QHY PCIE Kit

QHY PCIE Crabber Card

Accessory for QHY268PRO, QHY600PRO, QHY461, QHY411, QHY4040PRO

2 x 10 Gigabit interfaces for high-speed fiber optic connection

The professional models QHY268PRO, QHY600PRO, QHY461, QHY411, QHY4040PRO are prepared for 2 x 10 Gigabit fiber interfaces, which can be optionally enabled with an additional charge. In addition, a PCIE interface card is required. With Gigabit interfaces, QHY has introduced the next generation of high-speed data transmission technology. It is a revolutionary leap compared to USB 3 and solves some major problems of USB 3.0 interfaces, namely limited speed, significantly limited distance between PC and telescope, and brings significantly increased reliability in image transmission.

The speed of data transfer

Although the data transfer speed of USB 3.0 interfaces is already quite fast, they quickly reach their limits when the latest generation of CMOS image sensors are used, as in the QHY600- PRO camera models. For example, the Sony IMX455 sensor used in the QHY600 can capture and transmit up to four 16-bit images at 60 megapixels per second via the fiber optic interface. In this case, the amount of data to be transferred in each second is 120 x 4 = 480 Mb, while in practice the maximum transfer speed via USB3.0 is generally not much more than 300 Mb per second. Via the USB 3.0 interface, image transfer is limited to 2.5 frames per second. In contrast, a transfer speed of up to 2000 Mb/s can be achieved via the 2 x 10 Gbp/s fiber optic interfaces.

The limited range

A USB 3.0 connection is generally only stable over a distance of 2 to 3 meters. With an active extension, the distance can be extended up to almost 15 meters. A data transfer via the fiber interface, on the other hand, can be carried out over distances of up to 300 meters without any problems (remote operation!).

Stable data transmission

Data transmission via conventional cable connections can be severely affected by electromagnetic interference fields. Data transmission with light over a fiber optic connection is not affected by electromagnetic interference in any way, so data transmission over optical cables has a very high reliability. There is no conductive medium between the camera and the computer, so the signal is not affected by various sources of static or stray effects.

Note: A free switching and upgrade to the fiber optic interfaces is subsequently also possible for the earlier models QHY 600 - Early Bird (EB) and the QHY 600 - PRO - L, which were delivered by us. If you are interested, please contact us.

If you have any further questions, please send us an email to kontakt (at) baader-planetarium.de.