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Sony SXV-M5C - page 1
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 1 Starlight Xpress Ltd SXV-M5C CCD camera user manua l Thank you for purchasing a Starlight Xpress CCD camera. We hope that you will be very satisfied with the results. The SXV-M5C is a medium-resolution cooled CC D camera, especially designed for colour astronomical imaging. The SXV-M5C uses a Sony SuperHAD ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 2
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 2 ‘Quick Starting’ your S XV-M5C system In the shipping container you will find the following items: 1) The SXV-M5C camera head. 2) A power supply module. 3) A 3 metre USB camera cable. 4) An adaptor for 1.25” drawtubes. 5) A CD with the ‘SXV_M5’ software. 6) This manual. You will also need a PC co ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 3
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 3 Connect the miniature 4 wa y power plug to the socket on the rear of th e camera and screw the retaining ring into place. The LED on the rear of the camera will light a dim yellow. The other connections should not be attached until after the software has been installed. Installing the software: Switch on t ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 4
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 4 You now need to set up the camera control defaults (shown above), as follo ws: Start SXV-M5C by clicking on the icon and select the ‘File’ menu. Now select ‘Set program defaults’ and a window, which contains the various software settings, will appear. Suggested starting defaults are as follows: 1) ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 5
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 5 2) Create a ‘Pin hole’ lens by sticking a sheet of aluminium baking foil over the end of the 1.25” adaptor and pricking its centre with a small pin. If you use a normal lens, then stop it down to t he smallest aperture number possible (usually F22) as this will minimi se focus problems and keep the l ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 6
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 6 Point the camera + lens or pinhole towards a well-li t and clearly defined object some distance away. Now click on the camera icon in the toolbar of the SXV-M5C software and the camera control panel will appear (see above). Select an expos ure time of 0.1 seconds and press ‘Take photo’. After the expos ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 7
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 7 seconds. Restart the camera software and see if it can link now. If not, check in Windows device manager (via ‘System’ in ‘Control Panel’ ) and see if the BlockIO device is installed properly. 3) If you cannot find any way of making the camera work, please try using it wit h another computer. This ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 8
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 8 In some cases, there may be a difference in colour bias between the faintest and brightest objects. When this happens, first reduce the error of the faint detai l, using the ‘START’ sliders, and then correct the bright objects b y using the ‘MAX’ sliders. The ‘MAX’ slider allows you to var y th ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 9
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 9 Your first image may now be reasonably good, but it is unlikely to be as clear and sharp as it could be. Improved focusing and exposure selection ma y correct these shortcomings, and you may like to try them before appl ying any image enhancement with the software. However, there will come a point when you ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 10
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 10 When the par-focal eyepiece is fitted into the telescope drawtube, you can adjust the focus until the view is sharply defined and the object of interest is close to the field centre. On removing the eyepiece and fitting the CCD camera, the CCD will be very close to the focal plane of the telescope and sho ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 11
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 11 Opinions vary as to the utilit y of flip mi rrors. They are a convenient way to find and focus, but they add quite a bit of extra length between the camera and telesc ope. This can be very inconvenient with Newtonians, and not a lot better with SCTs, especiall y if the assembly is somewhat flexible. They ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 12
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 12 For a 200mm SCT, this is an F ratio of 844 / 200 = F4.22, which is easil y achieved with the Meade converter and appropriate extension tube (as supplied with the converter). Moderate deviations from this focal length will not have a drastic effect and so any F ratio from about F3.3 to F6 will give good re ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 13
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 13 value’ (the value of the brightest pixel) will also be shown in the adjacent text box and this can be used as an indication of the focus accurac y. A lthou gh the peak value is sensitive to vibration and seeing, it tends towards a maxim um as the focus is optimised. Carefully adjust the focus control on ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 14
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 14 take another 60 second expos ure. This image will be a picture of the dark si gnal generated during your exposure and it should be saved with your image for use in processing the picture. The SXV-M5C generates ver y little dark signal and so dark frames are not essential for short exposures of less t han ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 15
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 15 2) The resulting image will probably look faint and dull, with a bright background due to light pollution. It is now time to process the ‘luminance ’ (brightness and contrast) of the image to get the best visual appearance. First, use the ‘Normal’ contrast stretch to darken the background by setti ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 16
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 16 image. Strong ‘High Pass’ filters are usuall y not a good idea with deep sky images, as the noise will be strongly increased and dark rings will appear around the st ars, but a ‘Median’ filter can remove odd speckles and a mild ‘Unsharp Mask’ (Radi us 3, Power 1) will sharpen without too much ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 17
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 17 ‘Autosave’ directory. Dozens of images will be sa ved, but only one or two will be satisfactory for further processing. To start the Autosave process, call up the SXV Camera Interface and select the ‘Continuous Mode’ check box at the top (make sure the rest are unchecked). Now check the ‘Autosav ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 18
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 18 more natural look to the image, as too large a radius and power tends to outline edges with dark or bright borders. As a finishing touch, the application of a Median filter or a Weighted Mean L ow Pass filter can be useful to smooth out the high frequency noise after a strong Unsharp Mask. As with deep-sk ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 19
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 19 read-out noise will become dominant. About 30 seconds is a reasonable mi nimum. Now go to the ‘Multiple Exposure Options’ and select a number of exposures to take. You can also select to average the images, rather than adding them, and there is a ‘Alternative Slew Mode’ available, which uses the c ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 20
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 20 across the aperture of your telescope and point the instrument high in the sk y, to avoid any gradient in the light near the horizon. Now take several images with exposure times adjusted to give a bright, but not overloaded, picture. Averaging flat field together is a good way to reduce their noise contri ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 21
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 21 box and cables are available as an accessor y a nd ma y be chained in series with the autoguider cable, when the guider is in use, or may be used on its own. The two serial connections are in the form of standard RS232 P C style plugs and provide TX, RX and Ground connections at RS232 levels. Access is vi ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 22
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 22 The advantages of S.T.A.R. are very great, but there are two negative aspects, whi ch you should be aware of. The main loss is in the sensitivit y of the CCD, as on ly half of the pixel area is integrating an image at any one time. This is sli ghtly offset by the halving of the dark current, which also re ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 23
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 23 mounts will use the guider output from the camera. Once the above connections have been made, you are ready to start up the s ystem. Starting to guide: Power up the camera and computer, and start the telescope drive. Click on ‘Set Program Defaults’ and examine the current settings. In the ‘Telescope ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 24
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 24 displayed image, but, if not, tr y increa sin g the exposure time a little. Remember that the ideal guide star is one that is bright enough to be easil y detected in a 1 second exposure, or less. Once you have the test image and can see an appropriate guide star, go to the ‘File’ menu and click on ‘ ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 25
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 25 cycle has completed, the optimum correction speeds, backlash correction and hysteresis values will have been calculated and inserted into the default box es. Note that the pixels per second rate for the R.A. correction will vary with the cosine of the declination angle, so you may need to alter this value ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 26
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 26 camera, or with a separate guide telescope, rigidly mounted alongside your imaging telescope. I personally use it with an 80mm aperture F5, inexpensive refract or as a guide ‘scope, but a shorter focal length lens will make more guide stars available in any given region of sky (See the picture below). T ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 27
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 27 The autoguider installed on a 80mm refractor guide ‘scope in the author’s garden To use the autoguider, please proceed as follows: 1) Having started the SXV-M5C software, open the autoguider control panel by clicking on the autoguider menu button. ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 28
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 28 The autoguider control panel with a guide star selected 2) Press the ‘Start’ button and a series of 1 second ex posure guider images will begin to appear in the picture frame. If the images look t oo dim, use the ‘Stretch Image’ slider to increase its contrast and brightness until the noise begins ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 29
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 29 5 minutes) and press the ‘Autoguide next image’ button. The autoguider window will reappear and, after a few seconds, you should see error values appearing in the text windows at the top. The guide star will be fairl y close to the green cross, although not necessarily accurately centred, and you shou ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 30
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 30 will be very much out of focus. However, if a powerful contrast boost of the image is carried out, they may well begin to show as the shadow ‘Do-nuts’ mentioned earlier. Images taken with a large F ratio optical system are more likel y to be affected by such dirt, owing to the smaller and sharper shad ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 31
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 31 N.B. DO NOT leave the camera sw itched on for long periods between uses. The cold CCD will collect ice by slow diffusion through any smal l leaks and this will become corrosive water on the cooler and CCD pins wh en the power is removed. If substantial amounts of moisture are seen on th e CCD, dismantle t ...
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Sony SXV-M5C - page 32
Handbook for SXV-M5C Issue 1 August 2004 32 Dear User, Thank you for p urchasing a Sta rlight Xpress C CD Imaging S ystem. We are co nfident that you will gain much satisfactio n from this eq uipment, but please r ead care fully the acco mpanying instr uction manual to ensure that you achieve the best per formance that is capab le o f providing. As ...
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