QHY128C PRO [COLOUR]

The QHY 128C Pro is a top performing colour cooled camera. It contains the Sony IMX 128, the same sensor that is used in the Nikon D600 DSLR. It has very large pixels with a size of 5.97µm and the full well capacity at 74,000 e- reduces the risk to overexposing the bright areas of nebulae or stars in the frame.

Unlike DSLR cameras, the QHY128C Pro offers true RAW image output that only records the signal without artefacts. Standard DSLR's have the RAW output option but the file is altered with noise reduction and hot pixel removal, undermining the maximum post processing capabilities and final quality of the image.

The camera has a two-stage TEC cooling system that brings the temperature of the sensor 35C° below ambient for low noise imaging, even in warm climates. The dark current at -15°C is only 0.0006 electron/pixels. In addition to thermoelectric cooling, QHYCCD employs a unique thermal noise control technology to reduce CMOS sensor noise to a very low value without affecting the integrity of the raw image. The QHYCCD proprietary technology produces a much better noise reduction than any other astronomy camera in the market. The QHY 128C employs a full anti-dew technology for both CMOS sensor cover glass and the optical window to avoid condensation or ice crystal in the camera. 

The 128MB DDR II memory buffer facilitates the download of images to the computer, especially when USB traffic is high, the writing speed of your computer is slow or occupied with other processes. 

In order to avoid halos around bright stars, the QHY128C has an AR coated optical window on both sides rather than the common IR/UV cut coating. For a better RGB colour balance, it is recommended to use a 2" UV/IR cut filter.

Every QHY 128C Pro camera is carefully calibrated with a high-precision axis measurement device. Orthogonal placement of the sensor in the camera body is guaranteed to be flat to the image plane with a precision better than +/-20µm across the sensor, from edge to edge, so there is no need to adjust the camera tilt. This is an enormous advantage especially in fast telescopes such as F/2.8-F/4 astrographs which are very sensitive to tilted sensors.

The QHY 128C has zero amplifier glow no matter how long the exposure is.

 QHY has designed a number of adapter/spacer kits for the 128C for different setups:

Connection to coma corrector requiring 55mm backfocus and M48 interface

• QHY 128C Pro
• USB 3.0 cable (1.5m)
• Screw jack power cable (5.5-2.1mm male jack with locking nut to 5.5-2.1mm female jack)
• Desiccant Drying Tube (desiccant not included)
• Camera dovetail to M54 x 0.75 adapter with 3 grub screws at 120° (6mm optical thickness)
• M54 x 0.75 to 2"adapter (2.5mm optical thickness, M48 x 0.75 internal thread for standard 2" filters)

Guide to installing QHY and ASCOM drivers for QHYCCD cameras.

QHY camera drivers

QHY 128C manual

M31 with QHY128C by Wu Zhen.