Starlight Xpress SXVF-H35 User Manual Download Page 20 | Manualshive

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Starlight Xpress SXVF-H35 User Manual Download Page 20

Handbook for the SXVF-H35 Issue 1 August 2007

20

The autoguider installed on a 80mm refractor guide ‘scope in the author’s garden

To use the autoguider, please proceed as follows:

1)

Having started the SXVF-H35 software, open the autoguider control panel by
clicking on the autoguider menu button.

The autoguider control panel with a guide star selected

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Summary of Contents for SXVF-H35

Page 1: ...stronomical imaging The SXVF H35 uses a Kodak KAI11002 Interline CCD with 4008 x 2672 pixels in a 36 1mm x 24 05mm active area The use of high performance microlenses on the CCD surface gives the grea...

Page 2: ...blies 5 An adaptor for 2 drawtubes and M42 Pentax thread lenses 6 A guider cable for ST4 style mount guiding inputs 7 A CD with the SXVF_H35 software and manual You will also need a PC computer with W...

Page 3: ...Handbook for the SXVF H35 Issue 1 August 2007 3 A rear view showing the input and output connectors...

Page 4: ...B drivers required by the SXVF electronics The files SXVIO sys and Generic sys are copied to your Windows System32 Drivers folder and SXVIO_H35 inf is copied to Windows Inf After this the program SXV_...

Page 5: ...ult settings are not important for current purposes and may be left as the software start up values for now Recording your first image We now have the camera and computer set up to take pictures but a...

Page 6: ...ly exposed but any sort of image is better than none In the case of the pinhole all that you can experiment with is the exposure time but a camera lens can be adjusted for good focus and so you might...

Page 7: ...ious filters and contrast operations In the case of daylight images the processing options are many but there are few that will improve the picture in a useful way The most useful of these are the Nor...

Page 8: ...pplied with an M72 spacer ring to screw into the FSQ106 focus assembly Here is a view of an SXVF H35 attached to the author s FSQ via the adaptor ring As a general guide most CCD astronomers try to ma...

Page 9: ...amera interface window and click on Start in the Focus frame The computer will now display a continuous series of 100 x 100 pixel images in the focus window and you should see your selected star appea...

Page 10: ...menu and save it in a convenient directory Now you need a dark frame if the best results are to be extracted from your raw image To take this just cover the telescope objective with the lens cap or d...

Page 11: ...e deep sky image Below you will see typical examples of a dark frame and an uncalibrated raw image of M16 A typical 5 minute dark frame exposure Note the random scatter of warm pixels A 5 minute expos...

Page 12: ...ccurately match your darks to the light image If you average many dark frames together to create a master dark the readout noise will be much reduced by the square root of the number of averaged darks...

Page 13: ...ftware at the time of writing but Maxim DL can use this method The basic procedure is to capture a long exposure dark frame and then slice off all values below a threshold level which is selected so a...

Page 14: ...l to noise ratio Summing can be done in the Merge menu and involves loading the first finished image selecting a reference point a star then loading the second image and finding the same star with the...

Page 15: ...ocker for the front of the lens it is often quite acceptable to place a small one behind the lens inside the adaptor tube Taking pictures of the Moon and planets The SXVF H35 is not intended for plane...

Page 16: ...deep sky images when you come to process them they are MUCH brighter with a correspondingly better signal to noise ratio This means that aggressive sharpening filters may be used without making the r...

Page 17: ...focal reducers are used This causes a brighter centre to show in images especially when there is a lot of sky light to illuminate the field If dust motes are your main problem it is best to clean the...

Page 18: ...ed in the bias any very short exposure dark frame will give a good result The dark subtracted images should then be averaged together before use After the above procedures have been executed the flat...

Page 19: ...mounted alongside your imaging telescope I personally use it with an 80mm aperture F5 inexpensive refractor as a guide scope but a shorter focal length lens will make more guide stars available in any...

Page 20: ...on a 80mm refractor guide scope in the author s garden To use the autoguider please proceed as follows 1 Having started the SXVF H35 software open the autoguider control panel by clicking on the autog...

Page 21: ...scope and mount You have the option of manually selecting values or asking the software to attempt to determine what they should be This is done by pressing the Train button and waiting for the softwa...

Page 22: ...ll CCD equipment are likely to show up on occasion These are dust and condensation Removing Dust 1 Dust can be deposited on either the optical window not a big problem to cure or on the CCD faceplate...

Page 23: ...compound is applied to the periphery of the heat sink disc and this should be left undisturbed by subsequent operations 5 You can now closely examine the CCD faceplate under the spotlight using the wa...

Page 24: ...ough we hope that you will be satisfied with the SXV_Hmf_usb software other companies are offering alternative programs One of the most active and successful of these is AstroArt by MSB software You c...

Page 25: ...CCD characteristics CCD type Kodak KAI 11002 interline CCD imager CCD size Active area 36 3 x 24 2mm Pixel size 9 x 9uM QE peak approx 52 at 500nM Spectral response Dark signal Typically 0 01 e per s...

Page 26: ...nly be used for normal purposes described in the standard operating instructions and within the relevant safety standards of the country where the equipment is used 2 Repairs under guarantee will be f...

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