presents
Professional CCD Cameras for Astronomy
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We are happy to offer professional CCD cameras from Bitran Corporation of Japan. Bitran Corporation has many years of experience in developing cooled CCD cameras for industrial and astronomical applications. Here is the manufacturers homepage, but Japanese language only!
Concept of Bitran BJ-40 Series CCD Camera
Camera types of Bitran BJ-40 Series CCD camera
BJ-40 type with middle sized Sony sensor ICX415 is suitable for small fields. Monochrome BJ-40L offers high sensitivity as well as high full well capacity and one shot color BJ-40C is a high quality planetary imager.
First produced camera type of BJ-40 Series was BJ-41 with SONY ICX285AL/Q CCD sensor, introduced in July 2002 by Bitran Corporation. Since then, it is the best sold astronomical CCD camera in Japan.
Then, Flagship BJ-42L with 22mm sized Kodak sensor KAI-4021 and 4 Million pixel is preferrable for large format imaging. Monochrome BJ-42L is an amazing imager with outstanding capabilities. Please enjoy two example images with wonderful BJ-42L: The Moon (size 430kB) as a single 0.05sec exposure, carefully processed, for zooming to 200% image size! And NGC7380 with emission nebula Sh2-142 (size 800kB) as a stack of three 10min. exposures. Both taken under moderate sky conditions with Pentax 105SD from our location near to Zurich!
Ausfuerliche und aktuelle Informationen auf Deutsch finden Sie bei unserem Anbieter in der Schweiz, AOKswiss.
Camera Specifications:
| Camera name | BJ-40L | BJ-40C | BJ-41L | BJ-41C | BJ-42L | BJ-42C |
| Camera type | monochrome | Basic RGB pattern | monochrome | Basic RGB pattern | monochrome | Basic RGB pattern |
| CCD sensor | Sony ICX415AL ABG | Sony ICX415AQ ABG | Sony ICX285AL ABG | Sony ICX285AQ ABG | Kodak KAI-4021M ABG | Kodak KAI-4021CM ABG |
| Sensor quality | Sony standard grade with only 5-10 defective pixel, automatically corrected | Class 2, no column defects | ||||
| Imaging area | 6.4mm x 4.8mm | 8.8mm x 6.6mm | 15.16mm x 15.16mm | |||
| Pixel of imaging area | 0.45 Mio or 772x580 pixel | 1.4 Mio or 1360x1024 pixel | 4 Mio or 2048x2048 pixel | |||
| Pixel size | 8.3 x 8.3 micrometer | 6.45 x 6.45 micrometer | 7.4 x 7.4 micrometer | |||
| Exposure times of electronic shutter | 0.001s, 0.002s, 0.004s, 0.008s, 0.01s - 0.99s in 0.01s steps,1s - 1h in 0.1s steps | 0.001s, 0.002s, 0.004s, 0.008s, 0.01s - 0.99s in 0.01s steps,1s - 1h in 0.1s steps | 0.03s - 0.99s in 0.01s steps,1s - 1h in 0.1s steps | |||
| Fullframe read-out time (*) | 1.6s (USB 1.1 and USB 2.0) | 4.4s (USB 1.1 and USB 2.0) | 4.5s USB 2.0 , 12s USB 1.1 | |||
| Pixel binning and read-out time (*) | 2x2 in 0.4s | 2x2 in 0.4s (only B&W) | 2x2 in 1.1s, 3x3 in 0.6s, 4x4 in 0.5s | 2x2 in 1.1s , 4x4 in 0.5s (only B&W) | 2x2 in 1.1s, 3x3 in 0.6s, 4x4 in 0.5s | 2x2 in 1.1s , 4x4 in 0.5s (only B&W) |
| Maximum imaging rate of center pixel field (*) | 4 images per second at 256x256 pixel | 4 images per second at 256x256 pixel, 1 image per second at 512x512 pixel | 4 images per second at 256x256 pixel, 1 image per second at 512x512 and 0.5 image per second at 1024x1024 pixel | |||
| Cooling type | Single stage Peltier element, power control by software ; cooling support by water cycle possible | |||||
| Minimum cooling down | -30°C below camera body temperature | -25°C below camera body temperature | ||||
| Adaption / Backfocus | 31.7mm (1.25") drawtube adapter with M28 filter thread, connected to camera head by C-mount thread. Backfocus 17.5mm | 50.8mm (2") drawtube adapter with M48 filter thread, connected to camera head by M42 P0.75 thread. Backfocus 17.5mm | ||||
| Power | DC 12V, max. power consumption 2A | |||||
| Camera head size | 78mm (W) x 110mm (H) 91.5mm (D) ; weight 550g | 78mm (W) x 110mm (H) 120mm (D) ; weight 600g | ||||
| Connection to PC | Standard parallel cable between camera and USB interface BPU-04 ; 50cm USB cable to PC | |||||
| Supported file format | Bitran 16bit raw file format (ccd, drk, flt), FITS, TIFF, BMP | |||||
| OS and Software | Control Software (only English language) works with Windows XP Home Edition, XP Professional, 2000, ME. MaxImDL Interface available | |||||
| (*) with Pentium III 600MHz and Windows XP Home Edition | ||||||
For more information, please download our Manual (size 1.72 Mb as PDF).
Please have a look at some images, made by us with CCD cameras from Bitran:
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Prices: Please ask for actual price.
Conditions: Each camera is produced when ordered, so delivery of CCD camera to customer takes about 3-4 weeks. Payment before delivery.
Support: You will enjoy our support based on long term experience in astronomical CCD imaging, satisfaction guaranteed!
Guarantee: Valid for six months after delivery, standard Japanese Manufacturer's Guarantee by Bitran Corporation, Japan.
Accessories: On purpose we do not offer much accessories, but we do individual consulting. Please ask us about everything, we will help you as best as possible.
Notes: Although Japanese BJ camera features autoguiding, we did not implement autoguiding for English BJ Series. But of course manual guiding is possible. Please do not buy Japanese BJ Series CCD camera, support for Japanese BJ Series CCD camera is only valid in Japan and you cannot use Japanese BJ Series CCD camera with English software. Also, English BJ Series CCD camera cannot be sold to USA and Canada. If still Japanese or English BJ Series CCD cameras are used in USA and Canada, there is no liability, guarantee and support by Bitran Corporation, Japan and by The CCD Astronomer, Switzerland.
For more specific information, please feel free to contact us!
Our company:
The CCD Astronomer
& Jan de Lignie
Located at Zurich-Kloten, Switzerland
Email: info(at)the-ccd-astronomer.ch
Copyright © 2009 by The CCD Astronomer, Switzerland
