Change of heart...

Jupiter is fast setting in the west, and non-zenith observing times are decreasing. Since I am obstructed for the most part to the west, it's east and zenith for me as far as ecliptic targets go. With that in mind I decided to table the ETX/mallincam project for the moment and I have committed my christmas cash to a new planetary imager. I want to crank up the planetary imaging while I still have targets. I rarely get up early for anything, so evening observing is best, however Jupiter's progression means it won't be around to much longer in prime observation area for me.

As I lamented in the previous post, the NexImage imager looks like it has heard the fat lady sing. Supplies are all dried up, and price gougers on ebay are taking advantage of that fact. I wanted a good imager, but I just cannot afford to plop down 400 bucks for a DF/MK imager from Imaging Source. In the 200 dollar price range, there just isn't a lot to choose from. I did however run across a 215 dollar chinese generic camera that utilizes a 2048x1536 1/2 inch CMOS color sensor (Micron MT9T001) with high frame rates. The closest priced color CMOS camera from Imaging Source was the DFK22AUC03 at 289.00 and it was a much smaller 1/3 inch chip with max. resolution of 744x480. Assuming the specs for the chinese knock-off micron camera are accurate, it should be a really good performer with much more bang/buck ratio than the little blue I.S. boxes. Purists have already cautioned me saying I should save up and stick with a the I.S. cameras, but if the micron color CMOS chips are good enough for them, they should be equally as good in the knock-off.

At the end of the day, I don't care what name is on the camera (which is good, since this chinese knock off doesn't have a name) so long as the performance is up to spec. I know I am taking a gamble on this, but looking over the data sheet, I think I will be happier with this imager than the lowest price DFK. I hope so anyway, you can count on me posting my results and thoughts about it here. BTW, here is a picture of the cam...