SBIG STC-7 with built-in filter wheel

STC-7 highlights

• High sensitivity, low noise 7 megapixel IMX428 imaging sensor
• Electronic global shutter for fast exposure times (0.001 to 3600 sec.)
• High-speed USB 3.0 interface (USB 2.0 compatible)
• Downloads in under 50 milliseconds (depending on computer speed)
• Stack Pro™ automatic in-camera sub-exposure stacking
• Regulated two-stage cooling with delta ~ -30C
• SmartCooling™ active temperature regulation to 0.1 degrees C for high calibration stability
• Integrated 8-Position Filter Wheel with LRGB + Halpha, OIII, and SII filters, plus an opaque filter for dark frames
• Compatible with SBIG StarChaser SC-2 off-axis guiding camera
• Supports AO-8A adaptive optics unit via StarChaser SC-2
• MaxIm LT control software
• Multiplatform software API and sample code available

Third-Generation CMOS image sensor

The STC-7 represents a major step forward in imaging technology, utilising the SONY IMX-428 CMOS imaging sensor. Compared to CCD cameras with 8300 sensor, the STC-7 has higher sensitivity, lower read noise, and much faster readout. It produces extremely clean images with few hot pixels. Due to the extremely low read noise and fast readout, the STC-7 is best used with shorter sub-exposures than for comparable CCD cameras. A typical sub-exposure will be only 30-60 seconds, versus 5-10 minutes, while still achieving the same or better noise performance and overall dynamic range after stacking. This has many advantages including the ability to take unguided exposures without trailing. It can also be used for lunar and planetary imaging at high resolution, given its high sensitivity, wide exposure range, and fast readout. The STC-7 is compatible with most common telescopes, such as those having a focal length of 600 to 2500 mm. The camera’s pixel size is optimal for scopes from 1000 to 1600mm under good seeing conditions. Common refractors and small SCT scopes with focal reducer/field flatteners are well suited. Longer focal lengths can be used for lunar and planetary imaging.

Stack Pro™

The STC-7 scientific CMOS camera features Stack Pro™, a revolutionary feature that performs image stacking inside the camera. While the IMX428 sensor has dynamic range on a par with its CCD predecessor, it is limited to 12 bit data (0-4095). At the same time it also has far lower read noise, which means you can stack many more shorter exposures without degrading signal-to-noise ratio. As great as this sounds it does result in a lot of extra disk usage and post-processing. Stack Pro™ performs the stacking automatically, inside the camera. It automatically subdivides your exposure into up to 16 individual sub-exposures, and stacks them inside the camera prior to download. This eliminates the excessive amounts of data cluttering up your hard drive.

Included Optical Filters

The included 25.4mm filters are parfocal, and include:

• Luminance (L)
• Red (R)
• Green (G)
• Blue (B)
• Hydrogen Alpha (Ha) – 656.3 nm, bandwidth 6.5 nm
• Sulphur II (SII) – 672.4 nm, bandwidth 6.5 nm
• Oxygen III (OIII) – 500.7 nm, bandwidth 6.5 nm
• Opaque “filter” (anodized aluminum) for dark frames