ToupTek ATR428M Mono Cooled Camera

The ToupTek ATR428M is a cooled mono astronomy camera with Sony’s IMX428: 7.1 megapixels of 4.5 µm pixels on a 1.1″ sensor, with a global shutter.

The global shutter reads every pixel at the same moment, so there’s no rolling-shutter distortion on the Sun, the Moon or fast-moving targets. In mono it’s well suited to hydrogen-alpha solar imaging. Cooling also makes it a deep-sky camera: 4.5 µm pixels match medium and long focal lengths, sampling at about 1.2″ per pixel at 800 mm.

It sits between the ATR432, with fewer, larger pixels, and the rolling-shutter cameras with more resolution.

Cooling, dew and power

Two-stage cooling takes the sensor up to 45 °C below the air temperature. It holds the set point to within 0.1 °C, so dark frames can be reused from night to night. A heater on the front window has four power settings and can be switched off in software. Cooling needs 12 V; the 12 V 3 A power supply is in the box.

Back focus and connections

Back focus is 17.5 mm from the M42 thread. Adapter rings and extension tubes are included to build out to the spacing your flattener or reducer needs, usually 55 mm. A 512 MB buffer holds each frame while it transfers, so a slow USB link doesn’t drop frames.