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Orion 52084 User's Manual

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3. 10 Obtaining First Images 10 Screen Stretch Window 13 2 Astronomical Imaging 14 A Note about the 14 FOCUSING x tat poe o d dnd a ee cdd 15 Imaging Deep Sky Objects 17 Dark Frames 18 Flat 19 Image Processing 21 Dark Frame 21 Flat Field 23 Convert Raw to 23 Combining Deep Sky 24 Combine 5 26 26 Color Balance 27 eae Pe 28 Recommended Processing 29 Note on File 30 Batch lt 5 30 4 Using the StarShoot Pro as an 31 Computer to Mount Connection 33 Autoguider Calibration 35 Multiple Camera Control For Autoguiding 37 5 Other Features of Maxim DL Essentials 37 Edit 37 AUI Cm 38 Window Menu 3
4. 10 Click the Stop button 11 Set Seconds somewhere between 0 002 and 0 1 seconds or longer for fainter stars 12 Click Expose 13 Carefully watch the FWHM and Max Pixel values in the Camera Control Window Figure 11 The FWHM Full Width Half Maximum indicates the diameter of the star The Max Val is the brightness value for the brightest pixel in the star The smaller the FWHM and the larger the Max Pixel the closer you are to focused 14 Adjust the focus as needed to get the smallest FWHM and largest Max Pixel possible The Max Pixel should stay well below 65535 as this is the saturation level for the camera If the Max Pixel approaches 65535 reduce the exposure time or try selecting a fainter star Paying attention to these values will help you get a very accurate focus far better than simply look ing at the star image on your screen 15 Click Stop once you reach the best focus and click Reset in the Subframe section at the bottom of the Camera Control window Figure 12 Before proceeding to take images set the Mode box back to Single Note Due to atmospheric seeing conditions you may notice significant fluc tuation in the FWHM and Max Pixel values while focusing You typically have to take multiple exposures each time you adjust the focuser to determine the quality of your focus 16 Expose Guide Mode Light 1x1 01 Seconds Single SOIN 8 Piel 1696
5. 005592014 99 2 10109 10 49 1 1919J1S Se yons sjueuisn pe 19410 IYLN t saDeuul y euiquio 53 Notes 54 55 One Year Limited Warranty This Orion StarShoot Pro is warranted against defects in materials or workmanship 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 defec tive provided it is returned postage paid to Orion Warranty Repair 89 Hangar Way Watsonville CA 95076 If the product is not registered proof of purchase such as a copy of the original invoice is required 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 and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state For further warranty service information contact Customer Service Department Orion Telescopes amp Binoculars 89 Hangar Way Watsonville CA 95076 800 676 1343 Orion Telescopes amp Binoculars 89 Hangar Way Watsonville CA 95076 Customer Support Help Line 800 676 1343 Day or Evening OrionTelescopes com 56
6. 161 1599 FWHM 3 78 HFD 115 59 y Figure 12 Click Reset in the Subframe box after you have achieved focus Caution Once you have achieved focus be sure to click the Reset button at the bottom of the camera control window otherwise the camera will crop all your images into a small square Imaging Deep Sky Objects Capturing impressive images of deep sky objects such as galaxies nebu lae and star clusters require long exposures You will take several individual images and stack them together to form one high quality resultant image just as you would with planetary imaging But while planetary images are formed by stacking many exposures of less than 5 seconds deep space images will generally be comprised of individual images of a minute or longer Note that the StarShoot Pro is also capable of capturing planetary images To increase the image scale of the planets a barlow lens is recommended See Tips Using Focal Reducers and Barlow Lenses Very accurate polar alignment is essential for deep sky imaging Stars will streak across the field of view without precise polar alignment and tracking Longer exposures of 60 seconds or more also require autoguiding with a separate camera The Orion StarShoot AutoGuider can be operated with the StarShoot Pro in Maxlm DL Essentials To start 1 Acquire and center the deep sky object into the field of view of your eye piece If you are using a mount with an accu
7. View Menu Zoom Increases or decreases level of image magnification on computer screen When you zoom in too much you will start to see the squares of indi vidual pixels When zoomed in you can use Quick Pan simply hold down the Ctrl key then left click and drag the mouse on the image Night Vision Toggles Night Vision mode The red background helps preserve your night vision FITS Header Window The FITS Header Window can be used to inspect the image FITS header which stores information about the image FITS is the stan dard storage format for astronomical images The window can remain open as a floating toolbox without interfering with other commands If several images are opened at once you can view the FITS header of each image by clicking on it with the mouse Note that if you make changes to the image they are not reflected in the viewer until the image is saved Toolbar Selecting this creates a toolbar of quick command buttons at the top of the Maxim DL Essentials program window This can be a handy way to perform functions especially when in the field and wearing gloves Status Bar displays information on the current operation when highlighted in its selection menu but not actually selected yet the contrast ratio for the selected open image the size of the currently selected image the zoom factor the coordinates of the mouse on the image the intensity of the pixel under the cursor and for color images t
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9. Set the Screen Stretch Window to Medium or otherwise manually adjust for best image appearance and use Save under the File menu to save your image You can now perform any wanted imaging processing Combine Methods We previously mentioned in Imaging Deep Sky Objects that Average is one of the methods to combine your images There are three other methods that will achieve slightly different results Sum Median and Sigma Clip Each of these methods will improve your image by stacking it but each one combines the images in different ways 1 Average sums all the pixels and divides by the number of images chosen to combine 2 Sum adds up all the pixels in the images This will increase the Max Pixel value and the offset in the Screen Stretch window If you Sum the image the file should be saved as a fit in IEEE Float beyond 16 bits to preserve all the data in the image 3 Median takes the middle pixel value from all of the images The Median mode is useful when some pixels are extremely bright or dark hot dark pixels cosmic ray hits If Median mode is used a Normalize option is available Normalize will remove differences in the image scaling which could interfere with the median processing 4 Sigma Clip combines the best features of Average and Median Sigma Clip is the best choice for removing unwanted noise hot pixels and satel lite trails It works like Average but also calculates the standard deviation of the aver
10. tryside can provide better viewing conditions than many convenient backyard locations Using Focal Reducers and Barlow Lenses Focal reducers and barlow lenses change the effective focal length of a tele scope These lenses are inserted between the camera and telescope when imaging to change image scale Focal reducers serve to decrease the focal length of your telescope This increases the field of view seen by the camera decreases camera magnifi cation This can be very useful for obtaining images of wide field deep sky 40 objects such as the Andromeda Galaxy or the Pleadies star cluster Focal reducers will usually thread onto the nosepiece of the StarShoot Pro Barlow lenses increase the focal length of your telescope which makes the camera s field of view narrower increases camera magnification This is use ful for planetary imaging Keep in mind that when the focal length is doubled the image will become four times dimmer so a longer exposure may be nec essary Barlow lenses are generally inserted in the focuser s drawtube and secured with the thumbscrew on the focuser s drawtube and the StarShoot Pro s nosepiece is inserted into the barlow and secured with the thumbscrew on the barlow lens Filters Any standard Orion 2 filter will thread into the 2 nosepiece of the StarShoot Pro Light pollution filters or special light pollution filters designed for imaging such as the Orion SkyGlow Imaging Filter impro
11. Expose button You should see the out of focus star in the image If you do not see anything you need to increase the exposure time 6 Check that the Subframe section at the bottom of the Camera Control window has both the On and Mouse boxes checked on 7 Draw a small box around the unfocused star with your mouse hold click and drag the mouse cursor around the star to draw the box Figure 10 15 Expose Mode Light Color 1x1 1 Frames Dark Cami Single a Subtract Setup Cam2 Stop Autosave Camera Idle 5 images to Folder Max Pixel 2091 at 512 383 Base FWHM 5 00 5 39 filename Dark Figure 11 The FWHM and Max Pixel in the Camera Control Window help determine the best focus 8 In the Camera Control Window in the box below the Mode box select Focus Click Expose The camera will only download the area you previ ously selected which makes each image download significantly faster than the whole frame Note If the StarShoot Pro is grossly out of focus no object will appear in the image not even a blur Increase the exposure time if needed and patiently move through the focus range of your telescope until you see the centered star come into view 9 Gradually adjust the telescope s focuser inward until the star visually comes to a small point on your computer screen You have achieved a rough focus Some small adjustments remain to get a perfect focus
12. Windows asks to automatically search for drivers online and click Next 5 Select Install from a list or specific location Advanced and click Next 6 Select Search removable media floppy CD ROM Turn off the other options Click Next Windows will start looking for the driver files on the CD ROM 7 Windows will note that the driver has not passed Windows Logo testing This is normal Click the Continue Anyway button 8 Click the Finish button when the wizard has completed A message will appear in your Windows task bar Device Installed Successfully 9 Start the Maxim DL Essentials Edition software The camera will auto matically be recognized and the Camera Control Window Figure 6 will appear To install the camera driver on Windows Vista computer 1 Insert the CD ROM into the computer 2 Connect the Orion StarShoot Pro to a USB port on the computer with the supplied USB cable 3 Plug the supplied power cable into a 12VDC power source and connect the cable to the StarShoot Pro The cooling fan will automatically power on Windows will automatically detect the camera and display the Found New Hardware window Figure 5b Select Locate and install driver software recommended In the next window that appears select Don t search online The next window that appears will ask you to Insert the disk that came with your StarShoot Camera Click Next 7 Windows Security window will appear and mention tha
13. cardboard over the front of the telescope so that it completely covers the aperture except for the 1 2 circle If you are using a refractor telescope then the hole should be cut so it is centered on the piece of cardboard If you are using a reflector that has a central aperture obstruction then the hole should be cut off to one side in order to bypass the central obstruction Affix your aperture mask to your telescope with tape Figure 7 Obtaining First Images To obtain first images in daylight with the StarShoot Pro follow these step by step instructions 1 With an eyepiece inserted in the telescope center and focus on an object approximately 14 mile away If you cannot focus your telescope to an object this close due to lack of back focus travel then you will need to utilize an optional extension tube available from Orion 2 Plug the camera into your computer s USB port Plug the power cable into the StarShoot Pro with your 12VDC power source already connected The cooling fan should automatically power on 10 Figure 7 Because the StarShoot Pro is sensitive to light an aperture mask is needed on the telescope for any imaging during daylight For a refractor the hole should be centered on the aperture mask For a reflector the hole should be off to one side of the aperture mask 4 Open Maxim DL Essentials by clicking on the icon installed on your com puter s desktop Once open Essentials should automat
14. day with an optional full aperture solar filter over the front of the telescope Take some time to use the camera and Maxim DL Essentials software during the day to become familiar and comfortable with their basic operation 12 Screen Stretch Gace 4 Miriam Maximum 22151 4 22893 4 Update Figure 9 A histogram is a visual representation of the range and Range of brightness levels 9 levels of brightness in an image brightness level Number of pixels at Screen Stretch Window The function of the Screen Stretch Window Figure 8 is to properly map the image brightness levels captured by the camera into corresponding image brightness levels on the computer screen A typical camera image has each pixel light detecting site over six million pixels form a single StarShoot Pro image represented as a number from 1 to 65535 depending on brightness This has to be mapped into the video monitor s brightness range from 1 to 255 It is important to set the screen stretch appropriately or a great image may look terrible When an image is displayed you will notice a graph in the Screen Stretch Window This is called the histogram of the currently displayed image Figure 9 A histogram is a simple bar graph that shows the range of brightness in an image Each bar in the graph represents a level of brightness the bar to the far left in the histogram represents the dimmest
15. or doughnuts in your images It s too late to clean your camera if you are already imaging in the field at night And even when the camera is clean dust usually finds a way to show up in your images Telescope Artifacts Very large particles or other artifacts in your telescope can effect your astro images Insufficient telescope baffling or poor collimation can also cause unsymmetrical field illumination in your images To take a flat field image 1 Ensure that the telescope is focused and ready for astro imaging 2 Point the telescope at a uniform and featureless light source like the sky at dusk or dawn or a blank white sheet of paper Make sure the camera orientation is exactly the same as it is or was for astro imaging Although the telescope is pointing at a featureless surface the focus and orientation must be set as it normally would be for astro images 3 Set the Mode in the Camera Control window to Light Raw 1x1 20 Select Single in the box beneath Mode 5 Set the Seconds to 0 1 for now and click Expose You want the Max Pixel to read somewhere around 20000 Adjust the exposure time as needed until the Max Pixel is close to 20000 Select Autosave 5 10 images in the box beneath Mode Choose a file name to save your flat fields You should include flat in the file name to easily find it later e g OrionNebulaFlat The flat fields also need dark frames 8 Set the Mode in the Camera Control window to Dark
16. or on Update Wieb site with pour permission cur piracy policy Locate and install driver software recommended Window will guide you through the process of insta lling driver software m for your Can winder connect ta Windows Update to saach DECRE WES Ask me again later Window wall atk again the next time yeu plug in pour dence or log an CO Yea this me onip es neo even bra conned a device s Ma mot thir time Don t show this message again for this device Your device will not function until you install driver software Gick c nlinum 5b Figure 5a When initially connecting the StarShoot Pro to a Windows computer the Found New Hardware Wizard will appear and guide you through driver installation Figure 5b When initially connecting the StarShoot Pro to a Windows Vista computer the Found New Hardware window will appear and guide you through driver installation 2 Click Install The InstallShield Wizard will start Click Next Read the Maxim DL License Agreement If you agree with the terms then select accept the terms in this license agreement and click Next 5 Click Install The installation will proceed 6 The installation is now complete Click the Finish button You can start Maxim DL Essentials Edition using the desktop icon or using the Windows Start menu 9 Camera Driver Install
17. pixels and the bar to the far right is for the brightest pixels The height of the bar is the total number of pixels at that brightness level in the image Every image has a different histo gram depending on how much of the image is bright or dark Directly viewing the histogram of your image in the Screen Stretch Window provides an easy interface for making decisions on how the screen stretch should be set In Maxim DL Essentials the two parameters entered in the Screen Stretch Window are Minimum and Maximum A pixel that is at the Minimum value is set to zero black and a pixel at the Maximum value is set to 255 white An easy way to adjust the Maximum and Minimum values is to move the slider arrows located directly under the histogram of the image in the Screen Stretch Window The red slider arrow corresponds to the Minimum value and the green arrow corresponds to the Maximum value Simply left click and then drag each arrow to adjust it to the desired level The best results are obtained by adjusting the arrows numbers until the most pleasing display appears There are also seven automatic settings in the Screen Stretch Window Typically Medium will give good results for deep sky objects so the default screen stretch setting is Medium Instead of using the Screen Stretch Window it is faster to use the Quick Stretch facility This allows you to modify the image appearance instantly with small up down and left right movements 13 of
18. thumbscrew Telescope T threads 1 sd 1 4 ICM E ae m 2 E 4 gt Figure 2a The StarShoot Pro fits into a 2 focuser just like a standard 2 eyepiece Firmly tighten the thumbscrew that secures the StarShoot Pro in the focuser Figure 2b If your telescope has T threads remove the nosepiece from the StarShoot Pro and thread the camera directly onto the telescope This provides the most secure connection If your telescope has T threads for direct camera attachment a more secure connection can be made First unthread the nosepiece from the SS Pro This exposes the camera s T threads Then simply thread the camera onto your telescope Figure 2b The camera requires approximately 0 7 18mm of inward focus travel relative to where a standard eyepiece focuses with your telescope If your telescope does not have enough inward focus travel you will need to use an optional 2 barlow lens to extend the telescope s focal plane to the camera s imaging plane Some telescopes such as refractors may require the use of an extension tube avail able from Orion to provide enough outward focus for the StarShoot Pro The large 1 8 format imaging chip gives the StarShoot Pro an ample field of view through most telescopes See Appendix B Field of View Quick Reference Guide for a list of the field of view provided by several common telescopes The camera s pixel size and sensitivity make the StarShoot Pro suit
19. window click the Close button Some telescope mounts such as the Orion Atlas EQ G and Sirius EQ G uti lize an ST 4 compatible autoguider jack For easiest autoguiding with these mounts we recommend purchasing the optional USB Guide Port interface GPUSB This adapter box will translate the autoguiding computer commands from Maxim DL Essentials into ST 4 pulse commands GPUSB connects to the computer s USB port instead of the COM port A cable then connects the GPUSB to the mount In addition to installing the ASCOM platform on your computer from the Install ASCOM button in the Launcher you will need to install the GPUSB ASCOM driver downloadable from the Orion website www OrionTelescopes com Then you can select the GPUSB in the ASCOM Telescope Chooser Other telescope mounts accept commands in the LX200 Protocol For these mounts it is not necessary to install the ASCOM platform to have the com puter talk to the mount To setup the autoguider for mounts that use the LX200 Protocol 1 Connect the StarShoot Pro to your computer and open the Maxim DL Essentials software In the Camera Control Window click on the Guide tab Click on the Settings button 4 In the window that pops up select LX200 Protocol for the Autoguider Output Control Via Select the COM Port of the computer you would like to use to send commands to the telescope 5 Click the Apply button then click the Close button 34 Autoguider Cal
20. 8 Help 39 D 39 Polar 39 Choosing a Site for Astro imaging 40 Using Focal Reducers and Barlow Lenses 40 PICS ues ee 41 USB Extension Cable 41 Care and Maintenance 41 7 5 42 Appendix A Troubleshooting 43 Appendix Field of View Quick Reference Guide 46 Appendix C Summarized Procedure to Imaging Deep Sky Objects 51 e Figure 1 To use the StarShoot Pro a telescope mount and computer are required An autoguiding system is recommended 1 Getting Started Parts List e StarShoot Pro Deep Space Color Imager 10 USB cable e 12 DC power cable with lighter plug e CD ROM e Hard carrying case System Requirements refer to Figure 1 Telescope The StarShoot Pro can be used with most telescopes compatible with 2 for mat eyepieces The camera is simply inserted into a focuser in the same way as a standard eyepiece Figure 2a The camera is also compatible with 1 25 focusers that include camera T threads Caution Be sure to always firmly tighten the thumbscrew s that secure the StarShoot Pro in the telescope focuser or it could fall out and onto the ground 4 Securing
21. INSTRUCTION MANUAL Orion StarShoot Pro Deep Space Color Imager 52084 5 TXw CAMERA gt ORION TELESCOPES 5 BINOCULARS Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975 Customer Support 800 676 1343 E mail support telescope com OrionTelescopes com Corporate Offices 831 763 7000 89 Hangar Way Watsonville CA 95076 IN 336 Rev B 02 09 Welcome to the exciting world of astro imaging Your new StarShoot Pro Deep Space Color Imaging camera is capable of capturing impressive celestial objects like galaxies star clusters and nebulae as well as the planets Moon and the Sun with an optional solar filter You can showcase spectacular images on your computer share them on the internet or print them The camera s large 6 mega pixel array enables full sized 8 x10 prints suitable for publishing Please read this instruction manual before attempting to use the camera or install the needed software For the most detailed information on specific camera and software functions consult the Maxim DL Essentials Help menu the tutorials found there are especially useful for familiarizing yourself with the software and camera Table of Contents 1 Getting Started 4 4 System 5 4 Software and Driver Installation 7 Getting Started During Daylight
22. Raw 1x1 9 Rename the Autosave file to include darkflat so you can easily find the file later when calibrating 10 Use the same exposure time as your flat field and click Expose Light and Dark 2x2 Modes For added convenience and versatility the StarShoot Pro s individual pixels light detecting sites can be binned into units of two by two pixels i e four individual pixels create one binned 2x2 pixel This creates larger and more sensitive pixels but with decreased resolution This can be useful for some types of astronomical imaging such as capturing faint nebulae It can also be useful for quickly checking the image centering and orientation before using the normal Light Raw 1x1 mode to actually capture images To use in 2x2 mode select Light Mono 2x2 mode for capturing light images and Dark Mono 2x2 mode to capture dark frames for averaging and subtracting Images can be combined and processed in the same way as Light Raw 1x1 images By binning the images in 2x2 you will bypass the RGB filter built into the cam era so the resulting binned images will be black and white without the ability to convert to color 3 Image Processing After all your image data is captured you are ready to process your images to a final resultant image All of your light images dark frames and flat fields must be processed to create your final astro image Maxlm DL Essentials also contains additional image processing functio
23. SDSI cameras 1 Plug both cameras one at a time into the USB ports on your computer Install the drivers for each camera as detailed prior in this instruction manual 2 Open the Maxlm DL Essentials software In the Camera Control Window that appears you will notice the Cam 1 and Cam 2 selection circles are now active in the Expose tab 3 Choose which camera you would like to image with by clicking on the appropriate selection circle You may want to take a short test exposure with each camera just to make sure everything is working OK 4 Click on the Guide tab You will again see the Cam 1 and Cam 2 selection circles and the camera not currently selected for imaging in the Expose tab should be automatically selected for autoguiding 5 Other Features of Maxim DL Essentials Edit Menu Flip Flips image orientation Folds image about vertical center Mirror Creates mirror image of current image orientation Crop Lets you select an area of the total image and then discards the remainder of the image Use your computer s mouse and left click button to select the region of the image you wish to keep and click the OK button to discard the rest of the image Undo Redo Lets you step backward and forward during image process ing If you perform a function improperly or do not like the results you can select Undo to return the image to its prior appearance Redo performs the undone function once again 37
24. Shoot Pro can be used as an autoguider to take the place of the observer so that no manual guiding corrections are needed during long expo sure imaging Keep in mind however that when the StarShoot Pro is used in this way you will need another telescope and camera on the mount to actually take images with the StarShoot Pro takes the place of the observer viewing through the guide scope but cannot autoguide and image at the same time So in order to use the StarShoot Pro as an autoguider the following equip ment will be required e Astronomical telescope mount capable of accepting autoguider drive commands e Cable to connect computer serial port to mount s autoguider jack mount specific e Main telescope for imaging e Camera for imaging e Guide scope for guiding e Any required rings or brackets for guide scope attachment to the mount along with the main telescope Computer to Mount Connection In order for autoguiding with the StarShoot Pro to work you need a way to send commands from the computer to the telescope mount This is generally done with a cable connecting the computer s serial COM port to the mount s autoguider jack this cable is generally mount specific so contact the dealer you purchased your mount from for the proper cable for your mount If your telescope mount is supported by the ASCOM platform it is a simple task to setup the autoguider to send commands through the computer to the telescop
25. USB cable could interfere with the data as it is uploaded from the camera to the computer If you are using a USB extension cable keep the total length between the camera and computer to 20 or less The images look very noisy overall Take a 15 second dark frame and inspect the image data Position the mouse cursor over a dark part of the image The Max Pixel should be somewhere between 500 and 5000 If the Max Pixel value is significantly higher than 5000 please consult Orion s Customer Service The camera lost its connection Attempt to re establish the connection The camera can lose connection for several reasons if a cable becomes unplugged the computer freezes or the software hardware otherwise temporarily loses the data coming from the camera To re establish camera connection first close the Maxim DL Essentials program on your computer Then unplug and re plug the camera into the computer s USB port Open Maxim DL Essentials and the Camera Control Window should appear indi cating re established connection between camera and computer If you are unable to resolve your problem with the information provided here please contact Orion s Customer Service at 800 676 1343 or email support telescope com 45 2801 X 9991 656 X c 80 Jo 9129 34 JO 9122 JO pjal4 1ejnDuy 1 1 2204 9002 9191 eui pue uoo eui s 2 fqo
26. abel your autosaved images Select Calibrate from the Process menu and the flats will be calibrated If you have taken darks and flats you can calibrate all of them at the same time Figure 15 Convert Raw to Color Once you have calibrated your images you need to convert them to color 1 Open the raw images you wish to convert to color If you need to convert more than 5 images or so please refer to Batch Processing as this method allows you to combine an unlimited number of images without consuming more memory from your computer Select Convert Raw to Color in the Process menu Select StarShoot Pro High Quality in the Camera Type pull down menu Figure 16 Click OK and the image should appear in color You can make several adjustments to the Color Balance if needed see Color Balance 23 Figure 17a Before your images are combined an individual deep space image will have more noise and less detail Figure 17b Combining multiple deep space images greatly increases the detail in the resulting combined image Combining Deep Sky Images Each individual deep sky image is faint and has a noticeable amount of noise Combining the individual deep sky images eliminates the noise and enhances the detail in the deep sky object by improving the signal to noise ratio The more images you combine the better the resulting image will look Figure 17a and Figure 1756 Now that you have multiple images of the deep sky objec
27. able for most telescopes Because the StarShoot Pro uses a larger format CCD chip a telescope with a 2 focuser is recommended to for full field illumination You can still use the camera with a 1 25 focuser if it has optional T threads however some vignetting edge darkening may occur in the images mb gt ruts Cooling fan 45 cer USB cable Figure 3 The 12VDC power cable and USB cable turn the camera on when plugged in Mount Deep sky imaging with the StarShoot Pro requires an equatorial mount with a right ascension R A motor drive The goal for your mount is to seamlessly track the apparent movement of the sky as the Earth rotates The tracking must be very accurate or the object you want to image will drift and blur across the camera s field of view while the exposure is taken Even a small amount of drift will cause a star to look oblong instead of a round point We recommend using a high quality equatorial mount which utilizes periodic error correction PEC or has the ability to interface with an autoguider Computer The StarShoot Pro requires a PC to operate the camera For astro imaging in the field at night a laptop computer is highly recommended The included software is Maxim DL Essentials which requires Windows XP or Windows Vista operating systems Note The StarShoot Pro drivers and Maxlm DL Essentials do not support 64 bit ope
28. aged pixel values The Sigma Factor will determine how many pixels from the standard deviation are discarded The lower the Sigma Factor the more pixels are discarded 0 5 is a good value to start with A new average is calculated without the discarded pixel This value is assigned to the corresponding pixel in the output image Filter Filtering an image is an operation that emphasizes certain characteristics of an image while suppressing others Maxlm DL Essentials supports two kinds of filters Unsharp Mask and Gaussian Blur In the Filter window select which one of these filter types you would like to apply Unsharp Mask is a method of sharpening or high pass filtering an image It amounts to subtracting a low pass filtered version of an image from itself The low pass filtered version is called the mask The Low Pass Filter itself can be set to Mild or Strong for different effect Use Mask Weight to control the strength of the mask applied to the image The Mask Weight is in percent the higher the number the stronger the mask Gaussian Blur is a method of blurring an image It can be used to suppress noise in an image at the expense of sharpness The Radius setting controls 26 Eel TE TN CUTEM J E ee Sle oe Dor At M meie OO Figure 19 The Color Balance command allows weighting of each fugiae tot uc ira
29. and used in accordance with the instruc tions may cause harmful interference to radio communications However there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installa tion If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver 42 Connect the equipment into an output on a circuit different from that to which the receiver in connected Consult the dealer or an experienced radio TV technician for help A shielded cable must be used when connecting a peripheral to the serial ports Appendix A Troubleshooting Camera is not recognized when plugged into the computer s USB port or there is no USB chime with a Found New Hardware Wizard Make sure your computer has a high speed USB 2 0 port available The camera will not work if you are using USB 1 1 Normally Windows will display a warning message when the camera is plugged into a USB 1 1 port but the computer may also fail to recognize the camera entirely Older laptop computers can be upgraded to USB 2 0 with a PCMCIA card Use the supplied USB cable first Extension USB cables available from Orion should work with the camera But adding length and another conn
30. ation Now that the software is installed the camera driver must also be installed The system will automatically guide you through driver installation when the StarShoot Pro is initially connected to the computer You must connect power to the camera and connect the USB cable from your camera to the computer before starting Maxim DL Essentials Edition or the software and computer will not recognize the camera To install the camera driver on a Windows XP computer 1 Insert the CD ROM into the computer 2 Connect the Orion StarShoot Pro to a USB port on the computer with the supplied USB cable 3 Plug the supplied power cable into a 12VDC power source and connect the cable to the StarShoot Pro The cooling fan will automatically power on Windows will automatically detect the camera and start the Found New Hardware Wizard Figure 5a Camera Control Expose Guide Mode Light Raw 1x1 1 Seconds Expose Cam 1 Single gt Calibrate Setup c Stor Autosave Idi Idle Images to 0 000 of 0 000 sec 20S ecT estFulF Figure 6 The Camera Control Window Subframe automatically appears when the StarShoot 2 No subframe Pro is connected to the computer and the Maxim DL Essentials program is started Note The StarShoot Pro will not work with USB 1 1 Your computer must have a high speed USB 2 0 port available 4 Select No not this time when
31. der as OrionNebula1 0001 fit OrionNebula1 0002 17 OrionNebula1 0003 fit OrionNebulal1 0004 fit and OrionNebula1_0005 fit Try exposures of 30 Seconds to start 7 Click Expose and the camera will commence taking the images Note When the camera is taking long exposure images it is critically important not to touch shake or otherwise disturb the telescope or a blurred image will result Also make sure no surrounding light shines into the telescope during the exposure Dark Frames Dark frames are images taken with no light coming into the camera A dark frame is typically taken with the telescope s objective capped The only data in the image is the inherent camera noise Figure 13 The noise contains the dark current background noise level read noise noise introduced during camera readout and download and hot pixels bright dots in the image All of this noise exists in your raw astro image too which distracts from the detail you want to see To eliminate most of the camera noise you can take several dark frames average them then subtract them from your astro images also called light images As the outside temperature changes so does the camera temperature and noise levels So the dark frames must be taken close to the same time your light images are taken so that the camera temperature is nearly the same So if you take 5 light images you should take a couple of darks right before or after the li
32. e e color plane to EE Su improve the overall p color appearance of an image the amount of blurring applied to the image Increasing the radius increases the amount of blur applied For best results turn on the Auto Full Screen preview button and adjust the settings This allows you to rapidly adjust the settings until you are satis fied with the results Then click OK to actually apply the filter settings to the image It is best to use a light touch with this command to avoid over processing the image Over processing can create artifacts i e features in the image that are not real It also amplifies the noise in the image Color Balance The sensitivity of most CCD cameras as a function of wavelength color is dif ferent from the response of the human eye The filters used for creating color composites also have their own characteristics as do the telescope optics Although perfect color rendition is an elusive if not impossible goal all indi viduals see colors slightly differently it is straightforward to get good color balance with simple weightings This is where the Color Balance command in the Process menu Figure 19 comes in handy to touch up the resultant colors in your images Use the Preview Image to see how altering these parameters will affect your image or click the Full Screen button to see the changes applied to your full image Color images from CCD ca
33. e Guider Enables boxes are checked For Autoguider Output set Control Via and COM Port as required for your telescope equipment See Computer to Mount Connection if you have not already done this 7 Click Apply You can leave this dialog box open or Close it if you wish Make sure that the telescope mount is set to move at 1X sidereal or slower For some mounts you must set the guide rate manually The maximum usable rate is 1X sidereal your mount does not drift quickly then 0 1X is recommended otherwise use a value between 1X and 0 1X 9 On the Guide tab set to Expose and click the Start button A single image will be taken Ensure that a well focused bright star near the actual object to be imaged appears in the image If not adjust the guide scope and try again Make sure the star is roughly centered Note The algorithm can be confused if another star appears in the frame to minimize this risk calibrate on an isolated bright star 10 Now set to Calibrate and click the Start button A series of five expo sures will be taken each time the telescope will be moved slightly If the 35 telescope does not move check the Settings Remember you have to set up a method for sending the autoguider commands to the telescope 11 The star should move in an L shape If it does not move enough a warning message will appear The recorded positions will be displayed in the scroll ing log along with any error message
34. e mount To do this 1 Insert the included CD ROM into your computer 2 When the Launcher appears Figure 4 click on the Install ASCOM button and follow the automatic ASCOM platform installer instructions Restart your computer as indicated when done 3 Connect the StarShoot Pro to your computer and open the Maxim DL Essentials software In the Camera Control Window click on the Guide tab Figure 22 Click on the Settings button In the window that pops up Figure 23 select ASCOM for the Autoguider Output Control Via Click the Setup button under the Autoguider Output heading 33 7 The ASCOM Telescope Chooser Figure 24 will appear Select your Select the type of telescope you have then be sure to click the telescope model from the provided Properties button ta configure the driver your telescope choices If your model does not CAC Properties appear it is not supported by the pane K 8 After you have selected your tele e D il PEU scope model click the Properties button Figure 24 The ASCOM Telescope Chooser provides an easy way to establish a computer to mount communications link if the mount is supported by the ASCOM platform 9 In the window that pops up choose your specific Scope Type and desired Serial Port where the computer will send commands to the mount Click OK when done 10 Click OK in the ASCOM Telescope Chooser window 11 In the Settings
35. e will be saved in floating point format Recommended Processing Sequence What is the best order to apply the processing functions in Here is a recom mended sequence Calibrate Dark Subtract and Flat Field calibrate Convert Raw to Color Combine Filter Color Balance Stretch Once you have the combined image you are free to continue processing the image as desired or export it to a program like Photoshop Be sure to Save a copy of the combined image otherwise you might have to go back to the oe oS Iw 29 beginning and stack individual images again aci Processing Commande 1 Calibrate 4 Nora i oa 2 Convent Row ToC 5 None Note on File Format a When saving images using Save or Save As in the File menu you CAFrogram Fles Ditraction Limited Maxim DL Ess have a choice of file formats The Path Wile Output to Source default produces fit files but tif pen ene jpg png and bmp file formats ovemie it can also be selected Having a Select Fles Selectinages move to processed choice of output file formats is Showpah seerowma 168itintege Camel useful especially if images will be Figure 21 The Batch Process window exported to other software pro allows you to select all the images you wish grams for additional image pro to process without actually opening each cessing like Adobe Photoshop
36. ection point between the computer and camera can potentially cause problems If you are using an extension cable limit the cable length to 10 The total cable length including the original cable should be 20 or less Make sure the camera is properly powered with a 12VDC power source The camera will only function when both the USB cable and power cable are plugged in The cooling fan should immediately start once the camera is properly powered on and plugged into the computer The camera hardware and drivers installed but a message appeared indicating the device might not work properly Make sure there are no other USB devices running when you install the Star Shoot Pro Try rebooting the computer and reinstalling the camera on a different USB port Try operating the camera in Maxlm DL Essentials Sometimes the camera may function without problems after the install error message 43 Expose Guide Mode Light 11 v 1 H Seconds Expose H Higher numbers increase download speed bul increase the risk of readout f pour computer 120777 CPU cannot keep up Use the highest number that does not produce readout artifacts readout speed is set too fast for your computer Figure 26 Select the fastest possible readout speed between 1 and 8 that downloads an image without any artifacts The Found New Hardware Wizard appears again when the camera is plugged into a different USB po
37. file and consuming system memory This for instance feature is especially helpful when processing numerous planetary or deep space images Choose up to 6 processing commands If you save to a file format other than fit you will need to check the Auto Stretch box or other wise Stretch the image to change the Output Range in the Stretch command window to match the Size Format in the Save As window Otherwise the Output Range will likely exceed the Size Format and the saved image will be ruined will turn all white For example say the Output Range is set to create image brightness values in 16 bit format while the Size Format of a specific file format jpg for example may only support 8 bits Since the 16 bit format sees 65535 brightness levels and the 8 bit format can only support 255 levels all of the levels above 255 in the 16 bit image i e the vast majority of the 16 bit brightness levels will be saved at the maximum 8 bit value of 255 So the saved jpg will have very little brightness information from levels 1 to 254 and almost all the brightness information at level 255 Thus a white image results If you plan to do all image processing within Maxlm DL Essentials Edition or the optional full version of Maxlm DL saving images in the FITS fit File Format using the IEEE Float Size Format is recommended This ensures that all saved data will be kept intact If another Size Format is utilized there may be some los
38. file format The Log mode is useful for compressing the dynamic range of the image but can be rather harsh The Gamma mode allows you to selectively emphasize bright or dim parts of the image by entering a suitable Gamma Value A Gamma of 1 has no effect less than 1 will emphasize faint details while a value greater than 1 will emphasize bright details The Input Range can be set to Screen Stretch which in Linear Mode pro duces an output matching the current screen appearance This is useful in producing final images for output to 8 bit image formats which have limited range Note that the minimum and maximum values are always taken from the screen stretch settings for the original image These can be adjusted dynami cally using for example Quick Stretch The Max Pixel selection sets the input range from 0 to the brightest pixel in the image This prevents any image pixels from being saturated in the final result but may produce images with low contrast You can also manually set values with Manual Settings in a similar fashion to the Screen Stretch Window The Output Range is used when preparing a file to be saved in a format that has limited range The Output Range maps minimum input to zero and maxi mum input to 255 4095 or 65535 depending on the settings Any values that exceed the limits are clipped The Unlimited setting disables all limiting and is recommended when performing Gamma and Log stretches it is appropriate when the imag
39. g e The calibration settings need changing if you move the telescope in declination by more than about five degrees Select another bright star and Calibrate again e f you experience bad guiding in declination and cannot resolve it through adjusting the calibration or aggressiveness you may have a stiction problem with your declination drive Watch which way the star drifts and turn off the Guider Enable checkbox in the Settings window that pushes the star in that direction That will prevent the stiction cycle from happening e Make sure that any backlash compensation in the mount is turned off 36 e On most telescopes the Right Ascension drive likes to have some load pushing against sidereal tracking If the mount is balanced such that it is pulling the mount forwards slightly the gear teeth may bounce back and forth resulting in terrible guiding that cannot be corrected by an autoguider Be sure to always balance the telescope such that it lifting the weight rather than allowing it to fall i e heavier on the East side Note that this may require balancing the telescope differently when it is pointed East versus West Multiple Camera Control for Autoguiding One very nice feature of the DL Essentials software is the ability to control two cameras simultaneously This way you only need one computer and software program to image and autoguide at the same time This feature is also compatible with older S
40. ght images To take dark frames for subtraction from light images 1 Set the Mode in the Camera Control Window to Dark Raw 1x1 2 Use the same exposure time as the light images you have or will take If your light image is 60 seconds the dark frame must also be 60 sec onds 18 Figure 13 A dark frame contains the background noise The same background noise appears in your light images Dark frames isolate the noise so it can later be subtracted from your light images 3 Choose Autosave in the box beneath the Mode box 4 Set the number of dark frames you would like the camera to take under Autosave 3 to 10 will generally suffice as these will be averaged together Select the file folder in which you would like to save the dark frames with Folder and enter in a Basefilename for the captured dark frames Typically the name of the object being imaged with the word dark added such as OrionNebula1 dark will be entered here If OrionNebula1 dark is the Base filename and you choose to Autosave five images then the images will appear in the selected file folder as OrionNebula1dark_0001 fit OrionNebulatdark_0002 fit OrionNebulaidark_0003 fit OrionNebula1 dark_0004 fit and OrionNebula1dark 0005 fit Using the word dark in the Base filename will help you distinguish between light and dark frames when combining later Click Expose and Maxim DL Essentials wil
41. he red green and blue intensities of the pixel under the cursor Window Menu New Window This creates a second view of the currently selected image The new view can be independently panned and zoomed but will have the same stretch as the original window Fit to Image This toggles the Fit to Image mode on and off The Fit to Image mode causes the window for the image to be adjusted to the same size as the image If the view is zoomed out the window will shrink with it If the view is zoomed in the window will grow until it fills the main window Cascade Tile Horizontally Tile Vertically These functions alter the way multiple open image frames are arranged and displayed within Maxlm DL Essentials Edition These functions are very useful for organizing the visual display when processing large numbers of raw images for stacking Restore All This command will restore all minimized image windows to the position they had within the Maxlm DL application window at the time they were minimized This can be handy for sorting images For example when inspecting a set of images you can close the ones you want to reject and minimize the ones you want to keep Once all the images have been reviewed you can restore the minimized windows to their original size and position 38 Arrange Icons Image windows can be minimized at which point they become small bars icons If these have become scattered about the application windo
42. ibration In order to properly control the mount you must calibrate the system The exact orientation of the StarShoot Pro the focal length of the guide telescope optics and the speed of the motor drive all affect the calibration To perform autoguider calibration 1 Switch to the Guide tab 2 Set the X and Aggr aggressiveness to 8 to start with Set the Exposure to 1 0 second Under Guide Star make sure the Watch box is checked Note The X and Y Aggr aggressiveness controls on the Guide tab allows you to adjust how vigorously star motions are tracked out in each axis An aggressiveness setting of 10 means that the StarShoot Pro attempts to track out 100 of the motion whereas a setting of 1 means that the StarShoot Pro only tracks out 10 of the motion Usually a setting of around 8 or 9 provides the best tracking since it reduces overshoot and helps ignore random motions due to atmospheric seeing and wind loads You should experiment to deter mine the best setting for your particular telescope 3 Click the Settings button 4 Maxim DL Essentials needs to know how fast the telescope moves in right ascension R A and declination Dec when the autoguider commands are issued To do this the software will Calibrate the mount by moving it back and forth on each axis The Calibration Time determines how long it activates the motors each time The usual value is 5 10 seconds start out with a value of 5 Make sure all of th
43. ically connect to your camera and display the Camera Control Window Remove the eyepiece from your telescope Connectthe camerato yourtelescope Make securing thumbscrew s on the focuser drawtube is firmly tightened If your telescope has built in T threads then remove the nosepiece from the StarShoot Pro and thread the camera onto the telescope see Figures 2a b Set the mode to Light Color 1x1 in the Camera Control Window Set the Seconds exposure time to 01 to begin with In the box underneath the Mode box select Focus Make sure the Dark Subtract box is unchecked Check the Delay box so you can easily stop the exposures when the cam era is focused Press the Expose button in the Camera Control Window The camera will take short exposures and display them on the computer screen For daytime imaging open the Screen Stretch Window in the View menu and set the stretch mode to Moon Try to get a Max Pixel of around 40000 to 50000 by increasing or decreas ing exposure time 002 sec is the minimum exposure time If the daytime image is still too bright to produce an acceptable image on your computer 11 N Herr 10 11 12 13 14 15 DI ites mer OCT S t Figure 8 The settings the Screen Stretch Window greatly determine how an image will appear on your computer screen screen you may need to stop down the aperture of your telescope further Try making an
44. irect sunlight 41 7 Specifications CCD Sensor Sensor format Pixel array Pixel size Exposure range A D conversion Binning Thermoelectric cooling Operating Power Range Camera current draw USB connection IR cut filter Optical window Weight Autoguider capability Mounting Sony SuperHAD ICX413AQ Color 1 8 3032x2016 6 112 512 total 7 8um x 7 8um 0 002 seconds to 9 3 hours 16 bit optional 2x2 30 C 54 F below ambient temperature sealed dry air chamber to prevent CCD icing 8VDC to 13 8VDC Approximately 1A at 12VDC 2 0 High speed Yes Fully coated with anti reflection coatings 28 oz Yes 2 nosepiece or T thread This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules Operation is subject to the following two conditions 1 this device may not cause harmful interference and 2 this device must accept any interference received including interfer ence that may cause undesired operation Changes of modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user s authority to operate the equipment Note This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed
45. ken it could ruin your light images But if you subtract the dark frames AFTER the light frame is taken you ensure keeping your raw astro images in tact 5 Select Calibrate from the Process menu or click the Calibrate icon in Maxlm DL Essentials and the dark frames will be subtracted from the light image You should see a significant amount of noise disappear 22 This process can be automated for all of your light images see Batch Processing Convert Raw to Color Cancel Flat Field Calibration Filter Calibrating your flat field images is done Hop in the same way as calibrating your dark Bue frames but you also need to subtract dark frames for your flat field images Reset Scaling To flat field calibrate 1 4 Select Setup Calibrate in the Process menu Click Add under the Flat DX Field Frames box in the Setup m d Ege Calibration window and select the Figure 16 The Convert Raw to file folder location for the flat field Color window converts your raw images taken Select the flat field starshoot Pro images to RGB color files and click Open The selected flat field files will now appear in the pop up window Figure 15 Click Add under the Darks for Flats box in the Setup Calibration window and select the file folder location for the flat field dark frames taken This is why it s very important to l
46. l indicate the camera needs to be covered to take a dark frame Cover the front of the telescope you are imaging through and then click OK The camera will commence taking and saving the dark frames You will calibrate your images with these dark frames later see Dark Frame Calibration Flat Fields A flat field is an image taken with uniform featureless light entering the tele scope such as a blue sky in the early morning or after sunset Flat fields solve a number of issues in your astro images 19 Figure 14a Larger format CCD cameras like the StarShoot Pro reveal vignetting through most telescopes Vignetting occurs when the edge of the image plane has less illumination than the center Figure 14b Dust or other particles on the camera s optical window can show up as distracting dark shapes in your images Vignetting Vignetting Figure 14a in a telescope reveals edge darkening in the astro image The large CCD chip in the StarShoot Pro can easily detect vignetting through almost any telescope even specialized astrographs Vignetting is more apparent when the telescope s illuminated field is not large enough to illuminate the full area of the CCD chip As a result more light is detected in the center of the image compared to the edge Dust and Particles Dust and particles Figure 14b will inevitably show up in your raw astro imag es Large particles on the CCD optical window sometimes look like unfocused circles
47. meras typically require a background level adjust ment This is accomplished by bringing the background level or bias in each color plane down to zero Each of the Background Level values is subtracted from every image pixel in its color plane Any pixel values that become nega tive are forced to zero The Auto button automatically determines the settings 27 Eel mar J 2 eh gt Sole oe Dod Figure 20 The 822000 Stretch command teo modifies the data REI contained within the image in order to improve contrast 1 and brightness necessary to equalize the image background in all three color planes The Reset button resets the background level subtraction to zero on all planes Scaling adjustment entered as a percentage allows you to compensate for transmittance differences between the filters used to acquire the three color planes Values of 100 result in no change The scaling percentages can be typed in or adjusted using the spin controls small up and down click arrows to the right of the scaling numbers The Preview Image is particularly help ful in monitoring the results when using the spin controls The Reset Scaling button resets to 100 on all three planes The Click On White Area to Set Scaling check box enables the operation of the mouse to set the scaling Set the Background Level first you can use Aut
48. n cannot be used when an image has never been saved for example one freshly acquired from the camera In the event that saving a file will cause it to overwrite an existing file you can select skip save overwrite it or move to subfolder You can specify the subfolder name in the adjacent field Use Size Format to select between 16 Bit Integer and 32 Bit IEEE Float formats for the processed images To keep all processed image data intact especially for stacked images we recommend using the 32 Bit IEEE Float format If you need to open the resultant files in another program however you may need to use the 16 Bit Integer format 5 Click OK to start the Batch Process operation Successfully converted and saved files are removed from the list box If an error occurred the file will remain in the list Point the mouse cursor at an image left in the list The appropriate error message will appear in the Status Bar at the bottom of the DL Essentials Edition main window 4 Using The StarShoot Pro as an Autoguider The StarShoot Pro can also be used as an autoguider instead of an imager You can use the StarShoot Pro to autoguide a mount while images are being taken with another camera Tracking errors are usually sufficiently small on short exposure images 15 to 90 seconds depending on the mount and do not require guiding A series of unguided short exposure images can be taken and combined together using the Combine command Howe
49. ns in the Process menu to fur ther enhance your astro image Dark Frame Calibration The dark frames you previously saved will be subtracted from your light images 1 Select Setup Calibrate from the Process menu 2 Click Remove All if any filenames appear in the window 21 Medium Minimum 384374 527482 Update i Setup Calibration Dark Frames Flat Field Frames Darks for Flats 2205 ecT estFullFrame_ OOO fit FLAT 102f horizontal fit FLAT DAREN 02 horizontal fil Cancel Add Add Remove All Figure 15 Use the Setup Calibration window to select the dark frames and flat fields you want to calibrate from your light images 3 Click Add under the Dark Frames box in the Setup Calibration window Figure 15 and select the file folder location for the dark frames taken Select the dark frames and click Open The selected dark frames will now appear in the pop up window 4 Click OK The dark frames have now been averaged and stored into memory Calibration Tip If you took your dark frames before your light images you can subtract the darks from each light image as you capture it Simply check the Calibrate box in the Camera Control window However for best results we recommend manually subtracting the dark frames from each light image to make sure the calibration worked properly If for example your telescope had a light leak when the dark frames were ta
50. o then click on a white object e g a neutral colored star in the image not the Preview Image with the mouse The Scaling settings will automatically be adjusted to make the selected point appear white If an area of the image is known to be white or gray this is an easier way to determine the scaling factors and can be used to instantly color balance the image Stretch The Stretch command located in the Process menu Figure 20 modifies the brightness and contrast and optionally the range maximum and minimum pixel values of an image Unlike the screen stretch settings in the Screen Stretch Window which only affects the how an image appears on the com puter screen the Stretch command actually changes the image data pixel values in the memory buffer In reference to the histogram the Screen Stretch Window changes how the histogram is displayed on the computer screen the Stretch command alters the histogram itself 28 There are three elements which must be set the Permanent Stretch Type the Input Range and the Output Range You can use the Preview Image to see how changing these parameters will affect the resultant image or click the Full Screen button to see the changes applied to your actual image You can also open the Screen Stretch Window to see how changing these param eters change the histogram For the Permanent Stretch Type the Linear Only mode is useful for adjust ing the range of pixels to match a particular
51. other aperture mask with a diameter of only 14 Turn the telescope s focus knob so the focuser drawtube moves slowly inward The drawtube needs to go approximately 18mm inward from where the eyepiece focuses for most eyepieces Look at the computer screen and adjust the focus knob accordingly to determine best image focus Adjust the image orientation if needed by rotating the camera within the focuser drawtube Simply loosen the thumbscrew on the drawtube and rotate the camera until the desired image orientation is achieved Retighten the thumbscrew on the focuser drawtube when done You may need to slightly refocus using the telescope s focus knob if the focuser drawtube has moved a bit inward or outward when the camera was rotated When the image is focused and the image looks acceptable press the Stop button in the Camera Control Window Select Single in the pull down menu underneath Mode in the Camera Control Window Click the Expose button in the Camera Control Window An image will appear in a window Select Save from the File menu to save the image for processing later if you wish You have captured your first image with the StarShoot Pro This simple method of imaging is exactly how the camera could be used to capture terrestrial subjects during daylight hours Close up images of birds and other wildlife or faraway vistas can all be obtained in this way with the StarShoot Pro Solar images can also be taken during the
52. r mouse The next Aulo ite E 0 exposure will download Piel 1595 161 1585 FWHM 378 HFD 115 59 a subframe using Subirame only the small area 575 135 742 497 Reset you selected which greatly decreases the download time Focusing Focusing the CCD camera is one of the most critical parts of imaging It can be challenging but Maxlm DL Essentials has some helpful features which will assist you when focusing your StarShoot Pro Before focusing make sure your mount is polar aligned and tracking For best results we recommend focusing on a star at least 30 above the hori zon or higher Follow these steps to achieve an accurate focus 1 Find and center a moderately bright star through your finder scope Try to find a star around magnitude 4 or 5 If you are not using an optical finder or just using your unaided eye the star should look relatively faint This is important because brighter stars will easily over saturate the camera and compromise the focus accuracy 2 Center your telescope on the star using an eyepiece Make sure the right ascension R A tracking motor is engaged on your mount Replace the eyepiece with the StarShoot Pro Set the Mode to in the Camera Control Window to Light Color 1x1 Set Seconds exposure time to 1 second to begin with In the box below the Mode box select Single 5 Click the
53. rate computerized go to sys tem you can keep the camera installed in your telescope s focuser without using the eyepiece Remove the eyepiece and replace it with the StarShoot Pro Set the Mode to Light Color 1x1 and precisely focus the camera by using the telescope s focus knob and the Focus setting in the Camera Control Window If necessary move the telescope to a nearby star to determine the best focus Refer to Focusing 4 For best results set the Mode to Light Raw 1x1 after you have reached focus Use the Medium setting in the Screen Stretch Window 17 5 Select Single in the box under the Mode box and take a 10 20 Second exposure of the deep sky object to ensure it is centered well in your cam era Adjust the camera orientation if needed keeping in mind that you may have to refocus the camera after making the adjustment Reposition the telescope if needed to center the deep sky object 6 Select AutoSave in the box under the Mode box in the Camera Control Window Set the number of images you would like the camera to take under Autosave start with 5 or so select the file folder in which you would like to save the images with Folder and enter in a Base file name for the captured images Typically the name of the object being imaged such as OrionNebula1 will be entered here If OrionNebula1 is the Base filename and you choose to Autosave five images then the images will appear in the selected file fol
54. rating systems The following hardware is also required e Processor 700 MHz speed or higher Pentium equivalent or higher e Recommended minimum memory size is 512 MB e Disk Space 100 MB for program installation 500 MB or more to store images is recommended a Maxim DL Essentials Edition for Orion SterShoot Cameras v C 2005 Dittrection Limited DL Essentals Edition for Oron StesShoot Deep Space and Oron SterShoot Soler System Cameras B on S pleno Came lease Driver tor Orion SterShoot Planetary Camera Please install Driver install betore plugging in the camera To install the Orion StarShoot Deep Space camera simply plug it in When prompted select this CD ROM ASCOM Platlorm telescope drivers used for x n siding with SterShoot Dee Sans camera install ASCOM Thank you for purchasing an Orion StarShoot camera ES Figure 4 The Launcher provides an easy For support please call 800 676 1343 z menu for software installation e Video Display 1024 X 768 or higher 16 bit color or higher Mouse e Internet Explorer 4 or higher required to display on line help High speed USB 2 0 port Power The StarShoot Pro requires 12 volts DC 12VDC with approximately 1 ampere of current Power to the entire camera including the thermo electric cooler TEC and fan is supplied by the included power cable when plugged into a 12VDC power source Figure 3 Imaging in the field u
55. re 18 The Combine Images window allows stacking of individual images into one high quality resultant image Note In addition to Average mentioned above 3 other different combining methods can be chosen Sum Median and Sigma Clip To learn more about these combine methods see Image Processing Combine Methods The program automatically moves to the next image 6 Center the crosshairs on the same star in this new image and left click again Repeat this for all the open images a chime will sound when you have gone through all the open images If you use the Manual 2 stars align mode then select another alignment star in the first image displayed after you hear the chime 7 f you find an image that looks poor you can reject it by clicking the Reject Image button Use the Next Image and or Previous Image button to continue going through the open images after an image is rejected At least one image must be used as the reference image for the stacked images to be overlaid upon The default uses the first image for the reference image If you reject the first image or otherwise want to use another image as the reference click the Set As Reference button If the image currently cho sen as the reference is rejected from the stack you will not be able to Overlay All Images 8 Now click the Overlay All Images button All of the selected images will stack on top of each other to form one resultant image Click OK 25
56. re some astronomi cal images We recommend starting with the Moon as it is easy to acquire into the camera s field of view and typically does not require stacking multiple exposures like planetary and deep sky images do A Note about the TEC One of the most advantageous features of the StarShoot Pro is the thermo electric cooler TEC The TEC is automatically turned on when the camera is plugged into your computer and powered on with the 12VDC power source The cooler is always on when the camera is powered on providing the coolest possible CCD temperature The TEC is like a refrigerator in the camera When the camera is running it pro duces internal heat which causes noise in images The TEC counteracts this by cooling the CCD chip which reduces thermal noise This produces better quality images than cameras without coolers can provide Also cameras with simple air cooling i e with an onboard fan or heat sink only cannot reduce the internal camera temperature below ambient outside temperature and therefore produce images that are inherently inferior The TEC in the StarShoot Pro with the added help of the cooling fan will reduce the temperature of the camera s interior to approximately 54 F 30 C below the ambient outside temperature 14 Figure 10 Draw small box around the star to focus on with Expose Guide Mode Light Color txt 01 Seconds iF 5 Setup MD ELO E you
57. rt for the first time This ts normal Most USB controllers behave this way Every time the camera is plugged into a different USB port for the first time the drivers will have to be rein stalled Since the drivers were previously installed on your computer you do not need the CD when installing the camera on a new USB port Note that external USB hubs will behave the same way Every time the camera is plugged into a different USB port on the hub the Found New Hardware Wizard will appear again Windows Vista should automatically install the drivers on different USB ports without prompting you to take any action There are several short horizontal lines or there is irregular noise throughout the image You are likely experiencing readout noise as a result of running the camera too fast for your computer Figure 25 The camera has 8 speed settings listed 1 8 default is 5 The higher the speed setting the faster the image will download Higher speed settings require faster processors If you do not see any short horizontal lines in your images you can try increasing the readout speed one or two points To make an adjustment click on Setup in the Camera Control Window Click the up down arrows to change the speed setting Figure 26 The minimum is 1 the maximum is 8 44 Check your USB connection for anything that could potentially introduce interference Large power supplies or even a cellular phone near the camera or
58. s Note If the star does not move far enough or moves too far i e the star leaves the field the duration of the calibration move commands can be adjusted by clicking the Settings command and changing the Calibration Time fields measured in seconds A longer calibration time will increase the motion of the star a shorter time will decrease the motion Typical values range from five to ten seconds depending on the correction speed focal length and pixel size 12 Once you have successfully calibrated switch to the Track mode Click Start and watch the star It should move to the center of the small track box and whenever it drifts off it should be pulled back again You can zoom in the window for a better look Also the tracking errors will be dis played in the scrolling log 13 If the star bounces back and forth reduce the aggressiveness for that axis If it corrects too slowly increase the aggressiveness Changes to the aggressiveness settings take effect immediately You are now ready to take a long exposure image through the main telescope and imaging camera The StarShoot Pro will continuously send small correc tion factors to the mount s motor drive to insure steady and accurate tracking throughout the duration of the exposure however long that may be Other Autoguiding Notes e If you are using a German equatorial mount you must calibrate with the tube on the same side of the mount as it will be when actually imagin
59. s of data especially when saving combined images Batch Process Batch Process can be used to process multiple images simultaneously using the various commands available in Maxlm DL Essentials Edition It is espe cially useful when calibrating and converting each raw image to color Select Batch Process from the Process menu Figure 21 Procedure for basic batch processing 30 1 Select the image file you want to process from your computer using the Select Files button Use CTRL click to select individual files and SHIFT click to select a range of files You can see the path for the selected files by turning on the Show Path check box Or you can select images already open in Maxim DL Essentials Edition by clicking the Select Images button The window that pops up will indicate all the images currently open 2 Select the processing task you want done in the Processing Commands box Choose up to 6 processing commands which will be executed in sequence 3 Use the same recommended processing order for batch processing as you would normally do manually You should 1 Calibrate 2 Convert Raw To Color etc You can remove selected images and files from the Batch Process list by selecting them with the mouse and clicking the Remove button 4 Select the location for the saved files using the Path button or click Write Output to Source Folder to cause the files to be saved back into the folder from which they were loaded This optio
60. sually requires the use of a portable field battery to supply power or you can use a 110VAC to 12VDC power converter if you have access to an AC outlet Make sure the power supply provides at least 1 ampere of current Note The StarShoot Pro can operate with as low as 8 volts in situations when your battery starts loosing power Software and Driver Installation Before the camera can be used the software and camera drivers must be installed onto your computer Turn on your computer and allow the Windows operating system to load as normal Insert the included CD ROM into your computer s CD ROM drive and the Launcher will appear This allows you to install the Maxim DL Essentials software After the software is installed the drivers will install automatically once the StarShoot Pro is initially connected to the computer Do not connect the camera to your computer before you have installed the software Software Installation To install Maxim DL Essentials Edition 1 Insert the CD ROM into the drive The Launcher will appear Figure 4 For Windows Vista computers the AutoPlay window will appear first Select Run Launcher exe then the Launcher will appear Found Mew Hardware Wizard Windows needs to install driver software for your StarShoot Camera Welcome to the Found New Hardware Wizard Window will nich curren amd updated tole bu looking on your computer en the ndtallsion
61. t Windows can t verify the publisher of this driver software Choose Install this driver software anyway 8 When the window appears telling you The software for this device has been successfully installed click Close This completes the driver instal lation process 9 Start Maxlm DL Essentials The camera should be automatically recog nized and the Camera Control Window Figure 6 will appear Once the driver is installed the computer and software will recognize the StarShoot Pro whenever it is plugged in Note If your computer Windows XP or Vista has multiple USB ports you will need to install the driver again if the StarShoot Pro is connected to a different USB port Getting Started During Daylight We recommend using the StarShoot Pro for the first time during the day This Way you can become familiar with the camera and its functions without having to stumble around in the dark Setup your telescope and mount so the optical tube is pointing at an object that is at least a couple of hundred feet away Insert an eyepiece and focus as you normally would Since the StarShoot Pro is so sensitive to light you will need to stop down your telescope aperture to do any imaging in daylight This can be done by creating a simple aperture mask out of a piece of cardboard The piece of cardboard should be larger than the telescope s aperture Cut a circular hole in the cardboard approximately 1 2 in diameter and place the
62. t you will combine the images to form one high quality resultant image To do this 1 Select Open from the File menu Find the folder you indicated with Folder open it and select all images for stacking using the mouse left click and the Shift key All of the individual images selected will open in Maxim DL Essentials Note If you are combining more than 5 images please refer to Image Pro cessing Batch Processing as this method allows you to combine an unlimit ed number of images without consuming more memory from your computer 2 Select Combine in the Process menu 3 In the Select Images window click Add All Then click OK 4 The Combine Images window will appear Figure 18 For Align Mode choose Manual 1 star shift only If you have field rotation due to a poor polar alignment or if you are using a motorized altitude azimuth mount then you can use the Manual 2 stars align mode In the Output box select Average Make sure the Use Centroid and Auto Next boxes are checked 5 Find a well shaped circular star in the first image displayed Use the mouse to center the crosshairs on the selected star and left click 24 Combine Images Mode File 2043 Singlelmage iog iCenter point Not set LINER Set Images to be included 1 of 3 Relerence Reference Singlelmsge ipg Manual Controls Reject Image UseCentroad Auto Next Next Image Previous Image Figu
63. the drift method of polar alignment 1 Doarough polar alignment by pointing the R A axis of the mount at Polaris the North Star 2 Find a 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 eyepiece use your highest magnification eyepiece 3 Determine which way is north and south in the eyepiece by moving the telescope 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 39 5 If the star drifts north the telescope mount is pointing too far west If the star drifts south the telescope mount is pointing too far east Determine which way the star drifted and make the appropriate correction to the azi muth position 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 mo
64. the mouse To do this hold down the Shift key then left click and drag the mouse on the image You ll find this feature to be a great convenience when fine adjusting the screen stretch to get an image to look its best Instead of using the Screen Stretch Window it is faster to use the Quick Stretch facility This allows you to modify the image appearance instantly with small up down and left right movements of the mouse To do this hold down the Shift key then left click and drag the mouse on the image You ll find this feature to be a great convenience when fine adjusting the screen stretch to get an image to look its best The trick with stretching is determining exactly how to stretch the image for best effect Often there are several different possibilities for the same image Trial and error will be the best way to judge what the best screen stretch set ting is Try several different settings until you find one you think looks best When the image is subsequently saved the screen stretch setting information will be kept when the image is next opened Feel free to adjust the Screen Stretch settings all you want it will not effect the image data you captured and only effects how the image is displayed You can always switch back to a preset setting like Medium or Moon 2 Astronomical Imaging Now that you re familiar with basic camera and software operation it s time to take the StarShoot Pro out at night under the stars to captu
65. unt is pointed too low If the star drifts north the telescope mount is pointed too high Observe the drift and 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 When this is accomplished you are very accurately polar aligned and should be able to produce good unguided images of up to several minutes long assuming the mount s drives track well with little periodic error Choosing a Site for Astro imaging Once you have a focused image you may find your image shifting and washed out This can be caused by many environmental factors Poor seeing move ment of molecules in the air such as heat rising and poor transparency mois ture 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 transparency and seeing 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 can not 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
66. ver in many cases a single long exposure is 31 Minim E De Gi pee ees eu Seon Se Omen Canara Figure 22 The Guide tab in the Camera Control Window is where the StarShoot Pro s autoguider functions can be accessed De gii yee poma Feo aa of Figure 23 The autoguider Settings window is where the Autoguider Output is defined superior due to the elimination of extra readout noise and the residual blurring Caused in realigning the images When taking long exposures with astronomical telescopes motorized tracking is required to compensate for the Earth s rotation Most telescope mounts do not track accurately enough for long exposure imaging without some form of additional guiding Manual guiding can be done by an observer watching a star guide star through a telescope guide scope mounted next to the main imaging telescope on the same mount The observer makes manual corrections to the motor drives via a pushbutton hand controller to keep the star centered in the guide scope s eyepiece over time In this way the track ing accuracy of the main telescope with imaging camera attached can be assured Stars in the resultant images will be crisp and round Manual guiding 32 can be very tiresome and tedious however especially if taking many long exposures throughout the night The Star
67. ves image contrast from urban areas with severe light pollution USB Extension Cable Most imaging setups may require extra distance to comfortably reach from StarShoot Pro to the computer We recommend purchasing a 10 USB exten sion cable if you need more cord length available through Orion check the catalog and or www OrionTelescopes com Care and Maintenance When the StarShoot Pro is not in use the dust cap should be replaced on the end of the nosepiece This prevents dust from accumulating on the StarShoot Pro s optical window If significant dust does accumulate on the optical win dow or the optical surface is touched then it should be cleaned Any quality optical lens cleaning tissue and optical lens cleaning fluid specifi cally designed for multi coated optics can be used to clean the glass surface of the StarShoot Pro s optical window Never use regular glass cleaner or cleaning fluid designed for eyeglasses Before cleaning with fluid and tissue blow any loose particles off the surface with a blower bulb or compressed air Then apply some cleaning fluid to a tis sue never directly on the optics Wipe the optical surface gently in a circular motion then remove any excess fluid with a fresh lens tissue Oily fingerprints and smudges may be removed using this method Use caution rubbing too hard may cause scratches Store the StarShoot Pro in the included hard carrying case Keep the camera in a dry location away from d
68. w the Arrange Icons command will stack them neatly at the bottom of the window Help Menu Help Topics Click on this if you have any questions This is an extensive resource and should be consulted often Under the Index tab type in Help Topics and press Enter on your keyboard This will give a primer on how to most effectively use and access the Help files About Maxim DL Gives the version number of the software Note The Open or Convert AVI File command in the File menu is for the StarShoot Solar System Imager not he StarShoot Pro 6 Tips Polar Alignment Good telescope mount polar alignment is of critical importance for long expo sure CCD imaging Inaccurate polar alignment leads to image movement over time even with motor drives running and engaged which limits the amount of time an exposure can be taken before the stars begin to streak and blur If your equatorial mount uses a polar axis finder scope we highly recom mend 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 consum ing 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

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