Mini-MCA - Users Manual
Contents
1. Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 33 Std MCA 4 Dimensions Weight 1800g Multi Camera Array User s Guide Std MCA 6 Dimensions Weight 2850g Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 35 Index A Accessory 4 Adobe 1 All 1 analysis 3 APIs 27 applications 20 C cable 4 calculation 9 calibrate 9 Calibration 9 Camera 1 2 4 6 12 22 28 CAMERASTATUS 28 CAPTUREBUFFER 28 CD 2 6 20 CDROM 4 CF 3 9 20 CF card 3 9 20 CLOSECAMERAPORT 29 color 6 compact flash 9 compression 10 configuration 6 Contents 1 Copyright 1 cursor 26 D DCA 26 DIB 20 27 28 29 display 20 DLL 20 26 27 Documentation 1 DPCM 29 E ERASEIMAGES 29 exposure 28 Page 36 F FASTSHOT 29 file 26 27 28 29 firmware 4 format 20 G GETCOMPRESSEDDATA 29 GETIMAGE 28 gray scale 28 H Hardware 7 HOOKUP 27 image 27 imageGreen 26 27 29 imageNumber 26 27 28 29 IMAGESTATUS 28 imported 9 index 9 Index 36 Information 4 install 3 installation 2 4 6 20 26 Installation 7 interface 2 3 20 26 27 J JPEG 29 L LCD 3 10 LED 10 library 26 linking 26 Multi Camera Array User s Guide manual 2 3 6 27 menu 3 12 monitor 6 MULTISELECT 28 Multi sync 6 N NIR 9 Notices 1 P permission 1 PixelWrench 3 6 20 PixelWrench 3 Pix2. cccccccccccccceceeeceseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseueeeeeeaeeneaaeaeaes 32 Mini MCA 12 Dimensions ccccccccccccscccseeceeeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeneeeeeeeeeees 33 Std MCA 4 Dimensions occccccccccccccccccccccccccccccceccececcccccececececeeeseeeceeeeeseners 34 Std MCA 6 DIMENSIONS 224552281026 5882 sed has eines set srie aei iiaii iain men 35 INDEX eee e n e a N EE 36 Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 1 About This Guide The Multi Camera Array User s Guide contains general information about the MCA products covering installation operation options and accessories warranties and technical support The information is specific to firmware version 5 141 and later users with earlier firmware should upgrade so that their units conform to the information herein The MCA consists of four to twelve digital cameras organized in an array with discrete filters installed in front of each camera in the array The primary use of this product is to capture spectroscopic signatures of vegetation chemicals and geology using a set of filters tailored to the targeted substance The purpose of this document is 1 To guide the user through the installation of the product and its supporting software on its target host system 2 To describe the basic camera operating procedures 3 To describe the interaction between the camera s interface software and the image editing and archiving software it may be used with This document assumes that
3. GPS and viewfinder restore defaults format memory card DONE Every menu page ends in a DONE selection Selecting DONE will save any settings that exist on that page and return to the previous screen REVIEW REVIEW THUMBNAIL displays gt THUMBNATL four images at once on FULL SCREEN the screen to quickly scroll DIRECTORY through images while DELETE ALL viewing them DONE FULL SCREEN show full size images one ata time DIRECTORY show a list of saved images DELETE ALL erase all images on memory card at once All images are listed in order from most recent to oldest Images can be erased one at a time when selected individually INFO Shows the power supply voltage camera firmware BATTERY 12 3 V DC input version number used VERSION 5 140 free and total space on MEMORY the memory card USED 68640 KB Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 13 FREE 1894912 KB SIZE 1963552 KB PDONE CAPTURE METHOD SAVE MODE set the type of image file the camera saves See Choosing An Image Format section for more help FIXED EXP select an exposure time in milliseconds or OFF for gt RAW 8 auto exposure mode FIXED EXP OFF AUTO EXP METHOD AVERAGE AUTO EXP METHOD CONT CAPTURE select PEAK if the subject wont is the brightest part of the image or AVERAGE for all others cases CAPTURE METHOD CONT CAPTURE select to configure Continuous Capture mode SETUP VIDEO sets t
4. 0 if a file or camera I O error occured lI If a non NULL pointer is found in statusString lI the camera or file status string is copied a Il is returned if there was an error STAMP 1 Il return a handle to the STAMP DIB I RETURNED PixRequest values HANDLE to a Device l ndependant B itap DIB Il requestType COLOR or GRAYSCALE depending on ll what picture type the stamp represents Il Returns a 0 on error GETIMAGE 2 standard gray scale image I RETURNED PixRequest values HANDLE to a DIB Il Returns a 0 on error CAPTUREBUFFER 7 Il Returns the camera s image capture buffer ll as a DIB Stretch sharpen and scale Il are also done I CALL WITH Il imageNumber image type to return I RETURNED PixRequest values Il HANDLE to a DIB Il returns NULL on error CAMERASTATUS 8 Send the camera status string IT RETURNS Il Camera status string copied to statusString Il Returns on error IMAGESTATUS 9 Send the imageNumber status string to Il RETURNS Il Image imageNumber status copied to statuString Il Returns on error SETEXPOSURE 10 Send the value in Blue LSW and Green MSW Il to camera as exposure time 0 automatic MULTISELECT 16 Allow Operator to Selecting Multiple Images I CALL WITH Il imageNumber Number of images pre selected I statusString pointer to NULL terminated byte Page 28 Multi Camera Array User s Guide array containing the ID numbers of images to pre sel
5. CF CARD factory defaults This is RESTORE DEFAULTS recommended any time DONE the camera s firmware is upgraded Continuous Capture Mode This mode of operation causes the camera to begin taking pictures when the TAKE PIC button is pressed and to continue taking pictures until the button is pressed again It is the simplest way to operate the camera on a remote aerial vehicle The rate of capture is controlled by the file format selected and the additional delay set between pictures CONT CAPTURE CONT CAPTURE turns Continuous Capture PCONT CAPTURE OFF CONT DELAY NONE mode ON or OFF DONE Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 15 CONT DELAY sets the minimum amount of delay between captures RAW images take less than a second to save while DCM images may take about five seconds compression so very short delay settings such as 5 seconds or less may not be realized because of file save times Range is from 0 60 seconds For fastest possible operation configure the camera for SAVE MODE RAW 8 and LOG EVENTS OFF Choosing An Image Format The highest rate of capture is for the 8 Bit RAW file format at about one picture per second The speed depends in part on the features of the CF card For users who require more precision the 10 bit RAW format is the next fastest The RAW files are quite large 6 megabytes for the 10 bit format and 3 megabytes for the 8 bit format Compression DCM format cuts the si
6. camera is powered on after a few moments it finishes its initial bootup sequence and enters viewfinder mode where it is ready for image captures This is the normal ready state of the camera From this state the use may adjust the exposure time up or down using the UP or DOWN buttons enter the menu system using the MENU SELECT button or capture images using the TAKE PIC button With an external video monitor connected to the camera s video out port a live video image of what the camera sees will be shown on the screen An overlay of information is shown on the viewfinder by default and can be turned off in the camera s menu Below are shown the different points of information arranged as shown on the viewfinder screen with descriptions for each USB Mode Save Mode Cont Capture GPS Position GPS Heartbeat Exposure Mode Date Time Picture Count N34 15 474 W118 04 07 11 12 04 USB Mode USB DISK MODE will be displayed if the camera is set to enumerate as a USB DISK when connected to a Windows computer via USB Save Mode Displays DCM R8 or R10 for the type of image the camera is set to save DCM is a compressed 10 bit format while R8 and R10 are 8 bit and 10 bit RAW file formats respectively Cont Capture This parameter is displayed in green when Continuous Capture is enabled and in red when capturing and shows the amount of Continuous Capture delay set Exposure Mode If a FIXED EXPOSURE is set th
7. carry the extension DCM or RAW PixelWrench2 offers all the tools needed for management of MCA images located Process Raw Image v l Execute on the pages of the IndexTools form sa 1 0000 INIR Red Iv There are four ways to retrieve images from the SRE Kee MCA R Ge Be Image Type NIR R G v 1 Remove the CF card from the camera and copy its contents to a folder on your computer The DCM and RAW files can then be opened directly in PixelWrench2 2 In PixelWrench2 open the camera toolbar then click Open Camera The camera inventory DLL Verso Inde Verson 0 226 21693 Cululeeneutial PubbcKeyT okerven screen will appear with thumbnails of all the Sees ee Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 21 images Select an image or images then click Load The image s will be extracted from the camera color processed using the matrix values entered and stored by the DLL and displayed on screen as an RGB dib 3 Power up the camera in USB disk mode and open DCM or RAW files directly using PW2 4 Transfer all the files to the PC and open them with Pixelwrench2 after they are on the hard disk Configuring the Camera with Pixelwrench2 Many camera configuration settings can be modified using the Edit Camera Settings dialog accessed from the PW2 Camera Toolbar To open the Edit Camera Settings dialog make sure the camera is powered up and connected to USB as a CAMERA not as a DISK Click Sta
8. file types BMP JPEG TIF PNG etc If you purchased the optional SensorLink application you will find a folder by that name on the CDROM included with the camera SensorLink SensorLink is a GPS waypoint triggering application enabling camera triggering at pre defined waypoints It uses the same NET 2 0 framework Simply run Setup exe in the SensorLink folder to install it See the SensorLink online help for more information Connecting The Camera For Driver Installation With the camera powered up and USB MODE set to CAMERA connect the USB cable from a working USB port on the computer to the connector labeled USB on the camera interconnect panel On Windows XP systems the first time the camera is connected to a USB port Windows will launch the New Hardware Found wizard This will guide you through installation of the camera driver called SvStream sys If you plan to operate the camera as a USB Disk skip to the next section Do not let Windows search for the driver In every case select the option where you specify the name and location of the driver The driver SvStream sys and its information file SvStream inf will be copied to your Windows System32 Drivers folder when you install either PixelWrench2 or Page 20 Multi Camera Array User s Guide SensorLink When the driver installation wizard asks for a location browse to Windows System32 Drivers In both PixelWrench2 and SensorLink you are required to specify the camera
9. of Hex Ascii digits either 4 or 8 characters long depending on the magnitude of the value 16 bit or 32 bit Separators are not required between the argument values or between the command character and an argument Spaces can be used as separators if desired Below is a table of the command characters currently implemented and a description of the responses to be expected from the camera Arguments are shown as lt ARG16 gt or lt ARG32 gt depending on their magnitude 16 or 32 bits lt ESC gt E Erase all Image files stored in the camera s file system lt ESC gt T Take a picture and save the image to CF card memory lt ESC gt X lt ARG16 gt This command controls the camera exposure for the next image with the value in the argument If the value is 0 the camera performs a light measurement operation and calculates a reasonable exposure itself Otherwise the exposure is set to the number of milliseconds given in the argument Support Info Your camera comes with a one year warranty against defects or hardware failures Technical Support Tel 818 667 1731 8 A M to 4 P M Pacific Standard Time Email steve tetracam com Web www tetracam com Page 30 Multi Camera Array User s Guide Specifications Basic 1 3 megapixel CMOS sensor 1280 X 1024 X 4 6 or 12 channels Replaceable 1 band pass filters for each lens Image storage to Compact Flash in Tetracam RAW or DCM lossless format USB interface Multi pin
10. recommended unless very long missions with many pictures require it Camera Controller The camera controller is used to setup and manually control the camera The controller has two connectors on its side an RCA jack for video out to a TV or monitor and a 3 5mm phone jack for serial RS 232 connection to a GPS receiver On the bottom of the controller is the 16 pin connection to the camera At power up a connected TV or monitor display will illuminate and begin displaying the live viewfinder image Controlling the Viewfinder In daylight conditions a properly set exposure will produce a fairly dim viewfinder image so that NIR data is not over exposed For certain pictures it may be useful to adjust the exposure using the UP and DOWN buttons When in auto expose mode pressing the UP or DOWN buttons will increase or decrease the exposure by 1 6 f stop for each press When in fixed expose mode pressing the UP or DOWN buttons will increase or decrease the exposure time by 2 millisecond for each press Once the viewfinder image is satisfactory capture can be initiated with the TAKE PIC button on the controller The Status LED will turn from green to red indicating that the camera is busy capturing and saving the image After a capture the camera completes the compression and storage of the image and the status LED returns to green indicating the camera is ready Page 10 Multi Camera Array User s Guide The Camera Viewfinder Once the
11. six compact flash cards installed in the unit Each will have a unique volume ID and naming convention for images that allows the sets of pictures to be separated on the host PC The software supplied with the camera automatically combines the images into multi channel TIFF image file for convenient extraction of the data at any time Each camera has its own band pass filter typically a spectroscope filter commercially available from companies like Andover or Sigma A wide variety of pass filters are available Bandwidths of 10 nanometers and above will Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 5 supply acceptable images Narrower band pass filters less than 10 nm can produce some artifacts in the images which must be corrected on the host PC Band pass filters may be anywhere in the range of 400 nm blue to 950 nm near infrared The spectral response graph later in this document shows the working range of the sensors A set of six filters is ordinarily specified at the time of purchase Images can be transferred to a host 3 PC by removing and reading the memory cards or by plugging in a USB cable to the USB Hub controller built into the unit In a six channel unit six separate devices will appear when the unit is connected PC System Requirements Any IBM compatible personal computer with a free USB serial jack can be used to operate and configure the Camera The unit produces sets of images synchronized for simu
12. their sizes GPS data 1024 Bytes Tags for temperature and clock ticks 16 bytes We do not recommend trying to process the DCM files with your own code Contact Tetracam for assistance with sample C source files if reading the DCM file data is absolutely necessary Programmer s Reference C and Visual Basic Support The interface to the camera is in the library SXGAMCA DLL This library provides a number of useful camera interface functions Developers to incorporate the camera interface into their own programs and plug ins can use the interface functions embedded here The file sxgaMCA lib is provided in the installation directory to allow static linking to the DLL The include file loadext h is available in the installation directory to be made part of any C or C program making use of the DLL It is reprinted in part below All requests are made by filling the PixRequest structure before the function is called Sample source files are available from Tetracam to help with the creation of a custom application typedef struct_PXR int requestType I ACTION type int workSilently I do not pop up status or hourglass the cursor int imageNumber 0 last image in camera or file char far fileName 11 0000 0000 use camera Otherwise the file to open ll ask userask user for file name II Xxxx use file xxxx DCA for reading int imageBlue Il Used for various arguments int imageGreen Used for va
13. 10 THE GAMERA VIEWFINDER 42 2682582 2538sctone e a AE N i 11 THE CAMERA MENU SYSTEM 00c0eeeeeeeeeeeseeeseecseecseeeseessssssssesssssssssssssseessees 12 CONTINUOUS CAPTURE MODE 15 CHOOSING AN IMAGE FORMAT 16 GPS OPTION INSTALLATION AND USE 17 EVENTIMOG 1 EP Ea aan Nia 18 HOST SOFTWARE ai ictesccccee e aeaa eaea ocesentc nets dt inner ben E Ea AEE tentes 20 PIXEIWFENCNE sa ccucieSeiGeaphisceecceescnesssaicbastebeniedsionctedsbensenss iaseasssiaiiaddioastets 20 SONSOM AK RE ER cefoevndastte seucpteavegesneniededtanveacenaadeatedes 20 Connecting The Camera For Driver Installation 20 USB Disk Configuration 21 Managing and Processing MCA Images in Pixel Wrench2 21 Configuring the Camera with Pixelwrench2 22 THE 16 PIN MULTI I O CONNECTOR c00ceseeeesseeseeesssssscsssssssssessssessssssseeeseees 23 MOUNTING THE UNIT ccccccceessseececeeceeeescceeceeeeeeesecceescetsuansseceeeeensaagesesenenens 23 CAPTURE DELAYS FOR AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY s nsrsnrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrn 24 PROGRAMMERS REFERENCE FILE FORMATS 20sseccceeerceesseceeseeteaeeeseeens 25 PROGRAMMER S REFERENCE C AND VISUAL BASIC SUPPORT nsise 26 TETRACAM RS232 SERIAL CONTROL COMMANDS 0s0sssssesssssssssessssssseserees 30 SUPPORT INFO cose 22 2es5e ache cic exec duc a eaaeo EEA EE UAA A eaaa ATISREAL EASA ETEN 30 SPECIFICATIONS niine ne EE E sc ne 31 Mini MCA 6 Dimensions
14. GPS messages are When a picture is taken a record is written showing the system ticks at the end of integration The camera can only do one thing at a time so there will always be a system ticks offset between capturing a picture and the GPS messages The actual position of the camera when the picture is captured can be approximated by interpolating between the two GPS messages using the system ticks Iti Camera Array User s Guide Page 19 Host Software The software supplied on the installation CD is made of several major components 1 An image acquisition and manipulation application named Pixelwrench2 2 An optional GPS guided camera trigger application named SensorLink 3 A camera interface DLL for extracting images from the camera or CF card and converting them to Windows DIB format for display The goal of this software is to allow the user to extract the Blue Green Red false color images from the captured image set so that band radiation can be visibly displayed regardless of where in the spectrum NIR visible it may lie PixelWrench2 PixelWrench2 PW2 is a powerful image editing program with several tools specific to multi spectral images and working with Tetracam ADC and MCA cameras Open the PW2 folder and run Setup Exe This will install PixelWrench2 See the PixelWrench2 online help for more information PW2 can open MCA proprietary DCM10 RAW10 and RAW8 image files along with several standard image
15. I O connector for use with Tetracam accessories or user controller Sheet metal aluminum enclosure Image Capture Capacity DCM10 Approx 0 9MB per image RAW10 2 6MB per image RAW8 1 3MB per image Rate Single Shot DCM10 Capture to end of cycle 6 sec RAW10 Capture to ready 3 sec RAW8 Capture to ready 1 5 sec Inputs 12 14 VDC Current Draw at 12V MCA 4360 ma typical MCA 6480 ma typical MiniMCA 6 450 ma typical MiniMCA 12 900 ma typical Rs 232 dedicated to capture of NMEA GPS sentences External Trigger USB 1 1 Data Connection Outputs Real time NTSC or PAL Video for both viewfinder and menu operations USB 1 1 Data Connection ee Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 31 Mini MCA 6 Dimensions Weight 780 g USE CONNECTORTOCATION FT 38 leesn 3 08in H raam F F d o gt D o MOUNTING HOLE LOCATIONS 4 PLCS pS 934mm a es A Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 32 Mini MCA 12 Dimensions Weight 1300g 4X 4 40 UNC MOUNTING HOLE LOCATIONS gt o o 08 Slave 6 11 USB Connector Master Slave 5 USB Connector eS C OJ C O C Q O N L O a O L O 6 O C O O O Q C Q C Q
16. Multiple Camera Array User s Guide Tetracam Inc 21601 Devonshire Street Suite 310 Chatsworth CA 91311 USA Notices Documentation Copyright 2011 Tetracam Inc All rights reserved Camera software Copyright 2000 2011 Tetracam Inc Printed in the United States of America Specifications subject to change This software and documentation are copyrighted materials The making of unauthorized copies is prohibited by law No part of the software or documentation may be reproduced transmitted transcribed stored ina retrieval system or translated into any human or computer language without the prior written permission of Tetracam Inc Unless otherwise provided by written agreement with Tetracam Inc this publication is provided as is without warranty of any kind expressed or implied including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose Some states do not allow disclaimer of expressed or implied warranties in certain transactions so this statement may not apply to you While reasonable efforts have been made to assure the accuracy of this document in no event will Tetracam be liable for direct indirect special incidental or consequential damages resulting from any defect in this publication or the associated software Tetracam Inc reserves the right to change this document at any time without obligation to notify anyone Trademarks Windows is a register
17. Request 26 27 28 29 Power 4 previews 3 processing 27 ProgrammerPlug 26 R requestType 26 27 28 Requirements 6 resolution 6 review 3 S SDRAM 6 SETEXPOSURE 28 SNAPSHOT 29 Software 6 20 Specifications 1 STAMP 28 States 1 Status 10 statusString 26 27 28 29 storage 10 string 26 27 28 structure 26 SVGA 6 SXGAADC 26 27 System 6 12 T Table 1 tag 9 technical support 2 Teflon 9 translation 27 TWAIN 26 U Unpacking 4 USB 2 3 4 6 12 User 2 V value 28 VB 27 vegetation 9 version 2 6 27 Version 1 viewfinder 10 W Warranty 4 Windows 1 2 Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 37
18. e 5 Format tag 16 for RAW files Bytes 6 7 Pixel Columns 16 bit value This is pixels not bytes Bytes 8 9 Pixel Rows 16 bit values Bytes 10 image size 10 PIXEL DATA 16 bit values Bytes image size 10 EOF 28 GPS data GGA and RMC strings Last 28 Bytes ASCII exposure string formatted EXPOSURE 08ld uSeconds n 8 Bit Raw File Format Byte 0 3 Size of raw image in bytes 32 bit value Byte 4 Bits per pixel 8 for this format Byte 5 Format tag 16 for RAW files Bytes 6 7 Pixel Columns 16 bit value This is pixels not bytes Bytes 8 9 Pixel Rows 16 bit values Bytes 10 image size 10 PIXEL DATA 8 bit values Bytes image size 10 EOF 28 GPS data GGA and RMC strings Last 28 Bytes ASCII exposure string formatted EXPOSURE 08ld uSeconds n 10 Bit DCM File Format Byte 0 3 Size of image data GPS data and various tags in bytes 32 bit value This value can be used to calculate a pointer to the JPG preview data Byte 4 Bits per pixel 10 for this format Byte 5 Format tag 16 for RAW files Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 25 Bytes 6 7 Pixel Columns 16 bit value This is pixels not bytes Bytes 8 9 Pixel Rows 16 bit values Bytes 10 data size 10 DATA 8 bit values Bytes data size 10 EOF JPEG Preview image Looking backwards into the data encompassed by the size value in the header there are several fixed length fields given below with
19. ect in the order desired ARRAY SPACE MUST BE AT LEAST 57 BYTES Il imageGreen Maximum number of images allowed to be selected If 0 the max is the number of images in the file camera Il imageBlue TRUE Show selection order number in stamp upper left corner FALSE No selection Number Il RETURNED PixRequest values Il imageNumber Number of images selected or Zero if none or error I statusString pointer to NULL terminated byte SNAPSHOT 17 FASTSHOT 18 GETCOMPRESSEDDATA 19 ERASEIMAGES 22 CLOSECAMERAPORT 25 array containing the ID numbers of operator selected images in the order selected The array is left untouched by errors Take a picture I CALL WITH I Nothing I RETURNED PixRequest values imageNumber TRUE if connection made I FALSE if comm I O error Take a fast snapshot and return the DIB lI CALL WITH Il imageGreen Non zero uses an on screen Viewfinder Return DIB HANDLE points to the llcompressed JPEG or DPCM Data from the file in the camera Il Erases all images in the camera without prompting the user for confirmation 1 Shuts down communications thru any currently Il active port Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 29 Tetracam RS232 Serial Control Commands Camera serial port command strings consist of a lead in character ESC a command character A Z a z and a number of numeric arguments The numeric arguments are strings
20. ed trademark of Microsoft Corporation Photoshop is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Other brand or product names are trademarks of their respective holders Version 2 3 Last Modified April 2011 Tetracam Inc 21601 Devonshire Street Suite 310 Chatsworth CA 91311 USA Table of Contents INQTIGES chesaccastaas izancessetansauatcetucbashaciaagiesaionasnscuaeNecabashaihastsssissnesvachastaustuaeneuaad 1 TRADEMARKS asia iu sanctcoes sutovadad dvacesaiSuacavaccsaeavajgnvinitncad sdiginisbeesdeaandugesiadeveatte 1 ABOUT THIS GUIDE 0cceeseeeseseesseesseeseceseeesecesserssssessssssserssessrenssstesssssereees 2 QUICK START INSTRUCTIONS sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssseeeeeaesssssssssssessserees 3 UNPACKING THE BOX cccccccssssecceceeceeesssececececeeeessececeeeeesuaneseceseeensaanesesenenees 4 GETING STARTED fece dc scessnnst2sccsacd case Saceececad EOE aAa EAEAN EEA iOa Eie 5 Overview of the MCA System 5 PC System Requirements cccccceeseteneeceteeteneeteeeteeeseaeeteaeeseaeeteeeteanenes 6 Software Installation 6 Hardware Installation 7 Camera Int rconnections sen area outrbatsdderfes cout raio rinin reiii 8 MCA Optics and Filters CMOS Sensor Relative Sensitivity 8 The Calibration Image o cecccceccccescecenteceneeeeneeseneeseeeseeeteeessaeetsneeeeneeeenes 9 Compact Flash Cards aient haies 9 Camera Controller 10 Controlling the Viewfinder
21. g files are much easier to manage if the camera is set up to operate in the USB Disk mode described earlier The Log files are not directly accessible from Pixelwrench2 using the stream interface When the camera shows up as a folder window on the desktop as it does in USB Disk mode the moving and deleting files is trivial You can use the GPS Distiller tool to manage image and GPS log files See the PW2 help file for more information on how PW2 uses the distilled log files to refine the embedded GPS data in each image Remember you can switch the camera between being recognized by Windows as a USB MASS STORAGE DEVICE and an IMAGING DEVICE USB Disk Mode vs able to connect to PixelWrench2 by holding the SELECT button down for five seconds during power up Page 18 Multi Camera Array User s Guide The CLK record is added when the camera powers up It shows the camera date and Every Record has a Ticks Field _ that shows the cameras internal clock count of 10 millisecond ticks The count 104 means that che CLK ee record was written 1 040 seconds 10 22 2009 15 15 01 after power on CLK 000000104 Date Ti GPS 000003102 00218 GPRMC 192302 00 A 2942 79461 N 08223 30899 W 000 0 l GPS is connected an entry is made each time a GPS GPS 000003280 00219 GPRMC 192302 00 A 2942 79461 N 08223 30899 W 000 0 0 update string is received GPGGA 192303 00 2942 795TX N 08223 30922 W 1 04 2 58 00062 M 031 M 55 Different
22. h the controller and video display Operation of the menu system uses the three rightmost buttons on the controller the SELECT UP and DOWN buttons To enter the menu system the SELECT button is pressed once Sub menus appear or menu items which have values to the right of them To select a submenu use the UP DOWN buttons to move the cursor up or down to the desired submenu entry Press the SELECT key to display the next menu page in the tree If a submenu is not available REVIEW cannot be accessed unless pictures have been taken it will be gray in the display instead of white The selected entry is hi lighted in green To change a menu item value navigate to it by pressing the UP DOWN buttons and select it by pressing SELECT The menu item s value will turn green indicating that it is selected Use the UP DOWN buttons to scroll through the available values and SELECT again to set the value The menu system can be exited at any time by pressing the TAKE PIC button Page 12 Multi Camera Array User s Guide MAIN MENU REVIEW options for HAIN MENU viewing or deleting stored images PREVIEW INFO INFO view battery CAPTURE METHOD status firmware version SETUP and storage card space DONE used free CAPTURE METHOD set file save mode toggle fixed or auto exposure toggle single or continuous capture settings set alarm capture mode SETUP set video and USB mode menu language date time quickview
23. he camera to output NTSC or VIDEO various PAL standard USB MODE display feeds LOG EVENTS DATE TIME USB MODE sets what QUICKVIEW the camera looks like to MORE Windows if connected via DONE USB Set this to CAMERA to communicate with the camera via PixelWrench2 Set this to DISK for direct file transfers between Windows and the camera The camera will reboot if this setting is changed LOG EVENTS turn this ON to capture events to a log file DATE TIME Select this to set the time and date for image stamps QUICKVIEW select this to set the amount of time a newly captured image is displayed on the viewfinder screen MORE More setup options Page 14 Multi Camera Array User s Guide MORE LANGUAGE Set the menu language gt LANGUAGE ENGLISH GPS BAUD GPS BAUD Set the GPS HEARTBEAT serial connection data GPS DISPLAY rate between the camera SETTINGS DISPLAY and a GPS receiver GPS HEARTBEAT When ON an indicator is shown on the viewfinder screen signaling each time the camera receives information from the GPS receiver GPS DISPLAY When ON GPS coordinates are displayed on the viewfinder screen SETTINGS DISPLAY Toggles the display of settings information on the viewfinder screen such as exposure files save type picture count etc FORMAT CF CARD select this option to re format the CF card RESTORE DEFAULTS select this option to return all settings to gt FORHAT
24. he location at which the picture was taken Generally a GPS receiver is connected to the camera serial port that sends GGA and RMC position strings to the camera This feature is used most often with aerial photography when the GPS point is directly below the camera so that both the camera and the image are at the same coordinate When the option is enabled the camera creates the file CURRENT LOG on the CF memory card in root folder If there is a pre existing CURRENT LOG file the file is moved to the image folder TTCMCAO in the case of the MCA master camera and renamed according to the image numbers that were captured while the camera was last in operation Only the master camera channel logs GPS data and image events For Example If images 31 32 33 and 34 were captured there will be event log records for each of those captures in the file The file is scanned image capture records and the smallest and largest image numbers found are used to compose a file name In this case the file would be renamed to 00310034 LOG The first four characters of the new file name are the lowest image capture record in the file the second four letters are the highest image capture record in the file A typical Event Log file is shown on the next page Each line shown is one record in the file terminated by a newline character and NULL The NULL characters are hidden and additional line feeds are added for clarity in the illustration Lo
25. ied wall plug type supply connects to this jack USB The main USB I O connector behind access panel on MiniMCA Multi I O 16 pin connection to the Camera Controller for viewing video navigating the menu taking pictures and connecting GPS Video Out Camera Controller NTSC or PAL video signal RS 232 Camera Controller For connecting an optional GPS receiver or sending commands to the camera A 3 5mm stereo phone plug tip ring and sleeve is camera receive camera transmit and ground respectively MCA Optics and Filters All channels of the MCA must be equipped with the same type of lens so the images can be merged with a minimum of error and distortion Each channel has a receptacle for a spectrometer filter The filters can be obtained from a commercial supplier such as Andover The unit is supplied with a set of six filters as specified by the customer at the time the unit is ordered Changing filters or installing them for the first time requires that the exposure time for each channel by adjusted for the filter characteristics In the standard MCA the adjustment can be made by setting the apertures on the lenses or by entering exposure constants for each channel In the mini MCA only the second technique is used since the apertures in the mini MCA lenses are fixed CMOS Sensor Relative Sensitivity The graph below shows the relative efficiency of the sensor for different bands of visible and NIR light M
26. is parameter will display the word FIXED in red along with the set exposure time in milliseconds With Fixed Exposure turned OFF this parameter will display AUTO A or AUTO P The A or P designation indicates the METHOD of Auto Exposure Average or Peak A positive or negative number may follow this parameter indicating the Exposure Adjust setting controlled by the UP or DOWN buttons from the viewfinder Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 11 Date Time Date and Time is displayed Picture Count This parameter shows the number of images stored on the CF card note SETTINGS DISPLAY in the menu controls the displaying of the above listed parameters GPS DISPLAY and GPS HEARTBEAT in the menu controls the displaying of the parameters listed below GPS Position With a GPS receiver connected and communicating with the camera position coordinates will be displayed If the GPS receiver loses its signal lock WAITING FOR GPS will be displayed in RED until it recovers its signal lock GPS Heartbeat This is an indicator to confirm that a connected GPS receiver is sending data to the camera Every time the camera gets a new packet of data the character in GPS will toggle back and forth between the and characters The Camera Menu System The camera can be configured from the host computer via the USB connection or by use of the menu selections accessible wit
27. ize the camera as either an Imaging Device or a USB Mass Storage Device You can toggle how Windows recognizes the device from the camera s menu or by holding the SELECT button for 5 seconds while powering on the camera To use the camera with PixelWrench2 the camera must be connected as an Imaging Device USB Mass Storage Device mode is better suited for simple file transfers between the CF cards and Windows If the camera is in USB Storage Device mode USB DISK will appear in the viewfinder on a connected display From PixelWrench2 you may open previews of the images on the CF card in the camera and extract them for viewing and analysis Consult the online manual for PixelWrench2 and the camera for more detailed instructions When you are done with the camera turn it off by disconnecting the power Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 3 Unpacking The Box This is what you should find in the box A Hardened Plastic Camera Case An MCA or MiniMCA Digital Still Camera A CDROM with the installation software supporting the camera Product and Accessory Documentation A USB interconnection cable Compact Flash Memory Cards for each camera in the array An AC Power Adapter and Power input cable A White Teflon Calibration Plate Your camera comes with a one year warranty against defects You should send in the warranty card to register the camera and qualify for additional software and firmware updates Documentation Tef
28. lon Calibration Plate amp Installation Software CD Power Adapters MiniMCA Digital Still Camera USB Cable Control Cable Page 4 Multi Camera Array User s Guide Getting Started Overview of the MCA System The MCA imaging system consists of a set of digital still cameras compactly packaged and synchronized so they can all take pictures at the same time with only small translation errors between images from unit to unit These translation errors are automatically corrected by the software supplied with the unit One of the cameras in the system is set up as the MASTER camera the master camera is responsible for synchronizing the other cameras SLAVES calculating exposure requirements and logging GPS geo referencing information A control connector and control box accessory is provided to allow the camera to be triggered in flight and to provide connection to an external GPS receiver The control connector also has an output video signal that can be used to monitor the framing of the image Monitoring can take place remotely using a commonly available video transmitter for RC aircraft or locally in a manned aircraft using a video monitor Each camera has its own file system for saving images In a six camera Ta Al 6 Channel Mini MCA Lens filter layout USB Connector ID il 4 6 _ system there will be
29. ltaneous capture The images from the set can be displayed three channels at a time using RGB format for false color rendition Each RGB rendering is about 3 9 Megabytes You should select a computer with resources that can support manipulation of images that are this large Our recommendations for a minimum configuration are 1 GHz or better processor Intel or AMD Windows 7 Vista or XP operating system 512 megabytes of SDRAM 24 bit color graphics adapter at 1024 x 768 or better resolution 1024 x 768 or higher display Large hard disk drive with 10 GB or more free space Software Installation The software installation CD contains PixelWrench2 the USB stream driver and a PDF version of the user s manual To install PW2 run the file Setup exe located in the PW2 folder The root folder of the CD also contains the image alignment file for your particular camera Its name is xxxxxx_ global MCA where xxxxxx represents your camera serial number If you have not previously used a digital camera on your system the Windows operating system may need to install some additional files to Page 6 Multi Camera Array User s Guide support the camera drivers If your computer does not have the Microsoft NET 3 5 framework installed the PixelWrench2 installer will try to open Microsoft com and download a file called dotNetfx exe This is the installer for NET 3 5 This file is also on the CD in the root directory where you can run it directly p
30. menu in the camera has an entry for the GPS Baud There is also an advanced setup screen accessible via Pixelwrench2 that save a higher baud rate The GGA sentence is emitted once per second and contains the following fields 1 Time UTC 2 Latitude and Longitude 3 Fix quality 4 Number of satellites tracked 5 Horizontal dilution of position 6 Altitude in meters MS 7 Height above MSL Attach the optional serial cable to the small serial connector see the illustration in the Hardware Installation section of this manual Attach the other end to the serial port of the receiver The most recent GPS sentence sent to the camera will be appended to the image data file You can view the GPS data in the image using Pixelwrench2 The camera firmware also supports an event or position logging system that will exactly place the GPS locations at the time pictures are taken with a resolution of 10 milliseconds The camera also has two features you can turn on in the setup called GPS HEARTBEAT and GPS DISPLAY which will toggle an indicator on the viewfinder screen each time it receives a new GPS sentence and will show the last GPS position received This is useful to see that the camera is properly receiving GPS data Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 17 Event Log File When LOG EVENTS is set to ON in the CAPTURE METHOD screen The camera will maintain a file with a record of key events that can be used to accurately position t
31. onochrome Response 1 00 0 90 0 80 0 70 5 0 60 2 050 ip 0 40 0 30 0 20 0 10 0 00 Q Q Q D Ss D cS 400 450 500 550 00 650 700 x 8 8 Wavelength 850 900 950 000 Page 8 Multi Camera Array User s Guide The Calibration Image An important part of the entire camera and software system is the need to calibrate the software supplied with the camera Calibration consists of taking an image of the Software Calibration Tile under the same lighting conditions as the images under study This image is used to teach the application software what the spectral balance of that day s sunlight is The ratio of red NIR or green NIR is then applied as an offset to the calculation of the various vegetation indices Note if a calibration image is not taken within an hour or two of pictures in the field the vegetation index calculations will not be very accurate and the pictures may not be useful Place the Software Calibration Tile on the ground or hold it level to ground and photograph it It need not fill the entire frame and it must not be overexposed Make sure to avoid a direct reflection of the sun The sample image on the left is of a properly exposed Software Calibration Tile When the pictures are imported to the host computer the calibration image will be used to refine the vegetation index calculations Software Calibration Tile Image Compact Flash Cards The unit can handle Compact Fla
32. pointer to VBProgrammerPlug use ByVal 0 amp as the parameter for fileName or statusString To pass a pointer to a fixed length string use the syntax ByVal StringName in the argument list The Visual Basic call ends up here after translation of the calling parameters into a PixRequest Structure TTCAM_API HANDLE PASCAL ProgrammerPlug PixRequest FAR PRRs Multifunction DLL interface kkk k kk k kk kk k kk kkk kkk kk kk kkk k kk kkk IMPORTANT The caller must always use the HOOKUP request before any other reqests are made Passed a pointer to a request block this function will perform the requested action see enumerated list below and return either the state of the current hookup a handle to a DIB image or the camera or file status string After processing any image controlled by the DIB handle returned you are responsible for freeing the memory controlled by the DIB s handle BEFORE calling ProgrammerPlug for another image a enum HOOKUP 0 1 Hook up to the camera file and prepare DLL to Il load images in following calls Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 27 II if fileName 0000 0000 use the camera II if fileName Xxxxx or XXXX Xxx use file Il if fileName or prompt user for file name Il RETURNED PixRequest values ll requestType COLOR or GRAYSCALE Il depending on camera or file type Il imageNumber set to of images available Il Il requestType and imageNumber are both set Il to
33. rior to installing PixelWrench2 Hardware Installation The MCA and Mini MCA run nominally on 12VDC external power The input has been designed for vehicle electrical systems and can handle input voltages as high as 14 volts The power connectors are center positive The MCA and Mini MCA differ primarily in their optical capabilities and weight The older MCA product supports replaceable C Mount lenses with variable aperture controls to match filter characteristics The mini MCA is designed for UAV applications and weighs only 25 the original MCA weight It uses smaller miniature lenses with fixed apertures Filter characteristics are calibrated into the camera firmware in the mini MCA The optics on the standard MCA are better suited to very narrow band pass filters The MCA camera has a variety of connectors as shown in the illustrations The mini MCA has only a power connector and multifunction control Power Connector connector available on the external case All of sj the signals on separate connectors including power are available on the multifunction connector In the discussion of interconnection signals that follows the signals may be found on the multifunction connector and also in the case of the standard MCA on the separate connectors provided Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 7 Camera Interconnections Power 12VDC center positive supply capable of delivering 0 5 Amps continuous The suppl
34. rious arguments char far statusString copy camera image status string to here II if not 0000 0000 PixRequest In Visual Basic a wrapper function is provided which accepts the values passed in as individual variables It then creates the required structure before calling ProgrammerPlug A sample calling sequence from Visual Basic is shown below the interface function definition Page 26 Multi Camera Array User s Guide TTCAM_API HANDLE VBProgrammerPlug int FAR requestType int FAR workSilently int FAR imageNumber char FAR fileName int FAR imageBlue int FAR imageGreen char FAR statusString Here is what a call looks like made from Visual Basic into the DLL Declare Function VBProgrammerPlug Lib SXGAMCA requestType workSilently imageNumber fileName as Any imageBlue imageGreen statusString as Any For integers According to the VB manual for version 1 0 or thereabouts VB passes by default all arguments by reference or far pointers if your a C programmer ByVal overrides this by placing the contents of the variable on the stack rather than the pointer to the variable For strings It appears the ByVal is the way to point to a string that is to be modified by the DLL The examples in the book for calling Windows APIs that modify strings show a declaration as ByVal See the chapter headed Calling DLL Routines with Specific Data Types for details To pass a NULL
35. sh CF cards up to 2 GB Since stored images are about 1 megabyte each a 512 megabyte card is the minimum capacity recommended A set of 2 GB cards one per channel is supplied with the unit Note The unit cannot take pictures without a compact flash cards installed We recommend that the unit s power be turned off when the compact flash card is replaced CF cards manufactured by SanDisk have proven the most reliable in our testing of the unit The camera is usually operated away from the host computer If a compact flash memory reader is present on the host computer the software can extract images directly from the card without having to connect the camera This allows the camera to be left in the field or attached to a vehicle The CF cards are exchanged to bring the pictures to a host computer When CF cards with capacities in excess of 2 Gigabytes are used they must TS Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 9 be formatted as FAT32 cards on the PC because the camera is not capable of initializing CF cards to FAT32 format Care must be taken to label the volume TTCDISK 1 8 as it comes from the factory during formatting on the PC Also format the card using 32kb cluster allocation unit size for faster camera boot times The volume information is used by PixelWrench2 to identify the device as a Tetracam camera and identify the channels when it appears as a USB Disk While reliable use of very large cards with FAT32 format is not
36. the user is very familiar with the operation of an IBM compatible personal computer running the Windows Vista or Windows XP operating system He should be familiar with the use of USB serial ports and USB disk devices and in the use of spectroscopic signatures to identify materials of interest A PDF version of this manual is supplied on the installation CD Page 2 Multi Camera Array User s Guide Quick Start Instructions Connect the unit to DC power source The MCA cameras will accept power input between 12 and 14 VDC and are suitable for most vehicle power supplies Install PixelWrench2 before connecting the camera to the computer This program is needed to manage connections to the camera and to extract useful data from the sets of visible light and NIR images the camera captures With the Control Box accessory and a video display you can review pictures in the master camera Press the SELECT button and a menu should appear Select items in the menu using the UP DOWN and SELECT buttons These buttons allow you to scroll through the selections Pressing the SELECT button activates a selection The REVIEW selection gives you access to images in the camera and displays them on the video Display To view your pictures on a computer you may remove the CF cards and install them in a CF card reader or plug the camera into the USB interface on your computer When plugging the camera into a computer s USB port Windows will recogn
37. ttom plate to the blue case should be used It is always advisable to provide vibration isolation between the camera and aircraft Additionally make sure to ground the camera using to the mount If the camera is mounted on non conducting vibration isolators a ground strap should be provided Dress and restrain all interconnect cables to prevent snagging or undue disturbance by prop blast etc The MCA camera housing and optics are not weatherproof If the camera is mounted externally weather protection should be provided See the dimensional illustration in the Specification section for additional details Multi Camera Array User s Guide Page 23 Capture Delays for Aerial Photography The simplest way to map large areas is to place the camera in Continuous Capture mode with a delay that will ensure adequate overlap of the images Since picture storage is cheap 30 to 50 overlap is recommended In order to calculate the delay the cruise speed of the aircraft and altitude above the ground must be known For example Using the standard 8 5mm focal length lens at 2500 feet AGL the camera captures 1 2 meter per pixel or 1 28 kilometers along the long axis If approximately 30 overlap is desired we would take pictures every 450 meters If the aircraft is traveling at 180 km hour or 50 m sec the time to cover 450 meters is nine seconds We would therefore set the Continuous Capture delay to nine seconds or less Increasing the altitude abo
38. tus ADC to enable the other toolbar buttons Click Setup and the Setup Camera Attributes dialog will appear Click Advanced and the Edit Camera Settings dialog will appear This dialog on the next page contains two columns of edit boxes Place your cursor over an edit box to view a tooltip describing the setting parameters for that box In the figure the cursor was placed over the SAVE MODE box The tooltip shows the possible settings for file save mode This camera is configured to save in DPCM lossless Many of the settings boxes do not apply to how the ADC should be configured and there is no reason to change the existing settings GPS BAUD vad Edit Camera Settings Sets the baud VERSION 5141 ZOOM archaic 1 rate for capture of SERIAL NUMBER 0 DONVFORMAT 0 GPS data NMEA AUTO_OFF 0 EXCITER CONTROL 0 default is 4800 GPSBAUD 4800 VIEWCONTROL 0 but some NTSC_PAL_STATE 5 POWER_HZ SLIDESHOW 5 LOGEVENTS 0 receivers support UNITID 0 SATURATION 0 higher rates EXPOSURE_ADJUST 0 MAX EXPOSURE 399999 FLASH MODE 2 MAX DIGITAL GAIN 4 NTSC PAL GAMMA 0 MAXEXPCHANGE 0 STATE 0 for JPEG 70 AEC CENTER POINT 0 IMAGE NUMBER INDEX 10 RELATIVE EXPOSURE 100 NTSC 1 through LANGUAGE 0 MOSAICADJUST1 0 4 for several PAL DELAY BETWEEN RAW 0 MOSAICADJUST 2 0 configurations 5 RES FACTOR f1 SAVE MODE 1 to disable and BURSTMODE 10 FIXED EXPOSURE 0 LIGHTING archaic COLOR GRAYSCALE 2 use the LCD WHITE BAL 5 HIGH GAIN MODE 0 default po
39. type prior to accessing the camera In PixelWrench2 on the Camera Toolbar click the small down arrow on the top button Status Select MCA as your camera type This loads the correct DLL for use with the MCA See the PixelWrench2 online help file for further specifics on camera communications USB Disk Configuration With the introduction of firmware version 5 097 the MCA can be configured to appear as a USB disk drive to the operating system For Windows Vista or operating systems other than Microsoft the camera must be operated as a USB Disk device To toggle the USB mode between DISK and CAMERA change the USB MODE setting in the camera s menu SETUP page and then select DONE the camera will reboot automatically with the new mode set You can also toggle the USB MODE setting by simply holding down the MENU SELECT button for a few seconds during power up However the camera is configured it will be recognized by Pixelwrench2 when that application is started In the original stream mode of operation Pixelwrench2 is the only way to exchange data with the camera over a USB link When the unit is configured as a USB Disk files can be dragged and dropped to and from the camera from any personal computer that has USB disk drivers Managing and Processing MCA Images in PixelWrench2 The MCA system writes losslessly compressed EEE image files or RAW files to the CF card for every irs msm Pase Canopy MCA Batch image These images
40. ve the ground increases the delay needed while reducing the ground resolution of the images At 5000 feet AGL the camera resolution is approximately 1 pixel per meter which is good enough for many crop surveys At this altitude the required delay is doubled Aircraft forward speed 180 i J eat nt 2i n m i i Altitude 2500 feet 640 meters AGL of ground coverage The captured images can be easily assembled into a mosaic by stitching software Autopano Pro does a fast and accurate job of building a mosaic from separate images We recommend that the images be processed first into the color space needed for analysis palletized NDVI or false color NIR for example PixelWrench2 can do this quickly using its built in batch function Page 24 Multi Camera Array User s Guide Programmers Reference File Formats The camera uses proprietary formats for lossless data storage DCM files are compressed using differential encoding and Huffman compression RAW files are the array of captured pixel values with header and trailer information The exact format of these file in 8 and 10 bit form is shown below 10 Bit Raw File Format The RAW file format contains both Header and trailer information For values greater than 255 two bytes are used in little endian Intel configuration for header trailer and pixel values Byte 0 3 Size of raw image in bytes 32 bit value Byte 4 Bits per pixel 10 for this format Byt
41. wer up SAVERAW 0 AUTOEXPOSE 0 condition LOCKED_GAIN VIDEO EXPOSURE CAP 100 Cancel Check Error Log Image Number Index Sets the Page 22 Multi Camera Array User s Guide number that will be applied to the next image taken then auto increments as images accumulate Can be set to any positive value or 0 SAVE MODE Sets the file format that images are saved in The ADC should save in DCM RAW 10 or RAW 8 1 2 or 3 respectively FIXED EXPOSURE Allows presetting a fixed exposure The value is entered in microseconds Enter 0 to set the camera to Auto Exposure mode AUTO EXPOSE Sets the method of Auto Exposure Mode Average or Peak The 16 Pin Multi I O Connector The following describes the 15 pin functions of the Multi I O connector 1 supply power 2 3 4 amp 5 MENU SELECT UP DOWN and TAKE PIC buttons respectively Momentarily short to ground for button activation 6 power switch external event trigger 7 RS 232 Transmit GPS 8 RS 232 Receive GPS 9 Red LED logic high when camera is busy 10 Green LED logic high when camera is on idle 11 NC 12 13 NTSC or PAL video signal and ground respectively 14 3 3 V logic high 15 ground 16 NC Mounting the unit The four 14 holes in the top flange of the standard MCA camera housing are there to accept mounting bolts In the case of the MiniMCA the four fasteners that attach the bo
42. ze of the files in half but takes longer to capture We therefore think of DCM compressed continuous mode as low speed Besides the smaller file size another advantage of the DCM format is that the files contain previews which speed up the image access speed using Pixelwrench2 File Advantages Disadvantages Format RAW 8 Fastest cycle time Less dynamic range no embedded bit previews RAW 10 Fastest cycle time with Big files no embedded previews bit full dynamic range DCM 10 Smallest file size with full Longest time between pictures up dynamic range to 5 seconds The table above shows the relative advantages and disadvantages of camera file formats These apply to all modes of operation Page 16 Multi Camera Array User s Guide GPS Option Installation and Use Your MCA will capture and append the most recent GPS data string to each image as it is taken The following requirements apply Your GPS receiver must be configured to output the standard NMEA RMC and or GGA sentences The default output protocol for NMEA sentences is 4800 baud 8 data bits 1 stop bit no parity Your receiver should allow you to configure it for RMC and or GGA at 4800 8 1 N If your GPS receiver can be configured for a higher Baud you should take advantage of the feature since it will make the GPS data more accurate since less time would be lost transferring the messages The
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