Model ST-i CCD Camera Operating Manual Santa Barbara Instrument Group a Division of Aplegen, Inc. 147-A Castilian Drive Santa Barbara, CA 93117 Phone (805) 571-7244 • Fax (805) 571-1147 Email sbig @ sbig . com • Web www . sbig .
DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY We, Santa Barbara Instrument Group, a division of Aplegen, Inc., 147-A Castilian Drive, Goleta, CA 93117 USA, (805) 571-7244, declare under our sole responsibility that the Model ST-i CCD camera 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 interference that may cause undesired operation.
SBIG ST-i Manual Table of Contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................... 2 Getting Started .................................................................................. 2 Overview and Connections ............................................................... 3 Installing the Software on 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Systems ....... 4 Migrating Old Drivers from 32-bit to newer 64-bit Systems............ 9 2. Using the Camera Inside ...
SBIG ST-i Manual 1. Introduction Congratulations and thank you for buying one of our ST-i CCD cameras. The ST-i has the following features: • • • • • • • • • Uses Kodak’s microlensed, KAI-0340 CCD with 648 x 486, 7.4 micron square pixels. 16-bit A/D converter with correlated double sampling . Single board, small, compact design with internal mechanical shutter allowing automatic dark frames, and electronic shutter for exposures down to 0.001 seconds. USB 2 interface yielding up to 2.
SBIG ST-i Manual ordinary phone cables, this one flips the order of the wires. You can tell a tracking cable from an ordinary cable by noting that with tracking cables the tines that lock the RJ-11 jack into the receptacle are both on the same flat side of the cable or when the ends are put side by side the colored wires inside are in opposite order on the two connectors. Software – We include several CD-ROMs with the ST-i but the most important one is labeled “SBIG Software and Catalog”.
SBIG ST-i Manual Installing the Software on Windows Systems This section tells you how to do a fresh install of 64-bit drivers for SBIG Cameras on your 32/64-bit Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7. You should download and run the 64-bit Driver checker as described below whether you are installing the ST-i camera on a 32-bit Windows system such as XP, or a 64-bit version such as Vista 64 or Win 7. 1. Make sure no SBIG cameras are attached to your system. 2.
SBIG ST-i Manual 4. Run the Driver Checker application and it will ask you about any ST Series Cameras (ST-7/8/9/10/2K) you may plan on using. Prior to 2006 the ST Series cameras had only an internal Tracking CCD. We call this the Classic Model. In 2006 we added the Remote Guide Head capability to the ST Series and we call it the Pro Model. The Driver Checker needs to know whether your ST Series camera is a Classic Model or a Pro model.
SBIG ST-i Manual 5. After answering the Classic/Pro question above you'll see the following dialog. The list of drivers shown may be different on your system but it will generally indicate that no Installed Drivers were found and that they all need to be updated. 6. Click the Update button and the Driver Checker will start to install the SBIG drivers into your system. 7. Once the drivers have finished installing the Driver Checker will show the following. At this point you can quit the Driver Checker.
SBIG ST-i Manual 8. Now it's time to try out the new drivers. With your camera disconnected from the PC, then plug it into the PC with the USB Cable.
SBIG ST-i Manual On systems running 32-bit Windows such as XP you may see this: followed by the Hardware Wizard 9. Select "Install Automatically." If for some reason the Add New Hardware Wizard asks you to manually locate the drivers then navigate to the proper directory under the Driver Checker directory in the Program Files or Program Files (X86) directory. There are 4 possibilities and you must choose the correct set of drivers.
SBIG ST-i Manual Note: If you previously installed SBIG 32-bit drivers using the old 32bit Driver Checker program and now want to install 64-bit drivers over the old installation, follow the procedure outlined below: Migrating Old Drivers from 32-bit to newer 64-bit Systems This section describes how to migrate drivers from the old 32-bit only DriverChecker to the new 32/64-Bit Compatible DriverChecker64. 1. Uninstall the old DriverChecker software. a.
SBIG ST-i Manual g. Quit the Device Manager. 4. Install the new DriverChecker64 software. a. Use the installer that came with your camera or download it from our web site: 5. Run the DriverChecker64 software. a. From the Start menu select the DriverChecker64 item in the SBIG folder. b. Answer the question about your ST cameras. 6. Click the Update button to copy the new drivers to your system. Link your old cameras to the new drivers. a.
SBIG ST-i Manual 2. Using the Camera Inside When you first receive the ST-i it’s wise to get acquainted with its operation inside the house where it’s warm and not to try to struggle with the telescope operation in the dark. We’ve included a brief tutorial below to get you acquainted with the ST-i and the CCDOps software. Running CCDOps Once installed, it’s easy to run CCDOps from the Windows Start menu.
SBIG ST-i Manual This is what’s referred to as a dark frame and it’s what you get when you take a picture with the nosepiece covered and the shutter closed. It’s a picture in the dark. Although there’s not much interesting to look at in this image there are some very important features that you need to understand. The first thing you’ll see is that while the image looks mostly like salt and pepper there are hundreds of bright specks. These are called hot pixels.
SBIG ST-i Manual Hot pixels are simply the pixels where the dark current is higher than the average and thus they show up as white specs against the salt and pepper background. Again, this is completely normal for CCD images. The second effect you’ll notice is a brightening on the left of the image, as if something bright was just outside the field of view.
SBIG ST-i Manual pixels are definitely obscuring it. Now use the Dark Subtract command in the Utility menu. This brings up the Open File dialog where CCDOps wants you to select which image to subtract. Double-click on Image 2, the 10-second dark frame. The displayed image turns completely black! What did we do? Did we destroy the image by dark subtracting? No we didn’t but it’s time to learn something else regarding CCD images.
SBIG ST-i Manual and decrease. Click the ones adjacent to the Range setting and you’ll see the image contrast increase and decrease. Here’s a summary of how this works: Increasing the Back decreases the image brightness and vice-versa. Increasing the Range decreases the image contrast and vice-versa. Set the Back to 8,000 and the Range to 20,000 by typing in the fields (without the comma) and then hit the Apply button to get us back to where we started.
SBIG ST-i Manual Use the Graphics/Comm Setup command in the Misc menu to make sure USB is selected for the Interface. Click OK to set/confirm that and then use the Establish COM Link command in the Camera menu. CCDOps will try to connect to your camera, which can take several seconds to complete.
SBIG ST-i Manual resolution with 7.4 micron square pixels. The ST-i also supports binning whereby groups of pixels are combined to form a single larger pixel. This reduces the resolution but increases the sensitivity as larger pixels capture more light. The Low-resolution modes utilize 2x2 binning as you can see by the Image Height/Width and Pixel Size entries. Finally, review the information presented, then close the dialog by clicking in it.
SBIG ST-i Manual Grab Command Let’s take a dark frame with your new camera. If you haven’t done so already, screw in the nosepiece and put the rubber cap on it. While the shutter was designed to block light from the telescope for dark frames, it can’t block flooding room light from leaking around the edges of the shutter blade. That’s why you should cover it under bright light illumination.
SBIG ST-i Manual Note: Dark subtracted images have an offset of 100 ADU added to them to ensure values near zero are not clipped. Focus Command Using the Grab command to focus your telescope would drive you crazy, taking a single image at a time, tweaking the telescope, etc. Instead we use the Focus command, which is like Grab but it takes image after image automatically.
SBIG ST-i Manual Frame Size – Planet mode allows you to select a portion of the CCD’s field of view (FOV) for faster rep rates due to smaller downloads. It’s great for focusing the telescope on a star. The other three Full settings all show the full FOV of the CCD but are slower than Planet mode because there’s more data to download. Full-High uses high-resolution mode to show you all 648 x 486 pixels.
SBIG ST-i Manual 3. At the Telescope Connect the camera to the computer and start CCDOps. Establish a link to the camera and run the Camera Setup command. At this point we’re ready to hook up to the telescope. Focusing the ST-i camera is much easier than most CCD cameras due to its faster frame rates. Nevertheless, it can be difficult the first time when the star images are likely to be well out of focus and difficult to detect.
SBIG ST-i Manual Resolution High Res Med/Low Res Saturation Counts ~65,000 ~65,000 Once the best focus is found, the focusing operation can be greatly shortened the second time by removing the camera, being careful not to touch the focus knob, and inserting a high power eyepiece. Slide it back and forth to find the best visual focus (don’t touch the focus knob), and then scribe the outside of the eyepiece barrel.
SBIG ST-i Manual 4. Accessories for your CCD Camera This section describes several of the common Accessories designed to work with the ST-i. Tripod Mounting Ring The tripod mounting ring is a split ring that clamps around the ST-i body and provided a 1/4-20 threaded hold for mounting to a piggyback mount or tripod mount.
SBIG ST-i Manual ST-i Options: A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. 1.25" Filter (UV/IR filter recommended for color camera) C-mount adapter C-mount lens (SBIG offers 100mm FL f/2.
SBIG ST-i Manual 5. Glossary Antiblooming- When a CCD pixel has reached its full well capacity, electrons can effectively spill over into an adjoining pixel. This is referred to as blooming. Kodak CCDs like the KAF-0402LE with the antiblooming option can be used to help stop or at least reduce blooming when the brighter parts of the image saturate. Astrometry - Astrometry is the study of stellar positions with respect to a given coordinate system.
SBIG ST-i Manual dark. The shutter covers the CCD. Dark Frames are subtracted from normal exposures (light frames) to eliminate fixed pattern and dark current noise from the image. Dark Frames must be of the same integration time and temperature as the light frame being processed. FITS Image File Format - The FITS image file format (which stands for Flexible Image Transport System) is a common format supported by professional astronomical image processing programs such as IRAF and PC Vista.
SBIG ST-i Manual Readout Noise - Readout noise is associated with errors generated by the actual interrogation and readout of each of the CCD pixels at the end of an exposure. This is the result of fixed pattern noise in the CCD, residual charge in the readout capacitors and to a small extent the noise from the A/D converter and preamplifier. Resolution Mode - The resolution of a CCD camera is determined by pixel size.
SBIG ST-i Manual co-register and co-add (including dark frame subtraction) a series of images of an object. These exposures can be taken unguided as long as the "Snapshot time" does not exceed the length of time before tracking errors of your clock drive become apparent. This allows you to image and track without guiding or the need to connect the CCD Relay port to your drive motors. Track List - The Track List is an ASCII file generated by CCDOPS during a Track and Accumulate session.
SBIG ST-i Manual Appendix A – Connector and Cables Telescope Jack The Telescope Jack is used to provide tracking signals to the telescope drive. Viewed from outside the camera, looking in, it has the following pin-out: The Left, Down, Up and Right signals are driven from optically isolated photo transistors that conduct when telescope movement is desired. They can sink up to 25ma and can hold off up to 25V. If what you are plugging into is voltage based you’ll need an external pull-up resistor.
SBIG ST-i Manual Appendix B – Camera Specifications The table below lists the specifications for the ST-i camera. Specifications are typical and can vary from camera to camera and are subject to change without notice. CCD Pixel Array Pixel Size Full Well Capacity Dark Current Shutter Exposure A/D Converter Read Noise Binning Modes Full Frame Download USB 2 USB 1.1 Power Requirements Backfocus Dimensions Kodak KAI-0340 648 x 486 7.4 x 7.
SBIG ST-i Manual Appendix C – ST-i Color Camera Supplement The raw single-shot color image: The first thing you notice about the raw images from your single-shot color camera is that they are not in color! This is normal - the color data is being displayed as greyscale values in a raw single-shot color image You might also notice a grid or “screen door” pattern covering the raw image as well. This effect is also normal, and is caused by the RGB color mask that is covering the CCD.
SBIG ST-i Manual camera control software to acquire your single-shot color images, make sure to save them in either SBIG or 16-bit FITS file format. You should not crop, resize, or flip the image (using 3rd party software) before importing it into CCDOPS for one-shot color processing.
SBIG ST-i Manual The image below is a screen captures of the single step process and the dialog box shows the settings in their default positions using DDP as the method: Step 1: Capture the image and save the raw data - it will appear monochrome on the computer screen when first downloaded from the camera. Step 2: Click the "PROCESS" button to create the color image - this step can be repeated without reloading the original image data - the monochrome image will change to color.
SBIG ST-i Manual Tip: While in the Single Shot Color Processing dialog box, click on any slider, then use the keyboard right and left arrow keys to make fine adjustments. You can save the final color image as a TIFF file at any time by selecting File -> Save As. Note that once the image is saved as a TIFF you won’t be able to process it any further with CCDOPS. (You will still be able to open and view the image, however.
SBIG ST-i Manual Enhancements Images of galaxies tend to have a lot of dynamic range and you may find it difficult to reveal the faint details in the arms without causing the core to saturate. Try selecting the DDP instead of RGB in the "Method" drop down box. Hit the Process button. DDP compresses the dynamic range of the image. This may not look natural on all images but don't be afraid to try it. An example is shown below.
SBIG ST-i Manual To do this using CCDOPS select Utility --> Single Shot Color --> Extract Color Channel(s)... The Color Extraction dialog box will open and give you the option to extract any (or all) of the individual color channels (Red, Green, Blue) and a synthesized Luminance (greyscale) channel: Once extracted, the R,G and B frames from a Single Shot Color Camera are treated the same as RGB frames shot with a monochrome camera and color filter wheel.
SBIG ST-i Manual 2. Normalize the Sky Background - Normalizing the Sky Background means making sure it comes out a neutral gray in the final image, not having a subtle color tint. Bring the Red image to the foreground and then position the Crosshair on an area of the image that represents the Sky Background, free of any stars or faint nebulosity. Right-click the mouse and select the Set RGB Black Level. This tells CCDOps how to normalize the sky background. 3.
SBIG ST-i Manual then you would reduce the Red Horizontal item by 1. After each adjustment hit the “Do It” button to see the results. [b] Color Balance – Raise or lower the Factors column to adjust the Color Balance. For example, to make the image redder, raise the Red factor. Hit the Do It button to see the results. [c] Brightness and Contrast - Raise or lower Grey Level item to adjust the Brightness and raise or lower the Contrast Boost item to adjust the image contrast.
SBIG ST-i Manual Appendix D – Dimensions and Backfocus 39
