SkyRaider DS16cTEC / DS16mTEC
The MallinCam DS16cTEC / DS16mTEC - designed from the ground up to accommodate the most demanding wide field astronomical imaging applications. Since most CMOS sensors cannot be directly cooled via a cold finger without causing damage and delamination with time which will ultimately shorten their life, a new cooling system had to be developed by MallinCam. The development of a unique cooling system that provides no direct physical contact between the Peltier cooler and the sensor. Instead, the Peltier cooler creates a convection system “refrigerator-like” environment that cools the sensor without actually contacting it. This cooling system is unique to MallinCam and not found on other astronomical imaging cameras.
Since the Panasonic 16MP class 1 CMOS sensor of the MallinCam DS16cTEC / DS16mTEC is cooled via convection, thermal shock to it and its associated circuitry is reduced. CMOS sensors have other components mounted on the same wafer with the imaging section which do not requires or can be adversely affected by cooling. This includes the digital logic circuitry (interface, timing, processing, output amplifiers, pad rings and associated oscillators), clocks and timing controls, analog signal processing, analog-to-digital converter (which when under cooling from direct cold finger and Peltier results in instability). These parts of the CMOS sensor do not need to be direct cooled from a cold finger application.
MallinCam has successfully design a working alternative - a cooling chamber called refrigeration cooling - which subjects the CMOS sensor to cooling inside a triple sealed vacuumed sensor chamber controlled with a heating element mounted around the internal optical window to control and avoid dew formation on the optical window and surroundings. A vacuumed sealed chamber is used to eliminate the use of desiccant material and keep dew free environment permanently.
The result of this new technology, the SkyRaider DS16cTEC / DS16mTEC, is design for imaging. It is built to laboratory specifications, where CNC machining is used throughout to provide the rigid tolerances needed to provide precise component matching. The chamber has six stainless steel screws securing the chamber cover to avoid possible air leaks into the chamber.
The internal electronics use Grade 1 components with tolerance of 0.5%, a military and aerospace standard in some cases. The camera contains DDR3 internal memory to insure the smooth flow of data to the computer. The DS16cTEC also has a built-in USB2 hub that can support a guider or a USB type focuser or filter wheel.
Each camera is subjected to a 24-hour burn-in prior to being ready for shipment to insuring proper operation. It is these details that set MallinCam apart from everyone else.
MAIN FEATURES:
- Free Software, Free Updates
- Convection Cooling
- Refrigeration Chamber
- Vacuumed Sealed Chamber
- Linear Cooling
- Built-in Heater for Optical Window Dew Removal and Chamber Temperature Control
- Chamber Plate Pressure Held with 6- Stainless Steel Screws
- Built-In USB2 hub for Guider, Focuser, filter wheel etc.
- Four Blue LED Status Indicators (power, system, cooler, fan)
- High velocity Ultra Quiet Fan With Dual Air Output
- High Grade Carrying Case
- T Mount, (2" Adapter Adapter Included)
- Digital Binning of 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 5X5, 6X6, 7X7, 8X8.
- Class 1 Sensor
- Global Shutter
- 8 and12 Bits Selectable
- Babinet - BPM Calculation Technology requiring only 1/16 or memory usage
- Star Registration System for Live Stacking on the Fly
- Ideal for Motorized Alt-Az mounted telescopes
- Image Format: FITS, JPEG, BMP, PNG
- Video Format: SER and AVI
- Dark Field subtraction on the fly
- Flat Field Correction on the fly
- Support and includes Video Mode and Trigger Mode
- Built-in DDR Memory
- CDS (Correlated Double Sampling)
- 16.3 Mega Pixels Panasonic CMOS ceramic color sensor
- 22 mm diagonal
- 17.5 mm Back Focus
- Number of effective pixels 4656 X 3518 (16,379,808 pixels
- Transfer method: All-pixel scan
- Progressive Scan
- Read noise 1.2e @40db gain (mono version)
- Full well is 20ke
- Hand Selected sensor class 1 Scientific grade
- Sealed Multi-Coated AR Optical Window
- Pixel (μm): 3.80 X 3.80 square
- Connectivity USB 3.0 (USB2 compatible at reduced data transfer rate)
- Two Cables operation ( data and 12 volts for Cooler)
- Sensor Gain: Variable up to 20x
- Sensor G Sensitivity Color version: 2413mv @ 1/30s
- Sensor Sensitivity Mono version: 2600mv @ 1.30s
- Binning Resolution: : 4640 X 3506, 2304 X 1750, 1536 X 1168
- Sensor: Panasonic v Maicovicon Series Class 1 Color / Mono Astronomical Grade CMOS Sensor
- Size (mm) 4/3", 17.6472 X 13.3228 mm
- Full Scan, Any Size Cropping
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Total Number of Pixels: 16,845,920
- Guiding: ST4 standard protocol
- All Aluminum construction, precision CNC machining
- Hand crafted electronics assembly.
- One USB 3 cable operation for data and camera control
- One 12 volts operation for the Peltier cooler
- 5 meter (15.5 feet) long Premium USB3 cable
Included are:
- Carrying Case
- T mount to 2" adapter included
- 5 meter long. (15.5 feet long) USB 3 high grade cable
- AC Power supply
- Software
- Weight : 530 Grams (18.65 oz)
- Dimension: 10.0 cm X 8.00 cm (3.93 Inches X 3.14 inches)
MallinCam SkyRaider DS16cTEC Color: 1499.99. ON SALE 999.00 USD. While quantities last. In Stock

Imaged from high light pollution skies in Austin, Texas, NLEM 5.5. No Miilky Way visible. MallinCam DS16mTEC, Celestron 9.25" scope witn HyperStar lens giving me f2.5. This image of PLN 205+14.1, The Medusa Nebula is a combination of H-alpha, SII, and OIII high-speed narrow band filters in the Hubble Pallet SHO (RGB). Image by Thom Pfeil, April 2019