General specifications for the G2 and G3 Cameras……

All key features of G series of CCD camera:

• Lowest possible system read noise, limited by CCD chip itself.
• High dynamic range, 16-bits digitization.
• Efficient and precisely regulated cooling up to 50 °C below ambient temperature.
• Ability of unattended operation enabled by integrated mechanical shutter and filter wheel supporting LRGB, BVRI or narrow-band filters.
• Compact camera head, small and lightweight enough to be attached even to small telescopes.
• Single-voltage power supply enabling operation from 12V battery or "brick" adapter.
• Plug and play installation and rich software support.
• Robust construction to sustain every-day usage.

G2-8300 camera uses high sensitive and low noise Kodak KAF8300 Full Frame CCD detectors with 4/3 format. Advanced manufacturing techniques like transparent electrodes and microlensing ensure up to 55 % peak quantum efficiency. The inherent dark current of these detectors is very low, so the resulting image S/N ratio is very good.

• KAF-0402ME CCD chip specifications

• KAF8300 CCD chip and its Quantum Efficiency

• 16-bit A/D converter with correlated double sampling ensures high dynamic range and CCD chip-limited readout noise. Fast USB interface ensures image download time within seconds.
• Maximum length of single USB cable is 5 m. This length can be extended for instance to 10 m by using single USB hub or USB active extender cable. Up to 100 m extension can be achieved with third-party extender.

Image download time depends on the CCD chip used in particular camera model. Also the read noise depends on the chip as well as on the read mode.

• Standard read mode provides system read noise approx. 1 e^- above low-noise read mode.
• LN (Low-noise) read mode is somewhat slower (approx. 1.2×), but ensures system read noise equal or smaller than the manufacturer-specified chip read noise.

Regulated two-stage thermo-electric chip cooling up to 50 °C below ambient temperature with forced air cooling and 0.1 °C temperature precision ensure very low dark current for long exposures.

The 12 V DC power supply adapter enables camera operation from arbitrary power source including batteries, wall adapters etc. Universal 100–240 V AC/50–60 Hz, 60 W "brick" adapter is supplied with the camera. Although the camera power consumption does not exceed 30 W, the 60 W power supply ensures noise-free operation.

Notes:

1. Camera power consumption is measured on the AC outlet of the 12 V power supply.
2. The camera contains its own power supplies inside, so it can be powered by unregulated 12 V DC power source—the input voltage can be anywhere between 10 and 14 V. However, some parameters (like cooling efficiency) can degrade if the supply drops below 11 V.
3. G Series CCD camera measures its input voltage and provides it to the control software. Input voltage is displayed in the Cooling tab of the CCD Camera control tool in the SIMS. This feature is important especially if you power the camera from batteries.

Compact and robust camera head measures only 114 × 114 × 77 mm (approx. 4.5 × 4.5 × 3 inches). The head is CNC-machined from high-quality aluminium and black anodized. The head itself contains USB-B (device) connector and 12 V DC power plug, no other parts (CPU box, USB interface, etc.), except a "brick" power supply, are necessary. Integrated mechanical shutter allows streak-free image readout, as well as automatic dark frame exposures, which are necessary for unattended, robotic setups. Integrated filter wheel contains 5 positions for standard 1.25" threaded filter cells. A variant of filter wheel with 6 positions for 1" "glass-only" filters is also available.

Mechanical specifications

Notes:

1. Specified camera head weight with filter wheel and 2" nosepiece, but without filters.
2. Various telescope/lens adapters are available, including standard 1.25" and 2" barrels, T-thread adapter, Canon EOS and Nikon lens adapter etc.

Compact and robust camera head measures only 154 × 154 × 77 mm (approx. 6 × 6 × 3 inches). The head is CNC-machined from high-quality aluminium and black anodized. The head itself contains USB-B (device) connector and 12 V DC power plug, no other parts (CPU box, USB interface, etc.), except a "brick" power supply, are necessary. Integrated mechanical shutter allows streak-free image readout, as well as automatic dark frame exposures, which are necessary for unattended, robotic setups. Integrated filter wheel contains 5 positions for standard 2" threaded filter cells with M48 × 0.75 thread or up to 50.8 mm "glass-only" filters.

Mechanical specification

1. Specified camera head weight with filter wheel and 2" nosepiece, but without filters.
2. Various telescope/lens adapters are available, including standard 2" barrel, T-thread adapter, Canon EOS and Nikon lens adapter etc.
3. Every filter wheel position can be occupied with a filter in 2" threaded cell with M48 × 0.75 thread of plain-glass filter up to 50.8 mm diameter fixed with three M3 screws.

• Camera body with a user-chosen telescope adapter. The standard 2" barrel adapter is included by default. If ordered, the filter wheel is already mounted inside the camera head and filters are threaded into place (if ordered).
• A 100-240 V AC input, 12 V DC output "brick" adapter with 1.8 m long power cable.
• 5 m long USB A-B cable for connecting camera to host PC.
• A CD-ROM with camera drivers, SIMS software package with electronic documentation and PDF version of this manual.
• A printed copy of this manual.