OWL 640 N/USER MANUAL/03-20/REV1.0
8.5 Thermoelectric Cooler (TEC)
The Owl 640 N uses a TEC to stabilise the sensor temperature at 15
ͦ
C. The TEC status is
shown in the “TEC” tab of the XCAP GUI, shown in Figure 13.
The TEC control can be enabled/disabled from this tab. By default, the TEC will be enabled
and set to a 15
ͦ
C set point. Raptor recommends keeping the set point at this temperature,
as the camera is tested at this temperature under QC, and this is the specification TEC set
point of the camera. The NUC is also performed at this temperature also so will not be
optimal at other sensor temperatures.
There is roughly a 35-40
ͦ
C delta between the PCB and sensor temperature so the set point
can possibly be set slightly lower than 15
ͦ
C if imaging in very low ambient temperatures with
adequate heat sinking of the camera. As previously mentioned however, the NUC is not
optimised at sensor temperatures outside of 15
ͦ
C and the camera is not tested at sensor
temperatures under 15
ͦ
C. This is outside the specification of the camera.
The sensor temperature can also be read back from this tab. Clicking
“Update Temp.”
will
read the current sensor temperature.
Figure 13: Thermoelectric Cooler (TEC) Control.
