Now, you can enjoy full HD imaging at lower cost than ever before, and with all the quality and features you’d expect – driven by maturing CMOS technology and state of the art component technology. About the size of a small eyepiece, and weighing about 70 grams, the GP-CAM packs many features into a very small form factor.

Being so sensitive, the GPCAM AR0130 Mono camera is ideal for autoguiding with the Altair Miniguider 60mm, Maxiguider 80mm and Starwave 50mm finder/guider optical tubes. You get more sensitivity than CCD quide cameras costing many times the price, as well as the advantage of a light-weight direct fit – just like a 1.25″ eyepiece.

If you ever wanted to experiment with imaging the planets with colour RGB filters, or in UV or NIR light, the GPCAM AR0130 Mono is also ideally suited.

What’s more, you can attach a standard C or CS-mount lens for wide angle imaging of the sky to capture meteorites and aurora displays – or just create a video of the night sky as the earth rotates.

Full ROI (Region Of Interest) support is included, allowing you to increase the frame rate to very high speeds by focusing on planets or solar features, and with the free downloadable AltairCapture software, you can even take sequences of images and sequences of videos to create larger animations.

The sensor: Specially selected 1/3″ Aptina AR0130 HD CMOS sensor with 3.75 micron pixels, high sensitivity and fast frame rate, as well as long time exposure capability. The mono CMOS sensor has a Peak QE rating of 78% outperforming more expensive CCD sensors, and is optimised for performance in a very low light environment, making it a good option for solar imaging, planetary imaging, video astronomy, and deepsky imaging. The peak Quantum Efficiency (QE) of the Aptina AR0130 Mono sensor is appox. 78% in green light, and 65% in Red Hydrogen Alpha light, making it one of the most sensitive 1/3″ CMOS sensors available at this price. It is also extremely sensitive in the IR region making it ideal for challenging task of imaging gas giants in NIR light using the Altair Planet Killer filter. This high NIR sensitivity also brings planets such as Neptune and Uranus into the reach of amateur imagers with medium sized telescopes.

The electronics: Altair Astro GPCAM PCB boards feature ESD protection (Electro-Static Discharge). All the electronic components on the PCB board are of high quality and are imported from the USA and Japan. These quality components give Altair cameras more stable performance and a longer lifespan than most other cameras, hence the two year warranty. Non-essential circuitry is shut down during long exposures resulting in even less noise and a stronger signal. Special voltage regulation hardware and on-board noise reduction circuitry allow the GPCAM to outperform CMOS cameras using older electronics boards, so the GPCAM can even be used for longer deepsky exposures. Japanese SMD boards and US made components give better reliability than older style cameras on the market.

The casing: The camera casing is CNC machined on a CNC lathe will multi axis milling capabilities, accurate to thousands of an inch, therefore component fit and alignment are very accurate. The case features an internal heat transfer structure designed to conduct heat away from the electronics, and directly from the sensor to be dissipated through the outer housing quickly and efficiently resulting in a cooler sensor and lower noise in long exposure mode. The GPCAM is attractive for auto guiding because it has a slim casing which fits between OAG and Filter wheel or Guidescope and main optical tube. The ST4 & USB cables protrude from the back of the camera for more clearance. Some cameras do not have this slim casing, and some even have a large wide body with cables protruding from the sides at 90 degrees to the optical axis, or USB/ST4 cables which cannot be combined in a sheath because they are too far apart. This means they are difficult or impossible to use with an OAG and most finder/guiders with cable pull and clearance issues. Neat cable management and clearance are more reasons to choose the GPCAM.

The optical window: The sensor is protected by a removable double-side Anti Reflection (AR) coated optical window. The mono camera optical window is clear to allow the user full control over what type of light they wish to pass for example narrowband imaging, Ha solar imaging, RGB planetary imaging or even UV and NIR planetary imaging. When you order the lens kit with the Mono camera, you’ll get the UVIR blocking optical window as well. The optical window unscrews making it easy to swap or clean the sensor.

Connecting your GPCAM to your PC and mount: A built-in ST4 auto guider port is included on the rear face with 2m ST4 cable for easy connection between auto guider directly to your GOTO mount. The camera is powered through the included 2m USB 2.0 cable, which is aligned with the USB cable so you can combine them in a sheath or tie them together with cable ties to reduce cable-clutter.

Connecting your GPCAM to telescopes with filters, and C or CS-Mount lenses: The CNC machined aluminum housing has a standard 1.25 inch OD barrel to fit to almost any telescope focuser including the Altair Miniguider 60, 80, and Starwave 50mm guide scopes. A standard 1.25 inch eyepiece filter can be installed on the end of the 1.25″ barrel, such as a light pollution or other special filter. The 1.25″ barrel can be removed to reveal a standard CS/C-mount thread compatible with most industrial and surveillance lenses, or microscope eyepiece adapters. If you want to image in exotic wavelengths like UV or IR you can use the clear optical window which comes with the MONO camera. For use with a lens or a telescope with lenses in the optical path, you just attach UV/IR Blocking optical window (already in place on the colour camera and included with the mono camera. The GPCAM is a very flexible system compared other cameras. It allows you to swap the optical window instantly and easily whilst avoiding touching the filter, a feature not possible with some other cameras. A 5mm CS to C mount converter ring is also included. This allows you to attach CS-mount as well as C-mount lenses, so you have a huge range of lenses available to experiment with, unlike other cameras which only allow the use of CS lenses. See the GPCAM system chart for more info.

The Meteor lens: You can use the optional 150 degree FOV F1.6 Meteor lens for wide angle imaging of the sky to capture meteorites and aurora displays – or just create a video of the night sky as the earth rotates. You can even make timelapse daytime videos to capture cloud formations or capture any activity with standard high speed video mode. This little lens is sharp too, and perfectly capable of macro photography and video. Your imagination is the limit!

• Camera body.
• 2m High-speed USB2.0 A male to B male cable.
• 1.5m ST4 guide cable.
• 1.25 inch x 20mm nosepiece with 1.25″ filter thread.
• Plastic dust cap 1.25″.
• Note: This camera does not come with software in the box. You will need to download the latest GPCAM software and drivers from cameras.altairastro.com.