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Handbook for the SXVR-H18
Issue 1 March 2010
SXVR-H18
CCD camera user manual
Thank you for purchasing a Starlight Xpress CCD camera. We hope that you will be
very satisfied with its performance. The SXVR-H18 is a medium format, high-
resolution cooled CCD camera, especially designed for astronomical imaging. The
SXVR-H18 uses a Kodak KAF8300 'Full Frame' CCD, with 3326(H) X 2504(V)
pixels in a 17.96mm x 13.52mm active area. The use of high performance microlenses
on the CCD surface gives the greatest possible throughput of light to the pixels and
the resulting QE is very good over the entire visible spectrum. Our new 'R' type
USB2 interface hardware gives an exceptionally fast download speed of about 2
megapixels per second, and so the SXVR-H18 can download a full resolution 16 bit
image in only 4.5 seconds.
The H18 is unusual in that it is the first SX camera to incorporate a mechanical
shutter. This is required for correct operation of its full-frame CCD chip, but also
permits the user to easily take dark frames when required. However, the mechanical
cycle time does limit the shortest practical exposure time to about 0.05 seconds.
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Summary of Contents for Starlight Xpress SXVR-H18
- Page 1 SXVR-H18 CCD camera user manual Thank you for purchasing a Starlight Xpress CCD camera. We hope that you will be very satisfied with its performance. The SXVR-H18 is a medium format, high- resolution cooled CCD camera, especially designed for astronomical imaging. The SXVR-H18 uses a Kodak KAF8300 ‘Full Frame’...
- Page 2 CD into the computer and wait for Windows Explorer to open with the list of folders on the ROM. Now find the SXVR-H18 folder and run the SETUP.EXE file that it contains – this will initiate the self-install software which will guide you through the process of installing the SX camera software (SXV_hmf_usb.exe) onto...
- Page 3 (see above). If the installation is successful, there will be a diamond shaped symbol labelled ‘BlockIOClass’ and clicking on the ‘+’ sign will reveal it to be a ‘Starlight Xpress USB 2.0 SXV-H18 camera driver’. If...
- Page 4 Handbook for the SXVR-H18 Issue 1 March 2010 this device shows as faulty, try clicking on it and selecting ‘properties’ and then ‘update driver’. Following the on screen instructions will allow you to re-select the correct inf file (SXVIO_H18_128.inf) and driver files (SXVIO.sys and generic.sys), which should fix the problem.
- Page 5 Handbook for the SXVR-H18 Issue 1 March 2010 Now click on the camera icon at the top of the screen. If the USB connection is OK, a message box will inform you of the ‘Handle’ number for the SXVIO interface and various other version details etc.
- Page 6 There are two simple options, one of which is available to everyone: 1) Attach a standard ‘M42’ SLR camera lens to the SXVR-H18, using the 27mm spacer/adaptor to achieve approximately the correct focal distance.
- Page 7 One potential problem with taking daylight images is the strong infrared response of the SXVR-H18 as this will cause ‘soft focus’ with camera lenses. Soft focus is much reduced by keeping the aperture setting below F8. Also, IR blocking filters are available from various suppliers (True Technology, Edmunds etc.) and are...
- Page 8 ‘crispness’. At this point, you will have a working knowledge of how to take and process an SXVR-H18 image. It is time to move on to astronomical imaging, which has its own, unique, set of problems!
- Page 9 F = Pixel size * 205920 / Resolution (in arc seconds) In the case of the SXVR-H18 and a 2 arc seconds per pixel resolution, we get F = 0.0054 * 205920 / 2...
- Page 10 The SXVR-H18 generates relatively little dark signal and so dark frames are not essential for short exposures of less than a few minutes, but it is a good idea to record at least one for each exposure time used during an imaging session.
- Page 11 Handbook for the SXVR-H18 Issue 1 March 2010 ignore flat fielding for current purposes and describe the process in detail at a later stage. Processing the deep-sky image: Below you will see typical examples of a dark frame and an uncalibrated raw image of M16.
- Page 12 Issue 1 March 2010 Warm pixels in a small portion of the raw image The isolated nature of the warm pixels in an SXVR-H18 image permits you to use several different methods of removing them from your raw images. Subtracting a dark frame is the most commonly used means of removing the warm pixels, but is not necessarily the best or most effective method.
- Page 13 Handbook for the SXVR-H18 Issue 1 March 2010 Warm pixels removed by application of a 3x3 median filter A second option is to run a 3x3 ‘Median’ filter on the image. This simple method will remove isolated hot pixels and replace them with the median value of the pixels adjacent to it.
- Page 14 Handbook for the SXVR-H18 Issue 1 March 2010 is done by using a ‘statistical’ summing technique, such as median or sigma combining, then the warm pixels will be removed altogether. This method needs more powerful image processing than is available in SXV_Hmf, but both AstroArt and Maxim DL can do it.
- Page 15 Taking pictures of the Moon and planets: The SXVR-H18 is not intended for planetary imaging, as a much smaller CCD is in many ways much better for this. However, lunar imaging is a different matter and the H18 can give impressive whole-moon pictures.
- Page 16 Other features of SXV_H18 ‘Slew & Sum’ imaging: The SXVR-H18 can be used in an automatic image-stacking mode, called ‘Slew & Sum’. The camera is set to take several sequential exposures, which are automatically ‘slewed’ into alignment and then summed together by the software. This mode can help to overcome a poor RA drive by summing images that have exposure times shorter than the drive error period.
- Page 17 Handbook for the SXVR-H18 Issue 1 March 2010 finished sequence. To use this option, you will need a dark frame, taken with the same exposure time as a single image from the sequence. This is stored on drive C with the name ‘dark.def’...
- Page 18 5mA per output. This socket may be used for telescope control if the SXVR-H18 is employed as an autoguider, but is primarily intended to be the control output for the optional add-on autoguider camera head, available for use with the SXVR-H18.
- Page 19 If ‘active high’ inputs are needed, or a very low control voltage drop is essential, then you will need to add a Starlight Xpress ‘relay box’ between the guider output and the input to the mount. Please contact your local distributor if a relay box is required.
- Page 20 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 SXVR-H18 software, open the autoguider control panel by clicking on the autoguider menu button. The autoguider control panel with a guide star selected...
- Page 21 Handbook for the SXVR-H18 Issue 1 March 2010 2) Press the ‘Start’ button and a series of 1 second exposure guider images will begin to appear in the picture frame. If the images look too dim, use the ‘Stretch Image’ slider to increase its contrast and brightness until the noise begins to be visible.
- Page 22 ********************************************************************* Camera maintenance: Very little maintenance is needed to keep the SXVR-H18 in excellent operating order, however two problems, which are common to all CCD equipment, are likely to show up on occasion. These are dust and condensation.
- Page 23 7) Replace all the camera parts in reverse order and the job is done. Dealing with condensation: The SXVR-H18 is designed to avoid condensation by minimising the volume of air trapped within the CCD cavity. This normally works well, but storage of the camera in a humid location can lead to the trapped air becoming moist by diffusion through the optical window mounting thread etc.
- Page 24 CCD field, this may indicate that the CCD plane needs to be adjusted. The front plate of the SXVR-H18 incorporates three sets of antagonistic screws that allow the plate to be tilted by up to about +/- 1 degree relative to the CCD surface.
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Page 25: Conditions Of Guarantee
Issue 1 March 2010 Dear User, Thank you for purchasing a Starlight Xpress CCD Imaging System. We are confident that you will gain much satisfaction from this equipment, but please read carefully the accompanying instruction manual to ensure that you achieve the best performance that is capable of providing.