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Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A Getting Started

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Astrel Instruments
AST-8300-A
Astrel Instruments
AST-8300-A
GETTING STARTED
rev D
Getting Started
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rev D

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Summary of Contents for Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A

  • Page 1 Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A GETTING STARTED rev D Getting Started 1/20 rev D...
  • Page 2 AST-8300-A Getting started with the Astrel Instruments AST8300 camera Thank you for purchasing an Astrel Instruments AST8300 CCD camera. Your new camera is a leading edge scientific instruments: please take your time to read carefully the following User's Manual to learn how to get the best out of your equipment.

  • Page 3: Camera Connections

    Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A Camera connections The following picture shows the I/O interfaces available on the AST8300: The following connectors are available on the camera: • POWER SUPPLY: the camera needs a 12V 3A power supply. The included 3 meters cable can be used to connect the camera to a car lighter using the included adapter, or to the optional 12V 3A power supply.
  • Page 4 Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A attention to the polarization key inserted inside one of the connector's pins: this is used to avoid reversed connection that could damage the camera. WARNING: connect the LCD monitor only while the camera is powered down: connecting the LCD when the camera is powered could damage the monitor and the camera.

  • Page 5: Powering Up The Camera

    Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A Powering up the camera To correctly power up the camera, please follow this sequence: • When needed, connect the touch LCD monitor paying attention to the polarization key. • When needed, connect the Ethernet cable to the camera and to the PC.

  • Page 6: Powering Down The Camera

    Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A Powering down the camera WARNING: never power down the camera by simply disconnecting power supply: your camera has a true PC inside running Linux and, as any other PC, you should shut it down in the correct way.
  • Page 7 Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A Wifi and Ethernet operations When the wifi USB adapter is connected to the camera during the boot sequence, the camera becomes an access point, like a normal wifi router, that you can connect to using a PC/tablet/smartphone. The wifi connection is open, no password required, and by default the network name is 'ast8300ap' while the ip address is 10.0.0.1.
  • Page 8 Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A Stand Alone and PC/tablet/smartphone Connected modes The AST8300 camera is operated using the collection of applications available on-board, which can be accessed using the touch LCD monitor in the Stand Alone mode, or in the Connected mode using any VNC compatible remote desktop application on a PC/tablet/smartphone with Ethernet/wifi connection.
  • Page 9 Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A run on the camera, not on the PC, and all the communications use Ethernet. This is why you can run the same applications even with a tablet/smartphone. Many free VNC client are available for many architectures: here follows a brief list of the tested ones: •...
  • Page 10 Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A Accessing the camera storage The camera main storage is the internal 8Gb SD card, where the operating system and the photos are stored. You can add more storage by simply connecting a USB dongle or even a USB hard disk to either USB connectors.
  • Page 11 Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A Using the touch LCD monitor The touch LCD monitor is used in the Stand Alone mode to operate the camera. It is mounted on the back cover by means of an articulated mount which allows a proper orientation in every telescope position.
  • Page 12 Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A Using the vacuum pump The AST8300 camera adopts a low vacuum approach to avoid frosting on the CCD glass, filters and optical window. Using the included vacuum pump, you can remove the air from inside the camera, so that there's no more water vapor to freeze on the CCD glass and filters. Moreover, reducing the air inside the camera minimizes the heat exchanges due to convection, so the optical window never get too cold due to the low CCD and cold finger temperature.
  • Page 13 Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A Tutorial: from power up to the first photo This tutorial will guide you in the process of making your first photo with the AST8300 camera. We will use Windows in Connected mode: most of the steps are the same also with Linux in Connected mode, while many steps are not needed in Stand Alone mode.
  • Page 14 Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A After booting (usually after less than one minute) the camera emits a sound and is ready for operation: the LCD monitor will display the Desktop in Stand Alone mode, while in Connected mode the camera is waiting for VNC connection.
  • Page 15 Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A STEP 4: start the cooling process • Start the Temperature Monitor application and insert the desired temperature set point, then push the Start button. The application will work in background maintaining the temperature set point with a +/-0.1°C precision.
  • Page 16 Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A switch off the cooling process. • The cooling process needs some time to reach a stable temperature set point, so we will use this time to find and focus the object to photograph. STEP 5: select a filterwheel position •...
  • Page 17 Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A • When in liveview, frame a medium brightness star, push focus and you will be asked to select the star in the field. After you touch/click the selected star, the focus interface is started displaying an enlargement of a small portion of sky around the star. The refresh rate depends on the exposure time and can be as fast as nearly 3 frames per second •...
  • Page 18 Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A liveview taking images in 9x10 binning mode, even an exposure of a few seconds easily reveals most deepsky objects, making the framing process as easy as doing a portrait with a conventional camera. STEP 7: check temperature stability •...
  • Page 19 Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A has about 5e- readout noise and 35 seconds download time • Choose a photo sequence name. If you omit a path before the name, the photo sequence will be stored in the default photo folder, which is the 'photos' folder. If you want the photo sequence to be saved in your external USB storage, browse to the 'usb/sda1' folder.
  • Page 20 Astrel Instruments AST-8300-A • You can push the button to turn off the LCD. To turn it back on, just push anywhere on the display • Push Kill to stop the photo sequence. You will be asked whether to stop only the current exposure or the whole sequence •...