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Peltier Cooling for Digital Cameras (Mostly Nikon Coolpix) via self-contained, computer controlled regulation of temperature and voltage/amp usage
This project was a culmination of the efforts of Gregory Pruden and myself with some invaluable input from Buck Harley.
Our two part system is used to reduce thermal noise in our Nikon Digital Coolpix Cameras (and others) when performing long exposures. It employs a Peltier/TEC cooling chip and microprocessor-based feedback and sensor system which is self-monitoring, self-correcting and is used to control temperature, voltage and amp draw. The microprocessor control segment can effectively reduce the TEC's overall battery consumption by 50% thus extending significantly our viewing sessions. The device is programmable via a serial port and can reduce overall cam temps by up to 65*c. We have seen it reduce total noise when used in conjunction with the cam's NR setting by 99.9%. It even has a dc power take-off to run the Coolpix.
Pretty neat we think.
(patent pending)
Can be commercially available if enough interest is presented.