TO EXPLORE THE UNKNOWN UNIVERSE
Telescope: Askar FRA600
Mount: iOptron CEM40
QHY990/991 Series are scientific short wavelength infrared cameras. With Sony IMX990/IMX991 InGaAs sensor, a square 5um*5um pixel array and 1.31M/0.4M effective pixels. The chips have wide waveband (0.4um-1.7um) with high sensitivity.
Applications: SWIR Astronomy Imaging and Photometry, Daytime Star Observing, Optical Communication, Laser, Optic Labs.
*Please contact QHYCCD about the price.
QHY990/991 Series are scientific short wavelength infrared cameras. With Sony IMX990/IMX991 InGaAs sensor, a square 5um*5um pixel array and 1.31M/0.4M effective pixels. The chips have wide waveband (0.4um-1.7um) with high sensitivity. QE is up to 77% at 1200nm.
By using the Cu-Cu interconnect technology, the sensor has very low FPN noise and a low defect pixel ratio.
QHY990/991 Series cameras include 25mm filter holders. 25mm filter is a very common filter type for lab applications. The SWIR filter can be easily installed on the camera with a 17.5mm C-mount B.F.L.
QHY990Pro II have both air cooling and liquid cooling version (customization). The air cooling can get the -35C below ambient. The liquid cooling version can get -45C below ambient with normal temperature liquid and can get -60 to -80C below ambient with cold liquid. Typically the InGaAs sensor has a high dark current than Silicon-based material. If you need long exposure (eg. >5 sec) ,we recommend the liquid cooling version.
| Model | QHY990 | QHY990Pro II | QHY991 |
| CMOS Sensor | Sony IMX990 | Sony IMX990 | Sony IMX991 |
| FPA Material | InGaAs | InGaAs | InGaAs |
| Pixel Size | 5.0um*5.0um | 5.0um*5.0um | 5.0um*5.0um |
| Total Pixels(includes optic black pixels) | 1392*1052 | 1392*1052 | 752*520 |
| Effective Pixel Area | 1296*1032 | 1296*1032 | 656*520 |
| Effective Pixels | 1.3 Megapixels | 1.3 Megapixels | 0.4 Megapixels |
| Effective Image Area | 1/2 inch | 1/2 inch | 1/4 inch |
| AD Sample Depth | 12-bit A/D | ||
| Shutter Type | Global Shutter | ||
| QE | 77% @ 1200nm | ||
| Full Well | Typical 120ke- | ||
| Readout Noise | The measured data is after Bias Frame FPN calibrationTypical 150 e- at lowest gain Typical 50e at a middle gain Typical 20e- at high gain |
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| Frame Rate | 66FPS@Full Resolution 12bit137FPS@480Line 12bit 256FPS@240Line 12bit 518FPS@100Line 12bit 925FPS@40Line 12bit 1150FPS@20Line 12bit |
USB3.0 66FPS@Full Resolution 12bit137FPS@480Line 12bit 256FPS@240Line 12bit 518FPS@100Line 12bit 925FPS@40Line 12bit 1150FPS@20Line 12bit2*10G TBA CameraLink |
133FPS @ Full resolution 12bit254FPS @ 240Line 12bit 510FPS @ 100Line 12bit 700FPS @40Line 12bit 830FPS @20Line 12bit |
| Trig Function | One Hardware Trig-In Socket (RCA type).Opto-isolated | ||
| Computer Interface | USB3.0 | USB3.0 2*10Gigabit Fiber Optic Interfaces 2*CameraLink Interfaces |
USB3.0 |
| Lens Interface | C-Mount | ||
| Telescope Interface | 1.25inch Adapter | ||
| Basic Interface | Flange with 6-M3 screw holes | ||
| 25mm Filter Adapter | Support D=25mm and D=25.4mm filter | ||
| Back Focal Length | C_Mount,1.25inch adapter 17.5mm with 25mm filter adapter, 14.5mm without filter adapter Basic Interface 12.5mm |
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| Liquid Cooling | – | Supported (Customization) | – |
| Cooling System | Dual Stage TE Cooler-Air Cooling version Maximum -35C with ambient(Test temperature +20°) |
Dual Stage TE Cooler-Air Cooling version Maximum -35C with ambient(Test temperature +20°)Liquid Cooling version Maximum -45C with ambient by using normal water -60C to -80C with ambient by using cold liquid |
Dual Stage TE Cooler-Air Cooling version Maximum -35C with ambient(Test temperature +20°) |
| Recommended flow rates for water-cooled versions | – | 1.6ml/s | – |
| Body length | 92.5mm | 92.5mm | |
| Weight | About 520g | About 1000g | About 520g |
QHY990/991
QHY990 Sample Image in daytime. With 16mmF1.4 SWIR lens @F2.8 , 1200-1800nm filter. Gain=0, exposure time = 1.3ms. D0wnload 16bit FITs QHY990_DAYTIMEQHY990_DAYTIME
QHY990 Sample image under sky (at night). . With 16mmF1.4 SWIR lens @F1.4 , 1200-1800nm filter. Exposure = 2sec stack 29frames . -11C sensor temperature. Dark frame calibrated.
Here are the stars in the daytime with QHY991 camera by Martin Miller:
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.
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.
