Oculus PRO Handbook Issue 3
Handbook for the SX ‘Oculus PRO’ high
resolution all-sky camera
Thank you for purchasing a Starlight Xpress ‘Oculus PRO’ all sky camera. We hope that you will be very
pleased with the performance of this product. Please register your product and warranty at
https://forms.gle/tmsHEJfQG2bLJjr57
.
The Oculus PRO is a high resolution, very compact wide-field camera. The camera and internal dew
heaters are powered through the 12V DC input and camera is controlled via a single USB2.0
computer connection. It is intended for full-sky monitoring of weather, meteors, satellites etc. and
will provide high quality images and video files, while operating unattended for long periods. The
‘megapixel’ resolution F/2 fish-eye lens provides horizon to horizon coverage with very little star
image distortion across the entire field.
The Oculus PRO utilises a sensitive Sony CCD (the ICX825AL) with an array of 1392 x 1040 pixels in a
‘half-inch’ format. Although the chip is not cooled, it has a very low dark signal and very little
readout noise, so it can be used to image faint stars with a very short exposure time. The small pixel
size and high resolution lens give excellent definition and a good sized screen image format.
A strong polycarbonate hemispherical dome houses the lens assembly and this dome is easily
removed for cleaning, when necessary, a spare dome is also included with the Oculus PRO. A 12v DC
input socket provides power to the dew sensing circuitry which controls the internal heating resistor
to be to prevent dewing of the lens and dome on humid nights. The entire assembly comes
equipped with a standard tripod bracket for mounting.
