FAQ 
General Information
Online Resources
How-To Guides to Imaging
Q & A| FAQ |
General Information |
Online Resources |
| How-To Guides to Imaging |
Q & A |
| General Information |
CCD Camera Size CCD Camera Size ICX424AL
HX516 190k SXV-A/G 234k HX916 212k MX5 201k SXV-H9 199k MX5C 211k SXV-H9C 219k MX716 179k SXV-M8C 783k MX7C 189k SXV-M25C 234k MX916 162k
Sony has released improved versions of some of its early chips.
HX5: originally ICX084AL, now ICX424AL.
MX5: originally ICX055AL, then ICX055BL, now ICX405AL.
MX5C: originally ICX055AK, then ICX055BK, now ICX405AK.
MX716: originally ICX249AL, now ICX429AL.
MX7C: originally ICX249AK, now ICX429AK.
MX916: originally ICX083AL, now ICX423AL.
Camera Site Size Camera Site Size HX516 UK | Canada 581k SXV-H9 UK | Canada 784k MX5 UK | Canada 560k SXV-H9C UK | Canada 819k MX5C UK | Canada 419k SXV-M25 UK | Canada 784k MX7 UK | Canada 1059k MX9 UK | Canada 149k USB2 I/F UK | Canada 136k
AstroArt v3 - UI3.03 CCD Manual (501k
Detailed info on controlling CCD cameras with AstroArt.
MaxIm DL Online Manual
The MaxIm help system is a treasure trove of CCD imaging information!
PDF Documents Technical Manual (927k) Technical Manual (1428k) Frequently Asked Questions
HOME/PRO-DOME FAQ ROBO-DOME FAQ At Home in a Dome (a 60 page booklet that contains At Home in a Dome many ideas on observatory design) Remote Control Astronomy Handbook Binning* (National Optical Astronomy Observatory) DDP* (National Optical Astronomy Observatory) LRGB* (National Optical Astronomy Observatory) Glossary*
Top
| How-To Guides to Imaging |
Measuring CCD Camera Characteristics
Telescope Setup by Spanish
Chris by Walter
by Alan Chen
AA2 | AA3 by Jon
Talbot by Martino Nicolini by Walter by Janet
Cutler by Bob Anderson by Spanish Chris by Spanish Chris
| Online Resources |
at cyanogen.com.
by Steve Hill. Instructions
| Q & A |
1. How fast are image downloads with Starlight Xpress cameras?
2. How far can I operate my camera with the USB interface?
3. How far can I operate my camera with the parallel interface?
4. Can I run my parallel camera on a USB port?
5. How do I run my camera off 12VDC?
6. How much power does STAR2000 pull from the computer?
7. Can I safely connect my SXV autoguider port to my scope?
8. How can I tell if my SXV autoguider has an old or new chip?
9. Can I use Starlight cameras with the Celestron Fastar?
10. Can I mount a camera lens on the Starlight cameras?
11. Do the Starlight CCD cameras have any cooling?
12. Can I use MaximDL/CCD or AstroArt with the Starlight Xpress cameras?
13. My telescope has lousy tracking and I'm stuck in suburbia. Can I still do any CCD imaging?
14. My JMI NGFS focuser runs too fast when connected to my LX200. How can I fix this?
15. What is the pixel offset feature in the Starlight Xpress software?
16. What is the apigid32.dll file used for?
17. Will my parallel port camera work with Windows 2000/XP?
18. How do I tell if my camera is 12-bit or 16-bit?
19. Can I use a joystick cable with my camera?
20. How do SX cameras compare to DSLRs for astro-imaging?
- 1. How fast are image downloads with Starlight Xpress cameras?
(Parallel port download times can be cut in half with the fast interface module.)
Camera Image Size Download Time Parallel USB1 USB2 HX5 659x494 30s 5s <1s HX9 1300x1030 -- 11s -- MX5 500x290 20s 2s <1s MX7 752x582 40s 6s <1s MX9 752x582 40s 6s <1s SXV-H9 1392x1040 -- 7s 4s SXV-M25 3000x2000 -- 25s 16s
- 2. How far can I operate my camera with the USB interface?
- Bench tests indicate that 10 metres is no problem without a repeater. It actually seems to be OK at up to around 15-20 metres before communications begin to falter! Active USB1 extension cables are available that can extend this length up to around 25 metres with no signal degradation. Another way to extend USB1 or USB 2 interfaces is by using hubs (e.g. CPU -> 5m cable -> Hub -> 5m cable -> Hub -> Camera).
- 3. How far can I operate my camera with the parallel interface?
- The cable that comes with the Starlight Xpress cameras are 5 meters or 15' in length. Longer cables -- 10 and 15 metres (32' and 50') -- are available. For distances longer than this, use a 2nd computer with an ethernet connection and remote control software.
- 4. Can I run my parallel camera on a USB port?
- No. These adaptors won't work at all, as the camera needs low level direct control of the port and USB to parallel adaptors do not provide this.
- 5. How do I run my camera off 12VDC?
- There is an orange 2-pin DC power connector on the side of the power block. It is polarity protected by an internal diode and the lower pin is the positive terminal.
NOTE:To be absolutely safe, do not run your camera and computer from the same battery, or serious damage could result! All the cameras should be safe when running from the battery used for the telescope drive. You should also be able to connect the laptop to the same supply, if it is via an inverter. The only reason for the caution about common battery supplies is because you may damage the laptop parallel port if the camera tries to take its cooling current via the computer ground. This is unlikely to happen, but not impossible.The main reason for this is to avoid the possibility of a 'ground loop' through the computer printer port. For example, if the camera and computer are running off the same DC supply, the negative of the camera supply will also be applied to the computer parallel port, via our cable. If the camera or computer negative lead becomes disconnected from your battery, the camera or computer will continue to run via the parallel port ground connection and it can be subjected to several amps DC.
Another possibility is that the computer 0V supply is not directly connected to the chassis of the machine, and this can also set up currents between the camera and computer.
If you are sure that neither ground lead will become disconnected and that the grounds are 'common', there should not be any problem, but be cautious! Otherwise, using the AC input via an inverter is quite safe.
- 6. How much power does STAR2000 pull from the computer?
- About 5mA max (only when a LED is on).
- 7. Can I safely connect my SXV autoguider port to my scope?
The SXV output will drive any standard active-low guider input via an RJ11 'telephone' lead. The SXV output is the same as that in the STAR2000 module and uses 4 opto-isolators for a fully isolated output. This means that you can connect it to any mount without a risk of damage being caused by 'common' earth circuits etc. and the circuit is 'self limiting' at a few milliamps.
The downside is that the polarity of the switches is fixed as positive supply current sinks (ON to guide) and they cannot sink more than a few milliamps. The 'ON' offset voltage is also about 1 volt, so some TTL inputs might not switch reliably. All of these issues can be removed by adding a relay box to the SXV output, but most mounts will work without this.
- 8. How can I tell if my SXV autoguider has an old or new chip?
The first guiders with the new chip were shipped at the beginning of February 2004. No guiders were made between about August 2003 and Feb. 2004 (waiting for chips), so all 'old chip' guiders date from mid 2003. If you are still unsure about your guider, remove the two screws at the rear and lift off the barrel. New chips have 'Issue 3' PC boards and two wire ended resistors on the circular board that carries the CCD.
- 9. Can I use Starlight cameras with the Celestron Fastar?
- Yes, you can! The one-shot colour cameras are particularly well-suited to the Fastar/Hyperstar systems since they don't require filter wheels. However you will need to get an adaptor from the Fastar manufacturer in order to physically attach the camera to your system.
- 10. Can I mount a camera lens on the Starlight cameras?
- Yes. The Starlight Cameras accommodate the Pentax screw lenses, and the Tamron Adaptall-2 lenses with optional adapters available at photo shops. The MX camera thread is a standard M42 Pentax camera lens thread (42mm x 1mm). (Most common accessories use the M42 'T' or 'Tamron' thread, which is M42 x 0.75mm.)
The reason for the Pentax thread is that it is stronger than the T thread and matches many surplus camera lenses, which can be purchased very cheaply. To match the thread to a 'T' mount, all you need is a standard M42 Pentax to T adaptor, which costs about $20 from your local camera store.
Update: The larger SXV series cameras come with 'T' rather than Pentax threads. Also, Starlight Xpress cameras can be ordered with a 'C' mount.
- 11. Do the Starlight CCD cameras have any cooling?
- You bet! every model has a single-stage Peltier cooler that brings the camera down to 30C below ambient. Not only that, it is automatic and the cooler's power levels do not have to be set or monitored.
- 12. Can I use MaximDL/CCD or AstroArt with the Starlight Xpress cameras?
- Yes, all cameras are supported in both AstroArt and MaximDL/CCD. Also fully supported are autoguiding (on all Starlight Xpress cameras) and STAR2000 self-guiding (on all Starlight Xpress MX series cameras -- though MaxIm only supports STAR2000 on USB interface cameras, not parallel port interface).
- 13. My telescope has lousy tracking and I'm stuck in suburbia. Can I still do any CCD imaging?
- Yes, you can! Just check out our Image Galleries, which have a number of images taken from suburban (and urban!) locations. As long as your telescope can track for 30 seconds at a time, you can get great images by stacking many short exposures.
- 14. My JMI NGFS focuser runs too fast when connected to my LX200. How can I fix this?
- Build a voltage divider out of two 1/4 watt resistors to drop the voltage from 18V down to 9V (which the focuser was designed for). The schematic below is for the Plug/Resistors/socket, adapter cord, that is put inline to the existing NGFS cord.
- 15. What is the pixel offset feature in the Starlight Xpress software?
- The offsets refer to the start point used by the colour synthesis equations. The colour calculation relies on knowing the exact positions of the filters relative to the downloaded image and the offsets allow you to move this point by one pixel in any direction
- 16. What is the apigid32.dll file used for?
- Apigid32.dll is not needed for AstroArt, Maxim or the 'Star_M5C_usb' software. It is used only by the Visual Basic USB software, so it is not required for normal use.
- 17. Will my parallel port camera work with Windows 2000/XP?
- The parallel port interface needs special drivers when used with Windows 2000 or XP. There are several options to do this:
(XP will process the images correctly, but its parallel port interfacing is very slow and liable to cause lots of artefacts in your downloaded images. This is mainly because XP is a Windows NT/ME hybrid and so the parallel port access is far from direct. These problems disappear with the USB interface.)
- You can drive the camera with AstroArt or Maxim DL - both have XP drivers.
- Try enabling the parallel port access by using a utility such as 'AccessIO' from 'PortTalk' (a free download).
- Upgrade to USB with our USB interface module. This gives you both XP compatibility and a considerably faster downloads.
- 18. How do I tell if my camera is 12-bit or 16-bit?
- Just take an image and look at the pixel values. They will have increments of 16 if it's 12 bit, but increments of 1 if it's a 16 bit. You could also open the barrel and have a look at the A-D converter. It's an ADS7809 in the 16 bit cameras, ADS7808 in the 12 bit versions.
- 19. Can I use a joystick cable with my camera?
- It is possible to use a game port cable but all 15 pins must be connected (all lines are straight-through); it will likely start to cause image defects if it is more than 2 metres in length.
- 20. How do SX cameras compare to DSLRs for astro-imaging?
- There are several important features of the large format SXVF cameras that make them better than DSLRs for astronomy:
- The cooling of the CCD is important and makes low noise exposures much more practical.
- The slower optimised readout of the SXVF CCD gives less readout noise.
- The images are downloaded as raw 16 bit data, so the full dynamic range and sensitivity are maintained.
- The SXVF does not incorporate an infrared blocking filter and so the full near IR and H-alpha performance is available.
- The SXVF is compatible with the SXV guide camera and AO unit.
- The 'T' thread mount with adjustable CCD tip/tilt permits the camera to be accurately aligned with the optics.
- The cylindrical profile makes it compatible with prime focus optical systems.
