I’ve got an STF8300m camera that’s about 7 years old. I am currently tasking it on an exoplanet light curve application. I saw that there is now an EN cooler option that I would really Like for the summer. But at $600 to retrofit, and a brand new camera being $2400, that seems a little pricey. I see that it’s only a $300 option on a new camera, although I get it that it’s less manhours to assemble from scratch than to take apart and put back, etc. I emailed Bill about it at first and he said that’s something the Canadian side came up with. He said he hadn’t done one hands on yet. So how about this for a deal. Let me be Bill’s Guinea Pig for doing one of these and maybe let me buy it for $350 plus back and forth shipping? What do you say?
The reason for the higher cost for retrofit isn't labor. It's because we have to replace existing mechanical parts and the TEC cooler with new versions. They're not cheap.
Dave, I've torn down and rebuilt hundreds of STF cameras, this upgrade is not on the edge of my capabilities. You wouldn't be a guinea pig, it would merely be the first upgrade. -Bill
