status

The LEDs will show the working status clearly. What’s more, it has the key operation warning tone, which makes the whole operation under control.

App Functions

ASIAIR supports both iOS and Android systems.

1. Simple APP interface, as easy as 1, 2, 3.

2. Accurate focus: After the rough focus is completed, select one star, then accurate focusing can be done through curves such as brightness and HFD. It can also be completed with ZWO EAF by remote control.

3. Polar Alignment: Based on the powerful plate-solving function, you can finish arc-second polar axis alignment only within few minutes.

4. Accurate GoTo: With the rich celestial object database, precise GoTo can be achieved after selecting the target.

5. Stable guiding: Independent and stable guiding can be achieved without the PC.

6. Preview mode: You can see the image of the target directly under ‘Preview’.

7. Autorun: Set the target and configure the schedule, ASIAIR will execute the imaging sequence automatically.

8. Live Stacking: You can see the stacked image (lower noise with calibration frames) of the target directly while capturing.

Supported DSLR

ASIAIR PRO is a smart WiFi device that allows you to control all ASI USB 3.0 cameras, ASI Mini series cameras, and Mainstream DSLR cameras. (It can not support ASI120MM/MC camera)

Note:

1. Some DSLR cameras have a 30-second exposure limit, which requires an external shutter release cable to ASIAIR PRO.

2. The items with an exclamation mark in the table above have not been verified by actual tests and will be continuously updated in the future.

Supported Mounts

We have also been working closely with major manufacturers to complete bringing in the match of Vixen, Rainbow, Avalon, Explore Scientific, iOptron and other models (including some new models). For now, the ASIAIR PRO is able to support hundreds of equatorial mounts from more than 20 manufacturers worldwide. For details, please refer to the “ASIAIR PRO User Manual”.

Attachment Method

What is in the box?

DC male 1m cable x 2
ASIAIR PRO body
64GB USB memory stick
DC 1.5m male and female cable extension cable
DC male 0.5 m cable x2
Quick Start Guide
USB-RS232 female covert cable
USB 3.0 square port 0.75m data cable

Note:

Neither the USB flash drive nor the TF card is covered by the Warranty Policy.

The post ZWO ASIair PRO Smart WIFI Accessory appeared first on Modern Astronomy.

ZWO 850nm IR Band-pass Filter (31.7mm, 1.25″) for IR Sensitive Cameras

Bernard Karpinski — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 15:07:39 +0000

ZWO 850nm IR Band-pass Filter (31.7mm, 1.25″) for IR Sensitive Cameras

The post ZWO 850nm IR Band-pass Filter (31.7mm, 1.25″) for IR Sensitive Cameras appeared first on Modern Astronomy.