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Starlight Xpress TRIUS PRO 694C Manual
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Starlight Xpress TRIUS PRO 694C Manual

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Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C
Issue 1 September 2020
Manual for the TRIUS PRO 694C Colour CCD
Camera
Thank you for purchasing a Starlight Xpress CCD 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 TRIUS PRO-694C is an advanced, high-resolution one-shot colour, cooled CCD
camera, especially designed for astronomical imaging. It uses a 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
PRO or Ultrastar PRO 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.
1

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  • Page 1 Issue 1 September 2020 Manual for the TRIUS PRO 694C Colour CCD Camera Thank you for purchasing a Starlight Xpress CCD 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...
  • Page 2 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 The TRIUS PRO-694C uses a Sony ICX695AQG ‘EXview’ progressive scan CCD, with 2750 x 2200 x 4.54uM pixels in a 12.48 x 9.98mm active area. This EXview device has an excellent quantum efficiency, with a broad spectral response peaking at around 77% in yellow light, and an extremely low dark current, well below that of any comparable CCD currently available.
  • Page 3 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 ‘Quick Starting’ your TRIUS PRO-694C system In the shipping container you will find the following items: 1) The TRIUS PRO-694C camera head. 2) A universal AC power supply module. 3) A 3 metre USB Camera Cable. 4) An adaptor for 2”...
  • 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-694C Issue 1 September 2020 double clicking on the Starlight Vision icon, when you should see the main menu and image panel appear. As can be seen above, there is a CCD temperature monitoring window at the top right hand side of the panel.
  • Page 6 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 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-694C Issue 1 September 2020 2) Create a ‘Pin hole’ lens by sticking a sheet of aluminium baking foil over the end of the adaptor and pricking its centre with a small pin. 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.
  • Page 8 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 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 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 want to try this to judge the high image quality that it is possible to achieve.
  • Page 9 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 The images from your camera are monochrome at the moment and they need to be converted into true colour before enhancing them. Any processing of the image, other than calibration with dark frames etc., will distort the colour rendering of the result and so the conversion needs to be done before proceeding.
  • Page 10 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 The synthesis control panel contains several options for correcting colour bias and noise. 1) Daylight Image? – If an unfiltered lens is used, the infra-red content of the light will tend to produce a Green – Blue shift in the balance. A partial correction of this bias is provided by selecting this option, but the best option is to use an infra-red blocking filter when taking daylight shots (see 5 below).
  • Page 11 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 If the colour is roughly correct, then all is well. However, the colour decoding is reliant on the filter pattern being properly registered with the processing software and this can vary. Colour conversion involves running a software routine which uses the brightness data from each pixel to generate colour values.
  • Page 12 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 The colour balance controls seem complex, but are really quite easy to use. The most useful controls are the ‘Start’ and ‘Saturation Factor’ settings. Saturation factor will simply vary the colour intensity, without any alteration of the colour balance, but the ‘Start’...
  • Page 13 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 Image enhancements: The current version of Starlight Vision does not include any enhancement functions, but these will be added at later versions (available from www.sxccd.com). Further image processing can be done by saving your raw images as FITS files and exporting them to third party software.
  • Page 14 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 When the par-focal eyepiece is fitted into the telescope drawtube, you can adjust the focus until the view is sharply defined and the object of interest is close to the field centre. On removing the eyepiece and fitting the CCD camera, the CCD will be very close to the focal plane of the telescope and should record the stars etc.
  • Page 15 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 The same equation can be used to calculate the amplification required for good planetary images. However, in this case, the shorter exposures allow us to assume a much better telescope resolution and 0.25 arc seconds per pixel is a good value to use.
  • Page 16 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 quality achieved, you might like to trim the settings of your par-focal or flip mirror eyepiece to match the current camera position. Although you can reach a good focus by the above method, many observers prefer to use additional aids, such as Hartmann or Bahnitov masks (an objective cover with several spaced holes) or diffraction bars (narrow parallel rods across the telescope aperture).
  • Page 17 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 A 1200 second exposure of the Rosette through an IDAS filter (non-linear stretched) Most 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 18 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 with your image for use in processing the picture. If many such darks are recorded and averaged together, the statistical noise will be reduced, but the gains to be had are rather small compared with the effort involved. As variations in ambient temperature will affect the dark signal, it is best to take the dark frames within a few minutes of capturing your images.
  • Page 19 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 M42 – 30 seconds exposure at F2 with a C8 Hyperstar 2) Once you have subtracted any dark frame, you can convert the raw image to colour. 3) The resulting image will probably look faint and dull, possibly with a pale yellowish background, due to light pollution so it is now time to process the ‘luminance’...
  • Page 20 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 attractive, although dark. You can now try brightening the highlights with another ‘Normal’ stretch, in which you bring down the ‘White’ slider to just above the main image peak. The best setting for this is rather more difficult to guess and you may need several attempts before the result is ideal.
  • Page 21 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 Other things to try, include summing several images for a better signal to noise ratio. Summing can be done in the ‘Merge’ menu and involves loading the first processed image, selecting a reference point (a star) then loading the second image and finding the same star with the mouse.
  • Page 22 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 To start the Autosave process, call up the SXV Camera Interface and select the ‘Continuous Mode’ check box at the top (make sure the rest are unchecked). Now check the ‘Autosave Image’ checkbox near the bottom of the window. If you now click on ‘Take Picture’...
  • Page 23 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 After conversion and the application of an ‘Unsharp mask’ In general terms, the larger the image and the worse the seeing, then the wider the radius for best results. My Jupiter shots are usually about one third the height of the CCD frame and I find that the ‘radius 5, power 5’...
  • Page 24 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 exposure times shorter than the drive error period. The resulting image has more noise than a single exposure of the same total length, but this method of imaging is still an effective way of making long exposures without a guider.
  • Page 25 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 cause of this problem is trying to use too powerful a degree of optical compression with a focal reducer and you might want to try moving the camera closer to the reducer lens.
  • Page 26 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 ********************************************************************* Camera maintenance: Very little maintenance is needed to keep the TRIUS PRO-694C in excellent operating order, however two problems, which are common to all CCD equipment, might 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 (very difficult to eliminate entirely).
  • Page 27 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 3) Withdraw the body cylinder and unscrew the two top spacer pillars from the PCB. Now gently lift the PCB off the 20 way connector NOTING THE ORIENTATION OF THE BOARD for correct replacement later. Now remove the lower two spacers from the heat sink plate assembly.
  • Page 28 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 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 29 Handbook for the TRIUS PRO-694C Issue 1 September 2020 Some details of the camera and CCD characteristics The TRIUS PRO-694C uses a Sony ICX695ALG ‘EXview’ progressive scan CCD, with 2750 x 2200 x 4.54uM pixels in a 12.48 x 9.98mm active area. This EXview device CCD type: Sony ICX695ALG EXview interline imager.

  • Page 30: Conditions Of Guarantee

    Issue 1 September 2020 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.