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13

The StarShoot G4 can cool the CCD 
to about 25°C below the ambient 
temperature. But remember that the 
ambient temperature changes and you 
want to have enough cooling capacity 
to take dark frames at the same 
temperature later.
To set the cooler:
1.  With the G4 already connected 

to your computer, plug the 12V 
power source into the G4’s power 
port. The fan will immediately 
power on.

2.  Click 

Connect in the Camera 

Control tab if you have not 
already done so.

3.  Click 

Cooler On, and the CCD 

temperature will begin to drop.

4.  Enter a target temperature for 

the CCD in 

Target (°C), and 

remember you can only cool 
to about 25°C cooler than the 
outside air temperature. The 
CCD temperature will naturally 
heat up on its own. To start with, 
set the 

Target (°C) to about 

20°C lower than the current 
CCD Temperature, to allow 
yourself some margin for outdoor 
temperature changes. (

Figure 12)

5.  Let the camera temperature 

stabilize. You can resume imaging while this takes place. It’s common for the 
CCD temperature to fluctuate to within about 1°C of your target temperature.

You can view the 

Temperature Log (Figure 13) to monitor the status of the 

cooling system. Go to the 

Camera menu, and click Temperature Log If the 

cooler power remains at 100% after 20 minutes, you need to reduce the target 
temperature. Most of the time you can simply monitor the CCD temperature by 
looking at the 

CCD Temperature in the Camera Control tab.

Note: Being able to match the light and dark frame temperature is more impor‑
tant than trying to cool the CCD more than the TEC will allow. Matching the dark 
frame temperature to your light frames ensures a very effective calibration to 
remove unwanted noise from your images.

Figure 12. 

Monitor the CCD temperature 

and determine the best target temperature 
to set.

Figure 13. 

The temperature log can help 

you determine how much margin you have 
to cool the camera based on the cooler 
power and current CCD temperature.

Summary of Contents for 53087

Page 1: ...oll Free USA Canada 800 447 1001 International 1 831 763 7000 Customer Support support telescope com Copyright 2020 Orion Telescopes Binoculars All Rights Reserved No part of this product instruction...

Page 2: ...photos and shar ing them with friends family and the world Figure 1 StarShoot G4 Imaging Camera and included items Contents 1 Introduction 2 1 1 The StarShoot G4 3 1 2 Feature Highlights 3 2 Getting S...

Page 3: ...lated cooling Enables you to set the exact temperature within the cooling range of the camera This allows you to take calibration images like dark frames at the exact same temperature as your light fr...

Page 4: ...nosepiece from the G4 This exposes the camera s T threads Then simply thread the camera onto your telescope Figure 2 2 Backfocus Requirement The G4 only requires 5mm of inward focus travel also someti...

Page 5: ...peed USB 2 0 port Power The StarShoot G4 s thermoelectric cooler TEC requires 12 volts DC 12VDC with approximately 1 ampere of current The camera itself can operate without the cooler just by connecti...

Page 6: ...you wish to use the camera in another program such as Nebulosity and MaximDL or if you wish to use the camera as an autoguider Select language to install and go through the prompts until the software...

Page 7: ...image downloads Connect Disconnect Connects the G4 and instantly displays the CCD temperature The G4 camera must be plugged into your PC before you click Connect Cooling The CCD Temperature will alwa...

Page 8: ...ckly find and frame a celestial object Binning in these modes provides faster download times and greater sensitivity Subframe You can selectively download a segment of the whole field of view to provi...

Page 9: ...Raw to allow for image calibration later See Image Processing Calibrate Raws The image will appear black and white at first but can later be converted to color But for quick imaging to instantly get...

Page 10: ...region of the image for the Analysis display Figure 10 The information displayed is very useful but for beginning astro imagers concentrate mainly on getting the smallest HFD possible when focusing on...

Page 11: ...you are ready to begin using the StarShoot G4 to capture images 4 1 Focusing Focusing the CCD camera is one of the most critical parts of imaging It can be challenging but Camera Studio has some help...

Page 12: ...the G4 is grossly out of focus no object will appear in the image not even a blur Increase the exposure time if needed and patiently move through the focus range of your telescope until you see the ce...

Page 13: ...Figure 12 5 Let the camera temperature stabilize You can resume imaging while this takes place It s common for the CCD temperature to fluctuate to within about 1 C of your target temperature You can v...

Page 14: ...r without using the eyepiece 2 Remove the eyepiece and replace it with the G4 camera 3 Focus the camera as outlined in Section 4 1 If necessary move the telescope to a nearby star to determine the bes...

Page 15: ...ract them from your astro images also called light images Note Make sure the CCD temperature is the same as was when took your light frames To take dark frames for subtraction from light images 1 Set...

Page 16: ...etimes look like unfocused circles or doughnuts in your images It s too late to clean your camera if you are already imaging in the field at night And even when the camera is clean dust usually finds...

Page 17: ...t to Color only applicable to StarShoot G4 Color 3 Align 4 Combine If you are using the StarShoot G4 Monochrome all of these steps can be performed in the Combine Images window Figure 16 For StarShoot...

Page 18: ...CMYG to convert the RAW file to color Align 1 With your images still open goto the Process menu and select Align The Align Images window will appear 2 Select Auto Star matching and click Align The ima...

Page 19: ...f filters such as Luminance Red Green and Blue filters to obtain a color image or with specialized narrowband filters The image processing program ultimately wants to have image data for Red Green and...

Page 20: ...rovides an excellent step by step video tutorial of LRGB processing in Photoshop or similar program that uses layers Visit www waid observatory com article LRGB html Color Balance Select Process Color...

Page 21: ...the benefit of being able to pause guiding during the down load of the main image Some cameras are sensitive to interruptions on the USB bus and if the guide camera shares the USB bus the image quali...

Page 22: ...k the IR This can help sharpen your images and is especially helpful when used with some refractors which may allow more unfocused IR light to create color halos around bright stars Both cameras can b...

Page 23: ...ochrome CCD Sensor Sony ICX829ALA Monochrome Sensor format 1 2 Pixel array 752 x 582 437 664 total Pixel size 8 6 m x 8 3 m Exposure range Indefinite A D conversion 16 bit Binning 1x1 and 2x2 Read Noi...

Page 24: ...Consult the dealer or an experienced radio TV technician for help A shielded cable must be used when connecting a peripheral to the serial ports Corporate Offices 89 Hangar Way Watsonville CA 95076 U...

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