TO EXPLORE THE UNKNOWN UNIVERSE
Telescope: Askar FRA600
Mount: iOptron CEM40
The QHY600PRO Series uses the latest SONY back-illuminated sensor, the IMX455, a full-frame (35mm format) sensor with 3.76um pixels and native 16-bit A/D. This sensor is available in monochrome and color versions. Specially designed for scientific applications, including the 2*10Gbps fiber interface, USB3.0 interface, 2GB DDR3 memory, 6PIN GPIO/Trig/GPS connector. Support 4.0FPS 16bit full-frame readout and 10FPS 14bit full-frame readout.
Typical Applications
Sky Survey, Astronomical Photometric, high-resolution LCD/OLED screen inspector/color calibration. All-sky camera. Scientific Measurement, DNA sequencer, Spectrum Instrument.
*Please contact QHYCCD about the price.
*PCIE Card Kit is NOT included in the QHY600Pro product.
QHY600PRO has a back-illuminated structure technology, QE is up to 90%. It has a very low readout noise performance, it can get 1.1e- at the highest gain. It has a typical 51ke full-well in high gain readout mode and a typical 80ke readout in extending full-well mode. The camera supports the 2-cms readout mode (sample the same signal twice and averaged on the sensor) and it can get the readout noise 1.3times less than normal readout mode.
QHY600PRO has two data interfaces: USB3.0 interface and 2*10Gbps fiber interface. With 2*10Gbps fiber interface, it can get 4FPS @ 16bit full resolution and 10FPS @ 14bit full resolution frame rate under live streaming mode. The QHY600PRO also supports the Trig in/out function and GPS function.
QHY600PRO has an extremely good linear response in the whole full-well range. Please check the following document of the QHY600 Linear Test. It also has zero amplifier glow and zero RBI remains performance.
Native 16 bit A/D: The new Sony sensor has native 16-bit A/D on-chip. The output is real 16-bits with 65536 levels. Compared to 12-bit and 14-bit A/D, a 16-bit A/D yields higher sample resolution and the system gain will be less than 1e-/ADU with no sample error noise and very low read noise.
BSI: One benefit of the back-illuminated CMOS structure is improved full well capacity. In the back- illuminated sensor the light is allowed to enter the photosensitive surface from the reverse side. In this case the sensor’s embedded wiring structure is below the photosensitive layer. As a result, more incoming photons strike the photosensitive layer and more electrons are generated and captured in the pixel well. This ratio of photon to electron production is called quantum efficiency. The higher the quantum efficiency the more efficient the sensor is at converting photons to electrons and hence the more sensitive the sensor is to capturing an image of something dim.
TRUE RAW Data: In the DSLR implementation there is a RAW image output, but typically it is not completely RAW. Some evidence of noise reduction and hot pixel removal is still visible on close inspection. This can have a negative effect on the image for astronomy such as the “star eater” effect. However, QHY Cameras offer TRUE RAW IMAGE OUTPUT and produces an image comprised of the original signal only, thereby maintaining the maximum flexibility for post-acquisition astronomical image processing programs and other scientific imaging applications.
Zero Amplify Glow: This is also a zero amplifer glow camera.
Cooling & Anti-dew Control: In addition to dual stage TE cooling, QHYCCD implements proprietary technology in hardware to control the dark current noise. The optic window has built-in dew heater and the chamber is protected from internal humidity condensation. An electric heating board for the chamber window can prevent the formation of dew.
Sealing Technology: Based on almost 20-year cooled camera design experience, The QHY cooled camera has implemented the sealing control solutions. The sensor itself is kept dry with our silicon gel tube socket design for control of humidity within the sensor chamber. By the way, there’s no oil leaking.
PH–Photographic Grade. Mainly for astrographers.
Pro–Scientific Grade. Mainly for scientific instituations. Since 2023, the Pro series have been devided to Pro I and Pro II series, the original “Pro” models will be replaced by “Pro I” models.
Pro I–Upgraded from the previous Pro series, it has 2*10G fiber interface with shorter body length.
Pro II–Based on Pro I models, it provides another two CameraLink interfaces.
M–Monochrome.
C–Colored.
L–Lite version is only available in PH Grade. Its body length becomes shorter and the built-in memory storage is 1GB instead of 2GB. Mono only.
SBFL–has a shorter back focal length.
LQ–supports liquid cooling.
| Grade | Body Length | Back Focal Length | Cooling Method | Buffer | 2*10g | CameraLink | Note | |
| QHY600PH | Photographic | 142mm | 17.5+6mm（CAA） | Air Cooling | 2GB DDR3 | – | – | |
| QHY600PH SBFL | Photographic | 138mm | 14.5mm | Air Cooling | 2GB DDR3 | – | – | |
| QHY600PH L | Photographic | 123mm | 17.5+6mm（CAA） | Air Cooling | 1GB DDR3 | – | – | |
| QHY600PH EB | Photographic | 185mm | 17.5+6mm（CAA） | Air Cooling | 2GB DDR3 | – | – | Discontinued |
| QHY600Pro | Scientific | 185mm | 17.5+6mm（CAA） | Air Cooling | 2GB DDR3 | Yes | – | Replaced by Pro I |
| QHY600Pro SBFL | Scientific | 181mm | 14.5mm | Air Cooling | 2GB DDR3 | Yes | – | Replaced by Pro I |
| QHY600Pro LQ | Scientific | 185mm | 17.5+6mm（CAA） | Liquid Cooling | 2GB DDR3 | Yes | – | Replaced by Pro I |
| QHY600Pro SBFL LQ | Scientific | 181mm | 14.5mm | Liquid Cooling | 2GB DDR3 | Yes | – | Replaced by Pro I |
| QHY600Pro I | Scientific | 142mm | 17.5+6mm（CAA） | Air Cooling | 2GB DDR3 | Yes | – | |
| QHY600Pro I LQ | Scientific | 142mm | 17.5+6mm（CAA） | Liquid Cooling | 2GB DDR3 | Yes | – | |
| QHY600Pro I SBFL | Scientific | 138mm | 14.5mm | Air Cooling | 2GB DDR3 | Yes | – | |
| QHY600Pro I SBFL LQ | Scientific | 138mm | 14.5mm | Liquid Cooling | 2GB DDR3 | Yes | – | |
| QHY600Pro II | Scientific | 142mm | 17.5+6mm（CAA） | Air Cooling | 2GB DDR3 | Yes | Yes | |
| QHY600Pro II LQ | Scientific | 142mm | 17.5+6mm（CAA） | Liquid Cooling | 2GB DDR3 | Yes | Yes | |
| QHY600Pro II SBFL | Scientific | 138mm | 14.5mm | Air Cooling | 2GB DDR3 | Yes | Yes | |
| QHY600Pro II SBFL LQ | Scientific | 138mm | 14.5mm | Liquid Cooling | 2GB DDR3 | Yes | Yes |
SBFL (Short back-focal length version) models are specially designed for DSLR lens users or those who has special requirment of short back focal length. This version has a special front part version which has 14.5mm B.F.L only (The B.F.L consumed equals 12.5mm when connecting QHYCFW. About the defination of “BFL Comsumed” and our adapter system please view: https://www.qhyccd.com/astronomical-camera-adapter-bfl-solution/). A model with “SBFL” suffix can easily match Canon/Nikon lens even with filter wheel. On the side of this adapter there is a 4mm hole to connect air pump through plastic pipe in case of the dewing glass when necessary.
A model with “LQ” suffix supports Liqiud cooling. Since LQ models need customization, please contact the QHYCCD sales department. Compared to air cooling, liquid cooling offers the following advantages:
More efficient cooling. When using ambient temperature pure water for water cooling, the maximum cooling temperature is about 10 degrees Celsius lower than that of air cooling. QHYCCD is improving its support for ultra-low temperature liquid cooling.
No vibration. No matter how high-quality the fan is, it is inevitable to generate some image jitter. The water-cooling version does not have moving mechanical parts that cause camera vibration, thus avoiding negative effects on the image.
No turbulent hot air. For certain cameras that need to be installed in front of the optical system, such as Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes, the hot air generated by air cooling systems may cause slight interference with the optical path. Water cooling does not produce this kind of impact.
The 2*10Gigabit Fiber Optic Interface (to be used with QHYCCD fiber optic capture card) meets the high-intensity data transmission requirements of professional fields such as professional observatories. It has the following advantages over the USB 3.0 interface:
Higher data rates
Using two 10G fiber optics, it can achieve a speed of 1.6GB/s (12.8Gbps), while the standard USB 3.0 has a theoretical maxium rate of 625MB/s (5Gbps), with an actual maximum transfer rate of 350MB/s.
Longer transmission distance
Fiber optic transmission can cover distances hundreds of times longer than USB 3.0. Standard USB 3.0 can only transmit up to 3 to 5 meters, and even with an active powered USB cable, it can reach up to 10 to 15 meters. In contrast, QHYCCD’s standard fiber optic module can achieve a transmission distance of up to 300 meters, and when paired with long-distance transmission optical modules, it can cover distances of several tens of kilometers.
Stable transmission without electromagnetic interference
USB 3.0 transmission can be susceptible to external electromagnetic interference, static electricity, leakage, and other factors, leading to data packet corruption, image loss, or camera control issues. Optical communication is not affected by electromagnetic interference.
This product supports a 6-pin GPIO interface, which can be defined for different modes. QHYCCD can customize it according to the user’s requirements, and users can also reprogram the FPGA to meet more complex needs.
Supports the professional Camera Link interface (exclusive to Pro II products)
The Camera Link interface is a more suitable choice if your use case involves shorter transmission distances in industrial or laboratory areas. The Camera Link interface is specifically designed for high-speed and high-resolution cameras, offering fast data transmission speeds. It is well-suited for working under conditions where there is a large amount of image data and high bandwidth requirements.
Multiple Readout Modes are special for QHY 16-bit Cameras (QHY600/268/461/411). Different readout modes have different driver timing, etc., and result in different performance. See details at “Multiple Readout Modes and Curves” Part.
You may find some types of thermal noise can change with time in some back-illuminated CMOS cameras. This thermal noises has the characteristic of the fixed position of typical thermal noise, but the value is not related to the exposure time. Instead, each frame appears to have its own characteristics. The QHY600/268/461/411 use an innovative suppression technology that can significantly reduce the apparent level of such noise.
UVLO（Under Voltage Locking) is to protect the electronic device from damage caused by abnormally low voltages.
Our daily life experience tells us that the actual operational voltage of an electrical device must not significantly exceed the rated voltage, otherwise it will be damaged. For such precision equipment as cameras, long-term work at too low input voltage can also be detrimental to the working life of the camera, and may even make some devices, such as power manager, burn up due to long-term overload. In the all-in-one driver and SDK after 2021.10.23 stable version, the camera will give a warning when the input voltage of the camera is below 11V.
It is common behavior for a CMOS sensor to contain some horizontal banding. Normally, random horizontal banding can be removed with multiple frame stacking so it does not affect the final image. However, periodic horizontal banding is not removed with stacking so it may appear in the final image. By adjust the USB traffic in Single Frame mode or Live Frame mode, you can adjust the frequency of the CMOS sensor driver and it can optimize the horizontal banding appeared on the image. This optimized is very effective to remove the periodic banding in some conditions.
A typical Periodic Horizontal Noise under certain USB_TRAFFIC values.
After Adjusting the USB Traffic to avoid the periodic horizontal noise.
The camera is designed to use the +12V to reboot the camera without disconnecting and reconnecting the USB interface. This means that you can reboot the camera simply by shutting down the +12V and then powering it back on. This feature is very handy for remote controlling the camera in an observatory. You can use a remotely controlled power supply to reboot the camera. There is no need to consider how to reconnect the USB in the case of remote control.
Absolutely Response Curve. This curve is based on the Relative QE curve on the sony datasheet and QHYCCD measured two-wavelength to compare with a known QE sensor and get this. This curve is just for reference.
Multiple Readout Modes are special for QHY 16-bit Cameras (QHY600/268/461/411). Different readout modes result in different performance. These readout modes are currently supported in the ASCOM, SharpCap and N.I.N.A.
Photographic DSO Mode (Mode #0)
This mode is suitable for most DSO imaging situations. Since there is a drop in the noise between Gain 25 and Gain 26 (unity gain), we recommend it as default gain setting; however, gain0 is also good enough for a 16-bit sensor.
High Gain Mode (Mode #1)
This mode is something like double native iso of some new digital cameras, whose danamic range can greatly incerase at the vary high iso value, like iso800, iso3200, etc. The high gain mode provide such improvement for QHYCCD 16bit cameras. We recommend you choose this mode when you have to capture at high gain, for example, a vary dark object. Please note the switch point of HGC/LGC of QHY600/268/461 is 56. That means you must set Gain 56 to make the best of it.
Extended Fullwell Mode (Mode#2)
With a pixel size of 3.76um, these sensors already have an impressive full well capacity of 51ke. Nevertheless, QHYCCD has implemented a unique approach to achieve a full well capacity higher than 51ke- through innovative user controllable read mode settings. In Extended Fullwell Mode, the QHY600 can achieve an extremely large full-well charge value of nearly 80ke- and the QHY268 can achieve nearly 75ke-. Greater full-well capacity provides greater dynamic range and large variations in magnitude of brightness are less likely to saturate.
2CMS Modes
Extended Fullwell Mode-2CMS (Mode#3)
Photographic DSO Mode-2CMS (Mode#4)
High Gain Mode-2CMS (Mode#5)
Based on the three basic modes above, 2CMS mode can greatly reduce readout noise by secondary sampling while keeping the same full well value and system gain. We prefer 2CMS modes than basic modes in astrophotography. By the way, the recommend gain values are the same as their basic modes.
| Model | QHY600Pro I QHY600Pro II |
| CMOS Sensor | SONY IMX455 BSI CMOS Sensor |
| Mono/Color | Both Available |
| Pixel Size | 3.76um |
| Effective Pixel Area | 9576*6388（9600*6422 with overscan and optically black area) |
| Number of Effective Pixels | 61.17MP |
| Sensor Size | Full Frame (36mm*24mm) |
| A/D Sample Depth | Native 16-bit (0-65535 greyscale) A/D 18-bit at 2X2, 19-bit at 3X3, 20-bit at 4X4 software binning*QHY600 uses the software digital binning for 2*2binning. With digital sum, 2*2binning will be four 16-bit summed then it is 18-bit. |
| Full Well Capacity (1×1, 2×2, 3×3) | Photographic Mode >51ke- / >204ke- / >408ke- Extended Full Well Mode >80ke- / >320ke- / >720ke- |
| Full Resolution Frame Rate (USB3.0 Port) | 4.0FPS@8BIT 2.5FPS@16BIT |
| ROI Frame Rate (USB3.0 Port) | 2048lines, 12FPS@8BIT, 7.5FPS@16BIT 1080lines, 22.5FPS@8BIT, 14FPS@16BIT 768lines, 31.5FPS@8BIT, 19.5FPS@16BIT 480lines, 47FPS@8BIT, 30FPS@16BIT |
| Readout Noise | Photography DSO Mode:1.9e- to 7.8e-(Gain0-100) High Gain Mode:1.1e- to 3.6e-(Gain0-100) Extend Fullwell Mode：5.4e- to 7.9e-（Gain0-100） Extend Fullwell Mode-2CMS：4.9e- to 5.9e-（Gain0-100） |
| Dark Current | 0.0022e-/p/s @ -20℃ 0.0046e-/p/s @ -10℃ |
| Exposure Time Range | 40us – 3600sec |
| Amp Control | Zero Amplifer Glow |
| Shutter Type | Electric Rolling Shutter |
| Computer Interface | 1*USB3.0 Interface 2*10Gigabit Fiber Interfaces 2*CameraLink Interfaces (Pro II Version Only) |
| Built-in Image Buffer | 2GB DDR3 Memory Buffer |
| Air Cooling System | Dual Stage TEC cooler: – Long exposures (> 1 second) typically -35C below ambient – Short exposure (< 1second) high FPS, typically -30C below ambient（Test temperature +20°） |
| Optic Window Type | AR+AR High Quality Multi-Layer Anti-Reflection Coating |
| Anti-Dew Heater | Yes |
| Telescope/Lenses Interface | Support 2-inch, M54, M48, Nikon/Canon DSLR Lens, etc. (Combined with adapters ) |
| Filter Wheel Interface | 4PIN QHYCCD CFW Port |
| Back Focal Length | 17.5mm (±0.2) |
| Recommended Gain Setting | 25 (Unity Gain, Extended Full Well Mode/Photographic Mode) 56 (High Gain Mode) |
| Weigth | About 1000g |
| Firmware/FPGA remote Upgrade | Supported. Via Camera USB Port |
| Water Cooling Version (Optional) | -45℃ below ambient with water in long exposures; up to -60℃ below ambient with cold liquid; Recommended flow rate for water-cooled versions is 1.6ml/s. |
| Power | 40W/100% 20W/50% 13.8W/0% |
QHY600 PRO I
QHY600Pro II
A new essay named Scientific CMOS sensors in Astronomy: QHY600 and QHY411 has been published! It was finished by researchers from Cornell University.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.03700
A Large Array Survey Telescope composed of 48, 28-cm f/2.2 telescopes (32 already installed) equipped with 48 full-frame backside-illuminated cooled CMOS camera QHY600 Pro:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.04796
The camera requires an input voltage between 11V and 13.8V. If the input voltage is too low the camera will stop functioning or it may reboot when the TEC power percent is high, causing a drain on the power. Therefore, please make sure the input voltage arrived to the camera is adequate. 12V is the best but please note that a 12V cable that is very long or a cable with small conductor wire may exhibit enough resistance to cause a voltage drop between the power supply and the camera. The formular is: V(drop) = I * R (cable). It is advised that a very long 12V power cable not be used. It is better to place the 12V AC adapter closer to the camera.
First connect the 12V power supply, then connect the camera to your computer via the USB3.0 cable. Make sure the camera is plugged in before connecting the camera to the computer, otherwise the camera will not be recognized. When you connect the camera for the first time, the system discovers the new device and looks for drivers for it. You can skip the online search step by clicking “Skip obtaining the driver software from Windows Update” and the computer will automatically find the driver locally and install it. If we take the 5IIISeries driver as an example (shown below), after the driver software is successfully installed, you will see QHY5IIISeries_IO in the device manager.
Please note that the input voltage cannot be lower than 11.5v, otherwise the device will be unable to work normally.
All-in-one Pack supports most QHYCCD models only except PoleMaster and several discontinued CCD cameras.
Download Page: https://www.qhyccd.com/download/
Video Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/embed/mZDxIK0GZRc?start=1
Before using software, make sure you have connected the cooling camera to the 12V power supply and connected it to the computer with a USB3.0 data cable. If it’s an uncooled camera, 12V power is not needed. We recommend 64-bit Software, like SharpCAP x64 , N.I.N.A x64. etc., especially when you’re using 16bit cameras.
In NINA, you can select the device to connect to QHY Camera directly without ASCOM driver.
If connecting to the camera via ASCOM is desired, first make sure you have installed both the QHYCCD ASCOM Drivers and ASCOM Platform. Then you would select the appropriate camera driver under the ASCOM section. Then click the Connect icon. Here we take NINA as an example, but it’s similar to other software packages supporting ASCOM, like MaxDL, The SkyX, etc.
Launch SharpCap. If the software and drivers mentioned above are installed successfully, the video image will appear automatically about 3 seconds after the software loads. You will also see the frame rate in the lower left corner of the software window as shown below.
If you have already started the SharpCap software before connecting the camera, in order to open the camera, click on the “camera” in the menu bar and then select the device.
Offset adjustment. When you completely block the camera (i.e., like taking a dark frame) you may find that the image is not really zero. Sometimes this will reduce the quality of the image contrast. You can get a better dark field by adjusting the offset. You can confirm this by opening the histogram as indicated in the figure below.
If you want to enter the 16-bit image mode, select the “RAW16” mode.
By selecting the “LX” mode you can expand the exposure setting range and take long exposures.
After cooling devices connected to the 12V power supply, the temperature control circuit will be activated. You can control the CMOS temperature by adjusting the settings in the figure below. Basically, you can control the temperature of CMOS by either adjusting “Cooler Power” or clicking “Auto” and setting “Target Temperature”. You can also see the CMOS temperature at the lower-left corner of the software window.
| mode 0 | mode 1 | mode 2 | mode 3 | mode 4 | mode5 | mode6 |
| GPIO1 | GPSBOX_Control | ShutterMessure+ | ShutterMessure+ | n.a | n.a | ShutterMessure+ |
| GPIO2 | GPSBOX_Data (IN） | TrigIn2 | ShutterMessure- | n.a | n.a | TrigIn2 |
| GPIO3 | GPSBOX_ShutterMessure | LinePeriod | n.a | HSYNC(OUT） | HSYNC（IN) | LinePeriod |
| GPIO4 | GPSBOX_CLK | TrigOut | n.a | VSYNC(OUT） | VSYNC(IN) | LED(OUTPUT) |
| GND | GND | GND | GND | GND | GND | GND |
Please note that you may need to prepare desiccants yourself, because for most countries and regions desiccants are prohibited by air transport. Since QHY always deliver your goods by air, sorry that we can’t provide desiccants for you directly.
Under the vacuum pump, the gas inside the sensor chamber is drawn out through one drying interface, enters the drying tube, and then undergoes filtration. It is then reintroduced into the camera through the other drying interface, circulating back and forth for drying.
Note:1.Do not reverse the order of the intake and exhaust ports
2.Before circulating drying, it is necessary to turn off the refrigerator, and then turn on circulating drying after the temperature returns to normal temperature. Only by following this step can the water vapor in the sealed chamber be effectively removed. If the cooler is turned on, the cooler inside the camera will absorb water vapor, causing more water vapor to condense inside the camera instead of being absorbed by the desiccant.
If you find dust on the CMOS sensor, you can first unscrew the front plate of the cam and then clean the CMOS sensor with a cleaning kit for SLR camera sensors. Because the CMOS sensor has an AR (or AR/IR) coating, you need to be careful when cleaning. This coating can scratch easily so you should not use excessive force when cleaning dust from its surface.
All QHY cooling cameras have built-in heating plates to prevent fogging. However, If the ambient humidity is very high, the optical window of the CMOS chamber may have condensation issues. Then try the following:
1. Avoid directing the camera towards the ground. The density of cold air is greater than of hot air. If the camera is facing down, cold air will be more accessible to the glass, causing it to cool down and fog.
2. Slightly increase the temperature of the CMOS sensor .
3. Check if the heating plate is normally working. If the heating plate is not working, the glass will be very easy to fog, the temperature of the heating plate can reach 65-70 °C in the environment of 25 °C. If it does not reach this, the heating plate may be damaged. Please contact us for maintenance.
Please avoid thermal shock during use. Thermal shock refers to the internal stress that the TE cooler has to withstand due to the thermal expansion and contraction when the temperature of the TEC suddenly rises or falls. Thermal shock may shorten the life of the TEC or even damage it.
Therefore, when you start using the TEC to adjust the CMOS temperature, you should gradually increase the TEC power rather than turning the TEC to maximum power. If the power of the TEC is high before disconnecting the power supply, you should also gradually reduce the power of the TEC and then disconnect the power supply.
Added functions related to BURST mode in SDK. Currently, cameras that support Burst function include QHY600, QHY411, QHY461, QHY268, QHY6060, QHY4040, QHY4040PRO, QHY2020, QHY42PRO, QHY183A
This mode is a sub-mode of continuous mode. This function can only be used in continuous mode. When this function is enabled, the camera will stop outputting image data, and the software frame rate will be reduced to 0. At this time, send relevant commands to the camera, and the camera will Output the image data with the specified frame number according to the settings, for example, set Start End to 1 6, the camera will output the image data with the frame number 2 3 4 5 when receiving the command.
Note:
1. When using Burst mode in fiber mode, the first Burst shot will be one less. For example, if the start end is set to 1 6, the output of 2 3 4 5 is normal, but in fact, only 3 4 will be output during the first burst shot. 5, 2 will not be received, the second and subsequent shots can normally obtain Burst images 2 3 4 5. This problem will be fixed later.
2. QHY2020, QHY4040 found that the frame number that came out when the exposure time was short is [start+1,end-1] but the one that came out under long exposure was [start+2,end]
3. When the camera is just connected, if the set end value is relatively large, the camera will directly output the picture after entering the burst mode. Therefore, it is necessary to set the camera to enter the IDLE state and then set the start end and related burst operations.
The following is the usage of Burst mode related functions:
UVLO（Under Voltage Locking), is primarily intended to protect the electronic device from damage caused by abnormally low voltages. Now only QHY600, QHY268, QHY410, QHY411, QHY461, QHY533 cameras have UVLO Protection.
UVLO warning execution
After a warning is given, the camera firmware will automatically turn off the cooler and will turn on the camera’s TEC protection mode. After the camera is reconnected, it will always work in TEC protection mode (maximum power cooler power will be limited to 70%). Since many times the voltage shortage is caused by the high resistance of the power supply cable itself, resulting in a large voltage drop at high currents, the voltage will usually rise after the power is limited. But limiting the power will affect the cooling temperature difference. Therefore, it is recommended that users first check the power supply cable to solve the problem of excessive resistance of the power supply cable.
If the user has solved the problem of insufficient supply voltage, the TEC protection mode can be removed through the menu of EZCAP_QT.
How to improve the power supply?
How to clear the TEC protection status triggered by UVLO?
Once a UVLO event occurs, the camera will automatically memorize it and will work in a protected mode at a maximum of 70% power after reconnection. This memory can be erased as follows:
After you find the system error, you need to turn off the device and check the power supply. After inspecting the problem, open the ezcap software and select “Camera Settings” – “Preferences” – “Reset Flash Code” to reset the error status.
Why does the warning appear even though the power supply voltage is 12 V?
Added QHY600Pro 12-bit high-speed mode, applicable model: QHY600Pro (PCIE mode)
If you have certain needs for the frame rate of the device, such as meteor monitoring, etc., you can make selective updates. Since most of the software that provides continuous mode (i.e. video output), such as SharpCap, only supports 8-bit or 16-bit mode, you need to select 8-bit mode output to achieve frame rate improvement in 12-bit High-Speed Mode.
Data comparison (USB3.0 at full resolution):
Before upgrade: 8-bit, 4.0fps
After upgrade: 8-bit, (12-bit out), 18.0fps max.(Note: Due to the relatively large amount of data, the recommended memory speed is around 4000 MHz)
The implementation of this function requires updating the firmware, driver, and corresponding software SDKs at the same time.
Driver&SDK Required: Allinone package (BETA) 20220817 or later. Please turn to https://www.qhyccd.com/download/
Firmware Required: 20220824 or later. The zip package contains the firmware upgrade tool, the firmware, and firmware upgrade instructions. Please read the upgrade instructions in the firmware installation package carefully. If you encounter any problems during the upgrade, please contact QHYCCD.
Download Link:
1. Prepare a computer that supports the PCIE interface. When purchasing the computer, please confirm with the seller whether it supports PCIE*8 or higher interfaces. Take out the QHYCCD Fiber PCIE Grabber card and its accessories, as follows:
2. Open the computer case and install the red PCIE Grabber card. (Please note: 1. The PCIE capture card supports PCIE 2.0, 2. Interfaces below PCIE*8 may affect the image frame rate.)
3. After the installation of the PCIE Grabber card is complete, restore the computer case panel. The installation should look like the following image:
4. To download and install the PCIE Grabber card driver, please log in to the QHY official website at https://www.qhyccd.com/file/repository/publish/pcie/PCIE-Driver-Sign-20-09-27.zip
Insert the PCIE Grabber card into slots 1 and 2 of your computer. Connect the camera’s optical port to the fiber module.
5. Connect the PCIE Graber card to the camera using a fiber optic cable. Please note that the sequence of the fiber optic cable interfaces should be as follows:
6. After confirming the connection sequence, power on the camera. (Note: Please use the official QHY-provided 12V6A power adapter.)
7. Start the software and select the QHY camera option in the software. Then, connect to the camera.
