Opticstar AG-131 COOLAIR Manual Download Page 31

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Opticstar PL-131 series. © Opticstar Ltd, 2021.

Updated: 07/09/2021

Camera Specification

Specification

PL-131 COOLAIR

Image sensor

1/2” CMOS

Sensitivity

1.8v/Lux-sec at 550nm

Sensor

Micron MT9M001C

Pixel size

5.2μm x 5.2μm

Max. Resolution

1280 x 1024 pixels

Speed

22fps at 1280x1024
80fps at 640x480
220fps at 320x240

Data Readout

Raw at 8-bit per pixel
RGB colour 24-bit

Gain

In hardware

Region of Interest (ROI)

640x480 user definable,
320x240 user definable

Binning modes

Hardware: 1x1, 2x2
Software/Hardware: 4x4

Auto-Exposure

Automatic/Manual

Image Output

USB 2.0, 480 Mb/s

Power Supply

USB 2.0

Lens Mount

C/CS Mount

Mounting Tube

23.2mm

Lens Mount

C/CS Mount

Mounting to telescope

C/CS to 1.25” (included)

Mounting to lens

C to T-thread (M42 x 0.75)

Mounting to microscope

C to 23mm, C to 30mm, C to
30.5mm

USB Cable

1.8 meter long

Weight

250g

Operation temperature

ºC

to 60

Computer requirements

Windows (32-bit or 64-bit)
7/8/10
USB 2.0 or later

Software support

Microsoft DirectShow,
MSB AstroArt,
Diffraction Limited MaxIm DL,
Stark Labs Nebulosity
Stark Labs PHD Guiding

Summary of Contents for AG-131 COOLAIR

Page 1: ...Opticstar PL 131 AG 131 COOLAIR OPTICSTAR Microsoft Windows 64 bit 32 bit 7 8 10 Setup Guide ...

Page 2: ... supply unit if your camera comes with one 4 Do not point the camera to a bright light source like the Sun without the appropriate filters as this will damage the sensor 5 Disconnect the camera from the computer when not in use 6 Treat the camera glass window with the same care as you would of a photographic lens CAUTION Manufacturer s Warranty This product has a 12 month back to base warranty For...

Page 3: ...e Tab 17 Other Tab 17 Image Capture 18 Image Processing 19 Installing Nebulosity 20 Opticstar PL 131 Plug in for Nebulosity 20 Opticstar PL 131 Plug in for AstroArt 21 Binning and ROI Modes 21 Gain and StarView 21 Opticstar PL 131 Plug in for MaxIm DL 22 Binning and ROI Modes 22 Gain and StarView 22 Telescope Control and Auto Guiding with the AG 131 23 System Requirements 23 ASCOM Software 23 PHD ...

Page 4: ...ely if the emphasis is to process individual frames rather than a video stream then the PL 131 can be used with the following software applications Nebulosity for image processing Nebulosity Lite included on the CD PHD Guiding for auto guiding included on the CD AstroArt for advanced image capture image processing and auto guiding MaxIm DL for advanced image capture image processing and auto guidi...

Page 5: ...nced functions and usability 5 Nebulosity Lite for single shot image capture and processing 6 PHD Guiding for telescope auto guiding 7 Plug in for AstroArt support you must already have AstroArt to use this 8 Plug in for MaxIm DL support you must already have MaxIm DL to use this Anti virus software may attempt to block the software installation In such cases the anti virus software should be temp...

Page 6: ...r camera There are two options PL 131C setup exe for the colour camera PL 131M setup exe for the monochrome camera 2 A message will appear Welcome to the Device Driver Installation Wizard Click on the Next button to continue Step 1 Open the appropriate installation program Step 2 Click Next to start software installation 3 Windows may display a warning message such as Windows can t verify the publ...

Page 7: ...ally if Windows asks to restart the computer select Yes Step 6 Drivers installed successfully Step 7 Restart the computer DirectShow support can be removed from the Windows Control Panel independently of the camera s Windows software drivers Click the Add Remove Programs icon on XP or Programs and Features on 7 8 10 or Apps Features on Windows 10 and remove the entry headed PL 131 ...

Page 8: ...options Select Locate and Install Driver Software Windows will search for the camera drivers Step 3 Searching for driver software Step3 Install driver software 4 Windows will ask for the CD that came with camera insert the CD if not present 5 The drivers should now be installed and you can proceed on page 11 Otherwise if Windows fails to find the drivers it will display that Windows failed to find...

Page 9: ...ar saying that Windows was unable to install your 1 3M USB2 0 Camera Step 6 Direct Windows to the Drivers folder Step 7 Unable to install the camera 8 In this case the driver software should be installed manually Click on the Start button on the Windows desktop and from Settings Control Panel select Device Manager The camera should appear in the list with an explanation mark next to it indicating ...

Page 10: ...pick from a list of device drivers on my computer Step 10 Browse for driver software Step 11 Pick from a list of device drivers 12 Windows will ask to Select your device s type from the list below Select Imaging devices and click on the Next button 13 On the next message box Windows will display Select the device driver you want to install this hardware Click the Have disk button Step 12 Select de...

Page 11: ...an Update Driver Warning Click the Yes button to continue the installation Step 16 Continue the installation Step 15 Select the camera from the list 17 The following warning message may be displayed Windows can t verify the publisher of this driver software Ignore the message and select Install this driver software anyway 18 Finally Windows will confirm the end of the installation with the followi...

Page 12: ...general purpose program to capture video in AVI format Video Capture with etAMCAP ROI region of interest modes increase the rate at which the camera sends the data to the computer while preserving the full image quality of the selected region The camera mode can be selected from the menu by selecting Options Video Capture Pin The maximum frame rate that the camera operates at depends on the mode s...

Page 13: ...e however can be set between 1 and 40 High Gain values increase the camera s light sensitivity Timing Units and Exposure Time The region of interest ROI modes increase the frame rate dramatically At 1280x1024 the frame rate is 22 frames per second FPS When in 640x480 ROI mode the maximum frame rate increases to 80FPS An increase of 3 6 times 80 22 3 6 The exposure time per frame decreases accordin...

Page 14: ...on the CMOS CCD sensor A Bayer matrix is a series of micro filters that are placed on top of the sensor s cells pixels in order to give it the colour information Dedicated astronomy cameras do not incorporate an infra red blocking filter IR filter and therefore images tend to have a red bias By capturing light in the IR region the camera can capture data that normally would not be visible to the h...

Page 15: ...le option Video Capture The camera can capture video and store it to disk as an AVI file The folder and location of the file can be selected from the File Set Capture File menu In order to start video capture select Capture Start Capture Timing during capture can be selected from Capture Set Frame Rate and Capture Set Time Limit Post Processing There is some freely available third party software t...

Page 16: ...ew can be used for a wide range of applications outside astronomy including microscopy 1 To install View navigate to the View folder on the CD and open the View_setup exe file 2 Windows will display Welcome to the Opticstar View Setup Wizard Click the Next button to continue Installing Opticstar View Running Opticstar View After the installation has finished View can be run by clicking on the Wind...

Page 17: ...Default button resets the camera settings to the default values Frame Rate When lower resolution modes are combined with manual exposure times they can increase the frame rate frames per second at which the camera operates Camera Configuration The exposure time as well all other camera parameters can be configured by clicking the Advanced button This button is situated below the Start Preview Stop...

Page 18: ...r cannot specify the exposure time However it is still possible to add a bias by increasing or decreasing the Target value Likewise the Gain value is not user definable in auto exposure mode To set the exposure time manually simply un tick the Auto Exposure option In this mode the time can be set in milliseconds and the Gain value can be set manually The Target value cannot be set in manual exposu...

Page 19: ...r Video can be captured in AVI format by clicking the Start Video button This button toggles between Start Video and Stop Video Once the Start Video button has been pressed the camera will capture and store the data on the hard disk until Stop Video is clicked by the user The location of the stored file s can be specified by clicking the Config button By default video data is stored uncompressed i...

Page 20: ...r defined regions Distances can be measured between user defined points circles etc Angles can be calculated by defining three points on the image Operations can be performed on any user defined region Colour operations can be performed on individual R G B channels Data combine of two images Data calibration Image zoom as a per cent of the original image Linear filters to soften sharpen emboss blu...

Page 21: ...ins Nebulosity PL131C for the colour camera or D Plugins Nebulosity PL131M for the monochrome mode Copy all the files into the folder in which Nebulosity has been installed on the hard disk e g C Program Files Nebulosity The files that should be copied are OSPL130RT dll and OSPL131CRT dll for the colour model or OSPL130RT dll and OSPL131MRT dll for the monochrome model Selecting the Camera Run Neb...

Page 22: ...ct the PL131C plug in for the colour camera or the PL131M plug in for the monochrome camera from the list Binning and ROI Modes Within AstroArt the following camera binning resolution modes are supported 1x1 binning 1280x1024 pixels 2x2 binning 640x480 pixels 4x4 binning 320x240 pixels ROI 640x480 pixels This is the top left hand corner of the whole image ROI 320x240 pixels This is the top left ha...

Page 23: ...e CD e g D Plugins MaxImDL PL131C for the colour camera or inside D Plugins MaxImDL PL131M for the monochrome model After copying the files run MaxIm DL and select the Opt PL131C plug in for the colour camera or the Opt PL131M plug in for the monochrome camera from the list Binning and ROI Modes Within MaxIm DL the following camera binning resolution modes are supported 1x1 binning 1280x1024 pixel...

Page 24: ...e Although it is not always necessary it is recommended that the ASCOM software platform is installed before proceeding The ASCOM platform is freely available and can be downloaded at http ascom standards org Please visit the ASCOM website for more information At the time of writing version 5 is available to download PHD Guiding PHD Guiding supports the PL 131 natively selectable as PL 130 The pro...

Page 25: ... use Once you have completed the initial installation you may want to verify that the GPUSB is working properly before you begin to use it with your auto guide software To do this you can copy and install GPUSBCheck_1p1p0_setup exe from the Shoestring GPUSB folder on the supplied CD e g D Shoestring GPUSB GPUSBCheck_1p1p0_setup exe This simple software allows you to turn the LED on and off change ...

Page 26: ...nal USB controllers and four USB ports Every controller is allocated its own bandwidth to be shared by its two USB ports Attaching two cameras to the same USB controller will affect performance and speed depending on the amount of data that needs to be transferred to the PC M51 23 03 2006 by Ulrich Gurschen 3 minutes exposure without and with Guidemaster guiding Once you have ensured that your sof...

Page 27: ...e platform v5 or later freely available 6 PC with USB2 0 ports running Windows 7 8 10 7 The Shoestring auto guide controller and cables i e Shoestring GPUSB kit 8 Auto guiding software i e PHD Guiding AstroArt MaxIm DL 9 Opticstar PL 131 camera and software drivers The Opticstar AG 131 auto guiding kit contains items 7 8 and 9 in the above list You will therefore also need to provide your own imag...

Page 28: ...Im DL 9 Opticstar PL 131 camera and drivers The Opticstar AG 131 auto guiding kit contains items 7 8 and 9 in the above list You will therefore also need to provide your own imaging camera telescope off axis guider PC running Windows 7 8 10 and ST 4 compatible telescope mount An off axis guider provides an easy and affordable way to auto guide with a single scope It minimises possible tube flexure...

Page 29: ... 0 cards typically do not provide the full USB2 0 bandwidth and will not work with the PL 131 camera Express Card To resolve such issues an ExpressCard with USB2 0 ports should be used instead of a PCMCIA CardBus card due to the ExpressCard s superior speed of 2 5Gbit s 480 Mbit s through USB 2 0 per slot for comparison PCMCIA CardBus devices connected to a computer would share a total 1 06 Gbit s...

Page 30: ...tware Deep Sky Stacker http deepskystacker free fr RegiStax http www astronomie be registax These programs can be used to post process video files captured in EtAMCAP and View They can stack align and enhance multiple AVI frames into a single high quality master image Microscope Attachments In order to use the camera with a microscope one or more attachments must be used The attachments shown from...

Page 31: ... 320x240 user definable Binning modes Hardware 1x1 2x2 Software Hardware 4x4 Auto Exposure Automatic Manual Image Output USB 2 0 480 Mb s Power Supply USB 2 0 Lens Mount C CS Mount Mounting Tube 23 2mm Lens Mount C CS Mount Mounting to telescope C CS to 1 25 included Mounting to lens C to T thread M42 x 0 75 Mounting to microscope C to 23mm C to 30mm C to 30 5mm USB Cable 1 8 meter long Weight 250...

Page 32: ... PL 131 series Opticstar Ltd 2021 31 Updated 07 09 2021 OPTICSTAR Opticstar Ltd 87 Washway Road Sale Greater Manchester M33 7TQ United Kingdom Tel 44 0 161 969 9008 Email info opticstar com Web www opticstar com ...

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