Yankee Digital Dandy
EQUIPMENT REVIEW Yankee Robotics’ new CCD camera combines maximum sensitivity, low noise, and a great price. /// BY BOB FERA Yankee digital dandy The field of advanced charge-coupled device (CCD) imaging is dominated by high-quality instruments from a few well-known manufacturers, such as Santa Barbara Instruments Group (SBIG), Finger Lakes Instrumentation (FLI), and Starlight Express. Recently, a new player entered the sures 18mm by 27mm, a game with a unique approach to CCD- USB-2.0 interface, and a camera design. That company, Yankee lifetime warranty. Robotics of San Diego, has introduced its Unlike some systems, Trifid-2 line of cameras and is aiming the Trifid-2 does not come directly at the big boys. with either a filter wheel I tested Yankee’s top-of-the-line model, or an onboard guiding which features Kodak’s KAF-6303E CCD chip. Using the camera detector, to see if it measures up to the thus requires purchasing competition. It does. and integrating a third- The first thing prospective customers party filter wheel from a will notice about the Trifid-2 is the price, company such as FLI or Optec, which, at $6,895 (with the Class 2 imaging Inc. Also, you’ll need an off-axis chip), is thousands of dollars less than com- guider or a guide scope with a dedicated petitors’ cameras equipped with the same autoguider, such as SBIG’s ST-4, ST-V, or THE TRIFID-2 CCD camera houses a 6- 6-megapixel KAF-6303E detector. What ST-402ME. But, even after adding in these megapixel Kodak KAF-6303E CCD chip.
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