QHY183C Sensor Analysis and Recommended Gain

Post Reply
MarMax
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2021 11:43 pm

QHY183C Sensor Analysis and Recommended Gain

#1

Post by MarMax »

After searching a bunch here and on CN it seems like the most recommended Gain and Offset for the QHY183C is Gain = 11 (unity) and Offset = 30. It is also recommended to not use a Gain value higher than 18.

Here is the recent Sensor Analysis result for my 183:

Image

I know running the Sensor Analysis allows me to utilize the Brain function but I'm planning to keep things simple in terms of darks and will initially only create darks for one gain setting and a few exposure settings. I'm doing EAA in my Bortle 7-8 back yard and would like to use exposures of 15 seconds or 8 seconds. Based on the Sensor analysis what is the sweet spot Gain to use?
User avatar
admin
Site Admin
Posts: 13173
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2017 3:52 pm
Location: Vale of the White Horse, UK
Contact:

Re: QHY183C Sensor Analysis and Recommended Gain

#2

Post by admin »

Hi,

that's going to depend on the F-number of the telescope you are using. If your scope is f/5 then it sounds like gain 10-15 will work with your proposed exposure lengths (up to 15s). If you are a longer f-ratio then you will need higher gain and/or longer exposures.

The advantage of running the brain functionality is that it will measure your sky brightness in terms of electrons/pixel/second, which is the key number needed to predict the exposure/gain to use. There is a tool to *estimate* this value here (but a measurement is obviously better!) : https://tools.sharpcap.co.uk/

cheers,

Robin
Post Reply