Atik Instruments 16/16HR user manual
Contents
1. ATK 5 HI INSTRUMENTS ANTIK INSTRUMENTS Atik Instruments 16 16HR user manual Version 2 0 December 2006 Page I BATIK INSTRUMENTS E O O E AE E A E EA 3 2 e EOE E 4 2 1 P ean 0 ES AEEA 5 3 Atik Instruments 16 16HR I ssssssossesssrssressressersrersrresrerrrrrrrrrrrrrr rese reser rss rene reor rss 2 reor rss 6 3 1 8 51 10 a E a I ee O ne ee ee 6 3 2 CE BD a a E E E 8 3 3 Analog to Digital Converter ADC ccccceceeseesesseeessssssessssessseesseeeeeeegs 8 34 Power Consump F 6 9 sensie nn ee eons me eee Sn 8 E PO case ss crs haps gages E sess cea ace E ETE 9 4 1 IST Pearsons eee ete sow tre NNE 9 ME MIO RMU acer screener E E EN E NR 9 4 3 TV tt TIN CS Ca PE ae E E 9 5 Thermal Sta bilist ss sseessmssbsrste scenens ser a a n a ait 9 6 Additional Technical INfOrma tlOlD sssesseosersrrsrresrrrrrrrresrerrrrrrrs rer ere rer r ers rr rss rea 10 7 Software Development Kif Seem in ee ee ene ee 11 C AC 0 9 e E ES E EE 12 D 0 100 oye ad Bl Se ECE e r a E A E ER 13 9 1 PC ATILES mona icnscdassdsascodimeaseainennsiednenmosaielacoeaibenopedissneeingvanesinvabansentsetesssiasseaineres 13 Dek UE ANSI SC 18 70 e E 14 9 3 OE ET E ES E E A E T E A E E 15 9 4 DY MAINS Ce 1 asst geese ctl esate sce sitten sikten nestor 15 9 5 Espo ES loll ANN 25 01 ATO 0 e 16 9 6 Notes on the ATK 16 camera susnssnssessesseeseerreeresrrrrrerresrrrr rer res rer rss res r rr rer rr rn ra 17 97 Displav Options DIa2. other than simple histogram manipulation for mapping the 16 bit images to the display The data saved in the FITS file is exactly what is read from the camera raw so any adjustment is purely for display purposes Focus should be very easily achieved with focus assist as described further 9 1 Features The capabilities of Artemis ATK Capture include Control over exposure time from 1milisecond 0 001s upwards Control over pixel binning Selection of an image sub frame for rapid focusing Automatic capture of a series of images saved with sequential file names Adjustment of black and white levels and log stretch for displaying images Focus Assist option using data gathered from star images Zoom feature Display adjusted for aspect ratio for sensor whose pixels aren t square Night vision mode Page 13 BATIK INSTRUMENTS an HE TT 9 2 Using Artemis Capture Exp s 01 Dly s a Lock exp Bix h Biny x gt IV Auto stretch oN ote E Negative width 659 Height a34 F Correct aspect ratio Full frame Night vision OK I Autosavelmages Browse C Documents and Settings Rui Tr Seqfmt file 001 v _ Next dir Seqno 1 OK lt gt Ry auttt CQ r CGCb C amp c re i Oe The main Screen When you first start the program you will be warned if your Atik 16 16HR camera is not connected or powered up It is possible to run the program without the ca
3. a window will open up containing your Atik 16 image If you need to find out more about how to use AstroArt for imaging there is plenty of information and some tutorials available from the AstroArt Help menu Page 27
4. click the Snapshot button When looping you can stop the whole looping process by clicking the Loop button again The current exposure will be aborted You can change exposure settings while looping but they will not be acted upon until the start of the next exposure Camera Subframe or the red square toolbar button allows you to drag an imaging sub frame using the left mouse button which is normally used to scroll the display You can always use the right mouse button to create a sub frame The green square toolbar button or the Camera Fullframe option will revert to using the full CCD area for imaging Camera Rotate 180 will rotate captured images 180 degrees This also rotates the saved image Camera Info gives some details of the Atik camera Camera Connect and Camera Disconnect will connect or disconnect the Atik camera File Fits header allows you to specify the target object telescope and observer name for recording in the header of saved FITs files The Quick menu options allow you to take an instant snapshot at a variety of exposures and binning levels with a single click or key press Page 23 ATK a E D INSTRUMENTS 10 Maxim DL plug in Introduction Maxim DL is a powerful astronomical program from Diffraction Limited It is able to control most of the equipment used in astronomical imaging as well as processing the captured images In order to allow Maxim D
5. download time and use the zoom feature OK so that the Star is displayed highly magnified so you can verify that the image quality is improving as you adjust the focus Then use the camera loop button to repeatedly take images until you reach perfect focus as indicated visually and with the Focus Assist dialog Focus assist box Artemis Capture tracks the star from one exposure to the next by searching for the brightest pixel in the area around the star s previous location Depending on the magnification and stability of the telescope the star may drift by a number of pixels from its previous location Clicking the Set button in the Focus Assist dialog allows you to specify how many pixels the program will search around the previous location when trying to locate the star You can also specify the radius that will be used to measure the star s properties Page 19 SEAT iK an INSTRUMENTS once it is located this should be a little larger than the radius of the star but smaller than the distance to the next star 9 9 Colour cameras and the ArtemisRGB utility Basically the Colour version of the Atik 16 cameras is the same as the monochrome counterparts both in aspect and functionality However they feature a CCD which has colour filters built in enabling the capture of colour images in a single exposure Artemis Capture handles these cameras just like the monochrome versions but features a menu
6. L to communicate with a new piece of hardware a driver is required to be installed in a location known to Maxim DL Installation The driver file for the Atik16 camera is located under the Plug ins MaximDL folder on the CD ROM To install it just double click on the SetupArtemisMaxim exe and follow the prompts Be aware that you will need top have Maxim DL installed first Setup Atik 16IC Atk 16IC driver Version 3 02 OK Copyright c 2006 Artemis CCO oer Cancel Camera Model Atik 161C Priority Hardware FIFO Precharge Mode Amp Switching Filter Normal Enabled In camera Exp gt 1 08 None Using the Plug in Once the driver is installed you can start up Maxim DL and open the CCD Control Window either by pressing Ctrl W or by selecting menu option View CCD Control Window There may be a short pause while Maxim DL build up a list of available camera drivers and then you will see the camera setup dialog In the box headed Main CCD Camera click the Setup button and in the dialog which appears scroll down the Camera Model list until you find the Artemis camera There will be five boxes at the bottom of the dialog e Priority In order not to lock up Maxim DL while the driver receives data from the camera a separate process is created for receiving the data in the background while Maxim DL deals with other things such as the user interface On a slower PC or one which 1s
7. acts the precharge data in the camera s firmware giving an image which is almost identical to the full subtraction but using half the USB bandwidth Page 26 BATIK gf NstRUMENTS e Hardware FIFO The Atik 16 camera is fitted with an internal FIFO First In First Out buffer to smooth the transfer of data from the CCD to the USB It should be enabled all the time e High Priority In order not to lock up AstroArt while the driver receives data from the camera a separate process is created for receiving the data in the background while AstroArt deals with other things such as the user interface On a slower PC or one which 1s particularly busy it is possible that insufficient time may be available for the download process resulting in stalls during the data transfer This is undesirable since it may produce artefacts in the image and so the option is given to increase the priority of the download process This option will not normally be required but is provided as a last resort e Filter only for interlaced CCDs This filter is to attenuate the effects of banding on interlaced CCDs It should be used with the Atik 16 not the 16HR Once you have chosen the settings you require click OK to complete the connection with the Artemis camera and return to the Control Panel Now you can click on the Settings tab to take a test image select an exposure time and binning mode then click the START button After a while
8. ain facts into consideration The first is that if you have to do serious astrophotography you will note that 16 seconds which is the time needed to download the entire file in maximum resolution is a very small percentage of the time consumed in the field if you take into account the time needed to set up the rest of your gear Take setting up focusing and a single long exposure for instance Having this summed up if everything goes well really well an hour is easily consumed Now take that time and compare 16 seconds against it On a per cent base this is 0 44 of that time Not even 1 and taking this into account is it really that much No 4 2 Auto Guiding Port Atik Instruments 16 16 HR cameras are compliant with this industry s demanding features The auto guiding port enables you to do auto guiding with any ST4 compatible guiding software when using the optional cable See accessories You will find this port schematic on section 6 4 3 MIiniDIN Serial Port The MiniDIN port is a Serial Port following a proprietary protocol This port will be able to control several useful devices through this single port Port schematics are available on section 6 5 Thermal Stabilization Atik Instruments cameras are thermally stabilized in a way that your CCD will output the best result that it can deliver This information often appears with the indication AT x where x in this case is 25 This means that the CCD s temperatu
9. ames of all the images to be processed Above this are some controls for specifying how the processing is performed and at the bottom are buttons for dealing with files Page 20 i BRA Ti iK an E INSTRUMENTS ArtamlaboB Reply Coar Sensor RGB es La gt Disi 1 om f Col LPF i pre E J Fies OBE oo LE Ske ledet Artemis RGB screen To import a file click the Import button and locate a FITs file produced by a colour camera The name of the file will appear in the list box on the left and the image will appear in the preview window It may not look quite right at this stage The Delete button can be used to remove an image from the list it does not delete it from the hard disk At the top left is a combo box where you can select whether to view the raw colour or luminance image The raw image will show you the checkerboard matrix pattern but for now we want to see the colour image Below this combo box is another one in which you can select whether the CCD uses a primary RGB or secondary CYMG matrix The ATK 16HRC uses an RGB matrix the ATK 16C uses a CYMG matrix Choose the appropriate one for your camera If you saved the file from a recent version of Artemis Capture the colours should already be correct Otherwise you can try adjusting the X and Y offset values which tell ArtemisRGB where on the matrix the top left corner of the image lies For a ful
10. cal Distance mms 206 3 result in arc seconds pixel angular resolution Angular Resolution Angular Resolution Focal Distance ts 16HR Focal coal ET SHR 350 1 330 400 1 209 450 1 108 500 1 023 550 0 950 B00 0 887 650 0 665 FOU 24905 1 9009 12500 06973 0 532 750 2 S245 1 742 135000 05611 0 443 500 0 380 dol 2 0509 1 56554 14000 04350 0 332 S00 19369 14705 14500 03674 0 295 0266 250 7 Software Development Kit Due to the fact that our ever changing World is always finding new applications for Atik Instruments cameras a software development kit is available at www atik instruments com This SDK is free of charge for now Page 11 BATIK HE INSTRUMENTS 8 Accessories There are several accessories from Atik Instruments that will allow you to go further into this never ending journey of discovering new worlds These include the following IR Filter Focal Reducer 0 5x Manual Filter wheel SLR Lens adapter for Nikon SLR Lens adapter for Pentax S K SLR Lens adapter for Olympus Other accessories will follow up very shortly which will enhance even further the joy of astrophotography Page 12 EAT iK Eg D INSTRUMENTS 9 Artemis ATK Capture Artemis ATK Capture is a standalone program which allows you to control your Atik 16 camera take images preview them and save them to standard FITS files It does not perform any image processing
11. dedicated to colour imaging The Colour menu has 3 options RAW Displays the image as it comes from the camera Colour Displays a synthesized colour image from the RAW data Luminance Displays the Luminance channel of the image grayscale Keep in mind that all these options only affect the way the image is displayed Images are always saved as RAW data Since images are saved in RAW data there is a need to decode colour data for further processing That s where the ArtemisRGB utility enters ArtemisRGB is a standalone application designed to work with FITs files produced from Artemis cameras fitted with colour CCD sensors The CCD sensors in these cameras have a matrix of colour filters over the sensor elements so each pixel samples a certain colour of the image The function of ArtemisRGB is to take this raw image and convert it into a full color image Features Conversion of images from Primary RGB and Secondary CYMG mosaics Allowance for offsetting image on matrix Adjustable low pass filtering of colour Adjustable high pass filtering of luminance Adjustable image brightness Apply same conversion settings to a batch of images View raw image colour version or luminance grayscale only Output in various formats for post processing including FIT TIF BMP When you start ArtemisRGB you will see the main image preview area occupying most of the window On the left is a list which will contain the n
12. due to a small but detectable amount of infrared radiation amp glow emitted by the circuitry inside the CCD so it is best to switch off the amplifier for longer exposures For short exposures the glow is generally insignificant compared to the brightness of the actual subject being imaged e Filter only for interlaced CCDs This filter is to attenuate the effects of banding on interlaced CCDs It should be used with the Atik 16 not the 16HR Page 25 BATIK gf NstRUMENTS 11 AstroArt Plug in Introduction AstroArt is a powerful astronomical program from MSB Limited It is able to control most of the equipment used in astronomical imaging as well as processing the captured images In order to allow AstroArt to communicate with a new piece of hardware a driver is required to be installed in a location known to AstroArt Installation The driver file for the Atik16IC camera is located under the Plug ins Astroart folder on the CD ROM To install it just double click on the SetupArtemisaa exe and follow the prompts Be aware that you will need to have AstroArt installed first Using the Plugin Once the driver and user interface files have been copied to the correct directory you can start up AstroArt and open the CCD Control panel by selecting menu option Tools Plugin Commands CCD Camera All being well you will see the camera setup dialog at the left of which is a drop down list of supported camera
13. eckbox will add a reticule to the displayed image It may be of use for determining the center of the frame so that you can align your goto telescope for example The Negative checkbox will display the image as a negative which can be useful when trying to spot faint objects on a dark background The Correct aspect ratio box adjusts the displayed image according to the physical dimensions of the pixels on the CCD sensor If the box is checked Page 17 BATIK INSTRUMENTS then the height of the displayed image is scaled so that a square area on the screen corresponds with a square area in the sky Night Vision changes the Windows colors to shades of red in order to help preserve visual dark adaptation when using the program at night When the program shuts down or the box is unchecked the original colors are restored Hint You can save the night vision color scheme for use with other programs if you click the checkbox and then right click the Windows desktop select Properties Appearance and then Save as Give the scheme a name such as Night Vision and you can then return to it any time you like using this dialog You may also want to save Display Black i white F Log 0 I oom iw Auto stretch Reticle Negative Corect aspect ratio Night vision OK The Dialog box your standard color scheme so that you can re select it after using
14. elected images If values differ between images then they will be displayed as in the controls Changing any value will update that value in all selected images this can be a quick way to set the processing parameters for a batch of images Finally when you have set all your images as you like them you can use the Save All button to convert all the images to a file format suitable for post processing You can choose to save as separate Red Green and Blue FITs files or a single 3 layer FITs file or a 48 bit uncompressed TIFF file or a 24 bit BMP file The last option will lose information but is more compact and more widely used than the other formats When using the first option each image is saved under its original filename with R R G or _B appended to indicate the colour channel Page 22 EAT iK Eg D INSTRUMENTS 9 10 Other controls There are a few other controls apart from the dialogs described above The most important are probably the Camera Snapshot and Camera Loop menu options also available as the two toolbar buttons the loop button is the one with the red circular arrow on it The Snapshot command takes a single image and the Loop command starts the program taking repeated images You can abort the current exposure by clicking the Snapshot button while the exposure is in progress If you want to terminate the exposure early but keep the result hold the shift key down while you
15. g these two models Atik Instruments 16 C SONY ICX429AKL Atik Instruments 16 HR C SONY ICX285AL SONY ICX285AQ Due to the very clean nature of these CCD s dark frames are in most cases unnecessary This is due to the low noise which stands at an amazing less than 8 electron RMS The optical window used in front of the CCD is a BK7 with BBAR coatings on both sides assuring that no reflection will appear in your image 3 3 Analog to Digital Converter ADC The Analog to Digital Converter ADC is a 16bit ADC This means that your Atik Instruments 16 16HR camera will allow you to record subtle levels of gray providing you enhanced dynamic range when capturing an image 3 4 Power Consumption Your Atik Instruments camera was electrical and electronically designed in order to have low power consumption so your autonomy is enhanced one step further Versatility is a very important feature since the 12V used by Atik Instruments 16 16HR cameras can be plugged almost everywhere e g car battery or any other source which provides 12V The less than 800mA that the camera consumes in full operational status provides extended autonomy Page 8 BATIK INSTRUMENTS 4 Ports 4 1 USB Port An USB 1 1 connection port is used in Atik Instruments cameras 16 16HR This might sound as a limitation but there is little importance in this fact Although Atik Instruments is aware that USB 2 0 is faster USB 1 1 suffices if you take cert
16. l 0 secsec 17 9 8 FOCUS 2A6 51 ST bites RE ES tesen ENN bee 19 9 9 Colour cameras and the ArtemisRGB utility ssssssssssssrsrrrrrerrrrrsnnnrrnnn 20 IIO NET COM O een cee E ope oP ve Tare nn REN Tone 23 10 Main EB HS ra re ee eee ener eae ener 24 11 ASTON TIOS ES te oatucetessceatoassaceeciaeceteusiusatess oeateedeacseciaesteostueateus esteas 26 Page 2 n EEE TIK E D INSTRUMENTS 1 Introduction Atik Instruments Cameras represents today s affordable and easy way to achieve high quality images with a superior design This version has new redesigned hardware in order to answer the growing demand in fine quality astrophotography cameras A wide range of accessories is also available in order to answer the needs of the most demanding astrophotographer The product you have purchased is a fine piece of hardware and will bring you many moments of satisfaction however in order to maintain the product s quality any changes to the supplied camera and or accessories without the manufacturers written permission will void your warranty Any further development will be available to you through your local dealer or at www atik instruments com Please take the time to read this document thoroughly in order to get the most out of your Atik Instruments Camera After doing so get out there and discover new worlds p ENTS Page 3 HE iK Eg m E INSTRUMENTS 2 Pack Contents This pack includes 1 A
17. l screen image in the standard orientation these values ought to be 0 0 but if the image has been rotated or flipped then the values will need adjusting With a bit of trial and error you should find values that give the correct colours Most deep sky targets are very faint and because ArtemisRBG doesn t have any histogram stretching tools a Brightness selection is available which will allow you to increase the image brightness This will help to better see the object in the image but won t change the image in any way since it s for display purposes only Because some information is lost when the CCD samples the signal into different colours reconstructing the full colour image can sometimes introduce colours which weren t present in the original scene These are typically seen in regions of high contrast To help reduce these false colour artifacts you can Page 21 EAT iK Eg D INSTRUMENTS run a low pass filter blur on the colour channel Then to restore sharpness to the image you can run a high pass filter sharpen on the luminance channel If you have multiple images loaded into ArtemisRGB you can give each one its own set of processing options if you need to In particular if some images were saved from a sub frame then you may need to give them different X or Y offsets If you make a multiple selection in the image list the controls at the top of the program will indicate any values which are common to all s
18. mera by clicking on ignore although most of the functions will be unavailable The main settings in Artemis Capture are controlled using two dialogs the display options dialog and the exposure settings dialog Both of these are a modeless dialog which means that they can be left open while you run the program and capture images etc However you should be aware that if one of these dialogs is selected then certain keyboard shortcuts or mouse operations in the main window may not behave as expected If this happens simply click on the main window to select it Page 14 BATIK INSTRUMENTS 9 3 Quick Start If you want to simply take a quick shot to verify that the program and camera are working correctly you can use the F1 F8 buttons to take a single test image F1 F4 take an exposure of 0 1 1 5 or 10 seconds respectively and F5 F8 use the same exposure times but binned at 2x2 for greater sensitivity Here s a list of shortcuts F4 10s F5 0 1s binned F6 1s binned F7 5s binned F8 10s binned 9 4 Main Screen 15s F1 ls Fz f 55 Fa 10s F4 ex20 15 FS exe 1s F xe 55 FF exe 10s F The Quick menu The main window in Artemis capture is used for displaying the most recently captured image A green outline rectangle is displayed in the window indicating the full size of the CCD sensor If a sub frame is being used for imaging then it is indicated by a red outline
19. n The indicator at the bottom right of the window shows the current camera status exposure time remaining download state etc Once the image is downloaded it will be displayed on the main screen you can adjust Bins 1 Starta 0 width a Bin I Start E Height D Full frame Autosave Images Browse Cc Documents and SettingsXAur Tr the display using the Display Options dialog Seq fmt file OM Seg no 272 DE The Exposure dialog box Page 16 EAT iK Eg D INSTRUMENTS 9 6 Notes on the ATK 16 camera If your camera is the ATK 16 model not the HR model the CCD sensor is of the interlaced type normally used in video cameras the Sony ICX 429ALL Because of this an exposure with full vertical resolution i e Y binning 1 has to be taken in two fields consisting of odd and even scan lines respectively These fields are then interleaved to produce the final image Due to the time taken to download a field the exposure times of the two fields may not match exactly in which case some fine horizontal banding may be visible in the image this effect is reduced at longer exposure times like 30s and over The effect is eliminated by stacking a few frames which you will have to do anyway if using exposures under 60s For short exposures less than about 2 4s the camera will take the two exposures consecutively rather than simultaneously only starting the second exposure af
20. particularly busy it is possible that insufficient time may be available for the download process resulting in stalls during the data transfer This is undesirable since it may produce artefacts in the image and so the option is given to increase the priority of the download process This option will not normally be required but is provided as a last resort e Hardware FIFO The Atik 16 camera 1s fitted with an internal FIFO First In First Out buffer to smooth the transfer of data from the CCD to the USB It should be enabled all the time Page 24 BATIK gf NstRUMENTS e Precharge mode Here you can select the manner in which the CCD s precharge level is subtracted from the image data None returns data without subtracting the precharge level this is the fastest option but will result in some image noise PC sends the image and precharge data to the PC for subtraction this is the method which results in the least noise but takes up twice the USB bandwidth In camera subtracts the precharge data in the camera s firmware giving an image which is almost identical to the PC subtraction but using half the USB bandwidth e Amp off for exposures longer than seconds This option allows you to set threshold exposure duration for exposures longer than this the driver will switch off the CCD s internal amplifier during the exposure Leaving the amplifier switched on can cause a slight brightening towards one edge of the image
21. re will drop 25 C below outside temperature This is a thermoelectric process and therefore in order to obtain the best results you should wait 1 to 2 minutes until thermal stabilization is achieved This fact also depends on the outside temperature so higher environment temperatures will demand more time for the CCD to stabilize A fan is also included and it is protected by the fan protector Page 9 ATK H NstRUMENTS 6 Additional Technical Information Sensor Type Horizontal Resolution Vertical Resolution Pixel Size ADC Readout Noise Interface Power Maximum Exposure Length Minimum Exposure Length Guide Port Cooling Weight Sony ExView 752 pixels 582 pixels 8 6 uM x 8 3 uM 16 bit 8 e USB 12v DC 0 8A Unlimited 1 1000 s ST 4 compatible Thermoelectric Approx 500 g Sony ExView 1392 pixels 1040 pixels 6 45 uM x 6 45 uM 16 bit 6e USB 12v DC 0 8A Unlimited 1 1000 s ST 4 compatible Thermoelectric Approx 500 g Pinouts for the external ports 123456 RR 1 NC 2 GND 3 West 4 South 5 North 6 East Autoguider port Expansion Port Distance from top of T thread to focal plane Atik 16 Aprox 15mm Atik 16HR Aprox 18mm Optical window thickness 2mm Page 10 BATIK INSTRUMENTS The following table refers to the angular resolution per pixel with certain focal distances The formula to calculate any other focal length not described is Pixel Size mms Fo
22. rectangle within the green one You can scroll the display using the scrollbars or by dragging it with the left mouse button Dragging the right mouse button within the CCD area allows you to set the sub frame interactively If you have a mouse with a wheel you can use the wheel to zoom in and out the point beneath the mouse pointer is the focus of the zoom and remains in the same place on the display Page 15 ne Coma Chek nn z l t Ku F arm beri Sub Frame selection EAT iK Eg E INSTRUMENTS 9 5 Exposure Settings Dialog This dialog is displayed by selecting the View Exposure Settings menu option or by clicking the toolbar button Here you are able to set the exposure time for the image the individual X and Y binning factors and you can numerically specify a sub frame if you wish Also a delay between exposures setting is available since it is desirable to have the auto guider stabilize before starting the next exposure This can be set in the Delay s box and its measured in seconds If the Autosave box is checked then every time an image is captured it will automatically be saved as a FITs file with a sequence number appended to its name in the form C Artemis 001 fit Exposure Exp 5 0 05 min ser Cilu E Once you have selected the exposure settings you can take a shot using the Camera Snapshot menu option or by clicking the camera toolbar butto
23. ter the first field has been downloaded In addition with this type of CCD it is physically impossible to produce true vertical binning at any odd multiple apart from 1 The Artemis driver will simulate the correct binning behavior if such a binning multiple is requested To attenuate this effect a De banding filter is available in the Exposure dialog box which will cancel out most of it 9 7 Display Options Dialog This dialog is displayed using the View Display Options menu item or by clicking the toolbar button It allows you to adjust the way in which the 16 bit image is mapped to the PC s display In general two values are chosen within the range of 16 bit numbers present in the image Pixel values equal to or less than the lower value are displayed as black and pixel values equal to or greater then the higher value are displayed as white Values in between are displayed as shades of grey The Log value controls how the grey shades are distributed a value of zero produces a linear map negative values provide higher contrast at the higher end and positive values boost the contrast at the lower end The Auto stretch box allows the program to automatically adjust the black and white levels each time an image is captured The levels are chosen such that only a few pixels fall outside the range If the box is unchecked then you can manually adjust the black and white levels using the sliders The Reticle ch
24. the Night Vision scheme Page 18 BATIK INSTRUMENTS 9 8 Focus Assist When taking an astronomical image it is critical that focusing be as accurate as possible To help achieve this Artemis Capture provides the Focus Assist dialog When you have the camera roughly focused so that you can see stars in the captured image you can activate the focus assist dialog by double clicking on a star For best results you need to choose one which is bright but not overexposed and which has a relatively clear area around it The program will select the brightest star in the vicinity of the selection and draw a small box around it It will also pop up a dialog showing some information about the Star s image in a large bold font so that you can read it when at the telescope which may be some distance from the PC monitor The information provided is the stars maximum brightness the difference between the brightest pixel and the background level and the width of the star image This is calculated as the size of a square centered on the star s centroid containing half the total flux from the star The objective is to adjust the telescope s focus until the brightness reaches a maximum and the width reaches a minimum this will give the sharpest and brightest star Focus Assist E images Whilst focusing it is also a good Bri 24041 idea to select a sub frame l i around the star in order to Wid 0 74 reduce the image
25. tik Instruments Camera 16 2 Pelican Case 3 CD ROM with Software and manuals 4 USB Cable 5 Car lighter type power cable 6 Dust cover 7 1 25 Nosepiece 8 Quick start guide Page 4 HE iK Eg m E INSTRUMENTS 2 1 Pelican Case The Pelican Case is a high impact resistant case and is used to house your camera and accessories in order to protect them from rough transportation By carrying the contents of this pack inside the provided case Atik Instruments assures you that practically nothing will damage your camera and accessories The inside foam prevents scratches on your camera as long as accessories are not physically in touch with it Please use the camera in the proper part of the case with no accessories around it Note To prevent accidents please always check that the Pelican case s locks are in fact locked Page 5 HE iK Eg m E INSTRUMENTS 3 Atik Instruments 16 16HR 3 1 Camera Parts 1 Power socket 2 MiniDIN Port 3 Cooling Fan 4 Cooling Fan protector 5 CCD 6 Optical window 7 1 25 Nosepiece Page 6 HE iK Bg E INSTRUMENTS e 8 Tripod Socket e 9 Auto Guiding Port e 10 USB Port Page 7 BATIK INSTRUMENTS 3 2 CCD The used CCD in your camera depends on the model and on the fact if its a color or black and white camera and also if itis a 16 or 16 HR model Below is a table showing the CCD used in all four options regardin
26. types Select Artemis in this box and then click Check CCD to connect to the camera If you see the message Connection FAILED then you need to check that the camera is correctly powered up and connected to the USB and be certain that you have uploaded the correct firmware onto the camera if required Otherwise you should see a dialog in which you can configure some settings of the Artemis camera prior to using it e Amp off for exposures longer than seconds Allows you to set a threshold exposure duration for exposures longer than this the driver will switch off the CCD s internal amplifier during the exposure Leaving the amplifier switched on can cause a slight brightening towards one edge of the image due to a small but detectable amount of infrared radiation amp glow emitted by the circuitry inside the CCD so it is best to switch off the amplifier for longer exposures For short exposures the glow 1s generally insignificant compared to the brightness of the actual subject being imaged e Precharge mode Here you can select the manner in which the CCD s precharge level is subtracted from the image data None returns data without subtracting the precharge level this is the fastest option but will result in a noisy image Full sends the image and precharge data to the PC for subtraction this is the method which results in the least noise but takes up twice the USB bandwidth ICPS in camera precharge subtraction subtr
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