The QHY695A/IC695A uses the high QE, 6MP, 1" class SONY ICX695 ExView II CCD. This sensor has a peak QE close to 80%. The sensor is well known for its low read noise down to 4 electrons. With the two-stage TEC bringing sensor temperatures to fully 40°C below ambient, the moderate-size 4.54μ pixels and the extremely low thermal noise of this CCD, this camera produces an exceptionally clean image.
The camera has a built-in filter wheel with either a 7-position, 36mm unmounted filter carousel, or an 8-position, 1.25" filter carousel. You can load a full complement of LRGB Ha OIII SII filters into either carousel at one time, making LRGB and Narrowband imaging much easier than using a 5-position wheel that requires you to change filter sets depending on the type of imaging you intend to do. Although the sensor has an electronic shutter, this camera also has a mechanical shutter. This makes it possible to automatically take dark frames--unattended.
The QHY695A camera belongs to the new QHYCCD "A" series family. "A" stands for "ALL-IN-ONE". It includes a built-in motor-driven filter wheel and it natively supports the medium size QHYOAG. The OAG can be installed on the camera solidly with six screws, consuming a minimum of back focus--a precious commodity for some optical systems! In addition to the filter wheel and OAG, the "A" series camera also offers an internal USB HUB(2.0) providing two USB host ports and a USB-to-dual-RS232 converter. A guiding camera, mount and electric focuser can be connected directly to this camera instead of the computer, to reduce cable clutter and potential signal loss/noise due to long cables. A single USB cable controls all of the peripherals.
This camera uses a mechanical shutter that has a butterfly shape. The shutter is directly driven by a motor with no other moving parts. The working life is almost unlimited. The shutter has two sides that block light and open spaces in between. The fan shape of the blades creates uniform illumination when opening, and uniform darkness when closing for dark frames. This feature is of great benefit when taking flat frames or making photometric measurements.
This camera uses a single 12V IN power port. The power socket is threaded for a solid connection which will not accidentally disconnect. There is another socket connected in parallel with the input that can be used to supply 12V OUT to other devices.
