ATK-1HS camera

There are a few folks (David Tyler, Damian Peach) that use this camera. I am wondering how it compares to the Toucam? I know it is a monochrome cam, but seems to do RGB quite nicely. I'm really curious about it's ease of use, compared to the Toucam as well as sensitivity, etc.

The SAC4-II I bought is pretty complex for my weak mind and I am hoping this camera would be easier to use. Any idea on how the 2C and 2HS compares? I am going to join the Atik group to get feedback there too, but I'm just curious on people's feeling here too.

Thanks!!
Paul Maxson

(You can contact me offline if you prefer.)

Hi Paul,

without having used a ATK-1HS I guess it's identical to a ToUcam Pro with ICX098BL b/w CCD for lunar and planetary imaging. The long exposure capabilities and active cooling are unimportant for planetary work unless we image through extreme UV or IR passfilters (needing very good seeing).
Has anyone seen the PCBA of an ATK ? Is it a modified ToUcam ?
For planetary work I find monochrome USB2 or firewire cams much more interesting. The high possible framerates and data transfer without compression losses are very promising to image fast rotating planets like Jupiter and Mars and to detect cloud features on Saturn. The Lumenera LU-75 that Paolo uses should be one of the best planetary cams available (http://www.lumenera.com/industrial/lu075.html). It features a 10Bit output, very high frame rates and a more sensitive 1/3" sensor compared to a 1/4" CCD (although the 7.4µm^2 pixel size requires a x1,32 focal length extension to reach the same image scale than with 5.6µm^2 pixels). Also interesting are the ImagingSource DMK21F04 used be Wesley (http://www.1394imaging.com/products/cameras/) and the Fire-I monochrome board (http://www.unibrain.com/1394_products/fire-i_board_cam/fire-i_board_camera.htm) - both Firewire. I just bought the Fire-I mono board but had no time so far to prepare it for imaging or test it at the scope :S
The only drawback of the DMk or Fire-I should be the longest exposure time of a real ~1/31s. The ToUcam delivers a true 1/5s at the "1/25s" setting and 5FPS for comparison. A hardware mod for the Fire-I is known to couple the exposure time directly to the framerate...

Best regards & clear skies,
Oliver

Hi Paul,
I use the Atik-1HS Monochrome for my lunar images and I am very bpleased with the performance. I do not understand how Damian and others get color images using it. So, when you figure that out please let me know. I prefer it to the Toucam on lunar B&W images. I also use the Atik 1C color camera for color images of the Planets (Saturn so far). I used it for the Saturn image published in the March issue of S&T. I like it but feel it is about as good as the Toucam, certainly no worse. The one negative thing about the Atik cameras which I have heard no ione else mention, is that the Toucam is lightwieght with a lightweight cable, and minimal tightening of the screw on the eyepiece holder is all you need to secure it. I have had both of my Atik cameras hit the floor on several occasions because the cable is so heavy that it will pull the camera out of the eyepiece holder if you have not tightened the screw snuggly and I mean really tightend it down.

Jim Phillips