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Atik ATK 16 C

ATK16 C Gallery

The new Atik 16 line of cooled CCD cameras has been specifically designed with the amateur imager in mind. With a groundbreaking price-performance ratio, quality and ease of use, the new ATK-16 line brings advanced features within reach of everyone.

The idea behind the ATK-16C camera is to have an upgrade path to the existing ATK-1C and ATK-2C color air cooled CCD cameras. Simplicity and ease of use are maintained, but there’s a substantial increase performance wise.

Full color imaging is now possible, reducing the time necessary for RGB imaging. One exposure captures all colors simultaneously.

High sensitivity was one of our goals. We reached it by using the Sony ICX-429AKL ExView CCD, with excellent response in the H-alpha region, vertical anti-blooming, and very low dark noise.

A 16 Bit Analogue to Digital Converter is now standard, meaning that over 65500 levels of grayscale per color channel are available (48 bits), compared with the 256 levels on the Atk-1C and 2C cameras (24 bits).

Peltier thermo-electric cooling is used, maintaining the CCD at 25ºC below ambient temperature, which means that much lower thermal noise is generated on the CCD. Exposures of over 20 minutes are now possible, and the need of dark frames is greatly reduced. A very high quality BK7 optical window is used, with very high transmission coatings. Basically, the window “disappears” when looked at.

A few engineering improvements have been also made. For example, power requirements have been maintained to a minimum, with only 800mA of consumption, and 12V input has been used, eliminating the need of extra power supplies in the field. Also, a Magnetic Levitating fan is used, to minimize any residual vibration.

A guider port allows the camera to be used as an AutoGuider, and it’s compatible with the ST4 type pin out.

Another interesting feature is the communications port. This port enables the camera to communicate with external peripherals, such as a motorized filter wheel, focuser, etc. Some of those accessories are already under development.

What’s included in the box?

• Camera body with 1.25" adapter

• 3 meter USB cable

• 1.8 meter battery power connector (Car lighter plug)

• CD-ROM with drivers, software and User’s manual (PDF)

• Quickstart guide (paper)

• High quality Pelican carry case

Both cameras include proprietary software for capture, but Maxim DL and AstroArt plug-ins are also supplied.

An optional mains Power supply unit is also available.

System requirements: Pentium II class PC, with 64MB RAM, Windows 98 or later, CD-ROM drive and USB port.

ATK16C Technical Specifications

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