Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A Getting Started Download

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Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A

Astrel Instruments

AST-8300-A

GETTING STARTED

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Getting Started 1/20 rev D

Summary of Contents for AST-8300-A

Page 1: ...Astrel Instruments AST 8300 A Astrel Instruments AST 8300 A GETTING STARTED rev D Getting Started 1 20 rev D ...

Page 2: ...refully the following User s Manual to learn how to get the best out of your equipment The philosophy behind the AST8300 is the concept that the CCD camera could be the real brain of your astronomical equipment This is possible thanks to the powerful microprocessor that is in charge of managing not only the camera itself but also through the extended set of I O available on board the other compone...

Page 3: ...SUPPLY the camera needs a 12V 3A power supply The included 3 meters cable can be used to connect the camera to a car lighter using the included adapter or to the optional 12V 3A power supply ETHERNET the camera can be connected to a PC using a normal cat 5 Ethernet cable LCD this connector is used to attach the touch LCD monitor to the camera Please pay Getting Started 3 20 rev D ...

Page 4: ...fi adapter USB HI SPEED HOST DEVICE this 480Mbit sec hi speed micro USB connector can be used to connect devices that needs maximum bandwidth like fast USB dongles or guide cameras This connector is used as a host by default in the current Linux distribution EXT1 this is a 12 pin general purpose connector giving access to 3 3V and 5V power an SPI interface and one general purpose I O pin that can ...

Page 5: ...e connected to the camera before power up in order to start the wifi host access point during the camera boot sequence Cables other than USB for example the mount motors cable or the serial cable can be connected and disconnected at any time but it s always a good rule to connect any needed device before power up Connect the power supply cable After the power supply is connected the camera boots t...

Page 6: ...esktop will take care of all this sequence so before powering down the camera you must run the Shutdown application At the end of this application the system can be safely powered down The Linux distribution inside the camera is stored into the internal 8Gb SD card which is the main storage of the camera In unlikely situations removing the power supply while the operating system or any application...

Page 7: ...ap while the ip address is 10 0 0 1 When the camera is connected using an Ethernet cable the default ip address is 192 168 0 18 Your PC smartphone tablet should connect automatically when the camera powers up The network configuration can be modified using the corresponding application WARNING remember to connect the USB adapter before powering up the camera or the wifi network connection may not ...

Page 8: ...ions When choosing one tab a different page of icons is displayed The applications and tabs can be customized modifying the desktop cfg fileHere follows a screenshot of the main Desktop page The camera automatically senses the presence of the touch LCD monitor at boot When the monitor is not detected the applications are started in VNC server mode and can be accessed by a VNC client When operated ...

Page 9: ...ows TightVNC http www tightvnc com PC Linux TightVNC http www tightvnc com Android akRDC Free available on the store Windows Phone TinyVNC available on the store To install them just follows the steps indicated on their websites WARNING closing the VNC client application doesn t shut down the camera the VNC client only shows the camera applications on the PC screen That means that you always have ...

Page 10: ...any remote file manager application using the ssh protocol here follows a brief list of the tested ones PC Windows WinSCP http winscp net PC Linux any file manager opening the location ssh camera ip address The username is root and the password is empty WARNING when connected with a remote file manager application you log in as root meaning that you have full access to any directory and file inclu...

Page 11: ...ition The monitor can be rotated around the connecting screw and around the connecting tube Mount the monitor as indicated in the pictures below start by mounting the connecting tube to the back of the camera Then insert the monitor mount in the other end of the tube You can lock the monitor in the right position using the 2 white plastic knobs Always be sure to lock the monitor properly to avoid ...

Page 12: ...23 inHg is enough The vacuum pump gauges have a tolerance of about 1 inHg refer to the Important Notice sheet provided with the camera to get the proper vacuum level to be set before cooling the camera The camera is tested to maintain a vacuum better than 23 inHg for at least two days and it s not unusual for cameras to last for weeks so there s no need to operate the pump during a photo session A...

Page 13: ...nHg vacuum is reached Close the valve Rotate the knob near the nose of the pump to release the vacuum remained inside the connecting tube disconnect the pump and remove the tube The camera is now ready for being cooled below freezing temperature and the vacuum should be retained to an acceptable level for at least 2 days You can check the vacuum level connecting the pump to the camera pumping the ...

Page 14: ... using wifi look for the camera access point name the default one is ast8300ap and connect to it Windows will complain because the access is limited but this is normal because you don t have an internet connection only a local LAN connection Start the VNC viewer When prompted insert the camera IP address 10 0 0 1 1 for wifi or 192 168 0 18 1 for cable in the Remote Host field like in the following...

Page 15: ...he application will work in background maintaining the temperature set point with a 0 1 C precision Push Done to leave the application leaving the application doesn t stop the cooling process Next time you open the Temperature Monitor application it will display the current cooling process state until you push the Stop button which will ramp down and Getting Started 15 20 rev D ...

Page 16: ...king touching the icon on the desktop then push the desired filter button and push go Push done to leave the Filterwheel application STEP 6 find and focus Start the Find Focus application to focus the camera and frame the object Push liveview to start acquiring images You can change the exposure time on the fly depending on your target brightness remember that the value refers to tenth of seconds ...

Page 17: ...idth Half Maximum and a plot of the intensity profile use these parameters together with eye inspection to focus the camera You can change the exposure time and the enlargement of the star field as well as move around using the arrow buttons At the end of the focus process in order to verify the focus accuracy it could be useful when permitted by the precision of the mount motors to set the exposu...

Page 18: ...le to less then 0 1 C To check that the temperature is stable start the Temperature Monitor application again and monitor the temperature variations for a while Push Done to leave the application and come back to the Desktop STEP 8 set the exposure parameters and start photographing Stat the Take Photos application Using the tabs named as the filters you set in the Setup application you can define...

Page 19: ...ach photo of a sequence can be identified using its name For example the third exposure with the second filter of the m31_lrgb photo sequence will be saved as m31_lrgb_filt2_3 fits Start the photo sequence pushing the SHOT Button Note During photo download from the ccd the camera turns off the display the wifi the ethernet and the fan in order to minimize read out noise After the completion of the...

Page 20: ...rd or on an external USB storage There s no need to download them on a PC during the observing session you can copy move the images to a PC in many ways here follows the most common Method 1 use WinSCP Open WinSCP and create a new connection Choose SFTP protocol and insert the camera ip address port 22 and your user name and password Copy the files folders as needed Method 2 If you stored the phot...

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