Moravian Instruments C4-16000 with Gsense 4040 CMT sensor

Moravian Instruments C4-16000 with Gsense 4040 CMT sensor

CMOS sensor 4160 x 4096 pixels, USB 3.0 interface. The license agreement doesn't allow the use of this camera for electron microscopy.

The C4-16000 cooled scientific CMOS camera sensors offer the same geometry like the CCDs in the famous G4-16000 cameras — sensor size 37 × 37 mm, 9 μm pixels and 16 MPx (4k × 4k) resolution. Also the mechanical design of C4 cameras inherits from G4 Mark II cameras, which makes the C4 camera line fully compatible with vast range of telescope adapters, off-axis guider adapters, filter wheels, Camera Ethernet adapters, guiding cameras etc.

Mechanical design of the C4 series of astronomical CMOS cameras inherits from earlier CCD-based G4 Mark II cameras, which makes the C4 camera line fully compatible with vast range of telescope adapters, off-axis guider adapters, filter wheels, Camera Ethernet adapters, guiding cameras etc.

Rich software and driver support allow usage of C4 camera without necessity to invest into any 3rd party software package thanks to included free SIPS software package. However, ASCOM (for Windows) and INDI (for Linux) drivers and Linux driver libraries are shipped with the camera, provide the way to integrate C4 camera with broad variety of camera control programs.

The C4 cameras are designed to work in cooperation with a host Personal Computer (PC). As opposite to digital still cameras, which are operated independently on the computer, the scientific cooled cameras usually require computer for operation control, image download, processing and storage etc. To operate the camera, you need a computer which:

1. Is compatible with a PC standard and runs modern 32 or 64-bit Windows operating system.

2. Is an x86 or ARM based computer and runs 32 or 64-bit Linux operating system.

   Remark:

   Drivers for 32-bit and 64-bit Linux systems are provided, but the SIPS camera control and image processing software, supplied with the camera, requires Windows operating system.

3. Support for x64 based Apple Macintosh computers is also included.

   Remark:

   Only certain software packages are currently supported on Mac.

C4 cameras are designed to be attached to host PC through very fast USB 3.0 port. While C4 cameras remain compatible with older (and slower) USB 2.0 interface, image download time is significantly longer.

Alternatively, it is possible to use the Moravian Camera Ethernet Adapter device. This device can connect up to four Cx (and CCD based Gx) cameras of any type (not only C4, but also C1, C2 and C3) and offers 1 Gbps and 10/100 Mbps Ethernet interface for direct connection to the host PC. Because the PC then uses TCP/IP protocol to communicate with the cameras, it is possible to insert WiFi adapter or other networking device to the communication path.

Download speed is naturally significantly slower when camera is attached over Ethernet adapter, especially when compared with direct USB 3 connection.

The C4 cameras need an external power supply to operate. It is not possible to run the camera from the power lines provided by the USB cable, which is common for simple imagers. C4 cameras integrate highly efficient CMOS sensor cooling, shutter and possibly filter wheel, so their power requirements significantly exceed USB line power capabilities. On the other side separate power source eliminates problems with voltage drop on long USB cables or with drawing of laptop batteries etc.

Also note the camera must be connected to some optical system (e.g. the telescope) to capture images. The camera is designed for long exposures, necessary to acquire the light from faint objects. If you plan to use the camera with the telescope, make sure the whole telescope/mount setup is capable to track the target object smoothly during long exposures.