Watec WAT-902

5.0 The one that started it all in small "Surveillance" ccd cameras!

Rugged; Reliable; Good sensitivity

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For many years, low light level CCD monochrome surveillance video cameras have been the standard workhorse for astronomers doing video occultation timing and video meteor recording. The 902 series of cameras from Watec (Japan) and Watec America have long been the leaders and innovators in getting the emerging Sony CCD technologies out to the market. The 902 series was far ahead of most other manufactures in that it used Sony CCDs in 1/2" format.

The WAT-902 was the original monochrome CCD video camera introduced by Watec and Watec America Corp. using the Sony Super-HAD CCD chips in 1/2" format. Lux ratings are rather confusing on all surveillance cameras primarily because they depend highly on the lens being use for the test and on the manufacturer's method of testing. When I purchased three of these cameras in the mid 1990's, the lux rating on mine was .0035 lux at f/1.4.

I accidentally destroyed one of the cameras many years ago by wiring the power supply in reverse. The other two cameras are still in use, primarily as guide cameras and 'video finders'. Depending on the optics that it is attached to (typical smaller sized amateur telescopes), I can routinely go down to 8th mag and sometimes fainter. This is of course using a high quality monochrome composite video monitor with full front-panel adjustments for brightness and contrast.

I have never regretted using these cameras, and only reluctantly upgraded to a new camera with the newer Sony EXview HAD CCD detector when I replaced the one that I destroyed. The current incarnation of this camera is the WAT-902B from Watec (Japan) and I highly recommend this if you require a camera at this sensitivity level.