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User Manual - Baader

1. CALIER LOAD In this screen the X and Y offsets 1 offset unit 4 sensor pixels denote the position of the guide star relative to the detector center and the small cross in the rectangular box see above indicates the stars approximate location in a graphical form If the star happens to be lying too close to the sensors edges Bounds X OFFSET 82 Y OFFSET 46 you can try to center it b CAREFULLY nudging the mount along the four directions with the drive keypad at guiding speed lf the star is thrown off the active area it will be lost STAR LOST message pops up and you will have to start over with focusing Two focusing aids are available the FOCUS STAR index and the circle on the right hand side of the screen they both show the diameter of the star in pixels on the detector in numerical and graphical form respectively Therefore the lower 5 www lvi cameras com 328 1260813 info lvi cameras com M LVI CAMERAS the number the better the focus a properly focused star should be 3 to 8 pixels wide according to the brightness and air turbulence Once the guide star has been correctly centered and focused we can select CALIBR to get to the calibration screen press OK to start calibrating the mount MOVING MOTORS The calibration process can last up to a few minutes Upon completion the new calibration parameters are automatically stored into the camera s non volatile memory the SAVE icon s
2. FOV 31 0x19 8 arcmin scale 2 48 arcsec px Scope with F 800mm FOV 19 4x12 4 arcmin scale 1 55 arcsec px 12 www livi cameras com 328 1260813 info lvi cameras com
3. reaction threshold in pixels 7 value of aggressiveness The lower the aggressiveness the higher the threshold and vice versa For example with an aggressiveness value of 2 LOW the SmartGuider will make a correction only if the offset is at least 7 2 5 pixels thereby resulting in a quite 10 www livi cameras com 328 1260813 info lvi cameras com M LVI CAMERAS lazy behavior On the contrary if the aggressiveness is set to 6 HIGH even a displacement as small as 7 6 1 pixel is big enough to trigger correction which implies a very reactive behavior During autoguiding the trend of the X and Y graphs should always be staying as smooth as possible It is advisable to start off with default values for aggressiveness and guiding speed then both parameters can be fine tuned to achieve the best possible sync between your SmartGuider and your telescope If you notice any significant oscillations about the zero position of one or both graphs overcorrection the guiding speed should be decreased with the mount keypad until the oscillation becomes less important ideally almost negligible Anyway it must be noted that a ittle oscillation about the zero position is acceptable since both graphs depict the offset between two consecutive exposures with a 2X scale So two pixels on the tracking graph are actually equivalent to one single pixel on the detector If the oscillation continues even with the guiding sp
4. settings menus are shown below brightness left and buzzer volume right You can adjust both the brightness and the buzzer volume with the two triangular keys on the control paddle four levels are available from 1 minimum to 4 maximum EXIT takes you back to the basic settings screen Now let s have a closer look at the focusing procedure Before mounting the camera onto the guide scope s drawtube you have first to center the brightest star in the field of view which is closest to your imaging target with a wide field low power eyepiece use then the special SmartEye eyepiece to focus the guide scope and fine tune the position of the star chosen This special eyepiece will deliver a perfectly focused star and centered in the camera s field of view When you press on FOCUS the SmartGuider scans the whole frame for the previously selected guide star 4 www lvi cameras com 328 1260813 info lvi cameras com M LVI CAMERAS After a while the actual duration of the search phase is not always the same the SmartGuider will inform you of the outcome with a simple message STAR FOUND or STAR NOT FOUND STAR FOUND STAR NOT FOUND If the guide star was not found upper right the SmartGuider goes automatically back to the MENU BASIC screen in this case a brighter star has to be chosen If the star has been found upper left we can proceed to the important focusing menu FOCUS STAR OFFSET
5. to the following screens With the two triangular arrows UP and DOWN you can adjust the aggressiveness in the X axis upper left and in the Y axis upper right The aggressiveness in both axes can range from 1 to 6 1 2 LOW 3 4 MILD 5 6 HIGH and expresses the degree of reactivity of corrections a high value will 7 www lvi cameras com 328 1260813 info lvi cameras com Mi LVI CAMERAS urge the camera to immediately correct for the slightest displacement whereas a low value will yield a much smoother behavior 4 Tips and Tricks The SmartGuider is very simple and intuitive to use However there are some phases namely selection of a suitable guide star focusing and calibration which are critical in maximizing the performance of your SmartGuider and therefore deserve special attention For further details please check out our website www lvi cameras com Error messages If for any reason the guide star has been lost the SmartGuider warns the user with both an error message STAR LOST and an audible signal one beep per second until the star becomes visible again for up to 30 seconds If the cable connecting the CPU and the camera head gets accidentally disconnected or in case of problems with the electrical connections or the power supply the following message is displayed COMMUNICATION ERROR Choosing a suitable guide scope Thanks to its features the SmartGuider does not call for telescop
6. M LVI CAMERAS 1 Item Checklist Thank you for purchasing the LVI SmartGuider autoguiding camera Upon receipt please check that your package is complete and contains the following items Control handlepaddle Control Paddle SmartGuider camera head One power supply cable One 8 pin RJ cable Control paddle to camera head One 6 pin RJ cable Control paddle to mount s ST 4 port User s manual D 0i NS 2 Quick Start Guide Thanks to its ease of use you can hook up your SmartGuider and be ready within minutes Once your imaging rig has been set up polar aligned and carefully balanced here are the main steps to follow 1 Make all the necessary connections a Attach the camera to the guide scope carefully locking the setscrews b Connect the Control Paddle to both the camera head and the mount s A i ST 4 port using the appropriate RJ cables p c Connect the Control Paddle to a 12V DC power supply Turn the LVI SmartGuider on Search for a suitable guide star Focus with the SmartEye parfocal eyepiece Calibrate the mount Set the camera s advanced options Start autoguiding NOORWN User Manual version 1 0 The steps marked with a star such as focusing and calibration could not always be necessary Please consult Section 4 Tips and Tricks for details 1 2 www ivi cameras com 328 1260813 info lvi cameras com www ivi cameras com 328 1260813 info lvi camera
7. de of the sky with respect to the local meridian as that where the calibration was last performed 2 NEVER take the camera off the guide scope 3 NEVER rotate the camera in the guide scope focuser In all other cases the camera must always be recalibrated It can take a relatively long time for the calibration process to complete especially with guide scopes of short focal length under 500 mm and low guiding speed i e less than 0 5 X Of course the telescope must not be touched during calibration otherwise the relevant parameters could not be calculated correctly This also applies to all kinds of external perturbations e g wind gusts It is also advisable not to use too dim a star for calibration otherwise just a simple bank of cirrus clouds or a little dew on the lenses could cause the star to be lost and jeopardize the final result of this important process Autoguiding and aggressiveness On nights of bad seeing and especially with long focal length guide scopes it could be worthwhile to slightly defocus the guide star so that the effect of high frequency twinkling is mitigated somewhat and the camera won t try to guide the seeing out In practice the aggressiveness parameter defines the reaction threshold in terms of sensor pixels i e the value of the offset between two consecutive exposure cycles above which the camera will make a correction It can be calculated via the following Minimum
8. eed at its lowest possible value the aggressiveness has to be decreased In case the profile of one or both graphs keeps steadily above or below the zero value undercorrection the guiding speed has to be slowly increased until the graph profile goes back to hovering around the zero position If no improvement is seen even with the guiding speed at its highest value the aggressiveness must be increased Should the graphs still be showing a small jerky oscillation in spite of the above precautions please make sure your equipment is properly balanced in both axes It must be stressed that a perfect balance of all the weights the quality and solidity of all the mechanical supports and adapters is of paramount importance in getting round stars and well tracked exposures Sometimes trailing due to differential flexure can ruin your pictures even with apparently smooth tracking 11 www livi cameras com 328 1260813 info lvi cameras com Mi LVI CAMERAS 5 Technical Specifications CAMERA SONSON ee ee On een ee eee ene i Mono 173 Aptina MT9V032 Sensor FESOIULION cccccccccsseeeeeccecsseeseeeceeesseeeeeeesseaees 752x480 6 um square pixels Exposure time FANGE ccccssessscceccsssescesensnnesssessecsnasessennes Auto 0 001 2 seconds Housing pereen eei nerriet Aluminium with polycarbonate lid NOSCPIOCE ccccrssesccseecnsneseseeennees Standard 1 25 inch 31 8mm with filter thread CONNEC OTS serr paarini cee ee n
9. es with very long focal length or particularly wide aperture As a rule of thumb when imaging with digital SLRs or CCDs pixel size between 5 and 8 microns the guide scope should have about the same focal length as that of the main instrument for bigger sized pixels shorter focal lengths are equally suitable In any case it is advisable to use refractors instead of slow catadioptric reflectors e g Maksutovs with f ratio of 10 and upwards since focusing by movable primary mirror can easily lead to exposure trailing even if the tracking performance looks apparently good Moreover there are cases where high magnification is not always an advantage due to lower brightness and increased sensitivity to atmospheric turbulence seeing 8 www livi cameras com 328 1260813 info lvi cameras com M LVI CAMERAS Brightness of the guide star The SmartGuider automatically adjusts the exposure time according to the guide star s brightness shorter for bright stars longer for dim ones This also affects the frequency of corrections to the mount bright stars allow for continuous position control which also ensures that all sorts of tracking errors including the component resulting from periodic error and atmospheric turbulence will be easily guided out Bright stars are best to compensate for the most erratic periodic errors or with guide scopes having a shorter focal length than that of the main optics In this case we advice setting the g
10. howed here on the bottom left In case you want to reuse the parameters from last calibration just choose LOAD from the focusing menu screen on the lower right Please see note on calibration on page 9 READ STATUS GUIDING _ ai aih EXIT START ADVAN The SmartGuider is standing by Status READY screen on the upper left before starting the actual autoguiding phase Status GUIDING screen on the 6 www l vi cameras com 328 1260813 _ info lvi cameras com M LVI CAMERAS upper right by selecting START The two graphs allow real time monitoring of guiding corrections issued to the mount You can interrupt the autoguiding process by pressing STOP at any time while EXIT will take you back to the basic settings screen At times the guide star may be lost 1 beep per second and STAR LOST this can be due to a number of different reasons e g because the sky has clouded over the optics have dewed up or the star has been thrown off the field of view by a wind gust or even because the telescope has been touched If the star remains invisible for up to 30 seconds the camera will still be able to resume autoguiding otherwise the current session is aborted and the execution flow goes back to the MENU BASIC screen to search for a new guide star From the autoguiding screen pressing the ADVAN menu item brings up the advanced settings screen EXIT will take us back to the previous menu while by pressing AGGRESS X we come
11. omen cre menrere RNR ea neem amen es 8 pin RJ45 Size ANA WEIQNL 00cccccccceeeecccccecssseeseeeeeeaeeeeees D 65mm H 50mm Weight 110g CONTROL PADDLE OSANE EEEE esse ie ABS with side non slip polyurethane inserts KOY D0 reer neres Mennene tenens Three membrane keys with back illumination DISPIAY Be vnsseccccce de Myssssasseseeen My 2 5 inch red graphical LCD 128x64 pixel resolution COMME CIOL S v ccccccc Biss Myseecines cenccs ernari 8 pin RJ45 12V DC jack 6 pin RJ12 pin Size and WEIQGHL L cccccccccccssccnsssessssssesceceeesseaaes LxHxD 55x96x28mm Weight 220g Power FOQUIFOIMONNS 1 scccccssecccssnececcunssessssesessuescessaausessauesessauaees 8 14V DC 110MA FEATURES Automatic guide star search Real time monitoring of guide star position and focus Automatic axis calibration with permanent storage of parameters Adjustable display backlight and buzzer volume Adjustable dual axis aggressiveness High precision 2X sub pixel autoguiding GUIDE STAR BRIGHTNESS 60 mm guide SCOPE 2 SEC CXPOSUIC ccccccccceeseeeeeeeaeeeeeesceaaaeneeessesaees approx 7 5 80 mm guide SCOPE 2 SEC CXPOSUIE cccccsseeeeeeceeeneeeeeessnsaaeeeeessenaees approx 8 0 100 MM guide scope 2 SEC CXPOSUIC ccccsssssscssenssssssseseceenaasscesensnanes approx 8 5 FIELD WIDTH AND IMAGE SCALE Scope with F 300mm FOV 51 7x33 0 arcmin scale 4 13 arcsec px Scope with F 500mm
12. s com M LVI CAMERAS 3 Using the SmartGuider The SmartGuider s control paddle features a wide pixel matrix screen whose colors red pixels on a black background and brightness do not compromise the eye s delicate adaptation to darkness In this section we describe the content and functionality of all of the available user screens for a quick and effective overview of their usage please check out the flowchart available in the download section of LVI s web site Most screens can have up to three different options on their bottom line which can be activated by pressing the corresponding button on the control paddle from left to right After connecting the power supply turn the camera on by pressing and holding the central button until the LVI logo shows up shortly thereafter the message YOUR SMARTGUIDER IS READY informs you that the startup phase is complete and the camera has come online Press OK to go to the first user screen In the above screen you can turn off the camera by pressing and holding the left button OFF while selecting BASIC with the central button will take you to the basic settings screen MENU BASIC 3 www lvi cameras com 328 1260813 info lvi cameras com Mi LVI CAMERAS With EXIT you can go back to the previous menu while FOCUS takes you to the next step guide star focusing OPTION enables to adjust the display and keyboard backlight level and the buzzer volume The two basic
13. uide speed to a mid to low value 0 15 0 40X with HIGH aggressiveness On the other hand fainter stars imply a less frequent correction of tracking errors this makes them not as suitable for mounts with an irregular periodic error However long exposure times required by faint stars could come in handy to minimize the influence of bad seeing Here we suggest that the guide speed be set to slightly higher values 0 30 0 50X but with lower i e MILD aggressiveness Medium brightness stars visual magnitude between 3 and 6 generally yield best performance Search of a guide star by the SmartGuider During this process the telescope must not be touched at all nor can the drive motors be operated If and only if the search for the guide star fails you can operate the mount to find a brighter star or to better center the current one in the field of view If the camera does not manage to find a sufficiently bright star a micrometric guide scope support will help and in case an off axis guider is being used the pick off prism and tube can be moved and or rotated to find a brighter star Mount calibration Once calibration is over the parameters are permanently stored into the SmartGuider s internal memory EEPROM for later use provided that the following precautions are taken into account 9 www ivi cameras com 328 1260813 info lvi cameras com Mi LVI CAMERAS 1 Always guide on stars lying in the same si

User Manual - Baader

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