Meade LPI Camera Program ® The Basics
Parts Listing When first opening the packing box, note carefully the following parts: • • • • • • • LPI camera Parfocal ring USB cable DB-9 to RJ-11 adapter LX200 serial cable Autostar #497 serial cable CD ROM, including the Operating Instruction in .pdf format Recommended Minimum System: PC running Windows 98SE with 64 MB and 100 MB free disk space. To get the best view and resolution for the images in this manual, zoom in to 200% using the viewing controls in the Acrobat Reader control bar.
Install the Autostar Suite Software The following procedure is also found on the printed Quick Start Guide supplied with this product. Before you can operate the LPI camera, you must install the Autostar Suite software. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Do not plug the USB cable into your PC at this time. You will be asked to do so later in this installation. Turn on your PC. Allow Windows to load. Place the CD ROM into your PC's CD drive. The Main Menu screen displays.
Connect The LPI Camera to Your PC To connect the LPI Camera to your PC, you need to install the LPI device driver and connect the USB cable: 1. 2. 3. 4. Connect one end of the USB Cable to the LPI camera. Connect the other end of the USB Cable to your PC or to a USB hub. “Found camera” displays at the bottom right of your PC screen. The “Hardware Wizard” window displays. The “Install Software” selection is checked as the default choice. Click “Next.” The Wizard searches for the driver. 5.
Start the Suite Software If the Autostar Suite icon doesn’t appear on your desktop, you can start the Autostar Suite program by going to Start/Program/Meade/Autostar Suite. The Planetarium program will display. You can open other programs of the Suite by going to the Image menu and selecting the desired program. You can open the Operating Instruction manuals or the Meade General Catalog by selecting them from the Main Menu screen of the CD ROM.
Connect the LPI Camera to Your Telescope To connect the LPI camera to an ETX Telescope: • Orient the LPI camera into the eyepiece holder so that the USB cable points at the front end of the telescope’s optical tube (see photo at right). • If you are using the ETX in a “straight-through” configuration, orient the LPI camera in the holder so that the USB cable points downward.
Open the LPI Program To open the LPI Imaging program, go to the Image menu of the Planetarium program and select LPI Imaging. The LPI program will display.
LPI Controls e d f h 1& b c g 1^ i j 1) 1! 1$ 1# 1@ 1% 1* 2% 1( 2) 2! 2@ 2^ 2& 2# 2$ 2* 2( 3) 3! 8
Key to LPI Controls 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Gain and Offset sliders Expose control Auto Adj (Auto Adjust) button Mono (Black and white) check box Live Image check box Dark Sub check box Status box Take Pictures, Settings tabs Align & Combine, Filter controls Object Type combo box Object Name box File Type combo box Save Every Image check box Start/Stop button Image Acquire status bars Stats, Files tabs 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31.
Start Taking Pictures1 Once you have connected your camera to the computer and opened the LPI program, you’ll want to start taking pictures. Follow the steps below to start taking simple pictures with your LPI camera. We recommend that the first time you take pictures, you do so during daylight hours. Point your telescope at a stationary landmark, such as a building, telephone pole or so forth—trees and other objects that move slightly are not the best objects to use during your first image tests. 1.
Start Taking Pictures2 6. An image should be already displayed on the screen (25). Use the focuser on your telescope to focus the object. Notice that in the Magic Eye Focus field (22), that two triangles are displayed and change their size. The Magic Eye Focus will help you focus your image; see “Magic Eye Focus,” page 21, for more information. If you are having a lot of problems focusing your image, see “The Parfocal Ring,” pages 14-15. 7. Click “Start (14).
What Happens When You Press Start1 • The live image is displayed on the program’s display screen if the Live box is checked and the Live tab is selected (these are the default settings). • When you press Start, the LPI camera begins taking images and continues to take images until you press stop. The LPI program uses the first 10 images it takes as a baseline to compare with the images it takes subsequently. In other words, the program is always comparing images.
What Happens When You Press Start2 • The LPI program is continually resaving the composite image. If the Save Every Image box is checked, the program will save every image that added to the composite image (see pages 17-19 for more information). If your PC crashes or loses power, the images that have been taken up to the time of the crash or power loss will automatically be saved—the user does not need to save them manually.
The Parfocal Ring1 It is extremely useful to have the LPI camera and a telescope eyepiece be parfocal—it will save you time when you need to refocus. Parfocal means setting two or more eyepieces to the same focus. (In this case, one eyepiece is a camera.) In other words, if you focus one eyepiece in your telescope, then you remove it and replace it with a parfocal eyepiece, the parfocal eyepiece will require little, if any, refocusing.
The Parfocal Ring2 1. Open the LPI program. 2. Insert the LPI camera into the telescope eyepiece holder. Do not tighten the eyepiece holder thumbscrew. Make sure the LPI camera slides down as far as it will go into the eyepiece holder. 3. Point the telescope at a terrestrial object that has a lot of contrast with the surrounding area and if possible, has a distinctive edge (like a building, for example). 4.
Automatic Adjustment Controls Gain and Offset sliders (1): Similar to a TV set’s contrast and brightness controls. These controls are automatically set after you pick an Object (10) type and click on the Auto Adj. button (3). Most users will seldom, if ever, need to set these controls manually. Auto Adj. button (3): Automatically sets the Gain and Offset controls(1) and the Exposure setting (2) for the camera. Before taking pictures, choose an Object (10) type and click on the Auto Adj. button.
Image Processing Controls1 Take Picture Tab (8): Click on the Take Picture Tab to display the Take Picture controls. Setting Tab (8): Click on the Setting Tab to display the Setting controls. Align and Combine (9): Selects a minimum quality level that is acceptable when images are added together to produce the composite image. Typically 50% is selected. You may wish to set it lower (e.g.
Image Processing Controls2 Object Name (11): Type in a name for the object. Each time the LPI program begins to accumulate a new composite image, it renumbers the image in a new tab, using your original name. For example, if you named the first image “Building,” the next images will be named “Building 2,” then “Building 3” and so forth, so that it doesn’t overwrite the previously saved images. If a name/number was previously saved as a file name, the program will choose the next available number.
Image Processing Controls3 Image Acquire Status bars (15): Display while the LPI camera is taking pictures. Image Directory field and Browse button (26): You may select the directory in which to save your images. Click on the Browse button to locate a directory or type in a directory path in the field. Or you may just type in the directory name in the field. If you type in a new directory, the directory will be created when the first image is saved.
File Settings Tab Open button (28): Allows you to open a file you have previously created. Click on this button and your directory list displays. Choose the desired file and it opens as a tab above the Image Display window. See diagram below. Scroll Arrows Notice that there are scroll arrows (see diagram above) at the end of the tab row. Click on these arrows to display more composite image file tabs. Close (29): Allows you to close a composite image file tab.
Magic Eye Focus The Magic Eye Focus displays a graphic representation of the focus as you adjust your telescope’s focuser. The orange triangles “grow” together to indicate better focus. The red lines indicate maximum focus levels. Avg (Average) check box: Check to average the last 5 focus values to smooth out noisy images. Note, however, that this makes the focus response more sluggish. Reset button: Resets the red maximum indicators.
LPI Camera Program Advanced Concepts 22
Tracking Boxes and Centroids Drawing a tracking box allows you to track (that is, to follow) a bright spot that is surrounded by a dark area. This is very much like your telescope’s tracking feature. A centroid is the spot where the crosshairs meet. You can use the centroids to help you center an object in a box. The centroid is used for shifting an image before it is combined in a composite image, and also is used for autoguiding.
Histogram Display and Controls The Histogram controls allow you more control of the brightness, contrast and mid-range tones of your LPI camera. Experiment with these controls. Select an easily focused terrestrial image and adjust the Histogram sliders. You will notice the Live image growing brighter or darker, and even notice mid-tones becoming more visible. You will have to adjust these sliders differently for each object and can adjust the sliders “on the fly” as you are creating a composite image.
Autoguider1 For users familiar with the product, the LPI camera functions in a manner similar to the Meade Pictor 201XT CCD Autoguider. An autoguider helps keep an object centered so that a 35mm camera can take long exposures of an image. Note that you do not have to set the LPI camera for a long exposure using Exposure controls (2). Autoguiding is used typically with telescope mounted in the equatorial mode, although it can also be used with LX200GPS Telescope mounted in the alt/az mode.
Autoguider2 6. In the Focal Length field, type in the focal length of your telescope. 7. Locate a star using your telescope’s alignment and Go To procedures. Focus and prepare the imager as described earlier in this manual. 8. Draw a tracking box around the star. 9. Click the Start button. 10. When you click on the Start button, the program begins to calibrate. It then begins to autoguide your telescope and displays X and Y error coordinates in the Status Display box (24). 11.
Dark Frames1 Dark Frames is a useful feature for if you’re taking exposures longer than 1 second. Longer exposures and temperature can create noise in your LPI camera called dark current artifacts. The Dark Frames feature allows you to subtract out some of this noise from your pictures. Perform the Dark Frames features at night. If the temperature changes significantly during your observing session, you should repeat this procedure. To perform the dark Frames procedure: 1.
Dark Frames2 3. Select a value for the Avg Exp box. This is the number of exposures that are averaged together to create each composite Dark Frame exposure. Typically, set this value to 10. 4. Click on the Setting tab (9). The Dark Frames directory field displays. The Dark Frames will be saved to this directory. You may change the directory if you wish. 5. Click the Start button (14). A message displays that tells you to cover up your telescope or LPI camera.
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