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Starlight Xpress TRIUS SX-825 Handbook
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Starlight Xpress TRIUS SX-825 Handbook

Mono ccd camera
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Handbook for the TRIUS SX-825
Issue 1 January 2015
The TRIUS SX-825 mono CCD camera
The TRIUS SX-825 is an advanced, high resolution, cooled CCD camera, especially designed for
astronomical imaging. It uses a second generation version of the very popular Sony 'EXview II' CCDs
that offer very high QE and extremely low thermal noise. It is a substantial upgrade on the SXVR
camera range and incorporates several new features, such as 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 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.
As per the SXVR range, this camera also includes a CCD temperature monitoring circuit that provides
regulated set-point cooling of the chip, adjustable chip alignment and a very compact overall size.
The TRIUS SX-825 uses a Sony ICX825AL 'EXview II' progressive scan CCD, with 1392 x 1040 x
6.45uM pixels in a 8.8 x 6.3mm active area. This EXview II 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. While this device also has an
excellent blue light sensitivity, it has a strong infra-red response, which makes it ideal for all aspects of
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Summary of Contents for Starlight Xpress TRIUS SX-825

  • Page 1 The TRIUS SX-825 uses a Sony ICX825AL ‘EXview II’ progressive scan CCD, with 1392 x 1040 x 6.45uM pixels in a 8.8 x 6.3mm active area. This EXview II 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 2 ‘Quick Starting’ your TRIUS SX-825 system Please note, the TRIUS SX-825 is the successor to the TRIUS SX-9. The drivers and file formats are identical so within our software and other third party software, your SX-825 camera will be identified as an H9 or SX-9 derivative.
  • Page 3 Handbook for the TRIUS SX-825 Issue 1 January 2015 You will also need a PC computer with Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 installed. This machine must have at least one USB 2.0 port available and at least 256 Mbytes of memory. If you intend to view the finished images on its screen, then you will also need a graphics card capable of displaying an image with a minimum of 1024 x 768 pixels and 24 bit colour.
  • Page 4 ‘BlockIOClass’ and clicking on the ‘+’ sign will reveal it to be a ‘Starlight Xpress USB 2.0 SXV-SX9 BlockIO camera driver’. If this device shows as faulty, try clicking on it and selecting ‘properties’ and then ‘update driver’.
  • Page 5 Handbook for the TRIUS SX-825 Issue 1 January 2015 Now click on the camera icon at the top of the screen. If the USB connection is OK, a message box will inform you of the ‘Handle’ number for the SXVIO interface and various other version details etc. Click...
  • Page 6 Handbook for the TRIUS SX-825 Issue 1 January 2015 As can be seen above, there is a CCD temperature monitoring window at the right hand side of the panel. At switch-on, this will default to full power cooling with an end point of -40C (actual chip temperature) and, needless to say, this is rather extreme.
  • Page 7 There are two simple options, one of which is available to everyone with a sheet of aluminium baking foil: 1) Attach a standard ‘M42’ SLR camera lens to the TRIUS SX-825, using the 26mm spacer to achieve the correct focal distance.
  • Page 8 Handbook for the TRIUS SX-825 Issue 1 January 2015 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 work immediately, although somewhat fuzzily! Point the camera + lens or pinhole towards a well-lit and clearly defined object some distance away.
  • Page 9 ‘crispness’. At this point, you will have a working knowledge of how to take and process an TRIUS SX-825 image. It is time to move on to astronomical imaging, which has its own, unique, set of problems!
  • Page 10 If you use a focal reducer, using it at maximum reduction may cause the relatively large chip of the TRIUS SX-825 to suffer from considerable ‘vignetting’ (dimming towards the corners) and this will be difficult to remove from your images.
  • Page 11 (as above), then don’t bother with a dark frame, just ‘kill’ any hot pixels with your processing software. In TRIUS SX-825, the ‘Median filter’ can do this, but other software (e.g. Maxim DL) will provide a ‘hot pixel killer’ that can be mapped to specific locations in the image, or methods such as ‘Sigma combine’...
  • Page 12 Handbook for the TRIUS SX-825 Issue 1 January 2015 exposure. If you take at least 10 such frames and average them together, the resulting ‘master bias’ can be used to clean up readout defects for many months before CCD ageing changes require another set to be recorded.
  • Page 13 Handbook for the TRIUS SX-825 Issue 1 January 2015 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’ (brightness and contrast) of the image to get the best visual appearance.
  • Page 14 Handbook for the TRIUS SX-825 Issue 1 January 2015 The image now looks quite impressive and I hope that you like this result from this simple processing. Further small refinements are usually possible and you will become expert at judging the best way to achieve these as your experience increases.
  • Page 15 Handbook for the TRIUS SX-825 Issue 1 January 2015 Taking pictures of the planets: Planetary imaging is in many ways quite different from deep sky imaging. Most deep sky objects are faint and relatively large, so a short focal length and a long exposure are needed, while planets are bright and very small, needing long focal lengths and short exposures.
  • Page 16 Handbook for the TRIUS SX-825 Issue 1 January 2015 A raw image Try applying an ‘Unsharp Mask’ filter with a radius of 5 and a power of 5. This will greatly increase the visibility of any detail on the planet, but the optimum radius and power will have to be determined by experiment.
  • Page 17 Using 2x2 binning, you can considerably improve the sensitivity of the TRIUS SX-825 without losing a great deal of resolving power, so you may like to use this mode for many faint deep-sky objects. Other binning modes (3x3 and 4x4) are available and will further increase the image brightness and reduce its resolution.
  • Page 18 The TRIUS SX-825 guider port The TRIUS SX-825 is provided with a guide port for use with ST4 compatible mounts. The Autoguider output port is a 6 way RJ11 socket, which is compatible with the standard autoguider input of most telescope mounts.
  • Page 19 Issue 1 January 2015 Camera maintenance: Very little maintenance is needed to keep the TRIUS SX-825 in excellent operating order, however two problems, which are common to all CCD equipment, might show up on occasion. These are dust and condensation.
  • Page 20 Handbook for the TRIUS SX-825 Issue 1 January 2015 provided in the sides of the CCD cavity and these may be accessed by unscrewing the rear plate of the camera and then sliding off the main barrel. The ports are sealed by M4 stainless set-screws and soft plugs, which may be removed to provide access to the chamber gas fill.
  • Page 21 Issue 1 January 2015 Some details of the camera and CCD characteristics The TRIUS SX-825 uses a Sony ICX825AL ‘EXview II’ progressive scan CCD, with 1392 x 1040 x 6.45uM pixels in a 8.8 x 6.63mm active area. This EXview II device CCD type: Sony ICX825AL EXview II interline imager.

  • Page 22: Conditions Of Guarantee

    Issue 1 January 2015 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.