QHYCCD QHY90A User manual

QHY90A
All-in-one COLDMOS Astronomy Camera
User Manual
REV 1.0

Contents
01 PACKAGE CONTENTS...............................................................................................3
02 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION......................................................................................4
03 FILTER INSTALLATION..............................................................................................5
04 USE QHY90A WITH ASCOM......................................................................................6
05 USE QHY90A IN EZCAP_QT....................................................................................13
06 USE QHY90A IN FIRECAPTURE..............................................................................16
07 PERIPHERAL PORTS ON QHY90A .........................................................................17
08 FAQ ...........................................................................................................................19
09 OHY90A MECHANICAL SIZE...................................................................................25
10 SPECIFICATIONS.....................................................................................................29

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01 Package Contents
Item
Quantity
12V power cable
1
12V car power adapter
1
USB cable
1
Grounding cable
1
M42 to 2 inch adapter ring
1
Drying tube
1
Desiccant
1
USB hub bypass board
1
Screw driver for M2 hexagon screw
1
Screw driver for M3 hexagon screw
1
Screws for fixing filter frame and filter
many
Inspection report
1
White carton
1
OHYOAG-S
1
Camera
1
Optional accessories
Item
Quantity
12V power adaptor (12V 6A)
1
Trigger cable
1
RS232 cable (1.5m)
1
Screws set used to fasten filters
many

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02 Software Installation
1. Download and install ASCOM platform
2. Download and install the Camera Driver
Note that when you run its driver setup program, you will be prompted to install camera driver,
network card driver, and FTDI Serial port driver.
3. Download and install the ASCOM Capture Driver
4. Download and install the ASCOM Filters Plug for the built-in filter wheel.
5. QHY90A camera uses EZCAP_QT as the default capture software. Please download and
install EZCAP_QT.
6. Connect QHY90A to your PC with USB2.0 cable. Connect your QHY90A to 12V power supply. Make
sure 12V power supply is always connected when you use QHY90A. It is also highly recommended
that to use the 12V extension cable because it has self-locking function. Note that there are two power ports
on QHY90A, and these two ports are connected in parallel, so you can either one of these two as power
input port and use the other one as a power output port for other devices that need 12V power supply. Turn
the switch on. For the first time the system will find a new device and search the driver. You can keep
skipping the online searching by clicking "Skip obtaining driver software from Windows Update" and the
computer will find the drivers. After installation is complete successfully, you canfind the device in the device
manager as shown in the picture below.
7. QHYCCD has developed a software namedUpdateCheck that can check if the drivers installed on your
computer are the latest versions as well as update the drivers if needed. If the status of some driver is “Need
Update”, you can directly download its update package in this software freeing you from the inconvenience
of looking for and downloading it from our website.
Take QHY367C for example, you can see the drivers we need are the latest versions and don’t need to be
updated as shown in the following picture.
Note that after you downloading and installing the new drivers by using this software, be sure to pull the

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USB cable out and then plug it in to enable the new drivers.
03 Filter Installation
QHY90A contains a built-in 7-Hole 36mm filter wheel. Please follow the instructions below to install filters
for it.
1. Use the screwdriver included in the box to remove the screws on the topside of the camera.
2. You can see the filter wheel after opening the top cap. You can install 50mm filters and fix them with
screws and washers. Please make sure that filters and screws used for fixing the filters do not touch the
top cap and photoelectric position detector.
3. After you've finished installing the filters, you can turn on the camera and connect the camera to your
PC with USB cable to make sure the filter wheel can work properly. Note that the filter wheel use
photoelectric position detector to determine the position of the filter, so make sure you are not exposing
the filter wheel to strong light when you are testing if it can work properly, otherwise the strong light may
affect the photoelectric position detector.
4. Install the top cap.
Now we have finished installing filters, we are going to introduce how to use QHY90A in EZCAP_QT,
MAXIMDL, and Sequence Generator Pro.

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04 Use QHY90A with ASCOM
You can connect many software that support ASCOM. Currently QHY90A only supports normal ASCOM
connection and does not support the ASCOM VIDEO connection. Please note that QHY90A always
transfers maximum bit depth by ASCOM to make the best DSO imaging performance. The image format
is 16bit width and patch zero on low bit.
MAXIMDL
1. First you have to make sure that both ASCOM Platform and ASCOM driver have been installed. If
not, please install it first.
2. Start MAXIMDL
3. Follow the instructions shown below to finish the setup

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Normally, you can set the gain=15 and offset=132 to start. Keep clicking "Okay" to return to CameraControl
window
4. The following instructions are going to show you how to configure the built-in filter wheel in MAXIMDL.
Click "Setup Filter" in the Camera Control window

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4. The following instructions are going to show you how to configure the built-in filter wheel in MAXIMDL.
Click "Setup Filter" in the Camera Control window

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Sequence Generator Pro
Sequence Generator Pro is an extremely powerful image capture suite. It can perform many complex tasks
in order to meet your imaging needs. After you connect your gears and configure Sequence Generator Pro
properly, you can go to sleep and see images in the morning.
To use QHY90A in Sequence Generator Pro, you can follow the instructions listed below.
1. Open sequencer by clicking the button as shown in the picture below
2. Select “QHYCCD-Camera-Capture”, and click the “Chain” icon to connect

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3. Click the “wrench” icon to set up your camera
4. Select “QHYCCD FilterWheel”, click the “Chain” icon to connect

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5. Similarly, click the “wrench” icon to set up your filter wheel
Note that before you select QHYCCD Filter wheel as the filter and click the red connect button, you should
also make sure you've downloaded and installed the ASCOM Filters Plug for the built-in filter wheel, you've
plugged in the 12V power supply cable, and the initialization of filter wheel has been finished.
For more information, you can check its tutorials on the “Help” tab
NB: Since Sequence Generator Pro is based on profiles philosophy of your gear to perform
sequence automatically is recommend to configure a proper profile to get the best from the
software. You can use the same settings show above for this task. Please refer to Sequence
Generator Pro manual for further information about profiles

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05 Use QHY90A in EZCAP_QT
EZCAP_QT (V0.1.51.18)is a software made by QHYCCD. This software has both windows, linux and
MAC/OS version. This software created with the opensource QT software. This software can be modified
if you want the source code. It has the basic capture function and working in single frame mode.
1. Install EZCAP_QT software.
2. Connect your QHY90A to 12V power supply. Connect your QHY90A to your computer with USB3.0 cable.
3. Run EZCAP_QT. Select “Connect” in Menu->Camera. If the camera is successfully connected. The title
of EZCAP_QT will display the camera firmware version and the camera ID as shown below
You can change the language of the softwre at menu->language.
4. Before youclick "connect", make sure you can see QHY90A in the device manager onWindows. Sometimes
if you click "connect", you maysee the warning shown in the picture below.
That doesn't necessarily mean that the camera and your computer are not connected. In this case, you
can just wait for a minute and click 'connect' again, then you can see it will be connected successfully.
This is because it usually takes a while to load its firmware into your computer.
5. In Menu->Camera Setup, Click "Temp Control" and set the CCD sensor temperature. You can enable the
"Auto Control" and set the target temperature. For example here we set the temperature to -10C. The CMOS
temperature will come to -10C very fast (in about 2-3minute). If you want to close the TEC, you can select
"TEC OFF". If you just want to set the TEC power but not the temperature. You can select "Manual" and then
set the percent of the TEC power.

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6. You can select which filter you are going to use by changing the position of filter wheel as shown
in the following picture.
7. You can use the preview tab to do preview. And use the focus tools to do focus. Then use the
capture tab to capture image.

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8. In EZCAP_QT there is a planner for image tasking. You can capture a series images by using the
table below.

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06 Use QHY90A in FireCapture
The latest FireCapture supports QHY90A already. Please go to FireCapture website to download its v2.5
BETA (32-bit) version.
By default, it will be installed in the "Documents" folder. After it was installed successfully, navigate to
"Document folder", and you will find its installation folder as shown below.
Enter that folder and run "FireCapture.exe", then select QHYCCD camera. And after the loading, you will
see the image on FireCapture like shown below.
For detailed and helpful tutorial of this software, please go to its website to check the tutorial section at
http://www.firecapture.de/

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07 Peripheral Ports on QHY90A
Note that the camera used in the picture above isn’t QHY90A, it is QHY16803A. They have the same
peripheral ports.
Serial ports
QHY90A provides two serial ports, which are connected to the built-in USB hub through FTDI
USB to Serial chip. These two serial ports provide standard RS232 signal level (±10V). You can use it to
connect your camera to electric focuser and even equatorial mount. But note that this signal level is different
from TTL signal level used in EQMOD. If you want to connect your camera to equatorial mount through
EQMOD, A signal level convertor between TTL and RS232 is needed.
After you finished installing the drivers, the serial ports drivers should also be installed. You can check its
COM number in the device manager in the Windows so that you can use it in your application software.
Serial port cable is optional accessory, and QHYCCD is developing many types of serial port cable. You
can contact QHYCCD to know if there's serial port cable you need.
The pin arrangement is already shown in the picture above.
Trigger ports
There are a trigger-in port (left) and trigger-out port (right). Trigger-in port is a pulse input port. The camera
does not start exposure until it receives a pulse from its trigger-in port. Trigger-out port output a indicative
signal during the exposure cycle. These two ports use optocoupler. If you want to use these two ports, you
can consult QHYCCD for detail method for electric connection.
Grounding port
Keep the camera in good contact with the earth is the premise that the entire shooting system can work
safely and properly. So QHY90A provides a grounding port. This port is connected to the GND on the PCB
in the camera, and the GND is also the cathode of the 12V power supply. The grounding wire is included in
the package, you can use it to connect the camera to other equipment (Metal case of the equatorial mount
or metal case of PC) so that they have common ground. If you have no experience about it, please consult
professional electrician.

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Caution: Never connect the grounding port to any electrical socket or outlet, otherwise, electrical shock
may happen.
Note that the camera used in the picture above isn’t QHY90A, it is QHY16803A. They have the same
peripheral ports.
12V power ports
These two ports are connected in parallel, so you can either one of these two as power input port and use
the other one as a power output port for other devices that need 12V power supply.
USB type-A ports
These two ports are USB expansion ports connected to the built-in USB hub, you can use it to connect with
guide camera or other USB devices. This two ports can output 500 mA current. To reduce the power load
of the internal circuit, it's recommended to reduce the use of current.
QHY A series Cameras have a USB hub board in them. And these two USB type-A ports along with these
two serial ports aforementioned are all branched out by the USB hub board. However, in some particular
condition, it results in conflict and the camera will stop working. For example, in the condition where there
equatorial mount you are using also has a built-in hub or where you used a USB hub already. In this case,
you need to install the USB Hub bypass board (small red- colored board) included in the package.
For detailed instruction of how to install the USB hub bypass board, please check the content in the following
link.
After you've installed that, those two USB type-A ports and those two serial ports become invalid.
USB type-B port
This port is used to connect the camera to the computer.

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08 FAQ
1. What's the back focus length of this QHY90A?
The back focus length is 33mm. If it is used with QHYOAG-S and M42 adapter, the back focus length will
be extended to 46mm.
2. How to clean the CCD sensor and the optic windows of the camera?
Usually you can use flat fielding calibrationtoeliminate the shadowresulted from dust. It's not recommended
to open the CCD chamber to clean the CCD on your own. Because if you do it in a place where there are
still lots of dust, your effort may backfire. Besides, during theprocess of cleaning, you may scratch the CCD,
and you may damage the internal circuit when you open the camera.
QHYCCD provides CCD clean service. The cleaning fee is 100 USD per time and it doesn't include the
shipping cost.
If you really want to clean it on your own, you can follow the instructions below.
Note that the camera used in instructions are QHY16200A not QHY90A, but they have similar structure.
Follow the instruction carefully.
You need to prepare the tools by yourself to open the camera.
Remove all the screws on front of the camera case and remove the front case
You will see two screws to fix the filter wheel case (the middle layer of the camera). Unscrew them.

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You will see the power PCB board. Remove the two screw of the power PCB board
Remove the three cable carefully.