Anyone using a Moravian camera with SGP? Any issues? I am looking to get a 16200 based camera to supplement my STT 8300 and QSI 6120 and after much searching, the only affordable version that will also work with a Canon lens (due to back focus) is the Moravian (and yes, I know that I will need to crop the edges due to edge distortion on the lenses - so don’t bother to “educate” me).
Mainly it will be used on a scope (FSQ and/or TOA-130) with their OAG and a Starlight guider.
Thanks
I’ve been using a G3-16200 for nearly 2 years now and have had absolutely
no issues whatsoever with the camera or SGP. The only thing you need to
know about the Moravian ASCOM driver is that when you tell SGP to change
filters, the filter will not actually change until an exposure is called
for (frame and focus or sequence event). Not a big deal and it’s a
property of the ASCOM driver, not SGP.
Super Joel! Great to hear! What are you using for a guider?
Lodestar. Note that I used an Atik OAG for the past 2 years and recently
switched to a QHY OAG. But that shouldn’t make any difference for you.
Thanks for all the feedback. I ordered one in December and just heard from DSP that it has shipped from Europe. I should have it next week.
I guess you could say that the Czech is in the mail! 
Congrats, you’re going to love the camera. The only thing you won’t love about it is the 30s download times 
Recently I had the opportunity to test a QHY128C CMOS camera with a view of directly comparing it with my G3-16200M. They both have 6um pixel size (5.97 for the QHY) so I was wondering how they would compare. While the QHY128C is a great camera and I enjoyed using it, the data from my G3 is so much easier to process. I don’t think this is necessarily because of the camera, but rather from my moderately light polluted skies the mono camera fared a little better.
Well, I used to own an SBIG 11000M and that was worse!
Wowzer, why so long? I have the Atik16200 and it’s about 6 seconds.
I think it’s a hardware issue. Atik and some other manufacturers must use
some kind of a memory buffer (not sure if that’s the right term) so the
full image doesn’t need to be read out to the computer right away. I
really love the Moravian camera. It has been rock solid for 2 years
without any issues. I haven’t had any issues with moisture in the sensor
area and haven’t needed to touch any desiccant. The cooling is great, even
without the “enhanced” cooling option. The one and only thing I don’t like
is the download time.
I sent a message to Moravian asking if this download time is limited by the
hardware they use or potentially if a software patch could improve the
download time. I’m nearly certain it’s a hardware thing.
You could well be right there Joel. I believe Atik use a 256MB buffer, as they have with their new Horizon CMOS, probably specifically for this reason.
The Moravian looks absolutely awesome and there aren’t very many adverse reports. There are a few guys on SGL using them with Sequence Generator Pro and all rate them really highly. I was looking at one when I got my Atik, and the only thing that swayed it Atik’s way was the UK based support (and the Argon purged chamber so no desiccant).
Be good if they can fix that with firmware as it is quite a wait, but as you say, it is probably memory.
Yes, it is kinda long, especially when you are used to the very fast STT 8300. OTOH, I also have a QSI 6120 and that is almost as slow. OTOH, if you figure a 10 minute exposure (about average for me), that is only 5% time loss (compared to zero, really more like 3-4 %). Not much.
The main reasons I got Moravian is that it was well reviewed plus other cameras were eliminated for the following reasons.
Oh, and I forgot - the QHY had the 7 position FW “being redesigned” so was not available with that…
Yes I can see why the Moravian, looks very well made and very competitively priced.
The Atik has 19.5mm to sensor which is quite big, but that can be reduced to 14.5 if you use it with the EFW3 (as I do) because the front plate can be removed from the camera and it then screwed directly to the FW.
Enjoy the new camera. The 16200 is a great sensor with a lovely FOV so even if you need to crop a bit that isn’t going to be a big issue.
As Joel notes, it also works perfectly with SG Pro so a no brainer.
Just an update on the Moravian G3 16200. At this point the camera is working fine despite initial problems with the filter wheel (which I fixed) and an improperly mounted chip (which was fixed after sending it back to Moravian). This was done at no cost to me but I only just found out that this was due to the honesty of Edward at Deep Sky Products and not to Moravian, who apparently would not cover any of the shipping costs, despite it being a manufacturing defect.
The bottom line is that my experience was less than stellar so I could not really recommend Moravian to US buyers.
I just noticed this thread. I also have the G3 16200 and would never recommend that camera (or any Moravian products) to US buyers. My g3 has a weird epical banding issue since new. Even tho Moravian acknowledged that they were able to reproduce the issue with one of their test cameras, they would not cover shipping to have the camera serviced (while still under warranty). They clearly don’t stay behind their product. Their non existent customer service must be the reason why there are no US dealers for their products anymore.