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SkyRaider User Manual

1. N Start the camera Snap at least an image first Choosing the File gt Batch Save command will bring up a Batch Save dialog gt xi m File Name Format vyyy mm dd HH MM SS ba File Prefix TT File type png hd Option Sample TT 2012 04 18 00 41 43 png Directory Enter the name of the drive and directory where your captured images will be saved You may either type the path information or use the Browse button to locate it from a standard Browse Folder dialog Name Format The year month date hour minute and second or nnnn sequence are used as part of the filename If more files are saved with in a second a xx suffix is attached to the end of Name Format to avoid the possible name conflict For the nnnn sequence Name Format no suffix is needed File Prefix Enter a file name prefix for Batch Save when generating files names for a series of images This prefix will be combined with Name Format to form a final file name naming paradigm File Type In this combo box select the format in which you want the image to be saved can be BMP JPG PNG TIF Click the Option Button to set the different parameters for encoding the file For BMP format the Option will be disabled See File gt Save As command about the details of the format encoding methods If there are Measurement Objects over the image the File Type will be chose as MallincamSky File Type tft
2. Sample The final file name is shown at the right of the Sample label for quick reference SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 33 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 4 Once the settings are made Left Click the OK button to begin the file batch save process or Cancel to cancel the File gt Batch Save ee command and return to the application gt when the File gt Batch Save command has finished the Title on the Image Tab or Image Window will be modified with the file name formed in the Batch Save dialog gt The File gt Batch Save will perform no saving operation if the file is not moditied E gt Quick Save la Quick Save Ctri O The File gt Quick Save command will be enabled when a A new image is captured from the camera b An Image Window is created by choosing the File gt Paste as New File command File gt Quick Save can save the file a quick way with no need to specify the file directory file name and file format All those are specified in Options gt Preferences Quick Save Property Page The file name can be renamed according to the setup in the Options gt Preferences Quick Save Property Page s Show the rename dialog item Paste as New File Paste as New File The File gt Paste as New File command will be enabled when there is valid image data on the clipboard first see the Edit gt Copy command If there is no image data on the clipboard the File gt Paste as New File command will be
3. Hi Sidebars Mallincams ky s User Automatically activate the camera sidebar when starting the camera Interface It main ly includes Automatically activate the folders sidebar when opening the browse window Automatically show the browse window when double dicking the folders Automatically activate the camera sidebar when startup 1 MallincamSky s special file HH ur style format warning a information O silver Luna Blue 2 Sidebars O windows 3 User Interface Style Windows 7 _ Visual Studio 2008 4 Language Visual Studio 2005 5 Graphics accelerator _ Office 2003 _ Office XP 6 Privacy Just Left Click in a checkbox to choose your required Option Window The menu control will close all open windows Close All Tabs and can reset the lays back to its default Reset Window Layout settings E Windows Selecting the Closes All command will close all of the pictures opened or captured inside MallincamSky s frame If you have made any modifications to the pictures or if you have captured some pictures from the camera choosing the Close All will let you finish the saving operations quickly Save Files Ea File has been modified Do you want to save changes Yes No Cancel Yes to All No to All Batch Save SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 70 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 The Close All will actually close down the live Video Stream window You can now use the File gt Open
4. Version 2 0 Michael Burns Rock Mallin SkyRaider User Manual This document will quickly introduce you to the wonders of the MallinCam SkyRaider Camera It will include instructions on how fo install the Software and Drivers and how connect the SkyRaider to your computer along with explanations of the camera s major settings The purpose of this guide Is fo quickly get you Up and running with the SkyRaider Camera so that you can image For a more detailed explanation of the various camera parameter settings look for the SkyRaider User Manual SkyRaider Quick Guide Page Revision Sheet Revision History Revision Description 07 17 2015 Template Creation 08 26 2015 Version 3 7 5985 SkyRaider Quick Guide Page ii SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Table of Contents Revisi n iSto ada dida 11 Table OF CONICINS xa A At 1 Tix MAT OCU CHOW AAA A O A NE nea cuteness 5 The Contents of the SkyRaider DS Package cssccsscscscssscssesccssccssssssssscsessssscseseees 6 SPEcIACA ON Sid tdi tana eden eked toe 6 System Requirements said ata a ee elev eat 7 Inthe Box iii 7 The Contents of the SkyRaider SLP Package cssssccsssscsssscssssessssscsssscsssesssssssssessees 8 SVC CUM C ATL ONE O A ia Wintenieacausa 8 ISE Regue MENTS a aaah edo et 9 o A A RR Er rR rote 9 The Contents of the SkyRaider AG Package csccsscssscsssscsssccsssssssssssescssesssseseesens 10 System RE
5. File Prefix Enter a file name prefix for Quick Save when generating files names for a series of images This prefix will be combined with Name Format to form a final file name naming paradigm File Type In this combo box select the format in which you want the image to be saved can be BMP JPG PNG TIF Left Click the Option button to set the different parameters for encoding the file For BMP format the Option will be disabled See File gt Save Ase emenu about the details of the format encoding methods Sample The final file name is shown at the right of the Sample label for reference Show the rename file dialog _ Show the rename dialog The file name can be renamed according to this item When this item is checked a Rename Dialog window will pop up after choosing File gt Quick Save command or click the Quick Save Icon on the toolbar The new name can be specified again according to the requirement Cancel 1 h e B rowse Wi nN q ow gi CompuServe GIF FEX Targa One canc heck a File Extension de Abbr OW ple Windows Bitmap Extension for the specified file Windows Bitmap Format and its Abbr silat JPEG abbreviation to determine j JPEG whether or not it will be ip JPEG f ji JPEG displayed in the Browse EE window or not The C hec ked Portable Network Graphics F ji Tag Image File Format Format can be displayed in Tag Image File Format SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 67 SkyRaider
6. Misc Left Click on the Grids option on the left of the Preferences Window and adjust the Style No Grid Auto Grid and Manual Grid Line Style Solid Dash Dot or DashDot and Color that you are interested in SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 39 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Quick Save Grid Style Auto Grid ka File Line Style Dot ma Cursor Reticule Video Line Color Hi Default bl Mise Left Click on the Apply button fo display the Grid then Left Click on OK to accept 0 100 200 i 7 1000 1100 1200 o EY Manual Grids Choosing this control will display two small Blue Right Arrow and Down Arrows overlaid on the top of the Vertical Ruler and on the left of the Horizontal Ruler as shown below Use the Left Click Hold and Drag technique to move the Blue Down Arrow along the Horizontal Ruler to where ever you want When it is dragging over the video image there will be a Vertical Line in the Color and Style chosen by you appeared to let you judge where to release this line on the video image You can drag as many lines as you require to overlay them on the video image SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 40 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Similarly you can drag down as many Vertical Lines as you like to create Vertical Grids Video SkyRaiderGuiderc tstbmp 0 100 200 3 i i 1000 1100 1200 1 You can at any time grab and move the Blue Arrows to adjust the locations
7. _ _ _ 1 450ms Gain recommend turning Off the Auto Exposure and control the exposure manually The Flashing Rectangle in the Middle of the Live Video Screen will disappear when you close the Properties Window Now use MAXIMDL as you normally would SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 111 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Step 1 Start PHD2 software PHD2 Guiding 2 3 0 My Equipment File Tools View Darks Bookmarks Help Server started Nocam WNoscope Step 2 Click on the Camera Icon fo open up Connect Equipment Window PHD2 Guiding 2 3 0 My Equipment Equipment profile My Equipment 4 Manage Profiles w Select your equipment below and click Connect All to connect or click Disconnect All to disconnect You can also connect or disconnect individual equipment items by clicking the button next to the item Camera Windows WDM style webcam camera i g Connect Mount None None Connect All Server started No cam No scope No cal SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 112 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Step 3 Choose WDM style webcam camera from Camera Dropdown List Atik 16 series mono a Atik Gen3 color Atik Gen3 mono Camera V2 simulator ASCOM CCD Labs Q Guider CMOS QHY5 Camera ASCOM Fishcamp Starfish i Nova PLC M Long exposure LXUSB webcam Long exposure Parallel webcam Long exposur
8. Jul 16 2015 08 56 42 Left Click on OK to htto mallincam com Close SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 72 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 MallincamSky Toolbar Open The Open Image command is used to open an existing image file This command can also be used to preview an image in small size or to view its statistics and information without actually opening the image itself You can use this command to quickly locate a particular image MallincamSky supports and can open a variety of image formats These are identified in the Files of type list box MallincamSky can open more than one image simultaneously by gt Ctrl Left Mouse Click on each required File then Left Click on Open gt Shift Left Mouse Click method to highlight the files to be opened then Left Click on Open When an image is opened MallincamSky places it into a new image window It then becomes the active image MallincamSky maintains at the File gt Recent Files suomenu a list of the last opened files Look in Mj Desktop T SEP 144KB k H cd A Angular AP Recent places Shortcut 283 bytes Astronomy Technology Magazine Shortcut Capture PNG image 94 0 KB Celestron Notes Shortcut Shortcut 958 bytes cygne JPEG image 328 KB File name cygnus Files of type Windows Bitmap bmp dib le Image Int a ant eat 2 akafa E ortable Network Graphics png maana Tag Image File Format tit tiff _ CompuServe
9. Start TimesLapse Ato Capra oia 46 A A sues t cates aided gh teante earnest E E A 48 Stare Broca e he ls de a dde Ui a 49 A A EA S E E 50 A a A A 50 AdS Ue esas eit Gaeta et cote oe aden ae Stee na eee 51 RO 1 canny ee mr a T 56 HOD O ee ea ha Thess US AM ae nas ta ea AE Aaa tate neae ats 57 DC Ale PEE N A A A AOA A EEE A A T E 58 Henra A cm rer O ce teeter oem seers eRe eeti rn Teer fee Cree sen ver ee Teer eee eer ete 59 SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 2 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 TT 61 le sI o On AA 64 DTE ACEI o EA E EE AE E E E E N E EE E 66 O EE E A E 70 Cosc A a hans Sat taeda el St lea ates terete eu act 70 Reser Window Lao UE Ss a raga tds roan Seas hd tenes Gl demas oie 71 A e Cali Rede ain ee ale Reena ee 71 A TO 72 MalhineamSky TOOIDAE crror AAA AAA AAA AAA 73 OP a A A AA i 73 AVG via Scien sais cid O o a a on 74 DI A A A A A sees 74 DION e ae A wesneen nasa tare menaeh vee sant heausana enete cane oaah Ona namcenee eee tetanectaae 75 TLO AA EE EE EE SEE E I EE E EE E E E EAE E E E A EES 76 A a a a a a ere VENTE Ore ar 76 O EE SAEPE E E EE E EE E E E EAE E T E A EE ss 76 SAEUL DE E E E EE T E E E E E sete can teh E E EE E EE E E EE E ae 71 EAB A E E nee E E E T ERE E EE A E A E EE E EE E EE E T 80 AAA o E del ans atam taut 82 E A dh en bahawasaeteh E adeno nsia aiatalicencda ana a cabana tenant Me eataaGanstehe ie setsancas 82 6 Controlling the VR Wii aa dies 84 Camera Listones 84 Capture and Resolutio
10. Telescope Simulator for MET ASCOM ToupsT4 ASCOM Step 8 Left Click on the Connect on Mount List to tell PHD2 that the mount that the SkyRaider controls the ST4 port itself Mount ToupST4 ASCOM SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 119 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Step 9 Left Click on the Red X to close the Connect Equipment Window m oir Sale AZ Equipment profile ani Manage Profiles Connect Equipment lt a Select your equipment below and click Connect All to connect or click Disconnect All to disconnect You can also connect or disconnect individual equipment items by clicking the button next to the item Camera a Bg Disconnect Mount i ToupST4 ASCOM Eg Disconnect AO N sone ad Disconnect All Step 10 Left Click on the Looping Icon to start the SkyRaider imaging and then start using PHD2 as you normally would amp PHD2 Guiding 2 3 0 My Equipment File Tools View Darks Bookmarks Help Camera Scope No cal SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 120 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 9 Appendix How Dol How do get rid of the Green Exposure Rectangle First remember the Green Exposure Rectangle is used for the auto exposure process but if can be annoying when you are imaging gt The way to remove if from the Video Window Is to minimize the Exposure amp Gain control If you require the Exposure amp
11. The Save command allows you to save the updated image onto your computer The command immediately stores the current window image to its file the filename is listed on the window s title bar while leaving the image still active in its window If the image is untitled or titled with a digit MallincamSky will issue the File gt Save As dialog automatically The default Save as type will be Window Bitmap omp dib rle The File gt Save command can be used to save the most recent changes to disk It is offen performed as a precautionary measure during lengthy or involved processes to reduce the amount of reprocessing that might be required in the event of a system failure or operational error When an image Is being closed Left Click on Image title and not to save its changes is chosen from the Popup Window MallincamSky discards all changes made since the last File gt Save operation The File gt Save command always saves the contents of the entire window even if there is an AOI Area of Interest defined on it The File gt Save command will be disabled if the file is not changed or the changes have been saved Save As The Save As command allows you to save an image onto your computer with a specified file format At the end of a File gt Save As operation the image window will be associated with the new file and the new format i e its title bar will display the new file name MallincamSky supports the following
12. This control allows you to Flip the video image Horizontally Vertically or Both Left Click to place a check mark in the Horizontal Vertical boxes to have the image immediately reflect your choices Sampling This control contains commands that are only enabled on those SkyRaider Cameras that support binning If you require to Bin or Skip your video Sampling sampling rate from the SkyRaider Camera then this control allows you to select and or change the current setting Bin refers to the method of combining averaging pixels of block of neighbouring same color pixels to resize the video to a lower resolution can increase video frames second Skip also known as decimation means that a certain amount of pixels are not read out but skipped horizontally vertically or in both axes This reduces resolution of the resulting video but introduces subsampling artifacts SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 93 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Left Click on the required button to select the Sampling technique you need Bit Depth C Bit Depth This control contains commands that are only enabled on those SkyRaider Cameras that support various Bit Depth capabilities Pixel Bit Depth relates the number of bits C Bit Depth assigned to produce a color or shade of O Gray The larger the number of bits the larger the number of assigned colors or shades of Gray that the camera can produce In an 8
13. not displayed in the video image window Left Clicking the Capture gt Time Lapse Auto Capture command will bring up Time lapse Auto Capture Dialog Window as shown below SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 46 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 L gt Dire ctory Directory C Users Michael Documents MALLINCAMSKY The file Directory can C Wsers Michael Documents MALLINCAM be select by Left Clicking the Browse Name Format yymmddHHMMSSs button File Prefix Lc File PE File type The File Name This E 150706085327 png can be a combination of Name of Format File Prefix and File o Type as shown in the Y Total Images Sample LD Time Slot This Time slot in Seconds from 2s to 3600s is the time that MallincamSky waits before capturing another image 5s would indicate waiting another 5 seconds before capturing another image Leap Total Images Checking Total Images will enable its edit box You can enter the Total Images from 1 to 9999 to be captured MallincamSky will stop the Time lapse capture process automatically when the Total Images are reached If Total Images is unchecked MallincamSky will capture the images continuously until you choose the Capture gt Stop Time lapse Auto capture command again to stop the Time Lapse capture Left Click OK to begin the Time lapse capture or Cancel to cancel the Start Time Lapse Auto Capture Command After the Time lapse capture is started t
14. Button to automatically locate the Left and Right boundaries thus letting MallincamSky determine the best video quality SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 95 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Dark Field Correction Dark Field Correction What makes the Mallincam SkyRaider series of cameras unique Is the built in ability to take Dark Fields The best explanation of what a Dark Field is come from Simon Hanmer See Appendix for his explanation Dark Field Correction Quantity 10 Cover the lens and then push the Capture button to capture the dark filed Check the Enable button to enable Dark Filed Correction To have the SkyRaider camera to automatically apply Dark Fields you need to follow the following procedures before imaging Select SkyRaider Camera With the Camera Tab selected on the Left SideBar Left Click on the Camera you are currently using between lines E in Camera Heading Once a camera is selected a black MEFA rectangle with SkyRaider Camera name will appear in the Video Window of the MallincamSky Software along with the Horizontal and Vertical Rulers Select an Exposure Time for Dark Field Correction With the Camera Tab selected on the Left SideBar Left Click on the Exposure amp Gain Line a Green Rectangle with the you that you are setting an exposure time Closing the Exposure Window will remove the Green Rectangle The Exposure amp Gain Window will op
15. Gain Line a Green Rectangle with the word Exposure will appear in your Video Window to inform you that you are setting an exposure time Closing the Exposure Window will remove the Green Rectangle The n 5 00 Exposure amp Gain Window will open up and you can either a slide the Exposure Time bar Left Click Hold and Drag or Left Click on the current Exposure Time value and a another Window will open to allow you to manually enter a time don t forget to click OK 15000ms Exposure Target is only active when Auto Exposure is selected The Green Rectangle is used to see if reference region it encloses matches Exposure Target that you set We recommend that Auto Exposure is not selected You can Left Click Hold and Drag corners of the Green Exposure Rectangle to resize it to either cover the whole image window or even to be a zero size box at one of the corners of your image window This way you can always have the Exposure amp Gain tab open without the green rectangle in the middle SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 23 Step 3 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Take Dark Field Correction Ensure that the cover is either on the SkyRaider Camera or the peera Telescope is covered With the Camera Tab selected on the a Left SideBar Left Click on the Dark Field Correction Line come qua The Dark Field Correction Line will open up allowing you to select the Quantity of Dark Fields and the option to start the Dark Field C
16. Page 58 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Histogram Histogram Shift H A Histogram illustrates how pixels in an image are distributed by graphing the number of pixels at each color intensity level The Histogram shows detail in the shadows shown in the left part of the histogram mid tones shown in the middle and highlights A shown in the right part Level Pixels Luminosity A Histogram can helo you ee determine whether an Percentile image has enough detail to make a good correction A histogram is a mathematical graph that shows you the current tonal range of an image This way you can evaluate it and if necessary correct If Tonal range refers to the range of brightness levels in the image A histogram shows us how much of the image is currently pure black how much is currently pure white and how much of it falls somewhere in between It is very important to note that even though were talking about brightness levels we re not just talking about black and white grayscale images but Histograms work equally well and are just as important with full color images This is because even though we don t always think of color as being anything but color yet every color in your image has its own brightness level Orange for example are typically very light while blues and reds are much darker These differences in brightness values mean that color can have a huge impact on the tonal range of your i
17. S AMA O DEI gt Click Connect in the Camera Control Window __ Ble Edt View Analyze Process Fiter Color Plugin Window Help Sd oc ars aa 6 ah add BOO AMADO Meee Expose Guide Setup For Help press Fl SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 108 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Step 7 Left Click on the Guide Tab in Camera Control Seconds Filter ft Ho Filters bo 3 Y Auto Scope Dec Pier Fl Auto Pier F V Watch Star C Camera 1 Camera 2 23N 411 Expose Guide Setup x Scope Expose Start C Calibrat O Track Stop Guide Star f 0 0 Y lo 0 Camera Idle Aggressiveness Settings Hove Alarms Camera 1 Information Camera Idle Cooler is off Less lt lt Camera 2 Information Camera Idle No cooler control Sensor Temp 26 8 Binh Expose Cuide Setup Seconds Filter fi io Filters 7 Guide Star x friso y lt _ Aggressiveness Y Csettines Camera 1 Inf Camera Idle Cooler is off IV Auto Scope Dec Pier Fl Auto Pier Fl IV Watch Star C Camera 1 Camera 2 Left Click on the Settings Button in the Guide Tab and select ASCOM Direct in the Autoguider Output Control when the Guider Settings Tab opens up Guider Settings k HZ Settings Advanced X Axis Guider Enables sgu Cal Backlast MW X Axis Cont r 3 pes Y X
18. The MallinCam SkyRaider DS features dual independent on board memory ensuring separate video imaging signal data from the camera control through USB2 demand No other video CCD camera system has these exciting unique features on the market today The MallinCam SkyRaider DS uses a two stage step up voltage driver to operate the CCD sensor to its maximum sensitivity at 15 3 volts from a 5 volts source A MallinCam unique feature not found on any other video CCD cameras using USB2 system Specifications e PC Win XP Win7 Win 8 Win 10 Will include a separate Mac software e Hypered Buffered Gain circuit for greater low noise sensitivity e Two stage voltage step up to ensure full ccd sensor sensitivity e Dual independent memories for image camera control e 5meter 15 feet USB2 cable included e 1 25 C mount eyepiece adapter included e Zinc Aluminum Alloy construction for unmatched durability e Sealed multi coated optical window with 350 to 950nm range e Grade 1 Industrial electronic components throughout e 5volts USB operation at low 250 ma current draw e 13 30 oz 377 grams e Uses ceramic Sony ICX829 EXview HAD II Chip e Available with color ccd sensor SkyRaider DSc e Available with monochrome ccd sensor SkyRaider DSm e 17 5mm spacing between chip and front of SkyRaider Ds SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 6 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 System Requirements e Equal to Intel Core2 2 8GHz or Higher e Memory 2GB
19. Video to view a saved video Left Click on camera will again open the Video Stream window Reset Window Layout Reset Window Layout Choosing this command will reset the MallincamSky window layout to the original one The reset will be effective after restart A The window layout will be reset after restart MALLINCAMSEY Windows E3 Windows Choosing the Windows gt Windows ee control will open a dialog box that lets you manage the currently opened windows The dialog allows you to manage large lists of open windows by assigning them into groups Let us say you have eight windows open but want to close four of them scattered through the list 1 Choose the Windows gt Windows control 2 Select the windows you want to close Hold Ctrl or Shift key to select more than one at a time Here 4 windows are selected SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 71 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Windows Activate Close Window s Video Integrated Webcam 3 Click Close Window s button those four selected windows will be closed leaving the other files or captures available for editing You can use this command to switch to a required window on a list by hitting Activate About This control will pop Up a window that a informs you of the MALLINCAMSKY version number Copyright C 2003 2015 and built date of Version x64 3 7 5884 this TARS of Compatible Windows XP Vista 7 8 Mane AMOKY Built
20. a Dark Field Correction 0 Parameters gt Camera Folders Undo Redo C Users burns_000 Desktop skyimageJPG 1105 x 736 Zoom 90 BPP 24 Resolution 3780 p m Top Menu Line File Edit View Browse Setup Capture Image Process Options Window About TET Edit View Browse Setup File ES Open Image Ctri 0 E Open Video This Drop Down Menu will allow you to load and Open Broadcast save images load a previously saved image plus the future ability to View or Broadcast video E stream on Night Skies Network Save As Paste as New File Recent Files Exit SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 26 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Open Image ES Open Image Ctrl 0 The Open Image command is used to open an existing image file This command can also be used to preview an image in small size or to view its statistics and information without actually opening the image itself You can use this command to quickly locate a particular image MallincamSky supports and can open a variety of image formats These are identified in the Files of type list box MallincamSky can open more than one image simultaneously by gt Ctrl Left Mouse Click on each required File then Left Click on Open gt Shift Left Mouse Click method to highlight the files to be opened then Left Click on Open When an image is opened MallincamSky places it into a new image window It then becomes the active image Ma
21. a saved video file then If will do a elementary stacking process on the file In the Image Stacking process MallincamSky takes the first frame as the reference image this means the first frame is very important and should be assure the first frame to be the right image scene and the subsequent frames have a greater overlap region with the first frame The stacked image signal to noise ratio is greatly improved The stacked image may have has some black edges this is be cause the images in the video has moved and in the stacking process MallincamSky will added black to the image area that has no corresponding pixel in the reference image This Image Stacking process will not align the video images so may be better suited for Deep Sky than for planets Left Click on the control and MallincamSky will open up a Dialog Window v E Desktop Organize v New folder A Y Favorites 2 A mars E Desktop SEE 00 01 25 gp Downloads 374 MB Dropbox mc_3 6 6_setup 20140 Cloud Photos Recent places f OneDrive de Astronomy pics de C e books de Cassie Pictures Le Chris s Mallincan Shortcut Shortcut MDM 2015 06 05 S I Shortcut 1 40 KB Micro ex Shortcut Shortcut 895 bytes MYT Mount Shortct de Documents Shortcut ER ie f 904 bytes de dome constructii 204 bytes Li GSO manuals Planetary Imaging f a Shortcut e A Le Mallincam Public a popa hd lt gt M ad Vin
22. are changing the balance of Red Green and Blue in the image You can either use the Left Click Hold and Drag technique to move the slider to the left or right or just Left Click on the Hue s slider this selects it then use your SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 90 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Left and Right arrow keys on your Keyboard to adjust the value The value of the Hue setting will be displayed above the slider Only works with a color SkyRaider Saturaton Saturation This command controls the Saturation of the Video image Saturation increases the separation of colors on a video image It has the ability fo enhance or inhibit the colors on the video image You can either use the Left Click Hold and Drag technique to move the slider to the left or right or just Left Click on the Saturation s slider this selects it Then use your Left and Right arrow keys on your Keyboard to adjust the value The value of the Saturation setting will be displayed above the slider Only works with a color SkyRaider Brightness Brightness r qx This command controls the Brightness of the Video image Brightness makes the video image brighter or dimmer This is a linear adjustment You can either use the Left Click Hold and Drag technique to move the slider to the left or right or just Left Click on the Brightness s slider this selects it then use your Left and Right arrow keys on your Keyboard to adjust the value The
23. as seen live on frame monitor Single frame SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 24 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Reduce Exposure Time to Align Telescope As you will most likely use the camera to align your Telescope now is the time to reduce the Exposure Time to 1 or 2 seconds and if not already attached to the Telescope remove the lens cap from the SkyRaider Camera and insert the c mount on front end of the camera and slide camera into eyepiece holder of telescope Increase Exposure Time to Image Now is the time to display some images Adjust the Exposure Time to match the target and the equipment you are using Remember due to the dual image capture process a 30 second exposure will actually take 60 seconds to display you will actually see the half interlaced image at 30 seconds then the final image at 60 seconds Since you have already created the Dark Field Corrections for this session Dark Fields are stored directly in the SkyRaider Camera and will be deleted when the camera is turned off sorry no way to save the Dark Fields The SkyRaider will automatically apply the best Dark Field Correction to your image when Dark Field Correction is enabled Adjust the Parameters h Color Balance Depending upon what SkyRaider Camera you are using dina determines what sort or image corrections you can apply a Seon Monochrome camera will not be able to adjust the colours Sa
24. bit image for each color channel Red Green Blue there are 8 bits assigned That is there are 256 28 shades of Red Green and Blue available In a 12 bit image for each color channel Red Green Blue there are 12 bits assigned That is there are 4096 2 2 shades of Red Green and Blue available The larger the Bit Depth the larger the data and the harder the CPU must work to produce image adjustments ROI ROI or Region Of Interest relates to the rectangular portion of the video image that you may be interested in You will lose you Dark Field using this control A Blue Rectangle will appear over your Video Window You can adjust it using the Left Click Hold and Drag technique or Left Click and Hold to drag it over a specific portion of your Video Window A ROI Once you have resized and placed the Blue ROI Rectangle on your Video Window Left Click on the Apply Button to selection this as the New Video Window You can then resize the New Video Window by either the Drop Down Size command in the MallincamSky Tool Bar or by scrolling the wheel on your mouse if your mouse has a scroll wheel This command allows you to Zoom in on a specific area of your original Video image SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 94 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 If you or the SkyRaider Camera ever get confused with what settings you have entered into the ROI control you can reset the ROI to its full screen by Left Cli
25. exposure time They are looking at the 10 combined frames to see which one has the noise level that most closely matches the noise level in the light frame Itself In other words they are looking for a noise FIELD The point here is that camera and software will select the appropriate Dark Field for the correction for both shorter and longer light frame exposure times from the same u library In addition unlike the single frame of a CCD dark frame the images used for Dark Field correction are interlaced combinations of odd and even scan lines Apparently this too factors into the fact that this correction removes ALL NOISE not just hot and warm pixels The important point to retain here is that because of the stacking and combining to form the library of images for the correction procedure long light exposures do NOT require similarly long exposures for the Dark Field correction images For example a 2 minute light exposure using a narrow band h alpha filter may still only require the user to prepare ten 30 second dark images for the dark field correction The precise numbers will vary with your equipment and conditions SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 125 Step 1 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Setting up to Broadcast on Night Skies Network Introduction found that when first started connecting tonight Skies Network NSN things started happening too fast for me to keep track of everything at once So pre planni
26. file formats e Window Bitmap omp dib rle e JPEG jpg jpeg joe jit jfit e Portable Network Graphics ong e Tag Image File Format tif tiff e PCX pcx e Targa tga e JPEG 2000 Standard jp2 e JPEG 2000 Codestream j2k e MallincamSky File Type tft SkyRaider Quick Guide SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 The Save As command has several important uses beyond simply storing an image to a new file name Left Click on the Option button to select the different parameters to encode the file based on selected Save as Type gt JPEG Image quality Best Best compression quality L Progressive Optimize coding _ Save these settings as defaults Cancel Defaults Image quality If you save an image in JPEG format jjog you may adjust image quality in the edit box The values range from O to 100 Default value is 75 The default is unchecked Optimize Huffman codes The default is unchecked re default value is 0 Save these setting as defaults When saving a file the current settings will be saved as defaults for the next file save operation gt PNG Interlaced _ Save these settings as defaults Interlaced The default is unchecked Save these setting as defaults When saving a file the current settings will be saved as defaults for the next file save operation SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 30 SkyRaider User Manual August
27. image true color image or index color image to a gray scale image If the original image is 24 bit the new image is 8 bit Otherwise the bit of the image will not be modified The Contrast Preserving Decolorization command to convert a color image true color image or index color image to a gray scale image with a unique algorithm to preserved as much of the color contrast for each channel into Monochrome image If the original image is 24 bit the new image Is 8 bit Otherwise the bit of the image will not be modified SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 50 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Ly Adjust Adjust The Adjust menu will allow you to adjust the Erightness Contrast Brightness and Contrast of the image You will 3 Color be able to modify the RGB Color balance as HMS well as the High Lights MidTones and TE Shadows values Color Curves and Filtering algorithms are also in the menu control You Filter Color will have the ability to Invert the image as well Extract Color as perform some Detail Ennancement Invert procedures on the image Edge Preserving Smooth Detail Enhance Adjust Brightness Contrast Brightness Contrast The Image gt Adjust gt Brightness Contrast command offers simple adjustments to the tonal range of an image This command makes the same adjustment to every pixel in the image The Brightness Contrast command does not work with individual channels and
28. is not recommended for high end output because it can result in the loss of details about the image Brighiness Dragging the slider bar to the left decreases the level and dragging it to the right increases the level The numbers on the right of the slider bar displays the Brightness value Values can range from 150 to 150 The Default value is 0 Contrast Dragging the slider bar to the left decreases the level and dragging it to the right increases the level The numbers on the right of the slider bar displays the Contrast value Values can range from 150 to 150 The Default value is 0 Make your adjustments to the Brightness and Contrast values and Left Click on OK to accept SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 51 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 gt Color CMYK HSI Choose the Image gt Adjust gt Colore command to modify the overall mixture of the colors in an image There are four color modules that are supported by MallincamSky RGB MallincamSky uses the RGB model It assigns an intensity value to each pixel ranging from O black to 255 white for each of the RGB components in a color image For example a bright red color might have an R value of 246 a G value of 20 and a B value of 50 When the values of all three components are equal the result is a shade of neutral gray When the value of all components is 255 the result is pure white when the value is O pure black RGB images use three chann
29. of colors Hue is the color reflected from or transmitted through an object It is measured as a location on the standard color wheel expressed as a degree between 0 and 360 In common use Hue Is identified by the name of the color such as red orange or green Saturation sometimes called Chroma is the strength or purity of the color Saturation represents the amount of gray in proportion to the hue measured as a percentage from 0 gray to 100 fully saturated On the standard color wheel Saturation increases from the center to the edge Intensity is the relative lightness or darkness of the color usually measured as a percentage from 0 black to 100 white The HLS model is very similar to the HSI color model The main difference between them Is the calculation used to produce the brightness value In the HLS model a pixel s brightness L is derived from its three R G and B color values That is a pixel s brightness L is determined by the minimum and maximum values of its three color values SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 53 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 The values beside the slider bar show the color changes in various color channels e The RGB channel values can range from 100 to 100 The Default values are 0 e The CMYK channel values they can range from 100 to 100 The Default values are 0 e Inthe HSI channel the H value can range from 180 to 180 the value can range from 275 to 27
30. the light frames in order to remove hot and warm pixels and amplifier glow However other noise will remain and needs to be removed with other manipulations and software Dark Field Correction Dark Field correction is another matter entirely If does not refer to a single image and the recommended default 10 frames captured to perform the Dark Field correction are not used to generate a master frame nor are they simply subtracted from the light frames Instead the 10 frames are first used to perform a running stacking analogous to the stacking procedure applied in both the SSI software and the new Universe SSl software Running Stacking the first frame in the series of 10 is recorded in the camera as is Then the first and second frames in the series of 10 are combined to form a new frame that Is also recorded Then the third frame Is combined with the preceding 2 frames to form yet another combined frame that is also recorded and so on until you end up with 10 frames in a series that represent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 and 10 combined frames respectively Note that stacked and combined frame 10 represents information derived from all 10 frames But hold on we are not talking CCD imaging here this is video When a CCD chip is activated it cranks at full blast and requires effective cooling to prevent it from rapidly heating up beyond a user determined temperature But video chips work differently they heat up slowly and pro
31. using the arrows on the scroll bars for positioning the video image within the window Position the mouse make sure to choose a location outside a Region of Interest rectangle You may need to close the ROI rectangle if necessary on the actual video image Left Click and Hold the Open Hand will change to a Closed Hand Now drag the image around inside the video image Window If the video image size is smaller than the video image Window size then the track operation will be disabled Reticule Reticule MallincamSky provides a Reticule or cross hairs to aid in aligning your telescope to a star or other stellar object You can change the color of the reticule via the Option gt Preferences control in the Top Menu Line Preferences Quick Save Ena Syke Manual Grid Fale me Stee Dori CO Left Click to Activate Buna o and Left Click again Video to De Activate Line Godan AN Fasc E Default ST Lion EEN Other OK Cancel booty SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 42 D 2 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Browse setup Capture This Command is used to determine how MallincamSky Sort should display the graphic files when you are viewing the Folders This command will allow you to change the size of the image icons determine how fo sort the files add shortcuts to the folders delete files refresh the folders and even determine the properties of the image file all without having to p
32. value of the Brighiness setting will be displayed above the slider Only works with a color SkyRaider Contrast Contrast This command controls the Contrast of the Video image Contrast is defined as the separation between the brightest and darkest areas on the video image When you adjust the Contrast you increase the separation between bright and dark You can either use the Left Click Hold and Drag technique to move the slider to the left or right or just Left Click on the Contrast s slider this selects it Then use your Left and Right arrow keys on your Keyboard to adjust the value The value of the Contrast setting will be displayed above the slider SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 91 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Contrast Gamma l This command controls the Gamma of the Video image Gamma adjusts the mid tones in a non linear manner That is rather than make the image look brighter it can increase the brightness of the shadows and mid tones without affecting the highlights in the image This control is like adjusting the mid tone slider on a histogram You can either use the Left Click Hold and Drag technique to move the slider to the left or right or just Left Click on the Gamma s slider this selects it then use your Left and Right arrow keys on your Keyboard to adjust the value The value of the Gamma setting will be disolayed above the slider If you or the SkyRaider Came
33. 26 2015 gt TIFF _ Append pages Compression LZW default my Image quality Best Best compression quality Save these settings as defaults Appended Pages Determine whether the current image will be saved in multiple pages style or not Compression Specifies a method for compressing the composite image data For saving a 32 bit TIFF file one can specify that the file be saved with predictor compression but have no option to use JPEG compression Image Quality If choosing Compressions as JPEG the Image quality can be adjusted by the slider bar The values range between 0 and 100 The Default value is 75 as defaults for the next file save operation E JPEG 2000 Compress ratio Lossless Save these settings as defaults Compress Ratio If choosing Compressions as JPEG 2000 the Image quality can be adjusted by the slider bar The values range between 0 and 100 The Default value is O Save these setting as defaults When saving a file the current settings will be saved as defaults for the next file save operation SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 31 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 TFT Compression Image quality Best Best compression quality _ Save these settings as defaults Cancel Reset all Image Quality If choosing Compressions as JPEG the Image quality can be adjusted by the slider bar The values range between 0 and 100 The Default
34. 5 and the I value can range from 442 to 442 The Default value are 0 e Inthe HLS channel values the H value can range from 180 to 180 the L value can range from 100 to 100 and the value can range from 100 to 100 The Default values are 0 HMS gt OK E Select the Image gt Adjust gt HMS e e command to adjust the HL Highlight M Midtone and S Shadow parts of the image Each part s value ranges from 100 to 100 This command is only available for 24 bits true color image LD Curve Sometimes you may desire more precise control or more unusual nonlinear effects The Curves tool in MallincamSky provides more arbitrary remapping of the color channels it is the color correction tool of choice among many print and photographic professionals HH Using Curves the input output mapping CA of color channels can be defined by an Aa Zo arbitrary cubic spline or can be drawn freehand This flexibility provides extreme generality It is worth the effort to review how color curves work in such graphics programs such as Photoshop tons of information about curves on the internet SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 54 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 L Filter Color Select the Image gt Adjust gt Filter Color command to filter out a special color channel from a color image Check Color o Red Green or Blue color to Red ilter Green lt For Example if Red color is checked t
35. AA A e aAa Eiaa a araisa 84 Exposure GAMA NNE OR EN O ONAE NAAA 87 RDO SUL CE E a a A E AEE A EE AE AE AAE OE 87 EOS Mie I ea E A E O AES 88 E er o O AE eo O o E EEEE 89 A O O A E 89 Color alacena ista 89 Color AdjS tetas ias 90 Elena e 90 O A A A edenbunds bu dad eauaw nied Rec ba ncdun blac aedatarsauubipentonane 91 A San E A 91 Cona dosene tl a a 91 A O A ORO 92 Frame AAR N 92 Color GraViiaca a ude sausdonasteustdesdsSdensste uate dusiouasteistdesdsceussteuetasiees 93 A a E AE E AN N E EE E EE E E E EA AE E E E 93 Sampin sesh ussstcsccsussen asses easecsesseussess coseseussen deuce sasdeauevevssues cases cusses dacs casueeuevevasesl ceseueusreneeeeueseees 93 Bit DEMAS AAA a 94 A 94 AUS CO a Y 10 POPE CARR en eds cossoavecs caavsscaccessnaessacesessouvecetvencseonusensnuea sedans E 95 Dark Field EOI A A E A RA ia 96 select SKY Raider aie rat di 96 Select an Exposure Time for Dark Field Correction ccccccccccccnnnonnonononnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnonnnnnonannnncnnnnnnnnnnnnos 96 Take Dark ied One cho li E ES 97 EnablS Ence dro dias ret isc 97 Parametros 98 SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 3 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 7 Installing Optional SO T WAF 1sscccccceccennennnnnenennencensunsussensensensassensensansansanensaasanss 107 Installing DirectShow Driver sd 101 Installing WDM Dirty OF ccccsscesscasiasiececdcssecscscstusieecessoanseseeess dedesdeuseutecasedsueesteeseveies deseeustsavessecss 103 Installing Mallincam A
36. August 26 2015 Jocic ase Exposure Time to made spa dora sd 25 Adusi the rai A O A O i uanatssausssdess 25 5 The SkyRaider Software CON TOSS oocooccoccccnnocncooncconccnnocnoconennncanenanonnncanonancnnnnnnons 26 Top Meno LIC Ia 26 A A S 26 OPA A A tT ne nT ne SP arnt mr Z OPEV Id Oea aa ede ai cis a a a A A 28 ODD Oae aeeoa A E A OO 29 ED NR E E AE E E EA E E A EATE E ETT 29 Sa erra Pa EN 29 A E EE E E N 32 NA A A AEE EE AAN ET EST PP CP EIA E A E NE E E E NE E A 34 Paste as New Blas dada 34 ISO CINE IGS cn PARIO OO E OO ET AE 35 E 35 Edita iii iia 35 A O A A 35 CODY aha eet iii 36 Pastrana ti ld dada il 36 A 36 A teat cee ates oe aes T tua Aan aah E eee area Beaman nee este 36 See NOME o pr A i tacousaulaacaienenscnsauseckon 36 VOW A A O 37 BONSE an A a O a e E 37 SCD Ale At o o PE O o O A sea E 38 A secre oe cco eae E A EA EEA eee netic eink caine E deserts 39 Bo CE achat O ecards ein seas eet ee etme eee eee tea 41 NCUA S126 sees asren cis God as Ueaute pen mada cua eaan aed 41 O 42 Te Ke 0 PPPoE 0 UA 42 REIGI eaire a ea a ei 42 BEOWSEiA Ida ia ES E ANIOS 43 A BP Pn a Re PP ern ty ROP ROE Oe Tren ere BRS RCE En ere oe Ree es 43 te Y LCP UNO OC o O 43 Paste Sho aa 43 DEl a abel A e da 43 PP E TE ATT 44 POPE TICS nation tias N 44 SEUD adel sciaee ices vasecusudasasaccsacasssaunvasteasetd aE S 44 AA ISG OP o A O ER 44 VIEW PrOD IES miniin a e E E N E N 44 SE A R S EAE A ete AA EA E AT 45 A O E 46 Capture mateo dos 46
37. Double Click on the Drivers to install them onto your computer system Windows just follow the on screen instructions This assumes that you have already installed the latest ASCOM Platform on your computer SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 105 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 8 AutoGuiding with SkyRaider G AutoGuiding with MaximDL and DirectShow The following is a pictorial procedure on how to select the SkyRaider DirectShow driver assumes you have already installed the driver and the ST4 ASCOM Driver on your computer into MaximDL Start MaximDL File Edit View Analyze Process Filter Color Plug in Window Help CSE OG MED AF aa 2 Ud AAA BA E A AAA O Bes ts For Help press F1_ A Left Click the Toggle Camera Control Icon Camera Control Window will open Up IN gaxIe DL Pro 5 ae O RT IAEA k rs E Ss aie d ne Ms BSH oa EE gw aeal Y Toggle Camera Control Ctrl1 W E SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 106 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Left Click the Setup Camera button on Camera 2 Camera Control Choose Video DS from Camera Model in Setup Video DS popup Window o Say Ele Est Yew Auke Procem fuer Coor Pupm Yindos ep Su o gt amos n 2 sje Sa DAL O BOO ABRO Hees SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 107 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Click OK in the Setup Video DS popup Window o Si ch na eos y Raf J e iat Bt et e B O
38. Flow The following is a typical workflow when using the SkyRaider with MallincamSky SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 22 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Ly Detailed Workflow for MallincamSky The Mallincam SkyRaider Cameras provide a processing technique called Dark Field Correction see the Appendix for a complete description of Dark Field Correction The Dark Field Correction is prepared by the user at the beginning of an observing session by covering the camera or scope pre determining the exposure time the times you select will become more intuitive with practice and setting the software to automatically take up to 10 images As your telescope equipment will be different along with the possible use of various types of filters and the skies you observe under experiment with the length and number of the Dark Field Corrections Take this into account when selecting you exposure time for your dark images Step1 J Select SkyRaider Camera With the Camera Tab selected on the Left SideBar Left Camera all Click on the Camera you are currently using between lines in Camera Heading Once a camera is selected a black E Raidert40DSM rectangle with SkyRaider Camera name will appear in the Video Window of the MallincamSky Software along with the Horizontal and Vertical Rulers Al Step 2 y Select an Exposure Time for Dark Field Correction With the Camera Tab selected on the Left SideBar Left Click on the Exposure amp
39. Forest gt Eagle nebula Light Skies Chris s SkyRaider Dsc Parameters File for Toronto gt Focus and Goto Parameter Chris s SkyRaider Gm Parameters File for Toronto SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 100 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 7 Installing Optional Software Installing DirectShow Driver Insert the Mallincam CD into CD ROM drive of your computer Have windows lse open the CD and you will be presented with 4 files 95 MALLINCAMDshowSetup MALLINCAMSKYSetup MALLINCAMTwainSetup VV VV Step 2 Double Click on the MALLINCAMDshowSetup File Windows may display a warning asking for permission to run the program if it does select YES The following MallincamSky Setup Screen will appear Welcome to MALLINCAMDshow 3 0 Setup Setup will guide you through the installation of MALLINCAMDshow 3 0 Itis recommended that you dose all other applications before starting Setup This will make it possible to update relevant system files without having to reboot your computer Click Next to continue cae SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 101 SkyRaider User Manual Click on Next fo start the installation process ES Choose Install Location T Choose the folder in which to install MALLINCAMDshow 3 0 5 Setup will install MALLINCAMDshow 3 0 in the following folder To install in a different folder dick Browse and select another folder Click Install to start the installation Step 4 y Click on I
40. GIF gif Current Files pex pox Utero Targa tga j Photoshop psd Icon Fico Enhanced Windows Metafile emf Windows Metafile wmf JBIG jbo Wireless Bitmap wbmp JPEG 2000 Standard jp JPEG 2000 Codestream j2k All supported formats All Files SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 73 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Save The Save Icon allows you to save an image onto your computer The command immediately stores the current wndow image to its file the filename is listed on the window s title bar while leaving the image still active in its window If the image is untitled or titled with a digit MallincamSky will issue the File gt Save As dialog automatically The default Save as type will be Window Bitmap omp dib rle The Save Icon can be used to save the most recent changes to disk It is often performed as a precautionary measure during lengthy or involved processes to reduce the amount of reprocessing that might be required in the event of a system failure or operational error When an image is closed and not to save its changes is chosen MallincamSky discards all changes made since the last Save operation The Save Icon always saves the contents of the entire window even if there is an AOI Area of Interest defined on it The Save Icon can be used to save a Snap Shot to the default File folder of an active Video Stream it will ask you for a File Name Quick Sav
41. GUE MENIS jc oa bi cari cba eseantatdawancens 10 MTD GINS o ON 11 2 Installing Driver and SoftWare 1 1ccccccencennecnncuncensensensensessensensessensensansensensnsensensenss 12 System REQUIEM lirica 12 Installing the Soares 12 3 Connecting the SKVRAIIO sica A A A AA AA A nta 15 Connecting the SkyRaider DS Camera to Computer ooccmmmmm 15 Connecting the SkyRaider DS Camera to Telescope cccccccssssssssssssssssssssssssssccccccccsssees 16 Connecting the SkyRaider G Camera to Compute l ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssscccsscssees 17 Connecting the SkyRaider G Camera to Telescope ccccccccssssssssssssssssssssssssssccccccccssssees 18 Connecting the SkyRaider SLP Camera to Computer sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssseeeees 19 Connecting the SkyRaider SLP Camera to Telescope ssscsssssssssssssssssssssssssscssccsesees 20 4 Using MallincamSky Software 11scccccccccencenuecensenessensenensenenensensenesnensanessensesessensess 21 The MallincamSky WindoW A A ssvevseecereanecevsnseerce 21 SkyRaider Quick Setup and WorkFlow ccssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssses 22 Detailed Workflow tor MallincaMSkKY s ai Manse ina ESR a a 23 Select Sky Raider Camera laca 23 Select an Exposure Time tor Dark Field Correcta 23 Take Dark Field Cor com ale iaa do 24 Reduce Exposure Time to Ahem Telescope ti 25 SkyRaider Quick Guide Page SkyRaider User Manual
42. Gain Control to be expanded so you can adjust the exposure but still do not want the Green Rectangle in the middle of your screen try this gt Chose Fit to Window from the Zoom Drop down Box on the Icon Tool Bar Now just drag the Green Rectangle Left Click and Hold technique to the lower left of the window gt Next grab the Upper Left corner of the Green Rectangle and drag it to the Lower Right corner to make a zero size rectangle all you should see is the Green word Exposure Finally grab the Left of the MallincamSky window and move it to the right until the edge Is next to the actual video window Watch how the word Exposure just gets covered This is part of my Startup routine How do Select a part of the Image and Zoom in gt Expand the ROI control a Blue Rectangle should appear around you image Using the Left Click Hold and Drag technique maneuver and size the Blue Rectangle so that it encloses the area you are interested in Left Click on Apply and watch the part of the image in Blue Rectangle be the whole image in the Video Window gt Now Left Click in the Blue Rectangle and use the scroll wheel on your mouse to enlarge or reduce the image you can also use the Fit to Window control on the Icon Tool Bar gt Left Click on Defaults to get back to Full screen SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 121 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 How do automatically save 1 image every 30 seconds gt Choo
43. Green Arrow and note if the Telescope Mount moves in a specific direction Due to the various orientations of the SkyRaider Camera once inserted inside the telescope the Green Directions Arrows will not necessarily match the direction of Mount movement Don t worry all guiding software will automatically orient itself with the movements You can abort the movement by Left Clicking on the Red Stop button in the ST4 Popup Window The number box located in the middle of the 4 Green direction Buttons can be increase or decrease to affect the distance the Telescope Mount moves when a Green Direction Button is pressed You can directly enter a number into the number box or Left Click on the up and down arrows to scroll up or down the value in the number box Attempt to orientate the SkyRaider Camera in the eye piece holder of the telescope in such a manner as to match the Green Directions Buttons movement of the stars in the video display SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 45 D 2 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Capture Image Process la Capture Image Fa i Start Time lapse Auto Capture Options Window This Top Menu Line command allows you a more in depth capture routine of either a still image or a video stream This command will offer connection to Start Record F9 Night Skies Network NSN future releases Start Broadcast Capture Image 3 Capture Image Fa Duri
44. Outpw ASCOM Direct y Y X Outpu gt Y Axis Cal Hacklest ie ny p3 utpu A Y Outpu 1 Star Anti Stict ore v E cycle r Exposure Settings Manual Calibration Binnin X Speed Y Speed Angle fi Reset Bam Feo Fess incites Width Height Y Automatically Apply Spin Control C b 4 bo 1280 aso Display Scaling Readout Mode Speed Display Pixels v M Delt zj y so y SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 109 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Step 9 Now Left Click on the Setup Button in the Autoguider Output Control and the ASCOM chooser winder will popup Select ToupST4 ASCOM as the driver Trace Select the type of telescope you have then be sure to click the Properties button to configure the driver for your telescope oupsT4 ASCOM Properties Click the logo to learn more we about ASCOM a set of SA standards for inter operation of Mea astronomy software You should now be able to Left Click on the Start button in the Guide Tab to start the guiding process As MalimDL is using Direct DS to obtain the video image from the SkyRaider it CANNOT directly control the exposure But MaximDL does provide a link to the exposure control written into Direct DS Left Click on the Arrow beside the Options heading on the Guide Tab on the Camera Control In the Drop Down list that appears choose Camera Settings Scope Dec 5 Expose S
45. SCOM Driver csssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssees 105 8 AutoGuiding With SkyRaider G ooocooccoccconcconcccnconcccnoconcnnncnnonanonnncnnonancnnncanenannnnnn 106 AutoGuiding with MaximDL and DirectShoW cocccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccncccccccccncccccccncncss 106 lA slack a E E E 111 NICO a PUES ELLE A Gist isan da thaah eng Ginna eisaanaa dead nan titehang eanten eee taamaduadancuesehanntenmcias 111 Running PHD2 with WDM Driver ToupST4 Driver sssssssssssssccccccsccscssesssssees 112 Running PHD2 with ASCOM Driver cccccccscsesesecssccsseccscsecesssecescccsecessesscesseceseseccecsccecseese 117 DL FIDDON OW inca 121 How A Y 121 How do I get rid of the Green Exposure Rectangle ooooooonnnnnccocnnnnnnnnnnonononnnnoonnnnnnnnnnnnnnonnnnnnnnnnos 121 How do I Select a part of the Image and Zoom OP oococcccccnnnnnnnnnnonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnos 121 How do I automatically save 1 image every 30 seconds cococooononnnnconnnnnnnnncnnnonononononnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnos 122 How do I adjust the brightness in my monochrome SkyRaider occcccccccnnnnoooooononncnnnncnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnos 122 How do I Broadcast my image onto Night Skies Network NSN o ooocccccccnnncnnnnnonooccnnnccnnnnnnonononnnonons 122 Can I Use MallincamSky with One SkyRaider and Auto Guide with another occcccncccnnnnnnmmmm 122 How DeL Pause tHe WAC O a 123 Howdo T
46. Sampling Bit Depth C ROI Histogram Dark Field Correction 0 Parameters Camera List EXA The Camera List control lists the current SkyRaider cameras connected to the computer Left Clicking on the camera name will start the camera video window You will see a tabbed frame with SkyRaider Camera Name appear in the window after selecting the Camera from the list You can only access one SkyRaider Camera at a time Capture and Resolution This control allows you to adjust both the display and capture resolution of the SkyRaider Camera each model of the SkyRaider Camera will have its own resolution settings that will appear in the list Once the resolution is set this control will also allow you to either take a snap shot of the image or save a video recording of what is currently being displayed SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 84 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Left Click on the Drop Down list on the Live Control fo see all the allowable resolutions available for your SkyRaider Simply Left Click on the resolution you require and the MallincamSky will now display the image in the Video Window with the selected resolution The Snap Shot resolution is usually adjusted to match the Live Resolution But if your SkyRaider allows independent settings its Drop Down List will be enabled and you can select a resolution of the saved image Left Clicking on Snap will tell MallincamSky to display in a New Tabbe
47. SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 57 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Scale FRY Scale Select the Image gt Scalese o command to change the image to a specified size This process actually changes spatial resolution by adding Height replicating or removing decimating pixels to achieve Y Constrain Proportions the specified dimensions Scale method Bicubic yf Width T Reset OK Width and Height When choosing the Image Scale command the dialog box displays the dimensions of the original image in pixels The Width and the Height can be set on the new image by adding or removing pixels If Constrain Proportions is checked the Width and Height will stay proportionate to each other If the Constrain Proportions is unchecked the Width and the Height can be set independently but this will distort the image Reset Resets the image s Width and Height to the original settings Constrain Proportions To maintain the current proportions of pixel Width and Height check Constrain Proportions This option automatically updates the Width as the Height is modified and vice versa Otherwise uncheck the Constrain Proportions button Scale method There are 2 options for the algorithm that the Scale method uses fo resize the image They are Bilinear and Bicubic The default scaling method is Bilinear Once you have selected your parameters Left Click on OK to make the new Image Scale final SkyRaider Quick Guide
48. T4 cable into the ST4 slot on the back of the SkyRaider G and the other end into the ST4 port on your Telescope Mount Depending upon the telescope you may need extenders so that you can reach focus with your telescope It is recommended that you set this up in the daytime so you can see what you are doing plus can aim at an easy to find tree or telephone pole Y oS SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 18 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Connecting the SkyRaider SLP Camera to Computer Attach the 5 metre USB 2 0 Cable from the back of the SkyRaider SLP to a free USB 2 0 port on your computer Windows will then load the specific SkyRaider Camera Driver onto your computer Once the driver has been successfully loaded you will see the name of the SkyRaider Camera in the MallincamSky Camera List on the Upper left of the Window You can install more than one SkyRaider Camera to your computer but the software can only control one SkyRaider Camera at a time File Edit View Browse Setup Capture A Camera q J Camera List SkyRaiderSolar5System3c SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 19 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 gt gt Connecting the SkyRaider SLP Camera to Telescope Remove the rubber dust cover from the front of the SkyRaider SLP camera place it back in the box for safe keeping Screw in the C mount adapter to the front of the SkyRaider SLP Insert the SkyRaider SLP with C Mount at
49. Updo n Opera on eerren E E Ee E OEA ENE 123 How do I make my ROI the whole Image Again cccccccccceeeecececeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaeeesess 123 How do I Turn Off Dark Field correction mica di is 123 How Do take Another Dark Piel sess dodo ida depp 123 Dark Held Explanation nia cit 124 Dark Frame ys Dark Field iscisscciccsstescasacsacacensstaswessccedasnsssusnandssaccensesaswonsaiacsdnsasesnansesanceadasaseoassaasaints 124 Dark Frame UA oi 124 Darle Held Corrections aislante ici 124 Setting up to Broadcast on Night Skies Network cssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssseees 126 Focal R duc iS oe coo Occ Saan sanasisusacsien sauces Nessbiassesssecesacseansccsis 133 MER A e E O a A OI aac ganas paatoates 133 Uer A eaa a e E a enea a Ea N Onr STE 134 SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 4 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 1 Introduction After years of designing and testing under all operative conditions MallinCam has created the next generation of Live Astronomical Video CCD Cameras Not only live observation is possible the series of SkyRaider Cameras can take images and video recording too No one in the industry has developed and pushed the envelope in an astronomical camera with such a state of the art product We are the leader in the Live Video CCD camera industry and plan to stay that way for the benefit of astronomical advancement for the amateur community and professionals alike The s
50. User Manual August 26 2015 The Grids Tab allows cig you to determine if Style Manual Grid v you would like a Grid disolayed and if so how should it be Line Color B Defaut v draw Grids can also be used to define the color of the aia a x Reticule that can be drawn over the image Line Style Solid te Reticule Grid Style The Grid Style can be No Grid Auto Grid or Manual Grid Default is No Grid Grid Line Style The Line Style for the grid can be Solid Dash Dot or DashDot The Default is Solid Grid Line Color The color of the grid line The Default color is Red 255 0 0 Reticule Color The color of the Reticule The Default color is Red 255 0 0 Cross zontal Single Horizontal None yf Double 1 Pixel Double 3 Pixels Vertical None we Double 5 Pixels Double 7 Pixels Double 9 Pixels Cursor Cross W Foint Null This Cursor command will set the mouse cursor for the video and image window operations Select the Horizontal Cross as None window default Single single line Double 1 Pixel Double 3 Pixels Double 5 Pixels Double 7 Pixels and Double 9 Pixels formats Select the Vertical Cross as None window default Single single line Double 1 Pixel Double 3 Pixels Double 5 Pixels Double 7 Pixels and Double 9 Pixels formats SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 68 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Single means single line Double means two par
51. WORK OBSERVING WITH TELESCOPES E N LIKE NEVER BEFORE WELCOME TO THE CHANNEL LINE UP OF NSN NIGHT SKIES NETWORK SPONSORED BY MALLINCAM Click an image below to view the broadcast You can also click on the channel s with red names below You will be presented with the screen for NSN Again enter your Username and Password and click on Publish Channel button CHANNEL LAUNCH SIGN IN NIGHT SKIES NETWORK SPONSORED BY MALLINCAM Please verify your login to broadcast Channel Name Username miburns Password Publish Channel The window will pop up on your screen asking you for permission to use your camera and your microphone Select Allow Waterloo Observatory STOP 6 0 Sound EFFects Waterloo Observatory Channel Chat Viewers 1 Welcome 223 Waterloo Observator NetConnection Connect Success aa You are broadcasting on channel Waterloo Observatory Welcome NetConnection Call Failed Adobe Flash Player Settings Camera and Micophone Access O nightskiesnetwe x access to your camera and microphone If you click Allow you may be recorded com is requesting 00 19 ED rajo SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 129 Stop 10 iy Step 12 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Turn off your Microphone Until you have your microphone figured out it is best to initially turn it off If you do not the viewers on NSN may hear an extreme loud buzzing feedback noise Later on we will look at u
52. a Reticule or cross hairs to aid in aligning your telescope to a star or other stellar object Left Click on the Reticule Icon to activate it and Left Click again to De Activate Preferences Quick Seve Sd You can change the Fite e color of the reticule rds i e via the Diis reci A Option gt Preferences de control in the Top E Line Calor AA Menu Line a Cefault MT SL Other gt st4test I If your SkyRaider camera such as the SkyRaiderGm has a ST4 port then it can be used to AutoGuide your telescope mount This control is used to check If the camera can correctly communicate with the Telescope Mount Connect the ST4 cable provided with the SkyRaider Camera to the ST4 Port on your Telescope Mount Turn on the Telescope Mount fo ensure that It is ready to be tested SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 82 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Left Click on this control and the ST4 Popup Window will appear The ST4 Window will contain 4 Green Arrow keys that when pressed will send a specific direction command thru the ST4 cable Press each Green Arrow and note if the Telescope Mount moves in a specific direction Due to the various orientations of the SkyRaider Camera once inserted inside the telescope the Green Directions Arrows will not necessarily match the direction of Mount movement Don t worry all guiding software will automatically orient itself with the movement
53. a webcam image See Setting up to Broadcast on Night Skies Network in the Appendix for more detailed instructions Can I Use MallincamSky with One SkyRaider and Auto Guide with another Yes as long as you use DirectShow WDM or ASCOM with the second SkyRaider Remember if you are using DirectShow or WDM the guiding software CANNOT control the exposure setting on the camera look for a Settings or Property Tab button that pops up the SkyRaider exposure control window SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 122 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 How Do Pause the Video You can Pause or Resume the live video by either choose Setup gt Pause from the Top Menu Line or even eosier just press on the pause key on your keyboard How do Undo an Operation On the SideBar there is an Undo Redo Tab Just Left Click on the Tab and the Tab will open with a list of all the operations you have performed on your Image not Video you cannot undo video operations such as contrast Undo Redo va e gt Cur Index Operation 1 Open 2 Sharpen 3 Histogram Equalization Rotate 180 degree Just Left Click on the location before the operation you would like to undo and MallincamSky will revert the image back to that step How do make my ROI the whole Image Again Just Left Click on the Defaults Button in the SideBar s ROI control Note by changing the ROI the Dark Fields will be removed from the SkyRaider How do Turn Off Dark F
54. ages but it is your choice that counts cw C CCW Quality Bilinear This control also allows you to flip your image Horizontally or Vertically Flip Horizontal reverses the image in the application area so that the top right corner of the original image is now the top left and the top left corner of the original image is now the top right corner Flip Vertical reverses the image in the application area so that the top right corner of the original image is now the bottom right corner and the top left corner of the original image is now the bottom left corner Crop H Choose the Image gt Crop command to remove the portions of an image that does not want so that the focus is on the part of the image that is left First select Edit gt Image Select the mouse cursor will change into cross hairs from the Top Menu Line Next use the Left Click Hold and Drag technique to draw a rectangle around the portion of the image you would like to keep Finally select Image gt Crop and your image window will now only contain the portion of the original image that was inside the Image Select s Rectangle When you create an Image Select Rectangle you can Left Click Hold and Drag the rectangle around your full image to move it to a different location You can also resize the Image Select Rectangle by grabbing one of the little boxes around the rectangle and dragging the mouse to increase decrease or change dimensions of the rectanale
55. alled When completed the following screen will appear Completing MALLINCAMSKY 3 7 Setup MALLINCAMSKY 3 7 has been installed on your computer Click Finish to dose Setup Y SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 13 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Step 6 Y Click on Finish and the MallincamSky will start and will appear on your screen SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 14 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 3 Connecting the SkyRaider Connecting the SkyRaider DS Camera to Computer Attach the 5 metre USB 2 0 Cable from the back of the SkyRaider DS to a free USB 2 0 port on your computer Windows will then load the specific SkyRaider Camera Driver onto your computer Once the driver has been successfully loaded you will see the name of the SkyRaider Camera in the MallincamSky Camera List on the Upper left of the Window You can install more than one SkyRaider Camera to your computer but the software can only control one SkyRaider Camera at a time MC 2 File Edit View Browse Setup Captur Camera SkyRaider4opsm SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 15 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 53 Connecting the SkyRaider DS Camera to Telescope Remove the rubber dust cover from the front of the SkyRaider DS camera place it back in the box for safe keeping Screw in the C mount adapter to the front of the SkyRaider DS Insert the SkyRaider DS with C Mount attached into a 1 25 ey
56. allel lines 1 Pixel means the line space between the two lines is 1 pixel in distance The other sizes also have this meaning Select the cursor shape from Cross Point and Null In the figure below a cursor with Double horizontal and vertical lines with 9 Pixels cross for the alignment application the longer one and the Cursor as a Cross was defined Cross double lines with y pixels in both directions e A Cursor Cross NS You can overlay the 3 Date and Time on the Position Right Bottom lt w Background Transparent y Video Window With a FontSize T Font Weight Bald location and color of your choice You can P Time also have a None Y MallincamSky display Colar Default the Clarity Factor can assist in focusing on Clarity Factor the image These Show ovis are updated AA C Defaut in Real time For Example Position Left Top w Background Transparent tl The settings on the Font Size Larger Font Weight Bald X Right will overlay the video stream with Date Time Type Long Date Format Sample July 7 2015 16 03 46 tl Will produce the Poles hy NEO Color AO July 7 2015 16 06 05 Clarity Factor b S Show Inthe top left comer AN 3 dl SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 69 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 The Misc page is mainly used Show the splash window on startup for the control of the Prevent screensaver when video preview capture
57. aphics File in a new Tab in the Video Window Video SkyRaiderGuider c Browse f tstbmp JOC AAA K3CCD_0002 bmp K3CCD_0003 bmp K3CCD_0004 bmp Mars 2005 11 04 Mars 2005 11 04 Mars 2005 11 04 rs 2005 11 04 rs 2005 11 04 rs 2005 11 04 You can close the Tab in the Video Window by Right Clicking on the Tab s Title Browse then choosing Close Close All But This E New Horizontal Tab Group O New Vertical Tab Group SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 75 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Loom The Zoom Icon allows you to Zoom In or Zoom Out while viewing a Video image window The Drop Down list will off you the zoom options Just highlight the zoom option with your mouse and release the mouse button 400 Fit to Width Fit to Height Fit to Window gt gt Image Select You can select a Region of Interest on your Image Tab live or static by using the Left Click Hold and Drag technique Once selected then you can Copy Ctrl C the selected region and then Paste it into another software program Once a Region of Interest Rectangle is on the screen you can drag it around or grab one of its handles and resize it Left Clicking on the Image Select Icon again will remove the Region of Interest Rectangle from the screen gt gt Track y If the video image s actual size is larger than the video image Window then this control will allow you to position the actual video image
58. apture process Select up to 10 for the Quantity Start with 5 with 30 second f a exposures to get a feel of the process Then Left Click on the quantity 9 Capture Button The Software will display its progress above the selected Quantity It is beneficial to set the Dark Field exposure time greater than the longest time you will be imaging at d th Cover the lens and then Capture button to capture the dark filed Check the Enable button to enable Dark Filed Correction Due to the unique way the Mallincam SkyRaider camera s utilize odd and even image acquisition a Dark Field is obtained tor each of the odd and even frames That is five 30 seconds Dark Fields will take two times 5 x 30 seconds or 300 seconds to complete You can use this time to finish setting up your equipment Once the Dark Fields have been taken you have the option of saving them with the Export button in the Dark Field Correction Tab Click in the Enable check box to have Dark Fields applied oe in real time to your video Quantity 10 er the lens and then push the Capture capture the dark filed Check the utton to enable Dark Filed Correction M57 20 Seconds exposure VRC M57 20 Seconds exposure VRC 6 F 4 5 with MallinCam 0 5X 6 F 4 5 with MallinCam 0 5X focal reducer NO Dark Field focal reducer One Single DARK Correction No processing as FIELD CORRECTION APPLIED LIVE seen live on monitor Single No processing
59. best gt Select your Frame Rate From its Pull Down Menu usually leave it at 15 fps but have used 30 fps at times Again trial and error for your system gt CLICK onthe green OK symbol to accept these settings That s it you are done If everything is working well and the Window s gods are in a good mood you should be broadcasting whatever object the SkyRaider is capturing You should now enter another Message and SEND it out to indicate what system you are using and what object you are viewing There is a time delay on what you say if you have you microphone activated and do on your computer as compared to what others see and hear on the NSN broadcast You will freeze and don t mean like what Chris does when he broadcasts in winter till 3am mean from time to time your NSN connection will freeze for no apparent reason It happens to us all When this happens you can simply terminate the Web browser program Ctrl Alt Del Then restart your browser and Log back into NSN This usual is a very quick process But sometime we all have to restart our computer this takes longer for we need to power down hardware and software and reactivate everything before login back in Don t worry the NSN viewers sense what is happening and will keep the conversations going while waiting for you to come back on Don t be afraid to ask for advice by typing in on the Video chat window as we are all learning and are willin
60. ck Save menu and the corresponding button in the toolbar When calling Quick Save images will be saved quickly according to the above settings in the specified directory File gt Quick Save menu or Unecury the Quick Save Icon can C Userslburns_000 Documents WMALLINCAMSKY save the file with no need to specify the file directory file name and file format Name Format nnnn sequence v File Prefix All those are specified in Options gt Preferences File type png Option ick t Quick Save property page A Show the rename dialog The above settings will be appbed to Quick Save menu and the corresponding button in the toolbar When calling Quick Save images will be saved quickly according to the above settings in the specified directory Directory Enter the name of the drive and directory where the new image will be saved You may either type the path information or use the Browse button to locate it from a standard Browse Folder dialog box SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 66 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Name Format The year month date hour minute and second or nnnn sequence are used as part of the filename If more files are saved with in a second a xx suffix is attached to the end of Name Format to avoid the possible name conifliction For the nnnn sequence Name Format no suffix is needed
61. cking on the Default Button You may need to set Fit to Window in the Drop Down Size command in the MallincamSky Tool Bar Histogram E Histogram A Histogram illustrates how pixels in an Histogram image are distributed by graphing the number of pixels at each color intensity level The Histogram shows detail in the shadows shown in the left part of the histogram mid tones shown in the middle and highlights shown in the right part A Histogram can help you determine T T E whether an image has enough detail to i i i O e make a good correction Left E The Top Window in the expanded Histogram Control shows the Histogram of current active video Defaults Two vertical line markers white show the upper and lower limits of the intensity levels These markers can be dragged with mouse Left Click Hold and Drag If you are looking at a color image the Histogram will reflect the RGB Red Green and Blue channels histogram at the same time values with shading of the same color You can also use the Pull Down fo select the Histogram for just the Red or just the Green or just the Blue channel POT You can also enter directly the desired values in the Left or Right boxes below the Histogram chart for both Left and Right Histogram boundaries Right 255 Left Click on the Defaults Button to return the Left and Right Defaults f a i Histogram boundaries to their original settings Left Click on the Auto
62. d window a snap shot of the image that is currently being exposed by SkyRaider Camera The image will appear in the Video Display Window with a name which follows the naming convention nnnn for example 0001 Every time you Left Click on Snap another tabbed window with the name number increased will appear in the Window The image is only displayed in the Video Window it is not saved on your computer You can save the image and thus rename it by using the Save icon or File gt Save As command from the Top Menu Line Left clicking on Record will tell MallincamSky to start recording a video of what is currently being captured by the SkyRaider MallincamSky will open up a Video File window where you can indicate where you WOU da like the vid eo fil e t O 1 Set the name for the captured video file be saved via the Browse Po Button and what name y OU W oul d lik e giv e th e fil e 2 Select the directory for the video file You can then either Left click on Finish to Start the ji The file name extension ser or avi will be appended automatically to the file video recording process or name Left Click on Next gt to Choose which one of two formats that MallincamSky ar can save the video in Left Click on Next gt SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 85 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 The Video Format and Encoder window will open Up It is here where you Please select the video format and e
63. disabled Choose the File gt Paste as New File command to place the contents of the clipboard image into a new image window which becomes the active image The new image type will be the same as that of the original image MallincamSky will accept image data from other applications via the clipboard as long as it is in Windows Bitmap DIB format MallincamSky will assign a digit to the Paste as New File command in the created image window Title Bar SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 34 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Recent Files Recent Files MallincamSky maintains 4 default of the most recently opened document files under the Recent Files command Choosing one of these submenus will reopen that file immediately gt The maximum number of Recent Files can be modified by choosing the Options gt Preferences command and clicking the Misc selection Here clicking the 4 default edit box will allow you to enter the number of the Recent Files submenu that you want The value ranges from 0 to 8 the default is 4 gt One can also check the Clear the Recent Files when exit the application to clear the Recent Files after exiting the MallincamSky application gt Exit Exit D 2 Choosing the File gt Exit command will close video all of the image windows and Browse window and remove their windows from the screen After all of the windows are closed MallincamSky will end itself If an image has been modifi
64. djust while connected to NSN with the whole universe watching you live Step 3 S Start Manycam Splitcam WebcamMax Size the Manycam Splitcam WebcamMax window so that is beside the MallincamSky Window and you can see both with little overlap If you have a dual monitor system you can slide both the MallincamSky Software Window and the Manycam Splitcam WebcamMax window to the second monitor Step 4 A Have Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max grab the window image All of these packages have the ability to get a desktop image Choose this option and overlay the sizing window on top of your MallincamSky Software Image Window You may need to play with the sizes until you obtain the ideal combination of both the fit in your screen You want to ensure that you get a good image of whatever the MallincamSky Software is looking at inside the Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max window Click here to learn why MyFreeCams is the best and largest adult webcam community This allows you to select the size and location of the desktop that you want on the SplitCam Just slide and adjust the overlay on top of your MallincamSky s Software image SplitCeim ects Sources Snapshot Options GELEE Selected Selected Screen Rec Desktop SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 127 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Adjust the Resolution and frames second fps value on Manycam Splitcam WebcamMax This wi
65. e The Quick Save Icon will be enabled when a A new image is captured from the camera b An image window is created by choosing the File gt Paste as New File command The Quick Save Icon can save the file a quick way with no need to specify the file directory file name and file format All those are specified in Options gt Preferences Quick Save Property Page The file name can be renamed according to the setup in the Options gt Preferencesse Quick Save Property Page s Show the rename dialog item SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 74 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Browse 3 The Browse Icon from the MallincamSky Tool Bar is used to browse images under the specified directory in the Folders Sidebar The Browse Window resembles the Windows Explorer Left Clicking on the will expand a folder so that you can examine Its contents You can Right Click on a Folder or file and the actual Windows controls will pop as in Windows Explorer ng AS YOU get deeper into the Browse Window you can Back Out or Move Deeper via the Green Left or Right Arrow in the Browse Window E The Blue Right Arrow will take you to your computer s Root Directory Left Double Clicking on a Folder will open up a Window Tab in the Video Window this Window will be labeled Browse This Tab will display all of the graphic files inside that Folder If you Left Double Click on a Graphics File inside the Video Window it will open up that Gr
66. e Serial webcam MagZero MZ 5 Meade DSI I I or IM None OpenCV webcam 1 OpenCV webcam 2 Orion SSAG Camera ASCOM Orion StarShoot DSCI QHY 5 I QHY 5L I m SAC4 2 SBIG SBIG Rotator Select WDM camera 0 SparkoCam Virtual Webcam 1 IP Camera JPEG MJPEG 2 SplitCam Video Filter 3 MALLIINCAM 4 Discovery C15 5 ASU ZOMC Camera AWO Design 6 SMI Grabber Device J SplitCarm Video Driver 8 Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI I Capture SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 113 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Step 6 A Select Resolution recommend 640x480 and Click on OK Equipment profile My Equipment Manage Profiles Select your equipment below and click Connect All te connect or click Disconnect All to disconnect You can also connect or disconnect individual equipment items by clicking the button next to the item Camera Windows WOM style webcam camera AQ ASCOM Dome Control ASCOM Telescope Chooser ASI ST4 Telescope Driver ASCOM AstroPhysics GTO V2 Mount ASCOM L Generic Hub ASCOM GPINT 278 GPINT 378 GPINT 3BC GPUSB Meade LAZ00GPS R ASCOM None On A0 Auto On camera Cam Dialog Pipe diagnostic tool ASCOM POTH Hub ASCOM Simulator ASCOM a Telescope Simulator for NET ASCOM T Toup5T4 ASCOM kh SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 114 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 You can check to see if the SkyRaider can control your Mount by Left C
67. e parameter session that you require from the list Left Click on the Load command and it will load the control parameters from the above file in the Drop Down List Left Click on the Save command and MallioncamSky will open a window that will allow you to give a name to the current sessions and then will save the current camera parameters under that name see Management command below Eagle Nebula Dark Skies Give a Name that is easy to determine what the parameters in the file contain That is choosing a name like Eagle Nebula Dark Skies would indicate that the parameters in the File are designed for the Eagle Nebula when you have great dark skies Left Click on the Overwrite command and it will overwrite any setting changes you made to the current parameter file Left Click on the Management command and a Management Dialoge Window will open up SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 98 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Index Name Rename 1 Eagle Nebula Dark Skies 2 Eagle Nebula Light Sky Remove Cancel OK This Dialog Window will allow you to e Rename the Parameter File name e Remove the Parameter File from the computer e Re order how the Parameter names appear in the list The Management Dialog will also allow you to export all of the Parmeter Files to a pgt file so that you can send this pgt file which contains all of your parameter files to a collegue The Manage
68. ed before attempting to Exit MallincamSky will issue a warning to ask if user wants to save the image or not Edit This Drop Down Menu will allow you to Cut Copy Eat View Browse Setup C ibs cea ute SIs and Paste Layers over your images From the Edit I Menu you can also select a Region of Interest i s ROI from your image and copy it to the Windows e 3 Copy Ctre f Clipboard or even de select the ROI if you have MA changed your mind Tf Image Select Select All Ctri A Cut 4 This command is or future implementation SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 35 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Copy 33 Copy Ctrl C This Edit gt Copy command can be used to copy a selected part of your image to the Windows Clipboard Then you can use another software s Paste Command to place this selected image inside that software You can select a region of your currently live image using the Left click Hold and Drag technique then choose Edit gt Copy or Ctrl C Now you can Paste that selected image into another document such as Microsoft Word or Microsoft Paint for later use Paste B This command is for future implementation Image Select T Image Select You can select a Region of Interest on your Image Tab live or static by using the Left Click Hold and Drag technique Once selected then you can Copy Ctrl C the selected region and then Paste it into another software program Select All Select Al
69. ed spacers SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 133 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 User Notes SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 134
70. els to reproduce up to 16 7 million colors on screen In addition to being the default mode for new Mallincam images the RGB mode is used by computer monitors to display colors This means that when working in color modes other than RGB such as CMYK MallincamSky uses RGB mode for display on screen Although RGB is a standard color mode the exact range of colors represented can vary depending on the application or display device SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 52 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 CMYK HSI HLS The CMYK mode is based on the light absorbing quality of ink printed on papers As white light strikes translucent inks certain visible wavelengths are absorbed while others are reflected back to the eyes In theory pure cyan C magenta M and yellow Y pigments should combine to absorb all light and produce black For this reason these colors are called subtractive colors Because all printing inks contain some impurities these three inks actually produce a muddy brown and must be combined with black K ink to produce a true black K is used instead of B to avoid confusion with blue Combining these inks to reproduce color is called four color process printing The subtractive CMY and additive RGB colors are complementary colors Each pair of subtractive colors creates an additive color and vice versa Based on the human perception of color the HIS model describes three fundamental characteristics
71. en up and you can either slide the Exposure Time bar Left Click Hold and Drag or Left Click on the current Exposure Time value and a another Window will open to allow you to manually enter a time don t forget to click OK 15000ms 5 00 SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 96 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Exposure Target is only active when Auto Exposure is selected The Green Rectangle is used to see if reference region it encloses matches Exposure Target that you set We recommend that Auto Exposure is not selected Take Dark Field Correction Ensure that the cover is either on the SkyRaider Camera or the Telescope is covered With the Camera Tab selected on the Left SideBar Left Click on the Dark Field Correction Line Quantity EJ Cover the lens and then push the Capture button to capture the dark filed Check the The Dark Field Correction Line will open Up allowing you to A select the Quantity of Dark Fields and the option to start the EEE Dark Field Capture process Select up to 10 for the Quantity Start with 5 with 30 seconda P exposures to get a feel of the process Then Left Click on the Capture Button The Software will display its progress above the selected Quantity Due to the unique way the Mallincam SkyRaider camera s utilize odd and even image acquisition a Dark Field is obtained for each of the odd and even frames That is five 30 seconds Dark Fields will take
72. eo CCD camera system has these exciting unique features on the market today The MallinCam SkyRaider DS uses a two stage step up voltage driver to operate the CCD sensor to its maximum sensitivity at 15 3 volts from a 5 volts source A MallinCam unique feature not found on any other video CCD cameras using USB2 system The SkyRaider Cameras are USB cameras and due to the physical limitations of USB the length of the cable is restricted to about 5 metres even though some users may try to extend that distance using other hardware there is no guarantee that the video signal timing issue will be recognized when going beyond the recommended maximum Special thanks to Chris Appleton and Rock Mallin who expertise and experience are way beyond my capabilities So thank you for your purchase and let the adventure begin SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 5 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 The Contents of the SkyRaider DS Package The MallinCam SkyRaider DS features the world renowned Hyper circuit with a buffered variable gain The Hyper circuit is used in our other camera designs and allows a user to increase sensitivity with low noise without increasing exposure time A MallinCam Exclusive Installation of the Hyper circuit in the SkyRaider DS differs from other MallinCam cameras in that it uses a triple buffered electronic section to keep noise to a low level and still can be used with the Live MC Dark Field Subtraction for even lower noise
73. epiece adapter on your Telescope Depending upon the telescope you may need extenders so that you can reach focus with your telescope It is recommended that you set this up in the daytime so you can see what you are doing plus can aim at an easy to find tree or telephone pole oS SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 16 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 53 Connecting the SkyRaider G Camera to Computer Attach the 5 metre USB 2 0 Cable from the back of the SkyRaider G to a free USB 2 0 port on your computer Windows will then load the specific SkyRaider Camera Driver onto your computer Once the driver has been successfully loaded you will see the name of the SkyRaider Camera in the MallincamSky Camera List on the Upper left of the Window You can install more than one SkyRaider Camera to your computer but the software can only control one SkyRaider Camera at a time T 2 File Edit View Browse Setup Captu F E CIFA Camera J Camera List a SkyRaiderGuiderc SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 17 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 gt gt gt Connecting the SkyRaider G Camera to Telescope Remove the rubber dust cover from the front of the SkyRaider G camera place it back in the box for safe keeping Screw in the C mount adapter to the front of the SkyRaider G Insert the SkyRaider G with C Mount attached into a 1 25 eyepiece adapter on your Telescope Attach one end of the S
74. erform these tasks thru the Windows Environment loons Sort Sot o This control allows you the option of l E Sort by Name rearranging the image files via a i Sort by Type variety of choices Name Type size l E o Sort by Size Width and Height All in either eres 30 Ascending or Descending order i Sort by Height Just Left Click on the choice that best suits you needs and MallincamSky will 4 Ascending automatically rearrange the files a4 Ty Descending Icons loons This control allows you to display the Graphic Files as either Large or Small Icons Simply Left Click to make your Selection Paste Shortcut Paste Shortcut This control allows you to place a copied File Shortcut you have previously selected the File and then have used Edit gt Copy into you currently selected folder Delete e Delete This control allows you to delete a selected file from your currently selected folder SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 43 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Refresh Refresh FS This control allows you to refresh the contents of the currently selected folder Properties Properties This control will display the current File properties for the Graphics File that you have selected This is identical to Right Clicking on a File while using Windows Explorer Setup This Top Menu Line Command Is used to Capture Image Process O p
75. ess command to sharpen your image Image Enhance Edge Enhance Morphological Kernel Filter Sample 8 Low Pass O Sharpness O High Pass O Flatten Gauss O Median O High Gauss O Rank SkyRaider Quick Guide Image Enhance Edge Enhance Morphological Kernel Filters Sample Sobel O Roberts Sculpt Laplace O Variance Horizontal Vertical Options Page 61 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Image Enhance Edge Enhance Morphological Kernel Image Enhance Edge Enhance Morphological Kernel Filters Filter type Erode O Gradient Morphological O Dilate O Distance Open Thinning Close Watershed Top hat Well Options 8 2x 2 Square O 3 x 3 Cross O 11 x 11 Cirde O 3x 1Row O 5x 5 Cirde Passes 1 j 1x 3 Colomn 0 7 x 7 Cirde x You can modify the color effectiveness range with the Range control to color sharpen your image SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 62 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 You can examine the image as a 3 D color contour map with the 3 D setup control You can apply the Pseudo Color application tools to turn a Black and White image into color tones SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 63 SkyRaider User Manual Image Stacking August 26 2015 Image Stacking control will allow you fo select
76. g to assist whenever we can When ready try activating the microphone click on the microphone symbol Other will let you know if they can hear you or if there is noise Remember there are settings for the microphone in the camera settings window When you are finished with your session you simply say your good nights to the crowd of NSN viewers to let them know that your session is ending CL CK on the red STOP button on your NSN Window and NSN will shut down your channel and you can power down your system and call it an evening It won t force the NSN viewers off the channel and some viewers will continue chatting long after you have gone to bed TOP SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 132 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Focal Reducers MFR 8 MER 8 Mk Il Kit This focal reducer is made for the SkyRaider Series of cameras Typically it is a MFR 5 Il without the rear MFR 6 small part The front lens has a high precision achromatic 25 mm double sided coated lens and includes two 10 mm spacers and a 5mm spacer offering a variety of variable focal reduction for just about all telescope type This is an ideal combination for the SkyRaider Series of cameras If a user already own a MFR 5 type focal reducer no need to purchase the MFR 8 II Kit The MFR 8 Mk II Kit will vary focal reduction from 0 55X down to about 0 4X Test result did confirm reduction as low as 0 38X reduction when using the SkyRaider DS using all suppli
77. gressively This means that the first frame of the series of 10 was taken at a lower chip temperature than the final SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 124 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 one Therefore each of the 10 frames records different levels of thermal noise In other words when stored in the camera these 10 combined frames represent a library of information that the camera and software can now choose from and use to CORRECT note not subtract from the light image that we want to display on our computer screen Now how does this work in practice and why is it called a Dark Field correction The Dark Field correction is prepared by the user at the beginning of an observing session by covering the camera or scope pre determining the exposure time and setting the software to automatically taking up to 10 images We all know our equipment and the skies we observe under or we certainly will with a bit of practice We also have an idea of what range of filters we might use that night and the effect they have with respect to exposure times Take this into account when selecting you exposure time for your 10 dark images But remember this is NOT a Dark Frame subtraction the exposures required for dark frame subtraction must be close to those used for the light frames of our astro targets Not so for Dark Field correction The camera and software in the latter case are not looking for a single FRAME to subtract based on
78. he Capture gt Start Time Lapse Auto Capture e menu will be changed to the Capture gt Stop Time lapse Auto capture menu Choosing this command will stop the Time lapse capture There are a variety of image format available they are bmp jpg png and tif to save the captured image For example when choosing the jpg format you can set the parameters of Option to adjust its compression quality or encoding method Please check the File gt Save Ase menu for more details SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 47 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Start Record Start Record F9 Left Click this control to start the process of recording videos of what your SkyRaider is currently 1 Set the name for the captured video file imaging The video format can be in either avi or ser format 2 Select the directory for the video file A Video File window will pop up so that you can give the captured video a file name and Del a The file name extension ser or awi will be appended automatically to the file location Enter a name and name choose a location for your video files Left Click on Browse to help choose a directory lt Back Finish location Then Left Click on Next to choose the File format that you would like Please select the video format and encoder Mallinca m S ky to save the video o in choose avi S If you Left Click on the Finish button MallincamSky will start recording until you Left Click on the St
79. hen only information about the Red Blue channel will be discarded The Green and Blue information will remain there Extract Color Select the Image gt Adjust gt Filter Color command to retain a special color channel trom a color image Check either Red Green or Blue color to filter For Example if Red color is checked then only information about the Red Channel will be retained The Green and Blue information will discarded Lay Invert Select the Image gt Adjust gt Invert command to reverse the pixel values of the active image by Edge Preserving Smooth This control looks for the most homogeneous neighborhood area around each point in a Recursive C Normalized Convolution picture and then gives each point the average gray level of the selected neighborhood area It Range Sigma removes noise in a flat region without blurring sharp edges nor SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 55 Spatial Sigma SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 destroying the details of the boundary of a region This smoothing also has the ability to sharpen blurred edges Choose either a Recursive or the Normalized Convolution By adjusting the Spatial Sigma like the domain and the Range Sigma you can affect how many pixels the algorithm uses when applying the smoothing Detail Enhance This filter works by identifying sharp edge boundaries in the image srs such as the edge between a subject and a background of a cont
80. ick on the Slider Bar which selects it you can use the left and right arrow keys of your keyboard to move the slider this gives you more control See above on how fo use the Green Exposure Rectangle SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 87 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Exposure Time Exposure Time The current Exposure time is displayed above the slider MallincamSky will display the exposure time in ms until 60000 ms is reached then it will switch to minutes seconds and ms To use Exposure Time Auto Exposure must be unchecked You can modify the Exposure Time in three different ways gt By Left Click Hold and Drag the marker bar to the required value gt If you Left Click on the Slider Bar which selects It you can use the Left and Right Arrow Keys of your keyboard to move the slider this gives you more control gt If you Left Click on the Current Exposure Time Value a window will open up where you can enter in the exact exposure time you require This window will also provide you the exposure limits your specific SkyRaider Camera can hanale Range 0 400ms 16m40s Don t forget to Left Click on OK to have MallincamSky accept the entered exposure time If you set the Exposure Time to 10 seconds or higher you will see a timer in the ms lower right corner of the screen indicating the current half cycle time out of the exposure time for the current image Frame Rate 0 0 Frame 0 Sk
81. ield correction Just Left Click in the Enable box to remove the check mark in the Dark Field correction control on the SideBar Place a check mark back in the Enable box to reactivate Dark Field correction How Do take Another Dark Field You have to either disconnect the SkyRaider or even easier just Left Click on the Video Window Title and Choose Close to disconnect Now Left Click on the SkyRaider camera in the Camera control on the SideBar to reactivate it Now you just retake your Dark Fields Note If you change the ROI then the Dark Fields will be removed from the SkyRaider SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 123 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Dark Field Explanation The following is the best explanation of what Dark Field is and it comes from the work of Simon Hanmer Dark Frame vs Dark Field Dark Frame Subtraction First Take an image with the camera shutter closed or the camera scope covered under the same conditions of exposure time and temperature as the light frames you are going to capture of your astronomical target Many astronomers will take fen or more such dark frames and then combine them into a master dark frame principally for statistical reasons the more sub frames the better quality of master frame This will give you a single master frame of hot and warm pixels generated in the imaging chip electronically and thermally including amplifier glow Second subtract the dark frame from each of
82. kyRaider Quick Guide Page 77 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 gt Examine the options in this window and make the appropriate decisions on how you would like MallincamSky fo Stich the snapped images together this is where the pre planning comes in handy You will still be experimenting with your decisions gt Once completed Left Click on Next to bring up the final Stich Window Match Strength Blend Strength SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 78 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 gt Again make some logical guesses with the numbers and Left Click on the Finish button when decisions have been made MallincamSky will work thru the Snaps and apply the choices you have made and will place the final result in an image window for your viewing pleasure You can try other Stitching decision by having the Stitched imaged active in your Video Window and Left Clicking on the Stitch Icon again You will notice that your original snapped image are available for you to play with and combine in other ways Add gt gt Addall gt gt Remove Clear Next gt SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 79 SkyRaider User Manual EDF i August 26 2015 EDF or Extended Depth of Focus Is used to image the appearance of the object you are imaging by slightly moving the object off its current position The EDF will ask you to capture images after each movement It wi
83. l Ctrl A This command is not fully implemented but you can use it to select the Whole Video Image Window Once selected then you can Copy Ctrl C the selected region and then Paste it into another software program Select None Select Mone Ctrl D This command can be used to De Select the image that was selected using either the Image Select or the Select All commands SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 36 2 gt SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 View Browse Setup Capture This Drop Down Menu will allow you to Browse folders Display or Remove Tabs from the Sidebar ee cla Activate Grids or Reticules on the Video Window Sidebar Change the Video Window Size to match your computer real estate and Allow you to move the Grids image around in your Video Window Best Fit Full Screen 4 a Track Browse Browse Ctrl B The View gt Browse command from the View Menu or the Browse Icon on the Icon Tool Bar is used to browse images under the specified directory in the Folders m Homegroup Sidebar ES a 00 This PC The Browse Window resembles the Windows Explorer Left ES Libraries Clicking on the will expand a folder so that you can a 17 Network examine its contents am E Control Panel You can Right Click on a Folder or file and the actual on Dept Head Windows controls will pop as in Windows Explorer a MM Science Outlines y Sky Shed As you get deeper into the Browse Window you can Bh SkyRaider Back O
84. l of the area Underneath the pointer Count Shows the total number of pixels corresponding to the intensity level underneath the pointer Percentile Displays the cumulative number of pixels at or below the level underneath the pointer This value is expressed as a percentage of all of the pixels in the image from 0 at the far left to 100 at the far right The Histogram from Image gt Histogram still images provides different information about the video image window than the SideBar s Histogram live video capture SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 60 D 2 SkyRaider User Manual Process August 26 2015 MallincamSky provides some very advance image processing tools You can apply these tools to your image to tweak the final output It would take a novel to explain each of these standard graphical enhancement tools So will leave it up To you to Google Search the enhancement type to see if it is something you could use You can use the SideBar s Undo Redo Tab to revert any correction back to a previous state Options Window Denote Sharpen Color Toning Filter Image Stacking Range Shift R Binary Shitt B E E Ma Surface Plot Line Profile Adaptive Wiener Filter Bilateral Filter Non Local Means UnSharp Mask Laplacian Sharpen Gamma Histogram Equalization Shift Q Local Color Correction AMBR You can find Enhancement Filters inside the Proc
85. leave to Time Lapse at 1 as this best matches the capabilities of your SkyRaider Camera s output Start Broadcast start Broadcast This menu will be used for future plans The intention is to give this command the ability to broadcast on Night Skies Network NSN SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 49 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 gt Image The Image menu will allow you to adjust the Process Options Window Mod properties or any captured image in an active pila Image Tab in MallincamSky video image Adjust window Rotate You can use the SideBar s Undo Redo Tab to revert any correction back to a previous state Mode Mode p The Mode Control will o give YOU the ability pe Mode rl Color Quantize Color Quantize Gray Adjust p Gray Scale Scale and Decolorize Rotate i Contrast Preserving Decolorization the selected still image The Color Quantize e command is widely used Color Bik to change the image bit MallincamSky supports the mutual changes among 24 bit 8 bit 4 bit or 1 Color Bits bit images When the Colour Bits dialog is 8 24 bits opened the default checked color bit is the i current image s color bit Check the desired bit 0 8 bits and click OK to end the command The image ae will converted to the selected color bits in the A image window a The Gray Scale command to convert a color
86. licking K on the Mount Setup Icon and use the Arrow Buttons to see if your mount MOVES ASCOM EN ToupST4 is not connected Step 8 Left Click on the Mount Connect Button activate the connection Mount ToupST4 ASCOM Equipment profile My Equipment Manage Profiles Select your equipment below and click Connect All to connect or click Disconnect All to disconnect You can also connect or disconnect individual equipment items by clicking the button next to the item Camera Windows WDM style webcam camera Mount ToupsT4 ASCOM Connect All Disconnect All SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 115 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Step 10 Left Click on the Looping Icon to start the SkyRaider imaging i i PHD2 Guiding 2 3 0 My Equipment Sa File Tools View Darks Bookmarks Help Step 11 Since WDM is only a Video image from the SkyRaider You will need to set the PHD2 Exposure Duration to a value other than AUTO say 1 second This will NOT control the actual exposure rate of the SkyRaider but rather show what the SkyRaider has on its video image every 1 second Lefi Clicking on the Cam Dialog Box see image above in PHD2 will open a window where you can adjust the parameters of the SkyRaider Camera such as the actual Exposure as the Exposure control in PHD2 does not control WDM driver s actual exposure but rather just the refresh rate If you can set both the Actual Exposure and the PHD e
87. ll be trial and error it all depends upon resolution bandwidth and what over members on NSN experience from your broadcasted image You will end up adjusting both on the Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max side as well and on the NSN side to get the best image A helpful hint slide over the Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max window so that some of the text appears in the Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max window Can the members on NSN read the words If not adjust Remember this may take a couple of sessions until you obtain the ideal resolutions for your particular setup For me have set both Manycam Splitcam at 640 x 480 at 15 fps Minimize the Manycam Splittam WebcamMax software window Click on the little underscore on the top right side of the Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max window This will eliminate the Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max window from your desktop it should now appear on the bottom of your desktop monitor but note that the software is still running and still has hold of your desktop MallincamSky Image location Do not move the MallincamSky Window around your desktop when broadcasting since Manycam Splitcam WebcamMax is just grabbing the real estate location that currently your MallincamSky Software image is situated at If you move the MallincamSky Software Window then Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max will still grab the desktop location but may not grab the whole MallincamSky Video Image Don t be afraid to practice moving the Malli
88. ll then realign the images in such a manner to provide better focus on the primary object This technique belongs to the microscope world but what the heck give ita try as when you are imaging planets they bounce around due to atmospheric difficulties See if this control can put together a satisfactory image When you Left Click on the EDF Icon the Capture Image Window will popup Position your image then hit the Capture Button Either move the mount a little bit of if the image itself is moving about Left Click on Capture to take another image Repeat as necessary note how the Window keeps track on the numbers of captures you have taken Left Click on Next when you are ready for the next step The Select Method Window will now pop up In this Window you will select a merging method on how MallincamSky will align the captured images Read the Descriptions and choose a method that you would like to try Then Cleft Click on Next to continue Captured Tips Adjust the microscope to make different part of the object dear Capture an image when the object is in different position The step of the adjustment is up to the users Typically more details will be available if smaller step is selected The relative position of the object and the microscope should be changed in one direction Maximum Contrast nf Descripton Weighted Average method produces a soft fusion result but may miss detail This method
89. llincamSky maintains at the File gt Recent Files submenu a list of the last opened files Look in Bj Desktop Te H age a ml 14 4 KB gt Angular AP Shortcut 283 bytes Astronomy Technology Magazine Shortcut Capture PNG image G40 KB Celestron Notes Shortcut Shortcut 958 bytes COYOTES JPEG image 328 KB Portable Netoak Barka Fool Tag Image File Format tif tif Compu Si GIF Current File pox y Catt Wireless Bitmap wbmp JPEG 2000 Standard Pa SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 27 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Lanny Open Video i Open Video Use the Open Video Command to open an existing video on your computer The Open Video command is only enabled when no SkyRaider Camera is present when MallincamSky is started Only a single video can be opened at a time If a SkyRaider is started this menu will be disabled and the Open Video command will be disabled Right Click on Video Window s Title then choose Close This will shut down the video stream and allow you use the File gt Open Video command Select the name of the file you want to open If the file does not appear select the option for showing all files from the Video Files Drop Down Button The video file type can be wmv asf or avi format You can preview the Video by Left Clicking on the Play Button on the Preview Window on the right side of the Open Window Click Open to open a video file this will create a video window a
90. mage Do a Google Search on How to Read and Understand Image Histograms in Photoshop to find out more information on how to use Histograms to improve your images Choose the Image gt Histogram command to open the Histogram Window Depending on the image s color mode choose R G and B or Luminosity to view a composite Histogram of all the channels If the image Is RGB true color choose Luminosity to display a Histogram representing the luminance or intensity values of the composite channel SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 59 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 If the image Is RGB true color choose R G and B to display a composite Histogram of the individual color channels in color a Channel uminosity chann A gt lewel pek 352800 level pisek 352500 count Count Percentile Percentile ES x Channel Gros chann level prek 352800 level pisek 352800 Coun Coun Percentile Percentile Do one of the following gt Toview information about a specific pixel value place the mouse pointer in the Histogram gt To view information about a range of values click down the Left Click hold and Drag the mouse into the Histogram to highlight the range The Histogram Window displays the following statistical information below the Histogram Pixels Represents the total number of pixels used to calculate the Histogram Level Displays the intensity leve
91. ment Dialog will also allow you to import a collegues set of parameter files single pgt file whci contains all of their parameter files into your MallincamSky folders When you import a set of parameter files info your system it will overwrite all of your parameter files So Use Caution See Hint below After you have created a list of parameter files that you are using Save them in a Parameters File Folder pick a location and name for This Folder such as Parameter Files on your computer under a name that indicates that these files are yours such as Michael s SkyRaider DSc Parameters Files for New Hamburg This way you can save a another set of parameter files for another SkyRaider Camera In the same folder Parameters File Folder this way you can load parameter files for a specific camera Also you can also include other collegues parameters files in the same Folder Chris s skyRaider DSc Parameter Files for SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 99 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Toronto This allows you a method to reload your parameter files after trying colleagues and not have them overwtitten Parameter File Folder Michael s SkyRaider Dsc Parameters File for New Hamburg Michael s SkyRaider Dsc Parameters File for New Hamburg Michael s SkyRaider Gm Parameters File for New Hamburg Michael s SkyRaider Dsc Parameters File for Mount Forest gt Eagle Nebula Dark Skies Michael s SkyRaider Gm Parameters File for Mount
92. mpling Bit Depth Choose a parameter from the Camera Tab on the Left SideBar so and see what you can adjust and how it affects your image on You will have to wait until the next image is exposed to see how your adjustments look Have Fun and Experiment You can now spend some time to become more comfortable with the MallincamSky Software The SkyRaider User Manual will go into more detail about all of the options and adjustment you can perform with the SkyRaider series of camera But don t be afraid to experiment Go into Options from the Top Menu Line and choose Preferences It is here that you can set options for the MallincamSky If you go into Misc you can change the Color Style of the MallincamSky software If you select another Color Style Apply then Left Click on OK Choose the Color Style which works for you Use a bright Color Style if using computer in Daylight SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 25 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 5 The SkyRaider Software Controls Imc MALLINCAMSKY File Edit View Browse Setup Capture Image Process Options Window About oo Camera List 100 Camera va x 4 skyimage JPG Pas No Device EY Capture amp Resolution Live Snap Y Exposure 8 Gain E Exposure Target i z Exposure Time Gain Color Balance Color Adjustment oa Frame Rate 6 Color Gray 4h Flip Y Sampling Bit Depth E rol C Histogram
93. ncamSky Software window when not broadcasting to learn how it affects the displayed Manycam Splitcam WebcamMax Window If you need to you can again use the Manycam Splitcam WebcamMax desktop select icon and select or change the location or size of the window for it to grab If you have a dual monitor you can leave the Manycam Splitcam WebcamMax window open on the second monitor since real estate will not be an issue in the situation In fact with Splitcam you have an option to view the displayed image in full screen mode by clicking on the symbol in the upper right side of the screen the escape key returns you back to normal size Start your Web Browser of Choice You may have to play with a number of Browsers to see which one works well with your particular computer setup have had success with many browsers Chrome Internet Explorer Firefox and Maxthon SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 128 Step 8 Step 9 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Have your Web Brower go to the location http www nightskiesnetwork com Locate and click on the BROADCASTERS AND MEMBERS SIGN IN button The next Login screen will ask you to enter your username and password You will next be presented with the screen for Night Skies network Click on the Login selection on the upper right hand side of the screen AN Broadcasting Live Now Fit Give NSN a 1 if you like us Site Rules Site Instructi a NIGHT SKIES NET
94. ncoder choose the Video format to save your video in O ser You can now choose elther ser or avi we recommend selecting avi Left Click on Next gt to display the Start to Record Window lt a Fn Here you can set the time length of the Video you can only select minutes C Time Limit Minutes Timetapse If the Time Limit Check Box is unchecked then YOU Summary manually stop the recording Format avi File C Wsers Michael SkySave test1 by Left Clicking on the Stop Icon that will replace the Record Icon on the SideBar Quality 100 lt Back Next gt Cancel Time Lapse will allow you to the rate at which the frames are captured See Start Record in the Capture section of the User Manual for more detailed information on using Time Lapse Left Click on Finish to Start to recording process the process will Then continue recording until you Left Click on the Stop Record Icon or when it reaches the Time Limit if you selected a Time Limit If you need to record video in units other than Minutes use the Capture gt Start Time Lapse Auto Capture from the Top Menu Line This command will allow you to select a time in units of seconds rather than minutes You must have the Video Window active to use this command SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 86 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Exposure amp Gain F Exposure amp Gain al Exposure amp Gain The Expos
95. nd begin to start the video stream The video window will be associated a name called Video XXX XXX i e its title bar will display Video XXX XXX here XXX XXX is the video file name No sound will be heard when playing the video stream A de gt OneDrive Chris s Mallincam Videos Organize v New folder 3 Dropbox A iCloud Photos Recent places 2 OneDrive de Astronomy pics Applying The How to analyze How to expose How to use the a Amp Glow Masks the Miloslick live your images Miloslick di C e books Using Miloslick histogram and properly Part 2 histogram and de Cassie Pictures Video Part 3 levels tool Part 1 levels tool Part 3 de Chris s Mallincan di Documents de dome constructii de GSO manuals Lo Mallincam Public A rocessing Amp Take Darks for Testing amp Testing amp Ji My You Tube Vic Glow Masks Amp Glow Masks glow and warm glow and warm de New Hamburg B Video Part 2 Video Part 1 pixel removal live pixel removal live Ji New Hamburg Vi on a dark imag ona dark imag de Pictures v File name Testing amp glow and warm pixel removal live on a dark image at 720 x 480 v amp Video Files SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 28 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Open Broadcast Open Broadcast The Open Broadcast command is not active as the programmers may use this control for interfacing with Night Skies Network NSN at some time in the future Save iA i
96. ng the video preview you can always choose the Capture gt Image Capture command to capture the video image After the image is captured the captured image still image will be placed the current active window with an automated title 0001 The Capture gt Capture Image menu now be disabled as you are now viewing a still image If you wish to capture another image again Left Click the active video window Video SkyRaider title to activate the Video Window and the Capture gt Capture Image menu will be enabled again The Snap Button on the Camera SideBar can continuously shoot the image even if the video window is not activated Left Click this Snap button on the Camera Sidebar to a capture image quickly Only when the video window is active the Capture gt Capture Image menu will be enabled If the Live and Snap resolutions are different then MallincamSky needs to switch the resolution from Live to Snap in the background to capture an image with Snap resolution After the Snap is finished then MallincamSky will switch back to the Live resolution to continue the video stream process Therefore it will take more time to capture a still image Start Time Lapse Auto Capture E Start Time lapse Auto Capture This function can capture a sequence of pictures with the same time interval you can precisely set the time interval 2 to 3600 seconds and the total number of images you require taken The images will be saved to the computer
97. ng was the most the most crucial step for me found that by doing test runs in the comfort of my house allowed me to develop my techniques that work for the equipment and software that use Below are the results and steps that use to broadcast on NSN feel free to follow them and or made modification as you deem as necessary Computer real estate will be your nemesis So depending upon the size of the monitor laptop then number of screens that you are using then number of software programs that using are simultaneously are using will dictate how you will manage your windows will describe how have organized my windows under a variety of situations 1 computer 1 computer with 2 monitors which software packages am using and what am trying to do this session Remember it s all about having fun and time and patience are your best friends not to mention all the guys and gals and the Yahoo MallinCam site htto tech groups yahoo com group mallincam messages One of the most important decisions you will need to make with broadcasting the image of the SKYRAIDER is what Video capture software are you going to use Some simple suggestions Currently MallincamSky is not capable of modifying the Video Image and having that Video Image be directly captured by NSN Flash So if you want to use all the features of the MallincamSky software and broadcast those results as well as save screen shots and videos of your image
98. nge of the total wi t h th e D efa U lts an d move brightness For that reason the total brightness may also need to be adjusted from there Once the values are selected Left Click on Next for the Auto Align Window The Auto Align Window allows you to choose the alignment method MallincamSky should use to align the images on top of each other 8 Shift Scale Rotate _ Shift Scale Maximum Angle would recommend using the Shift Scale Rotate Description th d Select the proper Auto Align mode according to whether there is shift scale or MEerTnoa rotate among the images to be processed The time consumption of EDF is related to the setting of the maximum angle The time will increase when the maximum angle increases and the relationship between them is non inear The default maximum angle is 1 0 Once the alignment method is chosen Left Click on Finish and MallincamSky will attempt to overlay all of the captured images Once it is completed MallincamSky will place the final image in an image Window for you to examine You can try other alignment methods or stacking algorithms by clicking on the EDF Icon again If you Left Click on the EDF Icon again when the combined image is active the first popup window will already have a list of the captured images for you to choose from SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 81 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Reticule IN MallincamSky provides
99. nstall to start the installation process G Completing MALLINCAMDshow 3 0 Setup MALLINCAMDshow 3 0 has been installed on your computer Click Finish to dose Setup Cancel Step 5 d Click on Finish to close the process August 26 2015 The DirectShow driver will give you the ability to display the SkyRaider video using other video display software The software that uses the DirectShow video protocol will always have a button that pops up the DirectShow Control Window where you can control the exposure and other settings on the SkyRaider camera SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 102 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Installing WDM Driver Step 1 Insert the Mallincam CD into CD ROM drive of your computer Have windows A open the CD and you will be presented with 4 files 95 MALLINCAMDshowSetup MALLINCAMSKYSetup MALLINCAMTwainSetup VV V V Step2 gt Double Click on the MALLINCAMTwainSetup File Windows may display a warning asking for permission to run the program if it does select YES The following MallincamSky Setup Screen will appear Welcome to MALLINCAM Twain 3 0 Setup Setup will guide you through the installation of MALLINCAMTwain 3 0 It is recommended that you close all other applications before starting Setup This will make it possible to update relevant system files without having to reboot your computer Click Next to continue Step 3 Y Click on Next t
100. o start the installation process F Choose Install Location T Choose the folder in which to install MALLINCAMTwain 3 0 5 Setup will install MALLINCAMTwain 3 0 in the following folder To install in a different folder dick Browse and select another folder Click Install to start the installation Space available 797 6GB MALLINCAMT SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 103 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Step 4 Click on Install to start the installation process Completing MALLINCAM Twain 3 0 Setup MALLINCAMTwain 3 0 has been installed on your computer Click Finish to dose Setup Step 5 y Click on Finish to close the process The WDM driver will give you the ability to display the SkyRaider video using other video display software The software that uses the WDM video protocol will always have a button that pops up the WDM Control Window where you can control the exposure and other settings on the SkyRaider camera SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 104 Step 1 4 Step 2 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Installing Mallincam ASCOM Driver Visit www Mallincam net Select the Support Tab Go into Software Downloads Near the bottom of the page under Miscellaneous Downloads is the ASCOM ST4 DRIVER SKYRAIDER G Guider link Download the ST4 ASCOM driver Miscellaneous Downloads SKYRAIDER G Guider DOWNLOAD Plus download the ASCOM Video driver when made available
101. of the Horizontal and Vertical Grid Lines im No Grids The No Grids control can be used to temporarily remove the grid overlay from the video Image If you re select Manual Grids your previous designed Grid Lines will re appear E Remove All Grids This will remove the Grid Overlay from your video image It will also delete your Manual Grid Lines settings thus allowing you to create a new set of Manual Grid Lines Ly Best Fit Best Fit Num Select the control View gt Best Fit to automatically resize the image video to fit inside the Video Window Tab Lan Actual Size Actual Size Murn Select the control View gt Actual Size to reset the Zoom to 100 Actual Size will be disabled if the View is already set to 100 and place the image video inside the Video Window Tab SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 41 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Full Screen 2 Full Screen Selecting the View gt Full Screen control will display the video window in full screen style You will not see any commands or controls while in this mode Pressing the Esc key on your keyboard will return MallincamSky to the Default Video Window Track SE Track If the video image s actual size is larger than the video image Window then this control will allow you to position the actual video image within in the video image Window This control is activated automatically when necessary Its function is similar to the scroll bars It is an alternative to
102. often gives superior results to FFDSSD method with deep stacks such as images produced by microscopy Itis worth noting that images to be processed must be in Z order closest to furthest or furthest to dosest with the microscope objective lens relative to sample on the stage Maximum Contrast method is similar with weighted average method and the input images must be in Z order as well The difference is that the maximum contrast method may loose some detail though what detail is preserved will be sharper Maximum contrast method is a preferred method of EDF FFDSSD is a method that does filtering in the frequency domain using Fast Fourier transform FFT and does synthesis in the space domain FFDSSD can be used for images having misalignment Users can manually or automatically select reference images to make input images aligned SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 80 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 The Options Window will now pop up Now you will choose the Detail Clarity Total een Brightness and Background Total Brightness Brightness values for your combined image Background Brightness Read the Description about Description th ese Con tro Is an dq ma ke The three values are not isolated Detail darity affects the fine detail of the result Background brightness is the offset value that is used to add or subtract yO ur o e st g UESS a lwa ys S a rt the background These two settings will result in the cha
103. oftware package features the most advanced live video imaging system ever created MallinCam has created the world s first software with the MC DarkField Subtraction System on the fly eliminating the need of a Peltier cooler under live application and yet retaining the best low noise live image ever encountered on the market today A MallinCam Advanced exclusive the MallinCam Dark Field live subtraction feature is unique to the MallinCam SkyRaider Series of cameras Images can be saved in the same manner or video files can be created with the same On The Fly DarkField correction Among other advanced features a live on the fly histogram make final image adjustment possible to produce the finest live image with the option to save your view as an image or video file The MallinCam SkyRaider DS features the world renowned Hyper circuit with a buffered variable gain The Hyper circuit is used in our other camera designs and allows a user to increase sensitivity with low noise without increasing exposure time A MallinCam Exclusive Installation of the Hyper circuit in the SkyRaider DS differs from other MallinCam cameras in that it uses a triple buffered electronic section to keep noise to a low level and still can be used with the Live MC Dark Field Subtraction for even lower noise The MallinCam SkyRaider DS features dual independent on board memory ensuring separate video imaging signal data from the camera control through USB2 demand No other vid
104. ono Camera Y2 simulator ASCOM CCD Labs Q Guider CMOS QHY5 Camera ASCOM Fishcamp Starfish Nova PLC M Long exposure LXUSB webcam 8 A E Hiet t a Step 4 y Left Click on the Camera Setup Button to open Setup Window Select your equipment below and click Connect All to connect or click Disconnect All te disconnect You can also connect or disconnect individual equipment items by clicking the button next to the itep Mount H w Connect All Disconnect All Step 5 Setup Recommendations for SkyRaider is to use 640 480 Resolution with the 8 Bit Depth and Low Frame Rate Left Click on OK to go back to Connect Equipment Window GCMOSO1200KPB SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 118 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Step 6 d Left Click on the Connect button on Camera List to connect camera Equipment profile My Equipment Manage Profiles Select your equipment below and click Connect All to connect or click Disconnect All to disconnect You can also connect or disconnect individual equipment ttems by clicking the button next to the item Camera ASCOM Toupcam Driver AO ASCOM Dome Control ASCOM Telescope Chooser ASI ST4 Telescope Driver ASCOM AstroPhysics GTO V2 Mount ASCOM lI Generic Hub ASCOM GPINT 278 GPINT 378 GPINT 3BC GPUSB Meade LAZ00GPS R ASCOM Mone On AQ 10 001 Un camera Cam Dialog Pipe diagnostic tool ASCOM o BOTH Hub ASCOM E Simulator ASCOM E
105. op Recording Button that appears on the SideBar SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 48 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 You can now enter the length of the Video you want MallincamSky C Time Limit Minutes to record by Left Clicking the Time Time tapse Limit Minutes Checkbox and j choosing a time from 1m to Summary 1440m leaving the check box a a p a E T ER unchecked will record until you eared click on the Stop Record Button in the SideBar You can also insert a Time Lapse value from 1 to 100 This Time Lapse seems to record every Time Lapsed frame from the Frame Rate of the Sky Raider Camera The following are the observed recording times when choosing a 1 minute recording Take extra note of the length of the video when you set the Time Lapse to 2 At 60 seconds a Time Lapse of 1 will produce a video of about 60s At 60 seconds a Time Lapse of 3 will produce a video of about 41s At 60 seconds a Time Lapse of 10 will produce a video of about 26s At 60 seconds a Time Lapse of 30 will produce a video of about 6s At 60 seconds a Time Lapse of 50 will produce a video of about 3 5s At 60 seconds a Time Lapse of 100 will produce a video of about Is VV VV V WV gt At 60 seconds a Time Lapse of 2 will produce a video of about 90s The only way to view Videos using MallincamSky is to restart MallincamSky without a SkyRaider plugged into the computer o Use Windows Explorer to View your saved videos would
106. or More e USB port USB2 0 High speed Port e Display 17 or Larger Recommended In the Box Depending upon the SkyRaider Model purchased the contents may vary but all SkyRaider cameras include the following standard equipment MALLINCAM SkyRaider DS Camera High Precision 1 25 C mount Eyepiece Adapter 5 metre USB 2 0 cable CDROM that contains the driver and software for the SkyRaider VV V V SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 7 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 The Contents of the SkyRaider SLP Package The New SkyRaider SLP has been designed for Solar Lunar and Planetary live viewing and imaging Part of the SkyRaider series of USB type cameras the New SkyRaider SLP has a 3MP SCMOS with pixel size of 2 5 x 2 5um capable of binning mode of 2048 X 1536 1024 X 768 684 X 512 in full color A monochrome mode is also included in the software The new MallinCam SkyRaider SLP uses the same software of all other SkyRaider Series cameras A 5 meter 15 feet USB cable is included sealed sensor chamber passive cooling and attractive stainless steel front mount to keep the sensor alignment with the optical train and make this camera built to last There is no other camera designed and built for Solar Lunar and Planetary like the new MallinCam SkyRaider SLP Specifications e PC Win XP Win7 Win 8 Win 10 e Upto 8 Seconds exposure O 2048 X 1536 e Binning mode 2048 X 1536 1024 X 768 684 X 512 e Ceramic sCMOS sensor su
107. ou through the installation of MALLINCAMSKY 3 7 It is recommended that you dose all other applications before starting Setup This wi i vant system fil i is will make it possible to update s without having to reboot your Click on Next to start the installation process SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 12 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 The installation program now want to know where you would like to install the software Either choose your own location or select the default 3 MALLINCAMSKY 3 7 Setup Choose Install Location Choose the folder in which to install MALLINCAMSKY 3 7 Setup will install MALLINCAMSKY 3 7 in the following folder To install in a different folder click Browse and select another folder Click Install to start the installation Space available 117 2GB MALLINCAMSKY 3 7 Step 4 Click on Install to proceed Windows will again ask for permission to install the device software Windows Security Would you like to install this device software f Name ProCom Electronics http mallincam com ai 2 Publisher Hangzhou ToupTek Photonics Co Ltd Always trust software from Hangzhou ToupTek Photonics Co Ltd F You should only install driver software from publishers you trust How can I decide which device software is safe to install Step 5 Y Click on Install to accept The MallincamSky Software will take about a minute to be inst
108. per CMOS or scientific CMOS e Passive cooling for greater temperature stability e Super low noise e Superb Dynamic Range e Upto 8seconds exposure at full resolution e Hypered Buffered Gain circuit for greater low noise e Dual independent memories for image camera control e 5meter 15 feet USB2 cable included e 1 25 C mount eyepiece adapter included e Aluminum Stainless Steel construction for unmatched durability e Sealed multi coated optical window with 350 to 970nm range e Grade 1 Industrial electronic components throughout e 5 volts USB operation at low 200 ma current draw e 9 30 0z 263 grams e Exclusive On The Fly Dark Frame subtraction e Full live video mode full screen selectable e Full imaging capabilities e Seamless fast download live video observation SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 8 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 System Requirements e Equal to Intel Core2 2 8GHz or Higher e Memory 2GB or More e USB port USB2 0 High speed Port e Display 17 or Larger Recommended In the Box MALLINCAM SkyRaider SLP Camera High Precision 1 25 C mount Eyepiece Adapter 5 metre USB 2 0 cable CDROM that contains the driver and software for the SkyRaider VV V V 5 x YR Nan G gt Late D ARN y TS a 30 ETAR 7 LER x SSO A s ge oa a SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 9 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 The Contents of the SkyRaider AG Package The New SkyRaider G Guide
109. r Imager is the most affordable camera in its class Packed with stunning features if can perform very well as an imager The camera can be used as a guider or an imager for Lunar Planets Solar and Deep sky objects Using an Aptina ARO130 CMOS sensor the camera deliver sharp images and provide superb accuracy when used as a guider The New SkyRaider G Is the most affordable astronomical camera ever offered and It s a MALLINCAM Available with an Aptina color sensor or d monochrome sensor there is a SkyRaider G just for your specific requirement Fully ST 4 compatible Native WDM drivers for easy connection with 3rd party software astrophotography software Specifications Passive Sensor Cooling Carefully Selected Aptina ARO 130 color or mono sensor available 3 75X3 75 pixels size 1280 X 960 resolution and 640X480 binning mode 1 2 Mp sensor 1 3 size 6 mm Protective sealed Window with Double sided AR coatings Exposure up to 16 minutes 40 seconds 1 25 threaded adapter included ST4 guiding cable included 15 feet USB cable 5 meters Aluminum CNC housing with built in passive sensor cold finger offering thermal heat transter from the sensor to camera body Dedicated astrophotography software to support live video image acquisition video saving and Auto guiding MallinCam unique Dark Field Correction Built in ST4 auto guider port 2 15 oz 6lgrams 2 5 Inches long System Requirements e Eq
110. ra ever get confused with what settings you have entered into the Color Adjustment control you can reset these values back to their defaults by Left Clicking on the Default Button Frame Rate The speed of the through put on the USB port on your computer can depend on many parameters that are specific to the processes running on your computer This i through put can be affected by the current a Windows environment CPU graphics cards Move the slider to the right to ensure that the camera plays live video at the fastest frame E Frame Rate Low High rate that the computer USB hub supports If Using the Left Click Hold and Drag live video fails to display move the slider to technique move the slider to the highest the left to decrease the frame rate frame rate that your computer can support Start with the Frame Rate slider at the highest value and only adjust lower if video image fails to appear Most will find setting frame Rate towards the Low end of the scale better SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 92 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Color Gray Color Gray This control contains commands that are only enabled on those SkyRaider Cameras that can produce color If you require the color video to be displayed in Color then Left Click on the b Color Gray Color choice O If you require the color video to be e displayed in shades of Gray the Left Click on the Gray choice Flip
111. rasting color and increasing the image contrast in the area immediately around the edge This has the effect of creating subtle bright and dark highlights on either side of any edges in the image called overshoot and undershoot leading the edge to look more defined when viewed from a typical viewing distance Range Sigma Cancel Choose either a Recursive or the Normalized Convolution By adjusting the Spatial Sigma like the domain and the Range Sigma you can affect how many pixels the algorithm uses when applying the smoothing Rotate Rotate This control allows you to rotate and or flip your image al across an axis 180 CW 2f0 CW Your options include Arbitary gt Rotate the image90 degrees Clockwise CW Flip Horizontal gt Rotate the image 180 degrees Clockwise CW Flip Vertical gt Rotate the image 270 degrees Clockwise CW gt Rotate the image an Arbitrary amount SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 56 dh Flip Horizontal a Flip Vertical SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 To Rotate the image a specified amount in Angle Ba degrees in a chosen Degree s direction clockwise or counter clockwise Left Click on the Arbitrary control When this option is selected the Image Rotate Window will popup where you can enter in the required values You also have two redrawing algorithm choice for it to use when rotating the image Bilinear or Bicubic Bicubic seems to be better for im
112. rovide you information about the current DO Start Pause De SkyRaider Camera activated thru MallincamSky View Properties Shift V ey S74 Test Start Pause Ol Start Pause Pause Left Clicking on this control will Pause the SkyRaider Camera s live display Left Clicking on this control again will activate the live display View Properties ed ip Left Clicking on this control will pop up the View Properties Window that contains information about the currently activated SkyRaider Camera Property Value Device Name SkyRaiderGuiderc Productid TP 15051809392 7866685035 102448E2 Production Date 150518 Still Image Capture Mo Video Width 640 Video Height 480 Time second 659 Frame 7738 Actual Frame Rate 11 7 SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 44 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 STA Test P 514 Test If your SkyRaider camera such as the SkyRaiderG Autoguider series has a ST4 port then it can be used to AutoGuide your telescope mount This control is used to check If the camera can correctly communicate with the Telescope Mount Connect the ST4 cable provided with the SkyRaider Camera to the ST4 Port on your Telescope Mount Turn on the Telescope Mount fo ensure that It is ready to be tested Left Click on this control and the ST4 Popup Window will appear The ST4 Window will contain 4 Green Arrow keys that when pressed will send a specific direction command thru the ST4 cable Press each
113. s You can abort the movement by Left Clicking on the Red Stop button in the ST4 Popup Window The number box located in the middle of the 4 Green direction Buttons can be increase or decrease to affect the distance the Telescope Mount moves when a Green Direction Button is pressed You can directly enter a number into the number box or Left Click on the up and down arrows to scroll up or down the value in the number box Attempt to orientate the SkyRaider Camera in the eye piece holder of the telescope in such a manner as to match the Green Directions Buttons movement of the stars in the video display SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 83 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 6 Controlling the SkyRaider Camera Once you have a connection to the SkyRaider Camera your next task will be to adjust the controls that make it possible to improve the image the SkyRaider is capturing These controls are located on aaa the Left SideBar Menu on MallincamSky E la Snap Record The Controls all have drop down arrows Left Clicking E on the Down Arrow in the control heading will expand that control Some controls will also display a coloured rectangular box on the Video Window to remind you that that control is in effect You will be JO able to collapse the control window by Left Clicking PAE on the Up Arrow on the control heading amp Color Gray dh Flip J Camera List SkyRaider440DSM snap 748 x 578 Color Balance
114. s then we need another program to capture MallincamSky s output and have the output from that program linked to NSN s Flash grabber You currently have three choices for that other program Splitcam Manycam WebcamMax All three have about the same features some of these have versions that will cost you but all have a version that is free reduced functions advertisements etc My current program of choice is Splitcam I can live with the Advertisements You will then use Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max along with MallincamSky Software to broadcast the images on NSN Y Plug in the SKYRAIDER camera into an usb port on your computer Always use the same port for your connected devices even mark on my laptop which usb port is for which device SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 126 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Step 2 Y Start MallincamSky Get the image of your object on the Image Window of MallincamSky adjust the settings on the software for your planned object and size the window so you have room for other software on your monitor real estate If you have a dual Monitor system move MallincamSky to the second monitor During your initial NSN experience you will find it easier to even get the object of interest onto the MallincamSky Software window This allows you to spend some time playing and adjusting the settings prior to connecting to NSN As you become more comfortable you will not worry about that and will a
115. s Tara Mile File name mars v Video Files Using the Open Dialog Window move to the directory and Left Click on the File you would like to apply the Stacking process to then Left Click on Open MallincamSky supports the following video formats for the Image Stacking process wmv asf avi mp4 m v 3gp 3g2 3gp2 3gpp mov mkv fiv rm and rmvb SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 64 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 MallincamSky will Open an Image Stacking Progress Bar to inform you of the process Once completed the stacked image will appear in the Video Image window You can now apply other processing techniques to this image which has a large signal to noise ratio SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 65 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 gt Options The Options Menu provides 6 Tabs in the Preference Window They are Quick Save File Grids Cursor Video and Misc Window About a Preferences Directory C Wsers burns_000 Documents MALLINCAMSKY File File Grids Name Format Cursor File Prefix Video File type ong Misc Sample 0001 png Show the rename dialog The above settings will be applied to Qui
116. se the Time Lapse Auto Capture from the Capture Menu on the Top Menu Line Now determine your naming convention and location gt Enter 30 in the Time slot gt Enter the total number of images you would like or leave unchecked and you will manually stop the process when you are ready gt Left Click on OK At the bottom of the MallincamSky Window a running count will be displayed gt Left Click on Stop Time lapse Auto Capture to stop the process How do adjust the brightness in my monochrome SkyRaider You will have noticed that the Brightness command in the Color Adjustment control is deactivated You can use the Gamma command moving it fo the left will brighten the whole image but the better control is the Histogram Command in the SideBar By move the Left Marker Line or the Right Marker Line or a combination of both to the left will brighten up you image in a more controlled manner How do Broadcast my image onto Night Skies Network NSN As a direct way is not yet available you will need to use a third party software to assist YOU Obtain one of the following ManyCam WebCam Max SplitCam different opinions on which is the best it becomes a personal preference Each of these software programs will allow you to capture what is happening on your computer screen The software packages also act as a webcam to NSN Therefore whatever screen image these software packages are capturing will display on NSN as
117. sing the microphone but until then recommend CLICKING on the little microphone symbol on the upper right corner of the NSN video display window to disable the microphone 2 t Ulaterioo Observatory Set a message for the NSN observers It is a good idea to display a message above the NSN display window so that the other NSN views understand what you are doing When initially setting up which usually takes longer when you are learning usually type the message Setting Up the Camera then CLICK on the SEND button to have it displayed When you are us and running and everything is working as it should you will change the message to indicate what telescope mount and camera you are using For that is the most frequently asked question from the NSN viewers Select the Camera Now is the time to activate the camera or in our case have NSN driver point to our Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max output gt RIGHT CLICK inside the NSN Video window to bring up a Settings Window RIGHT CLICK TO GET THE FLASH PLAYER SETTINGS YOU LL SEE THIS Live Streaming v2 75 Broadcast Developed by VideoWhisper com Print About Adobe Flash Player 10 Embed Channel Ease HTML Code SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 130 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 gt CLICK onthe Settings choice and you will be presented with the Adobe Flash Player Settings Window Adobe Flash Player Settings Privacy Allow www nightskie
118. smetwork com to access your camera and microphone 0 Allow O Deny C Remember aa as Y gt CLICK on the Camera Icon and you will be presented with a pull down menu to select your camera Adobe Flash Player Settings Camera de ManyCam Virtual Webcam n a gt CLICK on CLOSE to Continue NSN will remember what camera you chose from the last visit So usually you only have to go through this process whenever you want to change what camera device you would like the NSN flash driver to use Step 13 Choose your Camera Settings We will now select the settings for our camera We have the option of changing The Bandwidth Picture Resolution Framerate and even the microphone rate when you are ready The changes will not be activated until you CLICK on the Green OK symbol in the window gt LEFT CLICK inside the NSN video Window to bring up the Camera Settings Window manyEam Virtual Webcam Bandwidth VIBE Resolution Framerate Microphone Realtek High Definition OK E SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 131 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 gt Use the sliders for Band Width and Picture values usually have both of my sliders way on the right Over time you will find the sweet spot for your system gt Select your Resolution from the Pull Down Menu Select a starting value of 640 x 480 for the system Again play with these to see what settings the NSN viewers Say is the
119. t Mo afire 0 e cie Guide Star C Tak So x 0 0 E y 0 0 Camera Idle Could not initialize guider out m Aggressiveness xe are 3 Fine Aggressiveness Could not initialize guider gut Settings Move Ame tess lt g Calibration j i i v Simple Auto dark Full Calibration Reset Auto dark Reset All Auto darks Tracking Log Guider Settling Criteria Filter Compensation Filter Exposure Factors Track Box Size Camera Settings Record Cal Images V Show Tool Tips Another small Drop Down list will appear with two choices Video Capture Filter and Video Capture Pin SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 110 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Video Capture Pin Choosing this choice will Pop up a Properties Window that will allow you to choose the pixel size of the camera selections depend upon which SkyRaider you are using Properties O Em OK Cancel Make your Selection and Left Click on OK to accept Video Capture Filter Choosing this selection will Pop up a Properties Window that will allow you to adjust the Exposure of the camera along with ROI Histogram Misc and Parameters See Above in the User Manual for how to use these control This window can stay active when using MaximDL Properties PP E L 28 Exposure ROI Histogram Misc Parameters Exposure Y Auto Exposure Defaults Target lC 120 Exposure Time E
120. tached into a 1 25 eyepiece adapter on your Telescope Depending upon the telescope you may need extenders so that you can reach focus with your telescope It is recommended that you set this up in the daytime so you can see what you are doing plus can aim at an easy to find tree or telephone pole Y oS SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 20 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 4 Using MallincamSky Software The MallincamSky Window 1 3 MALLINCAMSKY m LLL E SAL File Edit View Browse Setup Capture Image Process Options Window About ig r 0 The MallincamSky Software Window is segmented into a few regions to make viewing and adjusting the SkyRaider camera easy and intuitive 1 The Top Menu Line provides dropdown menus to allow you to make major settings of the software 2 The MallincamSky Toolbar provides the simple click activation and selection capabilities 3 The Left SideBar provides selection options for Camera Folders or Undo Left Clicking on the selection choice will fill the SideBar with ts options 4 The Video Window will contain the display from the SkyRaider Camera It is here that you will see the live video or images 5 The Information Line will indicate the current camera current frame rate number of frames displayed resolution information about captures etc SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 21 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 SkyRaider Quick Setup and Work
121. to move the Tab to another location on your Desktop Window MC File Edit View Browse Setup Capture Image Process Options Window About fio Undo Redo Video SkyRaiderGuiderc tstbbmp 0 100 200 300 y SkyRaiderGuiderc Camera A chapter 6 A How the Universe Wd gt h How the Universe Wq 3 WE al Snap Record A latest a E Live 640 x 480 w StarGazing Live BR Starry Night Pro A Unit 1 A Unit Central Tendenc A Unit Matrices A Unit mean median B Unit Perm and Com A Unit Probability Hee a BB college Physics a PM Computer PW a WR dark matter latest 2010 es MM Exams C Users Michael Desktop SkySave tst bmp 280 x 960 BPP 24 Resolution NA To Dock the Floating Tab back to the SideBar just Left Double Click on its Name SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 38 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Grids Grids The View gt Grids control has the ability to display a grid overlay on top of your Video Window You can use the Auto Grid style EZ FullScreen of create your own grid format Best Fit Y Actual Size Auto Grids Manual Grids Left Click on the choice you require No Grids Auto Grids or Manual Grids to activate Auto Grids Auto Grids can be set in the View gt Grids gt Settings control Settings This command will pop up the Preferences Window Quick Save Grid Style File Line Style Line Color Cursor Reticule Video Line Color
122. two times 5 x 30 seconds or 300 seconds to complete You can use this time to finish setting Up your equipment Once you have finished taking your Dark Field don t forget to remove the lens cap on your camera so that you can actually image I won t mention any names Enable Check box Click in the Enable check box to have Dark Fields applied in a real time to your video E Quantity Cover the lens and then push the Capture button to capture the dark filed Check the Enable button to enable Dark Filed Correction Once you have collected your Dark Fields you can then save them with the Export Button choose a location and File name that allows you to locate the correct Dark Fields if you would like to reuse them You can load previously saved Dark Fields via the Import Button Just browse to the folder where you saved them when you used the Export Button It has been found that setting the Histogram to 0 and 255 is best for Dark Fields SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 97 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Para meters UL Parameters The Parameters control allows you to Parameters Load a previous set of camera control parameters or Save the current camera control parameters for another session The parameters includes most of the settings in the SideBar including the Rectangle Regions of Interest The Drop Down control provides a list of previous if any saved parameter settings Just sellect th
123. ual to Intel Core2 2 8GHz or Higher e Memory 2GB or More e USB port USB2 0 High soeed Port e Display 17 or Larger Recommended SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 10 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 In the Box MALLINCAM SkyRaider Camera High Precision 1 25 C mount Eyepiece Adapter 5 metre USB 2 0 cable CDROM that contains the driver and software for the SkyRaider SkyRaider AG also includes 2 metre ST4 Guider cable VV VV WV SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 11 ES EZ ses SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 2 Installing Driver and Software System Requirements PC running either Windows 32 bit amp 64 bit XP Vista 7 8 8 1 Mac OSX Performance is not guaranteed if the following specification cannot be reached e DirectX 9 0 or later installed e 2 0GHz processor Recommend dual core 2 8GHz or more e USB 2 0 Port or USB 3 0 Port e CD ROM drive e 2GB RAM Recommend 2GB or more e 200MB Free HDD Installing the Software MALLINCAM Insert the Mallincam CD into CD ROM drive of your computer Have windows open the CD and you will be presented with 4 files 95 MALLINCAMDshowSetup MALLINCAMSKYSetup MALLINCAMTwainSetup VV VV Double Click on the MALLINCAMSKYSetup File Windows may display a warning asking for permission to run the program if it does select YES The following MallincamSky Setup Screen will appear Welcome to MALLINCAMSKY 3 7 Setup Setup will guide y
124. ure amp Gain control will allow you E to set the Exposure and Gain for the SkyRaider Camera This control also allows Exposure Target for Auto Exposure but for Astro Photography we recommend that you set your own Exposure and Gain values This e naa ae Ue control allows you to adjust the values via a slider arrow keys or by entering a specific time value When Exposure amp Gain is expanded you will see a Green Rectangle labelled Exposure will appear over your Video Window This Green Rectangle is a marked region that is a reference region for judging if the image brightness has reached the Exposure Target Value When Auto Exposure is selected Dragging or Resizing the Green Exposure Rectangle to a dark area will increase the video brightness and Dragging it or Resizing it to a bright area will decrease the video brightness The Green Exposure Rectangle will be removed when you minimize the Exposure amp Gain control but since most of us will leave that control open so that we can make changes to the values as we image recommend that you enlarge the Green Exposure Rectangle to the full size of the Video Window Left Click Hold and Drag or drag and reduce the green rectangle to a corner of the image window Exposure Target Exposure Target To use Exposure Target Auto Exposure must be checked You can Change the Exposure Target by Left Click hold and drag the marker bar to the required value If you Left Cl
125. using Left Click Hold and Drag mouse techniques White Balance Defaults SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 89 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Drag or Resize the Red Rectangle to a pure white area and Left Click on the White Balance Button to establish the video White Balance for future video streaming process To adjust the Red Green or Blue components of Color Balance use the Left Click Hold and Drag technique to mode the sliders or Left Click on a slider to activate it then use your Left and Right Keys on your Keyboard to move the sliders If you or the SkyRaider Camera ever get confused with what settings you have entered into the Color Balance control you can reset these values back to their defaults by Left Clicking on the Default Button Color Adjustment nl Color Adjustment Color Adjustment This control contains commands that are only A enabled on those SkyRaider Cameras that Hue saturation The Color Adjustment control will allow you to jg adjust the Hue the Saturation the Brightness l the Contrast and the Gamma of the object Brightness that the SkyRaider is exposing Contrast Any changes to these commands will only be _________ display after the next camera refresh Gamma N lt gt Hue 0 Hue r This command controls the Hue of the Video image Hue is one of the main properties of color By adjusting Hue you
126. ut or Move Deeper via the Green Left or Right WR Skvraider sw Arrow in the Browse Window o ee E The Blue Right Arrow will take you to your computer s Root Directory Left Double Clicking on a Folder will open up a Window Tab in the Video Window this Window will be labeled Browse This Tab will display all of the graphic files inside that Folder If you Left Double Click on a Graphics File inside the Video Window it will open up that Graphics File in a new Tab in the Video Window Video SkyRaiderGuider c Browse eee 590000 K3CCD_0002 bmp K3CCD_0003 bmp K3CCD_0004 bmp Mars 2005 11 04 Mars 2005 11 04 Mars 2005 11 04 Mars 2005 11 04 Mars 2005 11 04 Mars 2005 11 04 SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 37 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 You can close the Tab in the Video Window by Right Clicking on the Tab s Title Browse then choosing Close Close All But This E New Horizontal Tab Group Cf New Vertical Tab Group gt Sidebar Sidebar gt The SideBar can contain 3 pide bh CA different Tabs Camera Folders Grids E and Undo Redo Left Click on the SideBar control to expand it You will see the 3 choices each with a check mark beside it Left Click on the check mark to Select or De Select which ones of the 3 you would like to see displayed in the SideBar The Tabs on the SideBar can remain docked to the SideBar or can be free floating Just use the Left Click Hold and Drag technique
127. value is 75 Save these setting as defaults When saving a file the current settings will be saved as defaults for the next file save operation ms For Bitmap omp PCX pcex Targa tga There is no Option Ly Batch Save Batch Save The File gt Batch Save command will be enabled when a An image is opened b An image is captured from the camera c An image window is created by choosing the File gt Paste as New File command d An image window is created copied from the Undo Redo Sidebar Batch Save for the a style image window 1 If the image is modified choosing the File gt Batch Saves command will save the file with its opened file name and file extension 2 If the image is modified because of the Measurement Objects choosing the File gt Batch Save command will save the file with its opened file name but with MallincamSky File Type tft file extension format SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 32 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Batch Save for the b c or d style image window If the image window has been created with b c or d style choosing the File gt Save As command to realize the file saving task will be time consuming The Batch Save e command will runs File gt Save As command with the name automatically specified according to the paradigm specified in the Batch Save dialog To start the File gt Batch Save command you have to l Ze 3
128. within in the video image Window This control is activated automatically when necessary Its function is similar to the scroll bars It is an alternative to using the arrows on the scroll bars for positioning the video image within the window Position the mouse make sure to choose a location outside a Region of Interest rectangle You may need to close the ROI rectangle if necessary on the actual video image Left Click and Hold the Open Hand will change to a Closed Hand Now drag the image around inside the video image Window If the video image size is smaller than the video image Window size then the track operation will be disabled SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 76 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 gt gt Stitch B When the video window is active choosing the Stitch Icon will invoke the video Stitch dialog window as below The purpose on this control is to stich glue together images to create a panoramic view image so plan ahead with this control are you going to create a horizontal panoramic image or a vertical panoramic image gt Have the camera viewing a specific location or object Now Left Click on the Snap button This will place a snapshot in the viewing box gt Move the telescope so that you have some overlap and Left Click on the Snap button again gt Repeat as needed gt When you are completed taking the snaps Left Click on Next to bring up the next Stich Window S
129. xposure duration to the same value experiment Properties Exposure ROI Color Histogram Misc Parameters Exposure v Auto Exposure Defaults Target 120 Gain 10 00 Box and move and shrink the box fo one side of your window so it doesn t affect the image te If you see a rectangular Box in your Window go to the ROI Tab in the Cam Dialog SkyRaider Quick Guide Page 116 SkyRaider User Manual Running PHD2 with ASCOM Driver Step 1 Start the PHD2 software August 26 2015 n AA y amp PHD2 Guiding 2 3 0 My Equipmen File Tools View Darks Bookmarks Help Nocam No scope Step 2 Equipment profile My Equipment Manage Profiles Select your equipment below and click Connect All to connect or click Disconnect All to disconnect You can also connect or disconnect individual equipment items by clicking the button next to the item ASCOM Toupcam Driver X amp a x de opens Sn Mount Camera AO p Connect All 5 Gy Cam Dialog Step 3 SkyRaider Quick Guide uiding Nocam Noscope No cal Page 117 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Choose ASCOM Toupcam Driver from Camera Drop Down List oupcam Drive new eos E hn me we ASCA 1 ECO Toupcam Driver ASI La BEO PLASIR Atik 16 senes color Atik 16 series mono Atik Gen3 color Atik Gen3 m
130. yRaider Quick Guide Page 88 SkyRaider User Manual August 26 2015 Gain Gain 10 00 iIi This control allows you to adjust the gain Gain will brighten up the image but it can also brighten up the artifacts The higher the Gain value the shorter the exposure that you will require All you need to do is find the highest Gain value that provides you with the image you are satisfied with The Gain Control Bar will indicate the maximum Gain value that is available for your specific SkyRaider Camera You can modify the Gain in two different ways gt By Left Click Hold and Drag the marker bar to the required value gt If you Left Click on the Slider Bar which selects it you can use the Left and Right Arrow Keys of your keyboard to move the slider this gives you more control Defaults If you or the SkyRaider Camera ever get confused with what settings you have entered into the Exposure amp Gain control you can reset these values back to their defaults by Left Clicking on the Default Button Color Balance CO This control is only enabled on those SkyRaider Cameras that can produce color The Color Balance control allows you to a manually adjust the individual Red Green and Blue components of your image to better match your requirements Once this control is exoanded MallincamSky will draw A Red Region of Interest Rectangle on your Video Window You can adjust the size and location of this rectangle by

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