Bill --

The Cheerios are defocused dust or other bits; also called
"doughnuts". I see a few of these too, but they are very faint,
at the noise level. The ice is something I just "experienced"
last week. Per Meade, it means that the O-ring seal on your
camera has broken, admitting humid air, and now frost is forming
on the chip below 0 deg C. Normally, the inside of the camera is
sealed and purged with dry nitrogen.

The 38.00 is the camera case temperature. The chip cooler is a
Peltier thermoelectric device (2-stage) that cools by pumping
heat out of the chip and into the camera case. The fins are
supposed to dissipate that heat. The cooler is supposed to
achieve a 40 deg C differential between the chip and case. In my
experience, a breeze needs to be blowing (bad news!) or the
camera must be pointing closer to horizontal for this to be
achieved. Some folks have attached fans to their camera. I worry
that the vibration will reduce clarity.

-- Bob

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