The new camera has arrived!! Here is a quick look at the accessories it came with and the initial mechanical and software setup. The cameras official title is the QHY268M, and it is based on the Sony IMX571 monochrome sensor. I am not going to go into all the specs and details but if your interested in all that then click to go to the QHY268 official website QHY268M

QHY did a nice job with the box and packaging. The spacers and accessories are well thought out and feel like they will do a good job. The back space on this camera is 12.5mm, so to get it to 17.5mm, the same as my old camera I just needed the M54 adapter which is 4mm thick and the 1mm spacer. I already had an M54 male adapter for my ATIK EFW3 filter wheel so it all went together very well.

Initial setup for the drivers and software was a little bit of a pain. After the first install I could not get the camera to connect at all!! I ended up uninstalling all the software and drivers and deleting the left behind directories. I then installed the Beta software and, bingo, she connected first time. I have had previous issues with QHY drivers so be ready for that.

The SkyX X2 driver works well, and the ASCOM driver is very nice. Both giving the ability to control gain, offset, binning and temp control.

Overall I am impressed with how well presented and thought out the whole package is. I have since started taking calibration frames and figuring out my flat panel settings ready for my first nights imaging. First light report should happen soon!! (It’s gonna be clear tonight 🙂 )