Orion 52084 - Manual (Page 15)

15
Focusing
Focusing the CCD camera is one of the most critical parts of imaging. It can
be challenging, but MaxIm DL Essentials has some helpful features which will
assist you when focusing your StarShoot Pro. Before focusing, make sure your
mount is polar aligned and tracking.
For best results, we recommend focusing on a star at least 30º above the hori-
zon (or higher). Follow these steps to achieve an accurate focus:
1. Find and center a moderately bright star through your finder scope. Try to
find a star around magnitude 4 or 5. If you are not using an optical finder
or just using your unaided eye, the star should look relatively faint. This is
important because brighter stars will easily over saturate the camera and
compromise the focus accuracy.
2. Center your telescope on the star using an eyepiece. Make sure the right
ascension (R.A.) tracking motor is engaged on your mount.
3. Replace the eyepiece with the StarShoot Pro.
4. Set the Mode to in the Camera Control Window to Light Color 1x1. Set
Seconds (exposure time) to 1 second to begin with. In the box below the
Mode box, select Single.
5. Click the Expose button. You should see the out of focus star in the image.
If you do not see anything, you need to increase the exposure time.
6. Check that the Subframe section at the bottom of the Camera Control
window has both the On and Mouse boxes checked on.
7. Draw a small box around the unfocused star with your mouse (hold-click
and drag the mouse cursor around the star to draw the box, Figure 10).
Figure 10. Draw a
small box around the
star to focus on with
your mouse. The next
exposure will download
a “subframe”, using
only the small area
you selected which
greatly decreases the
download time.