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Table of Contents
1 . G E T T I N G S T A R T E D
What’s In the Box?
2
Get to Know Your Camera
3
Install Software and Drivers
4
Confirm Installation and Camera Operation
4
Launch MaxIm LE
4
Connect the camera
5
Take an image
7
View the image
8
2 . C A M E R A F E A T U R E S
A N D O P E R A T I O N
Camera Attachment Options
9
Using SLR Lenses
10
Attach the camera to your telescope
10
Electrical Connections
11
DC Power Connector
11
USB Connector
12
Guider Control Port
12
Cooling the Camera
14
Standard Air Cooling
14
Liquid-Assisted Cooling
14
How Much Cooling Is Enough
15
Controlling the Cooler
16
Internal Color Filter Wheel
18
Advanced Setup Options
19
Camera Selection
20
Status Indicators
21
Imaging Options
21
Status and Notification
23
Camera Status Indication
23
Camera Error Indication
23
Audible Beeper
25
Imaging Application Messages
25
3 . C C D I M A G I N G O V E R V I E W
How CCDs work
26
Types of CCDs
26
Full-Frame CCDs
26
Interline transfer CCDs
27
Anti-Blooming CCDs
27
Microlenses 28
Single-shot color CCDs
28
Signal versus noise
29
Reducing noise in CCD images
30
Dark Frames
30
Flat Fields
32
Bias Frames
34
Stacking Images
35
Color images
36