Starlight Xpress TRIUS PRO 694 Handbook

Mono ccd camera

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Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694

Issue 19th April 2019

The TRIUS-PRO 694 mono CCD camera

The TRIUS-PRO 694 is an advanced, high resolution, cooled CCD camera, especially

designed for astronomical imaging. It uses a 6 megapixel third generation version of

the very popular Sony 'EXview' CCDs that offer very high QE and extremely low

thermal noise. This 'PRO' camera uses an updated version of the original TRIUS main

board and has both improved read noise and faster download time. It features an

internal USB hub with 3 external ports and a dry argon CCD chamber fill. The USB

hub permits several other devices to share the single USB connection and greatly

reduces the number of cables required in a typical set-up. For example, a Lodestar

X2, Ultrastar, or Superstar guide camera and an SX filter wheel could use two of the

USB ports and the third might connect to an electric focuser, or similar peripheral.

The argon fill, along with other improvements to the cooler stack, has improved the

delta T to about -42 degrees C below ambient.

The camera also includes a CCD temperature monitoring circuit that provides

regulated set-point cooling of the chip, an adjustable chip alignment plate and a very

compact overall size.

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Summary of Contents for Starlight Xpress TRIUS PRO 694

Page 1 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 The TRIUS-PRO 694 mono CCD camera The TRIUS-PRO 694 is an advanced, high resolution, cooled CCD camera, especially designed for astronomical imaging. It uses a 6 megapixel third generation version of the very popular Sony ‘EXview’...
Page 2 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 The TRIUS-PRO 694 uses a Sony ICX695AL ‘EXview’ progressive scan CCD, with 2750 x 2200 x 4.54uM pixels in a 12.5 x 10mm active area. This EXview device has an...
Page 3 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 ‘Quick Starting’ your TRIUS-PRO system In the shipping container you will find the following items: 1) The TRIUS-PRO 694 camera head. 2) A universal AC power supply module. 3) A 3 metre USB camera cable.
Page 4 Now connect the USB cable to the socket on the camera rear panel. Windows will report ‘Found new hardware’ and will automatically find the drivers. You can check this by opening ‘Device Manager’ and looking for a ‘Starlight Xpress CCD’ in the USB Devices list.
Page 5 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 Now connect up the power supply and switch it on. The supply is a very efficient ‘switch mode’ unit, which can operate from either 110v or 220v AC, via an appropriate mains power cable (supplied).
Page 6 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 Recording your first image: We now have the camera and computer set up to take pictures, but an optical system is needed to project an image onto the CCD surface. You could use your telescope, but this introduces additional complications, which are best avoided at this early stage.
Page 7 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 If you use a normal lens, then stop it down to the smallest aperture number possible, (usually F22), as this will minimise focus problems and keep the light level reasonable for daytime testing. The pin hole needs no such adjustments and will...
Page 8 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 After the exposure and download have completed (about 4 seconds) an image of some kind will appear on the computer monitor. It will probably be poorly focused and incorrectly exposed, but any sort of image is good. In the case of the pinhole, all...
Page 9 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 ********************************************************************* Astronomical Imaging with the TRIUS-PRO 1) Getting the image onto the CCD: It is fairly easy to find the correct focus setting for the camera when using a standard...
Page 10 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 It is necessary to set up a good optical match between your camera and the telescope. Most SCTs have a focal ratio of around F10, which is too high for most...
Page 11 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 Starlight Vision has a focus routine that will repeatedly download and display a 128 x 128 pixel segment of the image at relatively high speed. This focus window may be positioned anywhere in the camera field.
Page 12 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 Many competitive brands of CCD camera require a ‘dark frame’ to be subtracted from your images to achieve the best results. A dark frame is simply a picture which was taken with the same exposure as your ‘light frame’, but with the telescope objective covered, so that no light can enter.
Page 13 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 Processing a deep-sky image: Further small refinements are usually possible and you will become expert at judging the best way to achieve these as your experience increases. As a rough guide, software filters can be used to sharpen, soften or noise reduce the image.
Page 14 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 Although the star will also suffer from blurring, the eye can more easily gauge when the most compact blur has been achieved! You could begin by imaging lunar craters, or the planets, Jupiter, Saturn or Mars. The...
Page 15 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 more sophisticated software can automatically align planetary images and you may find these programs (e.g. ‘Registax’) to be very useful. ********************************************************************* Taking and using a flat field: Flat fields are images that display only the variations of illumination and sensitivity of the CCD and are used to mathematically modify a wanted image in such a way that the errors are removed.
Page 16 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 peaking at around 20,000 is ideal. Averaging flat fields together is a good way to reduce their noise contribution and so recording 4, or more, images is a good idea.
Page 17 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 adjustment is needed. Before making any changes, you may like to see the information at https://www.sxccd.com/maintenance_info/Aligning_CCD.pdf This describes a simple setup for checking the alignment and may save you a lot of time and effort caused by aligning by experiment.
Page 18 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 3) Generally speaking, it is possible to unscrew the ring by inserting the tip of a small screwdriver into one of the notches and pushing it round. Clearly, you need to be...
Page 19 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 The ports are sealed by M4 stainless set-screws and soft plugs, which may be removed to provide access to the chamber gas fill. You will need to make some kind of nozzle to fit the gas ports, but simply tapering the end of the standard 4 mm plastic gas tubing that is used with small welding bottles, will probably be sufficient.
Page 20 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019 Some details of the camera and CCD characteristics The TRIUS-PRO 694 uses a Sony ICX695ALG ‘EXview’ progressive scan CCD, with 2750 x 2200 x 4.54uM pixels in a 12.5 x 10mm active area. This EXview device has the...
Page 21: Conditions Of Guarantee
Issue 19th April 2019 Dear Observer, Thank you for purchasing a Starlight Xpress CCD Imaging System. We are confident that you will gain much satisfaction from this equipment, but please read carefully the accompanying instruction manual to ensure that you achieve the best performance that is capable of providing.
Page 22 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO 694 Issue 19th April 2019...

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