QHYCCD QHY600 User manual

QHY600
COLDMOS Astronomy Camera
User Manual

Contents
01 PACKAGE CONTENTS...............................................................................................3
02 IMPORTANT HINT OF USING THE CAMERA............................................................4
04 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION......................................................................................6
05 DESCRIPTION OF EARTH INTERFACE....................................................................7
06 USE QHY600 IN SHARPCAP......................................................................................7
07 USE QHY600 WITH ASCOM ....................................................................................10
08 USE QHY168M IN EZCAP_QT .................................................................................13
10 USING QHY600 IN N.I.N.A. - NIGHTTIME IMAGING 'N' ASTRONOMY 64BIT........16
11 FAQ ...........................................................................................................................18
13 OHY600 MECHANICAL SIZE....................................................................................22
14 SPECIFICATIONS.....................................................................................................26

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01 Package Contents
USB3.0 cable(1.5m)
1
All version
Self-locking power cable
1
All version
Car power adapter
1
All version
Drying tube
1
All version
Desiccant
1
Note. From 2018 the China custom
house prevent the delivery of the silicon
gel to some country. So this item is may
not included
Inspection report
1
All version
Driver download card
1
All version
QHY600 camera with center/tilt adjust ring
1
All version
0.5mm-13.5mm spacer with 6 holes
1
Early Bird Price Only
0-300meter Short distance 10G fiber module
2
Professional Version Only
5meter fiber
2
Professional Version Only
12V AC power adapter and cable
1
Optional *. For this item. Some area of
dealer may includes it some may not.
QHYCCD Fiber Image Graber Card PCI-E
1
Optional *. Need to order seperately.
Avalible in 2019.12.

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02 Important hint of using the camera
How to reboot the camera
QHY600 is designed as using the +12V to reboot the camera, Not using the disconnect/reconnect USB
method. So if you want to reboot the camera, just shut down the +12V and then power on it. This feature
is very useful for the remotely obs. You can use a remotely controllable powersupply to reboot the camera.
No need to consider how to do USB reconnecting in remotely conditions.
So please note that when you wanting to reboot the camera, just show down/power on the +12V, Not
disconnect/reconnect the USB.
What is the readout mode of QHY600?
The readout mode is the different CMOS drive timing and settings. Different read mode will have different
performance like the different fullwell, different readout noise and different of other noise behaviour. Since
different readmode has its advantages and disadvantages, so we allow user to set different readout mode.
Currently both the ASCOM driver, SharpCAP support these
options. QHY600 has three readout mode currently.
Image Area Layout
QHY600 can output the whole image with the optic black area and overscan area. The total image size
includes the Optic black area is 9600*6422. The optic black area is on the left of the image and
the overscan area is on bottom of the image.
The different of optic black area and overscan area is that the optic black area includes the dark current
during long exposure while the overscan area does not includes the dark current during exposure time.
Both optic black area and overscan area cannot response to the light. Therefore, it is regards as the "Non-
Effective" area In the Bottom of the overscan area. You may find some "vertical dot lines" in single frame
and after stacking it will become some vertical lines, one explain of the reason of this is the "FPN calibraiton
results” represented in the overcan area. In the effective image area, you will not find this.
The following picture is the left bottom corner of a 300sec dark image. You can find this area.

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The optic black area and overscan area use for precise calibration and for the calibration without the bias
frame and dark frame, or other scientific using. Due to it is anon-image area. QHYCCD does notguarantee
the signal quality in the overscan area. If you do not use this area, you can select the option "ignore
overscan area" in the ASCOM driver or select a ROI of effective area range in SharpCAP.
Input Voltage Requirement
The QHY600 requires the input voltage between 11V to 13.8V. If the input voltage is too low it will cause
the camera not working or reboot if the TEC power percent is high. So please make sure the input voltage
arrived to the camera is enough. The best is 12V. Please note there is the resistance for the 12V power
cable. If the cable is very long, when in high power, the resistance will cause a voltage drop on this
cable. The formula is:
V (drop) = I * R (cable)
We recommend that avoid to use a very long 12V power cable. You can put the 12V AC adatper more
close to the camera.
64BIT Software
One of the QHY600 image is 120MBytes. It will take much more memory to capture, buffer, and display
and process it. So that we recommend to use the 64bit software for QHY600. eg:SharpCAP x64 , N.I.N.A
x6 etc. Although there is 4GB memory for 32bit but since there is many 32bit software will run within this
memory area, so the remain memory is not so much.

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04 Software Installation
1.Download and install the camera driver (link)
2.Download and install the ASCOM platform (link)
3.Download and install the ASCOM driver (link)
As you most probably want to use your QHY168M as an expose camera, please download the Capture
version. If you want to use it as a guide camera, please download the Guide version.
4.QHY168M QHY600 camera supports SharpCap as the video capture software(working in streaming
mode).(Note: Because the QHY600 pixel is relatively large, it is recommended to use the SharpCap 64bit
version.)
Note that for the latest version of SharpCap, QHY600 also needs the latest qhyccd.dll, for which QHYCCD
has written the SharpCap patch, please download and install it. You can also download from QHYCCD
SDK page to obtain it. The original filename qhyccd_x64.dll. You can rename it to qhyccd.dll and overwrite
the old file in SharpCAP X64 folder.
5.First connect the QHY600 to the 12V power supply, then connect the QHY600 camera to your computer
via the USB3.0 cable. Make sure the QHY600 is plugged in before connecting the camera to the computer,
otherwise the camera will not recognize it. When you connect for the first time, the system discovers new
devices and looks for drivers. You can skip the online search step by clicking "Skip driver software from
Windows Update" and the computer will automatically find the driver and install it locally. When the driver
software is successfully installed, you can see QHY5IIISeries_IO in the device manager, as shown below.
Once you have downloaded and installed the new driver, unplug the USB cable and plug it in again for
the new driver to take effect.

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05 Description of Earth Interface
One back case of the QHY600, There is the USB3.0 port, 4PIN QHYCFW port, 12V power input port and
two 10 Gigabit Optic Fiber port （Professional version and early bird version only)
One side of the camera front part, there is a silicone gel tube socket. Normally it is filled with a screw with
the O-ring. If the CMOS sensor chamber need to be dry, you can connect the silicone gel tube and make
sure the silicone gel tube filled with the effective silicone gel. If you are using the gel without package, you
need to install a small cotton to avoid the gel enter to the CMOS chamber
06 Use QHY600 in SharpCap
1. Copy the lastest QHYCCD SDK to the SHARPCAP folder to replace the old one), For 32bit
SharpCAP, just copy and overwrite it. For 64bit SharpCAP, you need to copy theqhyccd_x64.dll and rename
it to qhyccd.dll to overwrite the old one.
2. Connect the QHY600 to the 12V power supply and connect your QHY600 to the computer using the
USB3.0 data cable.
3. Turn on SharpCap. If the software and drivers mentioned above are installed successfully, the video
image will appear automatically in about 3sec after the software begin to working, and you can also see the
frame rate in the lower left corner of the software, as shown below.
4. If you have already started the SharpCap software before connecting the camera, in order to open the
camera, you can click on the camera in the menu bar and then select QHY600.
5. Offset adjustment, when you completely block the camera, you may find that the image is not really

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black. Sometimes this will reduce the quality of the image contrast. You can get a better dark field by
adjusting the offset. You can confirm this by opening the histogram as indicated in the figure below.
6. If you want to enter the 16bit image mode, just then adjust to the "RAW16" mode.
7. By selecting the “LX” mode, you can extend the exposure duration range for long exposures. The QHY600
has zero amplifer glow. So that you cannot see any glow in long exposure time. You may need to set the
temperature options for the target temperature for auto temperature regulated mode, or set the target
PWM percent for consitance TEC power mode.
A long exposure image at -10°C, 60s exposure time, 100 gain setting.

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8. After the QHY600 is connected to the 12V power supply, the temperature control circuit will be activated.
You can control the CMOS temperature by adjusting the settings in the figure below.

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07 Use QHY600 with ASCOM
QHY600 works on many software that supports the ASCOM platform. Currently QHY600 only supports
regular ASCOM connection, but does not support ASCOM VIDEO connection. It should be noted that the
QHY600 will always transmit the largest bit depth to get the best DSO imaging performance. The format of
the image is 16bit, the high bit is aligned, and the low bit is zero.
MAXIMDL
1. First you have to makesure 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
Need to click Connect before shooting.

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After connecting the software, follow the steps to set the cooling temperature.

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08 Use QHY600 in EZCAP_QT
EZCAP_QT (V0.1.51.18)is a software developed by QHYCCD. It has basic shooting functions for the
QHYCCD deep space camera. You can download and use it in the link below.
1. Install the EZCAP_QT software;
2. First connect the QHY600 to the 12V power supply, then connect the QHY600 camera to your computer
via the USB3.0 cable.
3. Start EZCAP_QT and click “Connect” in Menu->Camera. If the camera is successfully connected, the
title of EZCAP_QT software will display the firmware version of the camera and the ID of the camera, as
shown.
4. Click “Temperature Control” in “Camera Settings” to set the temperature of the CMOS sensor. You can
turn on “Auto” to set the target temperature. For example, here we set the target temperature to -10C. The
temperature of the CMOS sensor will drop quickly to this temperature (approximately 2-3 minutes). If you
want to turn off cooling, you can choose Stop. If you only want to set the cooling power without setting the
temperature, you can set the percentage of power.
5. You can use the preview tab to preview and use the focus tool to focus. Then use the Capture tab to
capture the image.

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6. There is an image task planner in EZCAP_QT, you can take a series of images with reference to the
following table.

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10 Using QHY600 in N.I.N.A. - Nighttime Imaging 'N'
Astronomy 64bit
1. Connect the QHY600 to the 12V power supply and connect your QHY600 to the computer using
the USB3.0 data cable.
2. Open N.I.N.A. - Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy. Drive connections via ASCOM.
The latest FireCapture supports QHY63M already.
3. Turn on the chiller set temperature.

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4. Set the exposure time to capture the image

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11 FAQ
1. How to avoid camera stuck?
If the camera is stuck all the time, it may be caused by a variety of reasons, you can followthe prompts
below to check.
1) Whether your computer is configured with a VIA chipset or some type of motherboard, it does not
appear on SharpCap (but works on ASCOM). In this case, you need to turn on the camera's DDR
buffer.
2) Is your computer and equatorial device leaking? This may cause leakage current to be transferred
from the computer to the camera through GND. This may affect USB transmission, loss of data
packets, and camera jam. You need to make sure the computer and the equatorial mount are well
grounded.
3) Is the voltage of the USB interface high enough? Some computers have a USB interface voltage of
less than 5V. This may cause the camera to get stuck. In this case, you can choose to connect the
computer to the camera by using the USB3.0 Hub with power supply, which ensures that the camera
gets 5V.
4) Is the CPU usage too high? If the CPU usage is too high, it will cause many frames to be lost and
the camera will be stuck. You can increase the USB traffic value to lower the FPS for more stable
image transmission.
5) Is the USB cable securely connected? Sometimes problems with the connection of the camera to
the USB cable and problems with the connection of the computer to the USB cable can result in loss
of signal and jamming of the camera. Especially when the USB cable is moving. In this case, you can
try applying some silicone oil to the USB connector and the socket section. This will make the USB
connection more stable.
6) Avoid static electricity. Sometimesstatic electricity carried onthe human body can causethe camera
to become stuck. Before touching the camera, you can touch the computer case to discharge static
electricity.
7) Some computers have a front USB interface that is not suitable for high-speed data transmission
(because they are connected to the motherboard through a cable, which makes signal integrity worse).
If you find that the camera is stuck when the front USB port is in use, you can try connecting the
camera to its rear USB port (they are directly connected to the motherboard's chipset).
2. How to clean the CMOS sensor and optical window?
If you find dust on the CMOS sensor, you can first unscrew the front half of the QHY600 and then
clean the CMOS sensor with the cleaning kit for the SLR camera sensor. Because the QHY600's
CMOS sensor has an AR coating, care must be taken during the cleaning process.
The glass window has an infrared filter coating and an anti-reflection coating. Therefore, care must be
taken during the cleaning process. You can also use the SLR cleaning tool or lens paper for cleaning.
Note that the force should not be too large, because the coating is very fragile and can be easily
scratched.
3. What is the camera's built-in DDR buffer? What are its advantages?
The QHY600 has a built-in 1GB（8Gbit）/ 2GB（16Gbit）DDR3 image buffer. It has two
advantages:
It can buffer the entire image to avoid loss during USB transmission. Because the CMOS sensor will
continue to be exposed as soon as it starts working, the image will be output, and it will not stop.
However, the computer will pause the USB transfer because of the multitasking characteristics of the

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operating system. If the pause time is too long, the buffer with small storage capacity in the USB will
be full, resulting in the loss of the upcoming data. It is also possible to cause partial data loss of one
frame to form a bad frame. For short exposures, this may not cause too much problems, but for long
exposures, this means losing a long exposure image. The 1GB（8Gbit）/ 2GB（16Gbit）
DDR3 buffer solves this problem by storing and transmitting the entire frame of images. Even if the
USB transfer is paused for a long time, no data will be lost.
Another advantage is that when using some computers that are not running fast or have poor support
for USB3.0, it will make the video images more delicate and smooth. These computers can't transfer
high-speed data well, and the data will often be lost. With DDR. A buffer that buffers a lot of image
data and sends it to the computer. Even if USB 3.0 frequently suspends transmission, it will ensure
that data is not lost. There are options in SharpCap toturn DDR buffering on or off. The current version
of the ASCOM driver has been working in DDR mode.
4. How to protect the refrigerator?
The QHY600's chiller can achieve an ambient temperature difference of nearly 35 °C. You should
avoid thermal shock during use. The so-called thermal shock refers to the internal strong stress that
the refrigerator has to withstand due to the thermal expansion and contraction principle when the
temperature of the refrigerator suddenly rises or falls. The thermal shock of the distance shortens the
life of the refrigerator. Even completely damage the refrigerator.
Therefore, when you start using the chiller to adjust the CMOS temperature, you should avoid turning
the chiller to maximum power and gradually increase the chiller power. If the power of the chiller is
high before disconnecting the power supply, you should also gradually reduce the power of the chiller
and then disconnect the power supply.
5. Horizontal banding Optimize
It is a common behavior for CMOS sensor which contains some horizontal banding. Normally speaking
the random horizontal banding can be removed with multiple frame stacking so it will not effect the
image. The periodic horizontal banding cannot be removed with stacking so it will bring some problem
for the image. For QHY600, by adjust the USB traffic in both Single Frame mode and Live Frame
mode, you can adjust thefrequency point of the CMOS sensor driver and it can optimize the horizontal
banding appeared on the image. This optimized is very effective to remove the periodic banding in
some conditions.
A typical Periodic Horizontal Noise under certain USB_TRAFFIC value

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After Adjust the USB_Traffic to avoid the periodic horizontal noise