Gas Purging; Indicator Lights - SBIG STX Series Operating Manual

1.11. Gas Purging

Purging the CCD chamber with an inert gas such as Argon can provide a quick dry air chamber
and cooling performance may be slightly improved. However, this procedure is generally
unnecessary. The gas purge port is therefore included as a convenience, but not a necessity.
You should only consider purging the chamber if it is absolutely necessary. The risk is that you
may introduce foreign material to the chamber, or worse, destroy the CCD. WARNING: DO
NOT PURGE THE CHAMBER UNLESS THE DESICCANT PLUG IS COMPLETELY
REMOVED FROM THE CHAMBER. DO NOT PURGE THE CHAMBER WITH THE
DESICCANT PLUG SIMPLY LOOSENED BUT LEFT PARTIALLY SCREWED INTO
ITS PORT ON THE CHAMBER. Failure to follow these instructions may result is
destruction of the CCD and this damage is NOT covered under warranty. The pressure
may not exceed 1 or 2 pounds per square inch on the CCD. If you do not have a regulator
capable of limiting the gas pressure to about 1 psi, then you should flow the gas through the
chamber under very low pressure with an OPEN desiccant plug port (remove the desiccant plug
completely) to prevent the pressure from building up inside the chamber. After a few seconds,
turn off the gas and only then replace the desiccant plug.

1.12. Indicator Lights

There are two sets of LED indicator
lights located on the side of the camera
body that provide information about the
camera's communication link, exposure
status, relay activity, and input voltage.
The top row contains five LEDs: The
red status LED will flicker when the
camera is powered up. It will then either
glow continuously when the camera is
idle or blink when the camera is taking
an exposure. The four amber LEDs
indicate when any of the four relays are
activated during during self-guiding.
The bottom row contains four LEDs:
These indicate the input voltage to the camera and are helpful when operating from battery
power. Normally the Green LED will glow continuously to indicate that the power supplied is
12 -14 volts. The first yellow LED labeled 11V will light if the input voltage at the camera
drops to 11.25V or less. The second yellow LED labeled 10V will light if the input voltage at
the camera drops to 10.25V or less. At 10.25V or less, the camera will automatically shut down
the TE cooling but otherwise continue to operate normally. The final red LED labeled 9V will
light if the input voltage at the camera drops to 9.25V or less. At this point the camera's
operation may be unreliable and you should shut it down until the voltage can be brought back
up to the normal operating range.
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