The cameras from the manufacturer Watec are extremely sensitive analogue video cameras with a CCD micro lens chip with a light sensitivity of 0.000005 lux. They are ideal for live demonstrations of deep sky objects, meteor photography and small planet star occultations, for example.
(CCIR version)
Our expert comment:
A test showed that the new Watec WAT-910HX-RC video camera is about 50% more sensitive than the Mintron under comparable conditions (see the PDF under the "Downloads" tab).
(Bernd Gährken)
Watec and Mintron cameras are extremely sensitive analogue video cameras featuring a CCD micro-lens chip. They are widely used in astronomy as they are ideally suited to live demonstrations of deep-sky objects, meteor photography and the observation of minor planet occultations. The Watec is the successor to the Mintron camera.
The Watec 910 RC allows exposure times of up to 5.12 seconds whilst achieving extreme sensitivity. It outputs an analogue video signal and is ideal for live demonstrations on a TV monitor. Astrophotography is also possible, though this requires an external video grabber available from computer retailers. Two versions of the Watec 910 are available. With the Watec 910 RC, camera settings are adjusted via a keypad on the rear panel of the camera. The Watec 910 RC/HX comes with a more convenient external control unit.
Further information on the product can be found here.
(Bernd Gährken)