IanKingimaging

Truly the next revolution in Cooled CCD Cameras from Starlight Xpress.

It doesn’t have to be big to be brilliant, but it
certainly does require innovation, excellent
electronics and huge amounts of experience to get
such an amazing camera in such a small package.

The SXVR-H814 uses the very latest and certainly the best CCD to be released by Sony since we started designing and producing cameras around Sony CCDs in 1991. It has a remarkable Quantum Efficiency of 77% which was previously unheard of in an interline sensor; but with all of the wonderful benefits of an interline CCD, especially from Sony such as incredibly low thermal noise and very fast electronic shutter (no need for mechanical shutters).

The CCD is available in both single-shot colour and
mono, so you can have the ability to capture striking colour images with a single exposure or take full advantage of the versatility of using the
monochrome version for scientific applications, such as photometry and narrow band imaging etc.

Key Points:
• Exceptionally High QE
• Incredibly low noise (thermal and readout)
• Compact and light-weight
• Remarkably Low Power consumption
• Outstanding build quality

Oculus is the latest introduction to the innovative
portfolio of Starlight Xpress products.

The Oculus uses a SuperHAD CCD from Sony which
has all of the wonderful benefits of an interline SonyCCD, such as incredibly low thermal noise and very fast electronic shutter (no need for mechanical shutters).

With exceedingly low noise electronics and a fast f/2 180 degree fisheye lens, capturing the night sky is an absolute dream.

The Oculus is USB powered and driven but does
require a 12dc input to drive the built in anti-dew
heaters. The software supplied allows you to
capture a series of exposures and add them together
to create a dramatic avi movie of the night sky.

This is the perfect camera for imaging meteor
showers, viewing the weather conditions at a remote
observatory and imaging the night sky in a
spectacular way.

Key Points:
• Extremely low noise (thermal and readout)
• Compact and light-weight
• Remarkably Low Power consumption
• Outstanding build quality

Click this link to view the Occulus Video

Starlight Xpress SXVR-H9 with Xagyl 5 position USB Superslim Filter Wheel and Baader 1.25" LRGB Filters

This filter wheel comprises an Ultra slim motorized filter wheel - only 0.7" thick!

USB controlled and powered - no additional power supply required

No motors protruding from the filter wheel to get in the way.

Measuring only 4.5" x 4.75" x 0.7", this is one of the smallest, thinnest motorized filter wheels on the market.

Only adds 19mm of back focus to the optical path when used with included adapters.

Runs via Included ASCOM driver in ASCOM compatible CCD Capture Programs

Starlight Xpress SXVR-H694 with Xagyl 5 position USB Superslim Filter Wheel and Baader 1.25" LRGB Filters

This filter wheel comprises an Ultra slim motorized filter wheel - only 0.7" thick!

USB controlled and powered - no additional power supply required

No motors protruding from the filter wheel to get in the way.

Measuring only 4.5" x 4.75" x 0.7", this is one of the smallest, thinnest motorized filter wheels on the market.

Only adds 19mm of back focus to the optical path when used with included adapters.

Runs via Included ASCOM driver in ASCOM compatible CCD Capture Programs

The new and forthcoming Starlight 694 range of cameras features one of the most exciting new sensors to become available to amateur astronomers for years.

In effect a larger and more sensitive version of the popular and high performing Sony 285 sensor as found in the SXVR-H9.

The SXVR-H694 uses the very latest and certainly the best CCD to be released by Sony since we started designing and producing cameras around Sony CCDs in 1991. It has a remarkable Quantum Efficiency of 77% which was previously unheard of in an interline sensor; but with all of the wonderful benefits of an interline CCD, especially from Sony such as incredibly low thermal noise and very fast electronic shutter (no need for mechanical shutters).

The versatility of this sensor is also another key selling point.

With 4.51 micron pixels and peak 77% QE, it is ideally suited to short to medium focal length scopes and will provide a very high sampling rate and thus sharp images.

But binned 2x2 (mono only) the pixels will still be relatively small at 9 microns rendering the camera perfect for imaging at long focal lengths achieving the perfect sampling rate for high resolution imaging together with ultra low noise and very high sensitivity.

Major features:

Medium format, high resolution 'Exview' CCD chip, with 6,050,000 x 4.54uM square pixels in a 15.98mm diagonal array.

H694C version - Single-shot colour, using a Bayer matrix of R, G and B on-chip filters. No filter wheel required.

Very high sensitivity - 77% QE at peak of response in yellow light, 65% at Hydrogen alpha line (656 nM).

Exceptionally low dark signal - No dark frames necessary for most deep sky objects

Exceptionally effective anti-blooming with minimal effect on linearity and no lost active area

High speed USB 2.0 interface for approx. 5 second downloads

Built-in autoguider interface and output - compatible with our optional dedicated external guide cameras

Built-in dual serial ports for accessory control - directly drive filter wheels, GOTO 'scopes etc.

Single USB cable control for all features - get rid of that dangerous cable tangle!

Very low power consumption. Less than 1 amp at 12v DC

Compact and lightweight - only 75mm in diameter x 70mm long - less than 500 grams load on the telescope.

Starlight Xpress SXVR-H674 with Xagyl 5 position USB Superslim Filter Wheel and Baader 1.25" LRGB Filters

This filter wheel comprises an Ultra slim motorized filter wheel - only 0.7" thick!

USB controlled and powered - no additional power supply required

No motors protruding from the filter wheel to get in the way.

Measuring only 4.5" x 4.75" x 0.7", this is one of the smallest, thinnest motorized filter wheels on the market.

Only adds 19mm of back focus to the optical path when used with included adapters.

Runs via Included ASCOM driver in ASCOM compatible CCD Capture Programs

Although the Superstar is primarily intended as a high performance guider, it makes a superb electronic finder and planetary imaging camera!

Like the Lodestar this is a sensitive but higher resolution USb 2 autoguider and imaging camera.

Both the mono and colour versions can successfulyl be employed as entry level deep sky and lunar/planetary imagers.

Starlight Xpress SXVR and H cameras are ultra compact and lightweight and feature the fastest download times amongst the commonly available production cooled deep sky cameras.

The SXVR series has several advantageous features including

Efficient Cooling System

The cooling system is designed for the most efficient cooling possible in a compact package. The CCDs are Peltier cooled, with the extracted heat being removed by air drawn through holes in the cooler plate, and then expelled out the rear of the camera by the fan. The whole body is used as a heatsink for the heat generated during the cooling
process.

Fused Silica Window

Unlike less expensive cameras, SX fit a specially
manufactured fused silica window, with a 7 layer anti reflective coating to all of our SXVR Cameras. This offers exceptional strength and heat transfer characteristics to ensure there is less chance of dewing of the front window during humid weather.

Unique Tilted Camera Front

This unique feature of the camera design allows the front plate of the camera to be tilted to ensure that the CCD and the focal plane are parallel to each other. This enables the user to adjust for any collimation issues with the optical train to ensure pinpoint stars across the field.

Conduction

To assist with the excellent cooling design of the camera housing and the unique tilted front design of the cameras, sx have introduced a ‘Silver-Impregnated O-Ring’ to not only act as a light seal for the camera but also to allow heat to conduct through the front of the camera to the rest of the
optical train, helping to gently warm it, assisting to reduce the formation of condensation.

Rear Camera Panel

The SXVR Camera provides multiple inputs and outputs.The RJ11 Guider Port output is opto-isolated and will drive any standard active-low guider input via the RJ11 'telephone' lead provided. The ‘SXV Autoguider Port’ is an 18 way latching high density connector, which provides
both power and control signals for the dedicated external guide camera (not supplied). It also carries two RS232 serial ports for external device control. If the serial ports are not required, the guide camera may be connected directly to this socket, otherwise a small 'port divider' box can be
connected in-line and presents the two serial outputs on standard 9 pin 'D' plugs.

HyperStar Perfect

The SXVR range of cameras is perfectly suited to the HyperStar system designed by Starizona. The round and light-weight body (400g (>1lb)) is smaller than the central obstruction on even the Celestron C6 so none of the aperture of the telescope will be obscured.

In 2012 Starlight Xpress have revised and improved the performance of their SXVF range of cameras.

The SXVR-H9 is now cheaper than ever before and provides outstanding value and performance.

This camera is now priced at entry level but still provides super performance and has been responsible for many hundreds of spectacular high quality CCD images. With cameras as capable as the H9 now priced so low there has never been a better time to migrate from a DSLR to a high quality cooled CCD Camera.

The SXVR-H9 and includes the following performance enhancements

1) Regulated Setpoint Cooling
2) Superior fan assisted cooling - typically down to -35c below ambient
3) Ultra low Read Noise - typically 4e on the SXVR-H9
4) Ultra compact and light weight camera body

Throw in the existing benefits of the Sony ICX 285 CCD such as ultra low dark noise, high sensitivity including high Ha sensitivity and compatibility with the plug in SXV or SXV-Exview autoguiders and the SXVR-H9 is still at the forefront in performance terms.

It doesn’t have to be big to be brilliant, but it
certainly does require innovation, excellent
electronics and huge amounts of experience to get
such an amazing camera in such a small package.
The SXVR-H674 uses the very latest and certainly one of the best CCD to be released by Sony since SX started designing and producing cameras around Sony CCDs in 1991.

It has a remarkable Quantum Efficiency of
77% which was previously unheard of in an interline
sensor; but with all of the wonderful benefits of an interline CCD, especially from Sony such as
incredibly low thermal noise and very fast electronic shutter (no need for mechanical shutters).
The CCD is available in both single-shot colour and
mono, so you can have the ability to capture striking colour images with a single exposure or take full advantage of the versatility of using the
monochrome version for scientific applications, such as photometry and narrow band imaging etc.

Key Points:
• Exceptionally High QE
• Incredibly low noise (thermal and readout)
• Compact and light-weight
• Remarkably Low Power consumption
• Outstanding build quality
• Fast downloads