Astrel Instruments AST-8300-B Getting Started Download Page 1

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Astrel Instruments AST8300-B / AST16200-B

Astrel Instruments

AST8300-B / AST16200-B

GETTING STARTED

rev A

Getting Started 1/21 rev A

Summary of Contents for AST-8300-B

Page 1: ...Astrel Instruments AST8300 B AST16200 B Astrel Instruments AST8300 B AST16200 B GETTING STARTED rev A Getting Started 1 21 rev A ...

Page 2: ...ully the following User s Manual to learn how to get the best out of your equipment The philosophy behind your camera 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 components...

Page 3: ...Astrel Instruments AST8300 B AST16200 B Camera connections The following picture shows the I O interfaces available Getting Started 3 21 rev A ...

Page 4: ...red down connecting the LCD when the camera is powered could damage the monitor and the camera USB 1 2 these two 480Mbit sec hi speed USB connectors can be used to connect devices like USB dongles guide cameras keyboards and mice USB hub can be used when multiple connections are needed Each USB port can drive max 500 mA EXT1 this is a 12 pin general purpose connector giving access to 3 3V and 5V p...

Page 5: ... PC When needed connect the wifi Antenna 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 the Linux operating system and then starts the Desktop application from where a...

Page 6: ...f the Desktop 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 SD card which is the main storage of the camera In unlikely situations removing the power supply while the operating system or any applicat...

Page 7: ...0 0 1 When the camera is connected using an Ethernet cable the default ip address is 10 42 0 10 In order to connect to the Camera you also need to configure the PC LAN network accordingly assigning for example the 10 42 0 1 IP address Your PC smartphone tablet should connect automatically when the camera powers up The network configuration can be modified using the corresponding application WARNIN...

Page 8: ...ce is the way to interact with them Astrel proprietary applications are collected on the Astrel Desktop which is organized in pages of icons corresponding to applications When choosing one tab a different page of icons is displayed The applications and tabs can be customized modifying the desktop cfg file Here follows a screenshot of the main Desktop page Other third party applications are availab...

Page 9: ...hernet This is why you can run the same applications even with a tablet smartphone Many free VNC client are available for many architectures here follows a brief list of the tested ones PC Windows 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 indica...

Page 10: ... USB hard disk to either USB connectors If you need to access other folders for example a USB dongle or hard disk or simply prefer to use a file manager like application you can use 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 usernam...

Page 11: ...e position 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 a...

Page 12: ...ve 24 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 24 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 sessio...

Page 13: ... 26 inHg 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...

Page 14: ...the camera Only for Connected mode When using wifi look for the camera access point name the default one is ast_ap_ serial 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 for wifi or 10 42 0 10 for cable in the R...

Page 15: ...Astrel Desktop and the icons of the thid party applications STEP 4 start the cooling process Start the Temperature Monitor application and insert the desired temperature set point then push the Start button The application will work in background maintaining the temperature set point with a 0 1 C precision Getting Started 15 21 rev A ...

Page 16: ...pen the Temperature Monitor application it will display the current cooling process state until you push the Stop button which will ramp down and switch off the cooling process The cooling process needs some time to reach a stable temperature set point so we will use this time to find and focus the object to photograph Getting Started 16 21 rev A ...

Page 17: ...sh 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 live 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 so for 5 seconds exposure you have to write the value 50 Getting Started 17 21 rev A...

Page 18: ...uttons 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 exposure time to 15 20 seconds to possibly show many stars of different brightness This can also be done after framing the object to photograph Push live again to come back to the liveview interface and frame your object With liveview taking...

Page 19: ...lected filter Choose a photo sequence name If you omit a path before the name the photo sequence will be stored in the default photo folder which is the photos folder Advanced user can use any existing path on the camera where they have the permission to write Each photo of a sequence can be identified using its name For example the third exposure with the second filter of the m31_lrgb photo seque...

Page 20: ... to a PC The camera saves the photos on its internal SD card 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 t...

Page 21: ...Astrel Instruments AST8300 B AST16200 B application Getting Started 21 21 rev A ...

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