First Light - DSI III Pro

cataclysm · Post by **cataclysm** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:50 am

Finally get to test this camera in the field. My initial tests in its original configuration was a disappointment, this camera will not work very well in our tropical environment without any form of cooling, the heat signatures will overwhelm the image you are trying to capture. By attaching a peltier cooler to the camera really transformed it to a serious deep sky camera. Below is a single 10 min exposure of Eta Carina nebula with H-alpha filter. The imaging scope is Tak Baby Q.

wucheeyiun · Post by **wucheeyiun** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:22 am

Good image..very surreal...
btw , kevin, did you image last night?... it was one of the clearest night for the year, south sky was full of stars...

Post by **rcj** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:30 pm

great to know you've sorted out the issues bro! Time to start another aspect of the journey of imaging! cheers.

starfinder · Post by **starfinder** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:07 pm

A very nice image! It has a lot of fine cloudy texture.

What peltier cooler did you use and how did you attach it? Would it be suitable to attach it to a dSLR?

Yes, it was very clear last night, esp in the south. The Pointers (Alpha and Beta Centauri) were so bright that they even looked unusually large. Canopus was very clear even at 8 degrees above the horizon, which is unusual for the southern view from my flat. I think such nights only occur about a dozen times a year. Too bad the waning Moon rose around 11pm.

MooEy · Post by **MooEy** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:59 pm

wahh, looks gd, very clean

cataclysm · Post by **cataclysm** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:31 pm

What peltier cooler did you use and how did you attach it? Would it be suitable to attach it to a dSLR?

Hi Gavin, its a diy project. The design of DSI camera's casing makes it easy to attach a peltier cooler. But you need to shave off the heat sinks from the back cover. All the components comes from computer parts bin, and they are available from Sim Lim. The peltier device is rated at 72 W, even with such modest heat pumping capacity, the camera is capable of cooling down to about 25° below ambient. Below are some pictures of the moded camrea:

wucheeyiun · Post by **wucheeyiun** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 4:55 pm

Kevin...very nice and hands on...The dsi iii pro come with the heat sink and fan?

cataclysm · Post by **cataclysm** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:33 pm

Kevin...very nice and hands on...The dsi iii pro come with the heat sink and fan?

Hi Cheeyiun, the camera was purchased as stock. The heat sink and fan module essentially for cooling cpu is sourced from Sim Lim. The hardest part about this project was to shave off those original prickly heat sinks from the back cover, I got myself a nice work out while removing those. I am also a bit kia su on using an over-size heat sink module to provide sufficient cooling. The other challenge is to prevent dewing on the ccd. I got this problem solved by adapting an aquarium air pump to recirculate dry air into the ccd chamber after passing through a tube of silica gel. You can see the whole assembly on the last picture.

wucheeyiun · Post by **wucheeyiun** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:40 pm

Yes...i thought the dehumidifier is well conceived. Did you put heat paste ( ie thermaltake ) between the cpu cooler and lapping of the rear cam ( what you call shaving of the rear prickly metal studs) ...it will improve the cooling a great deal.