Starlight Xpress SXV-M8C - Manual (Page 2)

Handbook for the SXV-M8C Issue 1 Jan 2005
2
dark current, well below that of any comparable CCD currently available. The
ICX406AQ incorporates a ‘Bayer Matrix’ of Red, Green and Blue filters, deposited
directly onto the CCD pixels and a downloaded image may be quickly converted into
a full-colour picture by application of the software provided.
The full-frame download time is approximately 14 seconds and binned 4x4
downloads take only 3 seconds, so finding and centring are very quick and easy in this
mode. If you have only a USB 1.1 connection on your computer, the download time is
longer, but is still reasonable at around 25 seconds for a full resolution frame.
Please take a few minutes to study the contents of this manual, which will help you to
get the camera into operation quickly and without problems. I am sure that you want
to see some results as soon as possible, so please move on to the ‘Quick Start’ section,
which follows. A more detailed description of imaging techniques will be found in a
later part of this manual.
‘Quick Starting’ your SXV-M8C system
In the shipping container you will find the following items:
1) The SXV-M8C camera head.
2) A power supply module.
3) A USB camera cable.
4) A guider cable
5) An adaptor for 1.25” drawtubes.
6) An adaptor for 2” drawtubes and M42 Pentax thread lenses.
7) A disk with the SXV-M8C control software and this manual.
Optional extra items include:
1) A serial port adaptor and cable.
2) An add-on guide camera head (includes a cable).
You will also need a PC computer with Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000
or Windows XP installed (NOT Windows 95 or NT4). This machine must have at
least one USB port available and at least 32 Megs 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 in 24 bit colour. A medium
specification Pentium with between 1000 and 3000MHz processor speed is
satisfactory. USB 2 PCI cards are readily available for upgrading a USB 1.1 machine,
if you want to achieve the best possible performance. Please note that USB 2.0
operates at a very high speed and cannot operate over very long cables. Five metres of
good quality cable is the maximum normally possible. Adding one, or more, USB 2
‘Hubs’ in line can extend this, if necessary.
Installing the USB system:
First, find a free USB socket on your PC and plug in the USB cable. If you do not
have a USB capable computer, it is normally possible to install a USB 2 card into an