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Handbook for SXV-M5
Issue 1 June 2004
Starlight Xpress Ltd
SXV-M5
CCD camera user manual
Thank you for purchasing a Starlight Xpress CCD camera. We hope that you will be
very satisfied with the results. The SXV-M5 is a medium-resolution cooled CCD
camera, especially designed for astronomical imaging. The SXV-M5 uses a Sony
SuperHAD CCD, with 500 x 582 pixels in a 4.9mm x 3.65mm active area. SuperHAD
devices have the greatest quantum efficiency of any interline transfer CCD currently
available and the use of high performance microlenses on the CCD surface gives the
greatest possible throughput of light to the pixels. This camera is a next generation
version of the parallel port driven MX516, but the use of an internal USB2 interface
and the addition of an external guide camera option makes it considerably more
effective.
Please take a few minutes to study the contents of this manual, which will help you to
get the camera into operation quickly and without problems. I am sure that you want
to see some results as soon as possible, so please move on to the 'Quick Start' section,
which follows. A more detailed description of imaging techniques will be found in a
later part of this manual.
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Summary of Contents for Starlight Xpress SXV-M5
- Page 1 SXV-M5 CCD camera user manual Thank you for purchasing a Starlight Xpress CCD camera. We hope that you will be very satisfied with the results. The SXV-M5 is a medium-resolution cooled CCD camera, especially designed for astronomical imaging. The SXV-M5 uses a Sony SuperHAD CCD, with 500 x 582 pixels in a 4.9mm x 3.65mm active area.
- Page 2 Handbook for SXV-M5 Issue 1 June 2004 ‘Quick Starting’ your SXV-M5 system In the shipping container you will find the following items: 1) The SXV-M5 camera head. 2) A power supply module. 3) A 3 metre USB camera cable. 4) An adaptor for 1.25” drawtubes.
- Page 3 Handbook for SXV-M5 Issue 1 June 2004 Connect the miniature 4 way power plug to the socket on the rear of the camera and screw the retaining ring into place. The LED on the rear of the camera will light a dim yellow.
- Page 4 You now need to set up the camera control defaults (shown above), as follows: Start SXV-M5 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.
- Page 5 Handbook for SXV-M5 Issue 1 June 2004 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 the smallest aperture number possible (usually F22) as this will minimise focus problems and keep the light level reasonable for daytime testing.
- Page 6 Point the camera + lens or pinhole towards a well-lit and clearly defined object some distance away. Now click on the camera icon in the toolbar of the SXV-M5 software and the camera control panel will appear (see above). Select an exposure time of 0.1 seconds and press ‘Take photo’.
- Page 7 M5 image. It is time to move on to astronomical imaging, which has its own, unique, set of problems! ********************************************************************* Astronomical Imaging with the SXV-M5 1) Getting the image onto the CCD: It is fairly easy to find the correct focus setting for the camera when using a standard...
- Page 8 Handbook for SXV-M5 Issue 1 June 2004 problem is that most telescopes have a large range of focus adjustment and the CCD needs to be quite close to the correct position before you can discern details well enough to optimise the focus setting. An additional complication is the need to add various accessories between the camera and telescope in order that the image scale is suitable for the subject being imaged and (sometimes) to include a ‘flip mirror’...
- Page 9 Handbook for SXV-M5 Issue 1 June 2004 image is sharp. When the mirror is raised, the image will fall onto the CCD surface and should be accurately in focus. Most flip mirror units allow several adjustments to be made, so that the image can be centred properly in the eyepiece and CCD fields, which are not necessarily coincident when you first buy your unit! Opinions vary as to the utility of flip mirrors.
- Page 10 Issue 1 June 2004 F = Pixel size * 205920 / Resolution (in arc seconds) In the case of the SXV-M5 and a 2 arc seconds per pixel resolution, we get F = 0.0082 * 205920 / 2 = 844mm For a 200mm SCT, this is an F ratio of 844 / 200 = F4.22, which is easily achieved...
- Page 11 Handbook for SXV-M5 Issue 1 June 2004 and click on ‘Focus frame centre’; you can now use the mouse pointer to click on the star image and the new focus frame co-ordinates will be displayed. Now return to the camera interface window and click on ‘Start’ in the Focus frame. The computer will now display a continuous series of 100 x 100 pixel images in the focus window and you should see your selected star appear somewhere close to the centre.
- Page 12 The SXV-M5 generates very 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 13 Handbook for SXV-M5 Issue 1 June 2004 frame and the software will then remove the dark signal from your image, leaving it somewhat darker and smoother than before. 2) The resulting image will probably look faint and dull, with a bright background due to light pollution.
- Page 14 Handbook for SXV-M5 Issue 1 June 2004 3) The image will now look quite impressive and I hope that you are pleased with your first efforts! Further small refinements are usually possible and you will become expert at judging the best way to achieve these as your experience increases. As a rough guide, the ‘Filters’...
- Page 15 Handbook for SXV-M5 Issue 1 June 2004 planetary imaging, will ruin the definition of about 95% of your images and so I recommend setting the camera to run in ‘Autosave’ mode. This will automatically take a sequence of images and save them with sequential file names in your ‘Autosave’...
- Page 16 Other features of SXV_M5 ‘Slew & Sum’ imaging: The SXV-M5 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 SXV-M5 Issue 1 June 2004 To take an S&S image, go to the camera interface window and select an exposure time for one image of the sequence. Do not use a very short exposure time, as the read-out noise will become dominant. About 30 seconds is a reasonable minimum.
- Page 18 5mA per output. This socket may be used for telescope control if the SXV-M5 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 SXV-M5.
- Page 19 Handbook for SXV-M5 Issue 1 June 2004 The SXV-M5 incorporates two fast serial ports for use with external accessories. The ports are available on 5 pins of the 18 way connector that is provided for the autoguider and may be accessed by plugging in a ‘serial port divider box’. The divider box and cables are available as an accessory and may be chained in series with the autoguider cable, when the guider is in use, or may be used on its own.
- Page 20 S.T.A.R. 2000. Adaptors for other mounts, such as the Vixen Skysensor, are available from Starlight Xpress. In the case of a ‘difficult’ mount, an add-on relay box is available to switch higher currents and opposite polarity circuits.
- Page 21 Handbook for SXV-M5 Issue 1 June 2004 although the LX200GPS still has a software issue at the time of writing. All other mounts will use the guider output from the camera. Once the above connections have been made, you are ready to start up the system.
- Page 22 Handbook for SXV-M5 Issue 1 June 2004 Take an image of the field, using an exposure time of 1 second and selecting ‘Auto contrast stretch’ in the ‘View’ menu. Several stars should be easily visible in the displayed image, but, if not, try increasing the exposure time a little. Remember that the ideal guide star is one that is bright enough to be easily detected in a 1 second exposure, or less.
- Page 23 ‘tweak’, if necessary. Flat field frames can be taken in the usual way, and are not affected by the use of S.T.A.R. 2000. A clip from a self-guided ‘STAR 2000’ SXV-M5 image ********************************************************************* Using the add-on autoguider:...
- Page 24 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 25 Issue 1 June 2004 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-M5 software, open the autoguider control panel by clicking on the autoguider menu button.
- Page 26 Handbook for SXV-M5 Issue 1 June 2004 The autoguider control panel with a guide star selected 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’...
- Page 27 ********************************************************************* Camera maintenance: Very little maintenance is needed to keep the SXV-M5 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 28 7) Replace all the camera parts in reverse order and the job is done. Dealing with condensation: The SXV-M5 is designed to avoid condensation by minimising the volume of air trapped within the CCD cavity. This normally works quite 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 29 Handbook for SXV-M5 Issue 1 June 2004 N.B. DO NOT leave the camera switched on for long periods between uses. The cold CCD will collect ice by slow diffusion through any small leaks and this will become corrosive water on the cooler and CCD pins when the power is removed. If substantial amounts of moisture are seen on the CCD, dismantle the camera and dry it thoroughly.
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Page 30: Conditions Of Guarantee
Issue 1 June 2004 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.