Orion Telescopes & Binoculars Webcam #52098 User's Manual
Contents
1. Disable Guide Output This setting deliberately shuts off the autoguider output for potential troubleshooting measures Autoguiding Tips amp Tricks If all conditions are ideal and your tracking is Superb you typically do not have to alter any of the camera s default settings However if your setup is tracking much worse than usual such as a night with high wind or poor seeing you may need to customize your settings to better adapt to the current conditions in the field Reduce the R A Aggressiveness in the Advanced Parameters menu to better stabilize the guiding during bad seeing or wind gusts You may also want to decrease the R A Aggressiveness if your guiding exposures corrections are set very quickly less than 1 second If the guider sends several corrections per second to the mount the mount s movement may osculate due to the response 23 time of your mount Additionally the varying seeing conditions makes the star appear to jump around rapidly and cause the guider to make unnecessary cor rections sometimes referred to as chasing the seeing If seeing is poor keep the guiding correction intervals exposures to 1 second or more For most guide scopes we recommend setting the autoguide exposures between 1 4 seconds for best results Polar Alignment A good polar alignment of your EQ mount is of critical importance for long expo sure imaging Inaccurate polar alignment leads to field rotation even with the a2. Primary Telescope Main Imaging Scope Your main imaging scope will be used with your main astro imaging camera The main imaging scope can be virtu ally any scope suitable for your CCD or DSLR camera Guide Scope You will need an additional telescope for guiding referred to as a guide scope The guide scope is mounted Swe AT BHC D EF J on top of or beside the main imaging l a iss A A Sa J scope Adjustable guide scope tube Wsstetm3 __ d 0 0 dy 0 0 dst o 1 51 2 Comera_Scope _ No ca rings available from Orion are rec Figure 22 PHD Guiding software ommended and allow you to move the guide scope around without moving the main imaging scope The guide scope is adjusted in the same fashion as a finder scope Because of the high resolution and accuracy of the SSAIO you do not need a large guide scope any small refractor will serve well for this purpose Separate refractor optical tube assemblies such as the Orion Short Tube 80 make excel lent guide scopes The only exception to using a guide scope is to is use an off axis guider which is typically made for Schmidt Cassegrain telescopes The off axis guider uses a prism to intercept a small portion of the light path in front of the camera thus allowing the camera and guider to use the same telescope Off axis guiders require a large amount of inward focus travel which is why they are only suitable for Cassegrain type telescopes Mount An equa
3. age pyp Gradually adjust the telescope focus until you get a sharp image on your computer screen Increase gain and exposure if image too dim You can use the zoom feature as a focus aid Check that you are imaging in color go to the Camera Setup menu and make sure Color Camera is checked 9 Select Global WB in order to set the white balance Figure 7 Your frame rate will depend on your exposure time and computer processor speed Fainter objects will require longer exposures whereas bright objects like Jupiter or the Moon will require very short exposures Start with 100ms exposure and 50 gain and then adjust the exposure as needed for the object you are imaging Imaging Tip To speed up the frame rate and to acquire a rough focus a lit tle quicker select resolution 640x480 2x2 binning mode This will increase the frame rate and operate at 1 4th the resolution of the camera Binning in 2x2 is also useful when using very long focal length telescopes Setup Capture Once you have achieved focus and good color you are ready to capture and save images to your computer 1 Goto Record Options menu Figure 11 and Select Working Folder You can not make a new folder here so you may want to create one using Windows Explorer ahead of time Select the REC Video record format and the SNAP single frame format Select desired filename format from the auto filename options Set the number of seconds or number of frames for your
4. 30 degrees Figure 20 Using the SSAIO with ASCOM ASCOM platform 5 or later and the included ASCOM driver must be installed to use the camera in PHD Guiding The ASCOM driver must also be installed if you wish to use anoth er imaging program other than Orion AstroCap such as MaximDL Figure 20 The Orion Nebula as seen through the Digital finder 1 Install the native camera driv ers and device hardware per the installation section of this manual 2 Install the provided ASCOM driv ers from the CD Launcher menu 3 Using supported ASCOM compat ible software such as Nebulosity or Maxlm DL select ASCOM for the camera type 4 From the ASCOM Camera Chooser select Orion All In One Figure 21 The SSAIO setup for guiding Camera Adjust the gain if neces using the Orion Mini guider with helical sary amp turn ON or OFF 12bit mode focuser via the properties Note If using PHD guiding turn OFF 12 Bit mode If using MaxmDL the capture will be in RAW format To convert to color for mat first select Color gt Convert Color Next choose Generic RGB in the Select Camera drop down menu Next change the offset to X 1 and Y 0 The white balance should now be set to complete color conversion Autoguiding The SSAIO is also a fully functional autoguider Figure 21 The autoguider out put is on board the camera allowing the autoguider cable to connect directly from the camera to your mount s autoguider port 18
5. capture Keep your hard disk space in mind Also AVI captures are segmented into a max of 2GB AstroCap will automatically create a new AVI file to continue capturing if you exceed the max AVI file size Press the REC button to record a movie file in the select format The frame countdown will be displayed in the lower left corner of AstroCap View and Stack After you have captured your images you can review them in RegiStax a free ware program downloadable from the provided web link in the CD Launcher We recommend stacking a minimum of 50 images or more The individual images have low bit depth 255 brightness level counts and background noise Additionally the individual images may be very soft since if you re imaging at high power with or without the use of a Barlow Stacking will improve the poten tial sharpness when processing in RegiStax Stacking several hundred or more images is sometimes appropriate to get the most possible detail Binning The SSAIO can bin 2x2 to achieve 640 x 480 resolution in color Binning in color is a unique feature can provides great versatility to your planetary imaging If you are using a telescope system with very long focal length or if the local seeing conditions are poor you may benefit from binning 2x2 to improve sharpness sensitivity and frame rate Select resolution 640x480 2x2 binning mode Figure 4 15 Lunar Imaging Lunar imaging is similar to planetary imaging Figu
6. check the catalog or OrionTelescopes com for more information 8mm Wide Field Lens Attach the 8mm Wide Field lens to the SSAIO using the CS mount adapter Adjustable Finder Bracket Place the finder bracket into the dovetail finder base on your telescope and lock using thumb screw The bracket base also features a 20 thread underneath to attach to a standard tripod The bracket base can be removed from the rings to reveal another 14 20 thread underneath the rings to also attach to a standard tripod This makes using the camera and bracket with a standard tripod more convenient and portable than using a telescope with mount and tripod Place the SSAIO camera through the rings of the Finder Bracket and adjust the nylon tip screws to center view to be the same as view through telescope Use the reticules built into the software to aid in centering and for use as a digital finder Autoguider cable Plug the autoguider cable into ST4 port located on rear of the SSAIO and also into guide port located on mount Use PHD software for guiding System Requirements Computer The SSAIO requires a PC running Windows XP Vista 7 or 8 The computer hardware should have at least the following e Pentium IIl Processor e CD ROM e Connection to the Internet e 512MB RAM e Disk Space 10GB or more is recommended e Video Display 16 bit color or higher 1280 x 960 or higher is recommended e Mouse e USB High Speed 2 0 port Soft
7. frames to Unlimited This will record Use Suffix ClipNumber RecordNumber continuously until the user presses the Suffix REC button again 50F Frame Time Time Lapse Sec Timelapse MIM LEETLELLE ETLN AE EEE MILES NELT ARLSLSNI f To create time lapse images or movies i g w i St fii vunmit click the checkbox and select number of frames delay before each image is captured Figure 11 Tools Guide Port Interface Connect the SSAIO to mount guide port via included guide cable The guide port interface Figure 12 can be used to center objects when planetary i 100 imaging as well as provide a means to Delay Time check that the guide port and cables E are functioning properly Note This ts not for actual guiding We recommend PHD guiding software which can be downloaded free on the developer s web site via the link on the Unit ms CD launcher Figure 3 i Figure 12 Guide port interface Dark Frame Correction Dark Frame Correction All CCD and CMOS cameras have S Manual aed olAutomatic inherent noise which becomes more apparent with longer exposure images EENDEN If you require taking longer exposures CurDrectory is typically longer than 3 seconds you Dark Frame Quantity may start to see background noise E Capture Dark Field vertical lines and bright dots hot pixels Enable Dark Calibration er Figure 13 Dark Frame Correction To automatically remove the noise and int
8. postage paid Proof of purchase such as a copy of the original receipt is required This warranty is only valid in the country of purchase This warranty does not apply if in Orion s judgment the instrument has been abused mishandled or modified nor does it apply to normal wear and tear This warranty gives you specific legal rights It is not intended to remove or restrict your other legal rights under applicable local consumer law your state or national statutory consumer rights governing the sale of consumer goods remain fully applicable For further warranty information please visit www OrionTelescopes com warranty 28 Specifications Camera Sensor Sensor format Pixel array Pixel Size Exposure Range Max Frame Rate A D Conversion Thermoelectric cooling IR Cut filter Mounting Weight 0z Dimensions Mount connection Autoguide commands Aptina Color CMOS MT9M034 1 3 1280 x 960 1 2Mp 3 7 5um x 3 75um 20us to 10 Minutes SOFPS 1280x960 44 FPS 1024x768 75FPS 800x600 106 FPS 640x480 200 FPS 320x240 On chip 12bit 8 bit output No Yes 1 25 nose piece 45g 31 6mm diameter x 52mm long Via RJ 12 modular jack 6 pin ST 4 output Note Max frame rate dependent upon resolution output format exposure USB speed CPU speed and hard drive speed Orion Telescopes amp Binoculars Corporate Offices 89 Hangar Way Watsonville CA 95076 USA Customer Su
9. INSTRUCTION MANUAL Orion StarShoot All In One Astronomy Camera 52098 on ORION TELESCOPES amp BINOCULARS Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975 Customer Support www OrionTelescopes com contactus Corporate Offices 89 Hangar Way Watsonville CA 95076 USA IN 508 Rev A 08 13 Figure 1 All In One parts list Congratulations on your purchase of the Orion StarShoot All In One Astronomy Camera SSAIO The SSAIO is a high speed CMOS camera designed for astronomical use The ultra fast frame rate up to 200FPS in lowest resolution and up to 30FPS in highest resolution makes the SSAIO ideal for Solar system imaging Planets Moon Sun Long exposures of up to 10 Minutes make the SSAIO capable of imaging many of the Deep Space objects such as Galaxies Nebulas and Clusters The light weight slim form factor sensitivity and built in ST4 port make the SSAIO ideal for use as a guide camera By using the included finder bracket and 8mm lens the SSAIO becomes an advanced digital finder For those with an internet connection the SSAIO can also be used to broadcast live video over the internet when used with services such as Skype or www nightskiesnetwork com In summary the SSAIO can be used for the following purposes e Planetary Imaging e Lunar Imaging e Solar Imaging e Terrestrial Imaging e Entry Level Deep Space Imaging e Wide Field Digital Finder e AutoGuiding e Live inte
10. RE The next slider is for EXPOSURE This is represented in microseconds milliseconds and sec onds Move the slider back and forth to adjust exposure By pressing the but ton displaying the exposure amount a number pad pop up will appear allow ing for more precise settings of the exposure to be entered Figure 6 Figure 6 Exposure number pad Note Choose between MicroSeconds interface us MilliSeconds ms and Seconds s when selecting exposure values Figure 6 Red GAMMA Gamma can be adjusted from 0 7 to 2 2 Green SNAP This will take a still image in the format specified by record options Figure 5 Blue REC This will record a movie the Global WB format specified by record options Figure 5 SPOT WB Figure 7 Color Balance interface Color Balance Press Global WB to automatically set the white balance Figure 7 Or Press SPOT WB and click on image to set white balance Or alternatively use sliders to manually adjust color Focus Aid Select FWHM Full Width Half Maximum and double click on a star on the live image A box will now appear around the star In the Focus Aid window the star can be seen mag nified Figure 8 Adjust focus until the on screen number shows the smallest value Histogram Displays a histogram graph of the live image Can be used to detect under and over exposure Each color channel is displayed show ing on the X Axis the brightness level and the Y Ax
11. dreds of images for stacking in seconds You save time by taking one video instead of dozens of individual pictures 13 It is recommended to capture hundreds or even thousands of frames when planetary imaging The large amount of frames either still images or movie file can then be processed later using stacking and aligning software such as RegiStax to give the best results Since you will be taking multiple images over a period of time it is important you have a decent polar alignment in order to keep the planet within the field of view of the camera To this end having a motor drive at least single axis will also be helpful Otherwise you will periodically need to rotate the R A slow motion knob to keep the planet within the camera s field We recommend a telescope mounted on a motorized altitude azimuth or German Equatorial mount You can potentially capture the Moon or a planetary image with a telescope that does not track however you may not get optimum results The sky moves 15 arcseconds per second If you are imaging through a long focal length telescope you essentially need to track the object or unwanted blurring could occur Setup the Camera and Telescope 1 Locate and center the object you wish to image in your telescope using an eyepiece Plug the SSAIO into your computer s USB port Remove the eyepiece from your telescope and insert the SSAIO Open Orion AstroCap and select a resolution to connect to camera
12. erface hot pixels dark frames are used to subtract the noise and hot pixels from the live images Best results are accomplished by capturing many dark frames and averaging them Median Combine into one resultant frame In order to create dark frames the camera must be covered so that light is blocked from passing into the sensor If using a telescope this can easily be accomplished by placing the lens cap on the telescope In order to first capture dark frames select Automatic Figure 13 Next select the number of images to take Dark Frame Quantity and finally select the Capture Dark Field checkbox The user will now be prompted to cover their telescope and recording will begin When all dark frames have been recorded according to the value in Dark Frame Quantity the user will be prompted to remove the lens cap The user can now select either e Enable Dark Correction This will now subtract the averaged dark frames from the live image to produce a cleaner image e SaveDark button to save the averaged dark frames as a DAT file Once the dark frames have been saved they can be reused at any time by first selecting Manual Load then clicking Load Darks to open file load window in order to select the previously saved Dark frame DAT file and finally selecting Enable Dark Correction Users may choose to record many DAT files at a variety of different exposures to save time later in the field It is important to note that noise a
13. focus You can make this process easier by simply watching the Live Video window to focus Depending upon the viewing conditions you may notice that the image goes in and out of focus this is due to viewing conditions This is to be expected 25 and one of the reasons why post processing software can bring out the best in your captured images Focus as best as possible with the average frame being at best focus to ensure more in focus frames than out of focus Image processing software can then be used to select the best frames to combine for best results and can also reject the poorest frames Use the zoom feature to aid in focusing For long exposure deep space imaging it is best to start with a fast exposure on a nearby bright star and use the Full Width Half maximum FWHM focus tool to achieve the best focus First double click on a bright star A green box will appear around the star and in the Focus tool window one can see a magnified view of the star Using the value displayed at the top of the screen as your guide adjust focus to get this number as small as possible When finished focusing the exposure can be set to a higher desired value Refocus often throughout your imaging session This ensures at least some of your images will have an excellent focus It is also not uncommon for telescope movements to alter the focus slightly so be sure to refocus for any new astro imaging targets Choosing a Site for Astro imaging Once y
14. is the number of pixels at that tone Figure 9 Display LUT Select from a drop down list of false color lookup tables to exchange for the real color Figure 10 Record Options AVI SER BMP JPG TIF amp FIT We recommend AVI format to begin with Figure 11 as this format eas ily stores your capture files as a video which can easily be played back with out any processing and can also later be used to export to post process ing software such as MaximDL or RegiStax Focus Aid Disable Edge Figure 8 FWHM Focus Aid Histogram Figure 9 Histogram graph Display LUT Select LUT Model No LUT Black OverExposure Negative Film UserDefine 1 UserDefine 2 UserDefine 3 Figure 10 Color Lookup Tables UUNVUAUUIULIIILNNT gt gt WH SER and FIT formats are raw captures Fee that can only be done when the cam REC Video Record Format era color is disabled OAV SER Snap Single Frame Format EMP JPG p TIFF e FIT This format is much smaller in data size and produces a much faster cap ture rate Select Working Folder C SoftwareProjects Image processing programs like Use Current folder Use another folder MaxlmDL or RegiStax can convert the raw monochrome images SER or FIT back into color File Sub Folder Options All clips in Current folder When imaging solar system objects we Faas Fiona Gaia recommend setting number of record Use H M S MS Format ed
15. lescope and use an eyepiece to locate an object outside that is 200 yards or more away Plug the SSAIO into your computer s USB port Remove the eyepiece and insert the SSAIO into the 1 25 eyepiece holder on your telescope Figure 15 Open Orion AstroCap and select a resolution to connect to camera If the image is white on the screen it s overexposed Adjust the exposure and gain as needed to reduce the brightness Focus telescope until you get a sharp image on your computer screen Select Global WB in order to set the white balance Figure 7 Experiment with the different camera settings The exposure and gain will be the most frequently used settings 12 Planetary Imaging Planetary imaging is also referred to as Solar System imaging and includes the Moon the Sun with a proper full aperture solar filter the planets and miscellaneous objects in Earth s orbit such as the International Space Station ISS The SSAIO is capable of capturing all these objects in real time Just about any telescope is suitable for the SSAIO when imaging the planets The longer the focal length of the tele scope the larger and more detailed the images will appear Unlike deep space astro imaging you actually want to Figure 16 Top 5x Barlow Middle 3X have a long focal length and focal ratio Barlow Bottom No Barlow for planetary imaging Adding a 2x 3x or higher Barlow to the telescope to increase magnification is
16. lt is C Program Files Orion AlllnOneDrivers Getting Started Let s start by exploring the interface of the capture software Orion AstroCap Dais Bahr lt 1 Taisg Ll 0 Figure 3 The Orion AstroCap software O AlllnOne Fre Emera Favorite Camera Setup Soreen Zoom Tools Help Alinne 1280x960 1024x765 Vi Color Balance 4 s4 30x240 d x480 BINZ2 Focus Aid Histogram Figure 4 Connecting to camera and selecting resolution Yideo Capture 50 S0ms camma REC Figure 5 The video Capture interface showing Gain Exposure and Gamma settings Connect the SSAIO to computer and run the Orion AstroCap software Camera In order to connect with the camera select the desired resolution from the cam era drop down menu Figure 4 When the SSAIO camera is plugged in the Orion AstroCap software will recog nize the camera and display a drop down list of available resolutions Select from the available resolutions to connect to the camera If no camera is seen check cable con nections and camera driver installa tion Video Capture GAIN The fist slider is for GAIN Figure 5 This is represented as a percentage of the total gain Move the slider back and forth to adjust gain By pressing the button displaying the per centage amount a number pad pop up will appear allowing for more precise settings of the gain to be entered EXPOSU
17. mount is pointing too far east Determine which way the star drifted and make the appropriate correction to the azimuth posi tion of the mount Rotate the entire mount and tripod slightly east or west as needed or use the azimuth adjustment knobs if your mount has them to make fine adjustments to the mount s position 6 Next point the telescope at a bright star near the eastern horizon and near the celestial equator Dec 0 7 Let the telescope track for at least five minutes and the star should begin to drift north or south 8 If the star drifts south the telescope mount is pointed too low If the star drifts north the telescope mount is pointed too high Observe the drift and 24 make the appropriate correction to the mount s altitude or latitude most mounts have some sort of fine adjustment for this Repeat the entire procedure until the star does not drift significantly north or south in the eyepiece after a few minutes When this is accomplished you are very accurately polar aligned Autoguiding on a well polar aligned mount will deliver the best results Differential Tube Flexure A common obstacle in guiding with a separate guide scope and imaging scope is differential tube flexure the unwanted movement of a guide scope in relation to the main imaging scope If any part between the autoguider and imager moves or flexes during the exposure then the resulting image will have oblong stars which gives the appeara
18. nce of poor tracking There are a few basic measures to ensure your guide scope is securely in place 1 If your guide scope has a focus lock firmly tighten the focus lock thumb screw after you have focused on your guide star 2 If you are using adjustable guide scope tube rings make sure all thumb screws are firmly tightened against the guide scope tube 3 The guide scope tube rings and mounting plate should be tightened very securely against the main imaging scope Check for any visual flexure or movement by gently pressing against the guide scope 4 The focuser and tube rings on the main imaging scope should also be firmly in place It is not uncommon for screws and bolts to come loose after a few usages so they should be checked before each imaging session Cabling The SSAIO uses only two light weight cables a USB cable and the autoguider cable Keep an eye on the cables as you move the scope around If there is any stress on the cables your tracking will be affected Some imaging cameras use heavy duty cables with significant weight These cables can contribute to differential tube flexure If you are getting images with oblong stars and your tracking appears to be good otherwise try attaching any heavy cables to a secure location on your mount It does not take much resis tance against the autoguider or imager to create poor tracking Tips Focusing One of the hardest things to do in planetary imaging is achieving good
19. nd hot pixels will change according to the temperature so this should also be taken into consid eration Note Dark frames must match the live image exposure and gain values in order to work correctly To test your darks frames keep the lens cap on and view the noise and hotpixels in the live image Now select the checkbox Enable Dark Correction 10 Live Broadcast Included with the software is a WDM driver This driver enables the SSAIO camera to be able to broadcast video over the internet via software such as Orion HandyAVI Lite Included with FishEye accessory or inter net broadcasting services such as NightSkiesNetwork com and Skype Select Live Broadcast from the tools menu within Orion AstroCap then l Figure 14 Overlay and Reticule Select Orion Camera WDM from activated within the broadcasting software Overlay Select Overlay to see an image overlaid on top of the live video The default Image is the Orion Logo Figure 14 Users can add their own overlay by modifying the file overlay jpg Black will be the transparent color Please keep resolution size same as the default file at 1280 x 1024 pixels Reticle Two reticules are included for use in centering targets and to use as a Digital Video Finder when used in combination with the finder bracket and 8mm lens Figure 14 Screen Zoom Zoom is useful for aiding in manual focusing Zoom in on the live image and then pan around to find a target
20. ng software Registax Please note that to use PHD guiding or other capture software such as MaximDL the Camera Driver ASCOM driver and the ASCOM platform must be installed Installing the Camera 1 Once the software installation is complete from the steps above connect the SSAIO to your computers USB port using the provided USB cable 2 In Windows XP a Found New Hardware Wizard will appear Windows 7 8 or Vista will automatically install the device 3 Windows XP will ask if you want to search for drivers and updates online Select No not this time and click Next 4 Next choose Install the software automatically 5 Windows may note that the driver has not passed Windows Logo testing This is normal Click the Continue Anyway button When the Wizard has completed click the Finish button Windows Vista Windows 7 and Window 8 will automatically detect and install the camera to your computer Camera Installation Troubleshooting Tip If Windows is unable to automatically locate and install the camera after you performed the driver installation then install the drivers manually by doing the following 1 With the camera plugged into the USB go to the Device Manager from the Windows Control Panel 2 Locate the Astrolmaging Equipment device tree and right click on the device AlllnOne_B 3 Select Update Driver then browse the file path to the direc tory you installed the drivers the defau
21. nge several settings to better customize the guiding performance of your SSAIO Under nor mal use you should not have to make any major adjustments to the Advanced Parameters All of the calibration and autoguiding is done automatically simply by pressing the PHD Guide icon However the following settings can be adjusted to cater to your specific guiding setup Advanced Parameters R A Aggressiveness Adjusts the percentage of R A correction per step The default value is 100 meaning that the guider will move the full distance of the correction If the seeing conditions are not steady the aggressiveness can be turned down to smooth out the quick movements and reduce the correctional movement R A Hysteresis Implements a percentage of the previous averaged tracking corrections to the current tracking corrections This setting can be useful if you are experiencing some wind or severe periodic error since the guider will partially ignore some of the radical movements and repeat a percentage of the previous tracking corrections 22 Dec Guide Mode Allows Dec guiding to be turned on or off or switched which side of drift to guide on or auto which will find the side of drift N S Dec Algorithm Settings that attempt to smooth the declination corrections to one consistent movement and can be used to resist switching directions in Dec Calibration Step Adjusts how long each guide pulse is during calibration The default is 500 milli
22. noise which becomes more apparent with longer exposure images If you require taking longer exposures typically longer than 3 seconds you may start to see vertical lines and bright dots hot 21 pixels You will get the best guiding performance when your image background looks smooth and black The Gamma Adjustment will help clip the low level background noise by adjusting the slider bar left or right as needed You can also reduce the camera Gain or enable Noise Reduction see Advanced Autoguider Settings Take Dark saves a dark frame which is subtracted from your guiding images to remove most of the noise Dark frames are images taken with the camera Capped from incoming light revealing only the camera noise in the image This noise is subtracted from a light frame which is the image you want to see from the camera To take the dark frame 1 Cap the objective of your guide scope 2 Keep the Exposure Selection set to the same time you wish to use for guid ing For example if you choose 2 0 s then you must keep this exposure time while guiding for the dark frame to be effective Click Take Dark Remove the cap from your guide scope and resume taking pictures or guid ing PHD Guide will automatically subtract the dark frames from all of your exposures To remove the dark frame go to Tools and select Erase Dark Frame Advanced Autoguider Settings The Advanced Parameters the brain icon in PHD allows you to cha
23. not uncommon for planetary imaging Figure 16 The planets and other solar system objects are relatively bright and can be imaged with a darker or slower focal ratio To help capture those brief moments of good seeing planetary imagers can select a smaller resolution to increase frame rates Select 640x480 2x2 binning mode for increased frame rate and sensitivity Figure 4 Select 12bit mode to save in FITS and SER formats and to also improve capture frame rates Larger resolutions are best for long exposure wide field images whereas smaller resolutions are generally better for short exposure high magnification images High power planetary imaging often leaves the best focus up to your eyes when monitoring the live image Use the zoom tool to aid in focus Select the fastest exposure time possible so that images appear less blurred and set the gain as high as possible without introducing too much graininess Experiment with your telescope and camera to find the optimum settings for your particular setup The best planetary images will be obtained by aligning and stacking combin ing many individual images in order to improve image contrast brightness and detail A great way to obtain images for stacking is to take several seconds of video of the planet then import the video into post processing software Since the SSAIO has a maximum frame rate of 30 frames per second at maximum resolution you can literally obtain hun
24. or OrionTelescopes com for more information Care and Maintenance When the SSAIO is not in use the dust cap should be replaced on the end of the nosepiece This prevents dust from accumulating on the SSAIO s optical window The optical window should only be cleaned if significant dust builds up for if the window is touched Any quality optical lens cleaning tissue and optical lens cleaning fluid specifically designed for multi coated optics can be used to clean the glass surface of the SSAIO s optical window Never use regular glass cleaner or cleaning fluid designed for eyeglasses Before cleaning with fluid and tissue blow any loose particle off the surface with a blower bulb or compressed air Then apply some cleaning fluid to a tissue never directly on the optics Wipe the optical surface gently in a circular motion then remove any excess fluid with a fresh lens tissue Use caution rubbing too hard may cause scratches Cleaning products available through Orion check the catalog or OrionTelescopes com for more information One Year Limited Warranty This Orion product is warranted against defects in materials or workman ship for a period of one year from the date of purchase This warranty is for the benefit of the original retail purchaser only During this warranty period Orion Telescopes amp Binoculars will repair or replace at Orion s option any warranted instrument that proves to be defective provided it is returned
25. ou have a focused image you may find your image shifting and washed out This can be caused by many environmental factors Poor seeing movement of molecules in the air such as heat rising and poor transparency moisture smoke or other sky contaminants will all serve to reduce image quality That is why most major astronomical telescopes are on high mountains in thin air to get above much of the seeing and transparency problems Also wind will move your telescope and affect images Your eyes viewing through an eyepiece can change slightly to compensate for disturbances like these but the camera cannot Keep these factors in mind when choosing an observing site for astronomical imaging For the best astro images we recommend finding a location with dry air some altitude and away from city or streetlights Even a nearby hilltop in the coun tryside can provide better viewing conditions than many convenient backyard locations Loss of Camera Connection If the computer connection to the camera is interrupted you will need to re estab lish connection This can happen due to several reasons if a cable becomes unplugged the computer freezes or the software hardware otherwise tempo rarily loses the data coming from the camera To re establish camera connection first close the Orion AstroCap program on your computer Then unplug and re plug the camera into the computer s USB port Now open Orion AstroCap and select camera resolu
26. pport www OrionTelescopes com contactus Copyright 2013 Orion Telescopes amp Binoculars 29
27. re 17 Fast exposure times are required due to the high brightness of the moon Similar tech niques used to align and stack plan etary images can also be used for lunar image processing The current phase of the moon will dic tate the exposure setting due to the vast difference in brightness during each phase Figure 17 Lunar imaging Solar Imaging Warning Always use a full aperture Solar Filter when observing the Sun With a properly fitting full aperture solar filter attached to your telescope you can use the SSAIO to take images of the Sun and the sunspots on its surface Filters available through Orion Check the catalog or OrionTelescopes com for more information Solar imaging like Planetary and Lunar imaging requires fast frame rates and exposure times Terrestrial Imaging Nature and scenic imaging is possible with SSAIO when used with the wide field lens fish eye lens or a telescope When using with a telescope the aperture may need to be stopped down reduced in size in order to reduce the brightness during daytime Deep Space Imaging Long exposures of up to 10 minutes give the user the ability to capture Galaxies Clusters Nebulas Comets and even asteroids Figure 18 Note Long exposures will require a tracking mount with decent polar alignment For best results a guide camera should also be used The longer the exposure the higher the amount of noise and hot pixels there fore automatic dark frame s
28. rnet broadcasting The SSAIO can even be used as a high resolution AllSky camera when used with an optional Fish Eye Lens with meteor detection and time lapse software sold separately Item 52052 All In One AllSky Solution Parts List StarShoot All In One Astronomy Camera SSAIO Par Focal Ring C mount adapter with IR filter CS mount adapter with IR filter 1 25 Nosepiece 8mm Wide Field Lens Adjustable Finder Bracket USB Cable Autoguider cable Software CD Manual Par Focal Ring Attach the ring to the body of the SSAIO and position as desired and lock using thumb screw The ring aids in preventing the SSAIO from falling too far into a focuser and also helps to match the SSAIO focus position to an eyepiece Focus first using your eyepiece then replace eyepiece with SSAIO camera and move camera until near focus Lock the ring at this position so that camera and eye piece are now close to matching focus C Mount and CS mount adapters Use the C mount adapter to attach nosepiece to camera Use the CS mount adapter to attach lenses such as the included 8mm Wide Angle lens or the Fish Eye lens sold separately 1 25 Nosepiece Attach the 1 25 nosepiece to camera using the C mount adapter This is the normal setup for using with a Telescope The nosepiece is fitted with filter threads For light polluted skies we recommend using the Orion SkyGlow Astrophotography filters Item 05559 Filters available through Orion
29. seconds The calibration step can be increased to provide a better sample of movement However if the calibration step is increased too much the guide star will move out of the camera s field of view during calibration Min Motion Number of pixels the star must move before PHD will make a guid ing correction The default is 0 25 pixels Search Region The area in pixels that the guide star is searched for and looked at The default is 15x15 pixels Under normal use this setting should not be changed Noise Reduction Choose from 2x2 mean or 3x3 median to smooth out noise and blur out hot pixels Time Lapse This setting optionally sets a delay between each guiding correc tion For mounts that track exceptionally well you can add a delay between each correction Gain The gain adjusts the camera s internal brightness level and sensitivity The default is 95 If you are experiencing excessive noise or hot pixels you can reduce the gain The camera remains very sensitive as low as 50 gain If you are guiding on a very bright guide star you can afford to turn down the gain and further decrease the noise in your image Force Calibration Enabling this setting makes PHD Guide calibrate every time a new star is chosen If you move your telescope to another object in the sky you will need to recalibrate the autoguider The default has this setting enabled Log Info You can log all actions into a text file saved in the PHD directory
30. sing a Schmidt Cassegrain the off axis guider and main camera should already be attached to the telescope Note Autoguiding can correct for a mount that is poorly polar aligned However the image will be harder to initially locate and center since it will still drift away from the camera s field of view Additionally guiding with a poor polar alignment will eventually cause field rotation in a long exposure image 20 1 Locate center and focus the celestial object you wish to image with your CCD or DSLR camera in your main imaging scope Once you have centered the desired object it is important to make sure the tracking on your mount is engaged so you don t lose the object before the guiding starts 2 Using a low power 1 25 eyepiece locate and center a fairly bright star in your guide scope Do not move the main imaging scope or your object will be lost We recommend using adjustable guide scope tube rings to allow inde pendent movement of the guide scope 3 Remove the eyepiece and insert the SSAIO into your guide scope The Par Focal Ring can be used here to match the focus of the camera to the same as the eyepiece This makes exchanging eyepiece and camera much easier 4 Plug the SSAIO into your computers USB port and connect the autoguider cable from the SSAIO to your mount s autoguide port 5 Run PHD Guiding software Click the Connect to Camera icon and select ASCOM then Orion All In One In the Exposure Selection p
31. telescope and seeing conditions can handle however Experimentation will be needed to see what your telescope is capable of in the seeing conditions on a given night If the image appears somewhat dim and fuzzy on the computer screen you may want to consider removing the Barlow lens Focal Reducers and Barlow lenses available through Orion check the catalog or OrionTelescopes com for more information Solar Filter Warning Always use a full aperture solar filter when viewing the sun With a properly fitting full aperture solar filter attached to your telescope you can use the SSAIO to take images of the Sun and the sunspots on its surface Solar filters available through Orion check the catalog or OrionTelescopes com for more information Flip Mirror As easy as flipping a switch the Imaging Flip Mirror enables the astro photogra pher to find center and focus a target visually with a 1 25 telescope eyepiece then photograph it with a CCD camera All without swapping out any equipment It s a real timer saver making the normally tedious task of focusing with the CCD camera alone easier and quicker Available through Orion check the catalog or OrionTelescopes com for more information 27 USB Extension Cable In many instances it is likely a longer cable for the SSAIO will be needed in order to comfortably setup the telescope camera and computer USB extension cable available through Orion check the catalog
32. tion The Live Video Window should now appear indicating re established connection between cam era and computer 26 Using Focal Reducers and Barlow Lenses Focal reducers serve to decrease the focal length of your telescope This increas es the field of view seen by the camera decreases camera magnification This can be useful for obtaining images of wider objects such as the full Moon or a landscape vista Barlow lenses or other tele extenders increase the focal length of your tele scope which makes the camera field of view narrower increases camera mag nification This is useful for high power planetary images Figure 16 Keep in mind that when the focal length is doubled the image will become four times dimmer so a longer exposure may be necessary For best planetary imaging you should shoot with an effective focal ratio tele scope focal length telescope aperture of F 20 or greater This will give you a good combination of image brightness and image scale for planets For most telescopes a Barlow lens will be required to obtain this focal ratio For example Schmidt Cassegrain telescopes usually have a focal ratio of F 10 A 2x Barlow lens doubles the effective focal length of the telescope which makes the focal ratio f 20 Similarly a 3x Barlow lens will yield of focal ratio of F 30 You can also try using multiple Barlows to obtain even greater effective focal ratios There is a limit to how large a focal ratio your
33. to focus on Focus and then zoom back out Time Stamp When set overlays a timestamp on each recorded frame High Priority Disk write This features reduces the display speed in order to free CPU cycles for the disk write When active this feature adds 300ms delay between frames to make sure the display and hard drive are in sync This can be beneficial for slower hard drives Quality Filter Setting The quality filter setting is a software filter that helps reduce atmospheric jitter by filtering out the out of focus image 11 Camera Setup Color Mono Select between color and mono 12 Bit Image When checked FITS and SER formats become available for image and movie Capture Files can be converted back into color post capture within software such as RegiStax or MaximDL High Speed Readout This feature controls the USB trans fer speed It is used to increase per Figure 15 The SSAIO attached to formance but may not work on some telescope for solar system imaging computers Camera Advanced setting Not normally used but can aid in reducing USB problems USB traffic can be improved by modifying this value If live image seems to be dropping frames or not working at all then try setting USB traffic to 30 to reduce the FPS Using the Camera for the First Time We recommend using the camera for the first time in daylight to become familiar with the software interface and camera settings 1 Setup your te
34. torial mount with dual axis motors and a RJ 12 autoguide port is required Just about any equatorial mount equipped with an autoguide port will work with the SSAIO The SSAIO is ST 4 compatible which uses the same pin out config uration as the first generation CCD autoguiders Most computerized goto mounts also have this autoguide port For short exposure deep space photography typi cally 45 seconds or less the SSAIO can successfully guide with a computer ized altitude azimuth or fork mounted telescope popular among computerized Schmidt Cassegrain telescopes However guided exposures longer than one minute in an altitude azimuth mount will cause field rotation to occur in the image 19 A Connect to Camera Selects and connects to the autoguider camera l Choose ASCOM camera Then select the All In One camera from the menu B Connect to Telescope To connect the SSAIO to your mount go to the Mount menu and select On Camera The SSAIO will automatically send commands to the autoguide port on your mount once it s plugged in C Looping Exposures Takes continuous exposures for acquiring and focusing the guide star D PHD Guide Automatically calibrates and guides Once your guide star is found and focused simply click on the star and click PHD Guide The rest is automatic E Stop Stops either calibrating guiding or looping exposures F Exposure Selection Choose from 14 different exposure times for the camera G G
35. ubtraction can be used to calibrate images real time Figure 13 thereby vastly reducing the post processing time later on This fea ture also gives the best live view Focusing can be tricky with long exposures therefore it is recommended to first start with a shorter exposure in order to frame your target and get best possible focus Use the zoom tool and the FWHM focus tool in order to achieve best focus 16 Figure 18 Deep Space Imaging Select FWHM and double click on a bright star A green box will appear around the star and in the Focus tool window one can see a magnified view of the star Figure 8 Using the value displayed at the top of the screen as your guide adjust focus to get this number as small as possible When finished focusing the exposure can be set to a higher desired value Take as many frames as possible for combining later in post processing software such as RegiStax This will reduce noise and give best details Figure 19 The SSAIO configured as a digital finder Digital Video Finder Included with the SSAIO is a finder bracket with adjustable thumb screws and an 8mm wide field lens Figure 19 The bracket attaches to a standard finder scope saddle found on the majority of telescopes Loosen the thumb screw on the lens and rotate end of lens to focus Once focused locked down using thumb screw 17 The 8mm focal length F1 0 wide field lens gives a Field of View of approxi mately
36. uide Star Box When a guide star is selected a green box appears around it PHD Guiding will display the pixel coordinates of the star in the lower left screen When the calibration routine starts yellow crosshairs are displayed around the box When the autoguiding begins the crosshairs turn green This box does not appear until a guide star has been selected See Start Autoguiding H Gamma Adjustment Adjust the apparent screen brightness level in the image by moving the slider bar left brighter or right fainter Advanced Parameters Control the camera and guiding routine settings You do not typically have to adjust the advanced parameters For very bright guide stars or for daytime testing the camera gain can be adjusted in this menu See Advanced Autoguider Settings for more detail about this menu J Take Dark Frame Captures and internally saves a dark frame that is automatically subtracted from future exposures Be sure to cap the scope s objective when taking a dark frame Figure 23 PHD Guiding key to icons PHD Guiding The SSAIO with the use of PHD Guiding Push Here Dummy software makes the task of autoguiding simple and easy to setup The calibration and guiding is automatic once you initially find and focus a guide star Your telescope must first be prepared for astro imaging Make sure your mount is polar aligned well Your guide scope should be securely attached to your main imaging scope or if you are u
37. ull down menu select 2 0 s Click on the Looping Exposures icon to begin continuously taking pictures Gradually move the focus inward on your guide scope until you see the star come into focus As you get close to focused the camera may start detecting several faint background stars 9 Click on the star you want to guide on A green guide star box should appear around the star you selected In the lower left corner of PHD Guiding the pixel coordinates of the star will be displayed If the star is too bright PHD Guiding will warn you with a message at the bottom of the screen if so you can choose a fainter guide star or reduce the exposure time 10 Click the PHD Guide icon and the calibration will begin The rest is auto matic Yellow crosshairs are displayed around the guide star box when the calibration starts The calibration is automatic and takes a few minutes When the calibration is complete the autoguiding begins automatically and the crosshairs turn green You are now ready to take astro images with precise tracking Note Be patient while PHD Guiding completes the calibration The tele scope cannot be disturbed during the calibration process It is just as criti cal not to touch the telescope during calibration as it is when exposing an astro image The calibration ensures that the AutoGuider knows the move ments and tracking behaviors of your mount Dark Frames and Noise Reduction All CCD and CMOS cameras have inherent
38. utoguider tracking If your equatorial mount uses a polar axis finder scope we highly recommend utilizing it for polar alignment If not a technique known as the drift method of polar alignment has been used for many years and can achieve an extremely accurate polar alignment Unfortunately it is very time consuming since the drift of a star over time must be observed The basic idea is to let the telescope mount track while watching a star to see which way the star drifts Note the direction of the drift and correct by moving the mount in the appropriate direction To perform the drift method of polar alignment 1 Do a rough polar alignment by pointing the R A axis of the mount at Polaris the NorthStar 2 Finda bright star near the meridian the imaginary line running north to south through zenith and near the celestial equator zero degrees declina tion Point the telescope at this star and center it in an illuminated reticle eyepiece available from Orion If you don t have an illuminated reticle eye piece use your highest magnification eyepiece 3 Determine which way is north and south in the eyepiece by moving the tele scope tube slightly north and south 4 Now let the mount s motor drive run for about five minutes The star will begin to drift north or south Ignore any east to west movement 5 If the star drifts north the telescope mount is pointing too far west If the star drifts south the telescope
39. ware and Driver aes j oe Installation SOHAN Before the SSAIO can be used soft STARSH IOOT ware and camera drivers must be installed onto your computer m a or Em S Do not connect the camera to your computer before you have installed the i software jp install WOM Driver Install Captur resenim Software Installation pe 1 Insert the CD ROM and wait for the Launcher window to appear foe website Figure 2 If you are using Da NE Bvicowncae Windows Vista or Windows 7 the AutoPlay window will appear first Figure 2 The launcher window and then select Run autorun exe 2 When the launcher appears select Install Camera Driver Next select between 32bit and 64bit depending upon your target PC Go through the prompts until the driver is installed 3 Once the camera driver is installed select Install Capture Software which will install Orion AstroCap Go through the prompts until the software is installed 4 If you intend to use the SSAIO as an autoguider or if you wish to use the camera to image in a program other than Orion AstroCap select Install ASCOM Camera Driver A link is provided to also download the ASCOM platform which is necessary to use with the ASCOM driver 5 If you intend to use the SSAIO to broadcast over the internet select Install WDM Driver Go through the prompts until the driver is installed 6 Links are also provided in order to download PHD Guiding software and post processi
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