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INSTRUCTION MANUAL
® ™
Orion StarShoot
Deep Space Monochrome Imager II
# 5 2 0 8 3
Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975
Customer Support (800) 676-1343
E-mail: support@telescope.com
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P.O. Box 1815, Santa Cruz, CA 95061
IN 320 Rev. A 10/07
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Welcome to a new world of adventure. Your new StarShoot Deep Space Monochrome Imaging camera II (SSDSMI-2) is capable of capturing detailed images of astronomical objects; galaxies, star clusters, and nebula, as well as the planets, Moon, and the Sun (with optional solar filter). These objects can be imaged to create spectacular views on your computer (laptop recommended, see “System Requirements”) which can be saved for emailing or printing later. You’ll find that this relatively inexpen
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Figure 1. To use the SSDSMI-2, a telescope, mount, and computer are required. Securing thumbscrew Figure 2a. The SSDSMI-2 fits into 1.25" focuser, just like a standard 1.25" eyepiece. Firmly tighten the thumbscrew that secures the SSDSI in the focuser. 3
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T-threads Figure 2b. If your telescope has T-threads, remove the nosepiece from the SSDSMI- 2 and thread the camera directly onto the telescope. This provides the most secure connection. In order to reach focus, the telescope must have approximately 0.6" (15mm) of inward focus travel relative to where a standard eyepiece focuses. If your telescope does not have enough inward focus travel, you will need to use and optional 1.25" barlow lens to extend the telescope’s focal plane to the camera
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Computer A computer is needed. For astro-imaging in the field at night, a laptop com- puter is highly recommended. Maxim DL Essentials requires Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Vista. The following hardware is also required: • Processor – Pentium™ or equivalent, or higher • Recommended minimum memory size is 64 MB. • Disk Space – 67 MB for program installation, 100 MB swap file recom- mended • Video Display – 800 X 600, 16-bit color or higher. 1024x768 or higher is recommende
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Tab - + USB cable D-cell batteries (2) Input jack for 3VDC Power supply TEC power Figure 3. The 3V power supply (with two D-cell batteries installed) turns the TEC on when it is plugged into the SSDSMI-2. When the 3VDC power supply is plugged into the SSDSMI-2, the TEC is on (Figure 3). It takes about a minute for the TEC to provide maximum cooling, so wait a couple of minutes before you begin to capture images. When the power source is not plugged in, the TEC is off. Remember
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Software Installation To install Maxim DL Essentials Edition: 1. Insert the CD-ROM into the drive. The L a u n c h e r will appear. For Windows Vista computers, the AutoPlay window will appear. Select Run Launcher.exe, then the Launcher will appear. 2. Click Install. 3. The InstallShield Wizard will start. Click Next. 4. Read the Maxim DL License Agreement. If you agree with the terms, then select I accept the terms in this license agreement and click Next. 5. You are now ready to insta
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Figure 5a. When initially connecting the SSDSMI-2 to a Windows XP computer, the Found New Hardware Wizard will appear and guide you through driver installation. 7. Windows will note that the driver has not passed Windows Logo testing. This is normal. Click the Continue Anyway button. 8. When the Wizard has completed, click the Finish button. This completes the driver installation process. Now, start the Maxim DL Essentials Edition software. The camera will now be recognized, and the Camera
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Figure 5b. When initially connecting the SSDSMI-2 to a Windows Vista computer, the Found New Hardware window will appear and guide you through driver installation. 7. When the window appears telling you “The software for this device has been successfully installed”, click Close. This completes the driver instal- lation process. Now, start the MaxIm DL Essentials Edition software. The camera will now be recognized, and the Camera Control Window (Figure 6) will appear. Once the driver i
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Getting Started During Daylight We recommend using the SSDSMI-2 for the first time during the day. This way, you can become familiar with the camera and its functions without hav- ing to stumble around in the dark. Setup your telescope and mount so the optical tube is pointing at an object that is at least a couple of hundred feet away. Insert an eyepiece and focus as you normally would. Since the SSDSMI-2 camera is so sensitive to light, you will need to “stop down” your telescope aperture t
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Obtaining First Images To obtain first images (in daylight) with the SSDSMI-2, follow these step-by- step instructions: 1. With an eyepiece inserted in the telescope, center and focus an object that is approximately 1⁄4 mile away. If you cannot focus your telescope this closely (due to lack of back-focus travel), then you will need to utilize an optional extension tube (available from Orion). 2. Plug the camera into your computer’s USB port. 3. Open Maxim DL Essentials by clicking on the icon
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Note: The camera’s field of view is fairly small. It is approximately equivalent to the field of view through the telescope when looking through a typical (i.e. not wide-field) 10mm focal length eyepiece. So make sure the object to be imaged is well centered in the telescope before connecting the SSDSMI-2, otherwise it may not appear in the field of view of the camera. 10. Once focused, image orientation can be changed by rotating the camera within the focuser drawtube. Simply loosen the thumbs
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Figure 9. The settings in the Screen Stretch Window greatly determine how an image will appear on your computer screen. Figure 10. A histogram is a visual representation of the range and levels of brightness in an image. Range of brightness levels When an image is displayed, you will notice a graph in the Screen Stretch Window. This is called the “histogram” of the currently displayed image (Figure 10). A histogram is a simple bar graph that shows the range of brightness in an image. Each
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Stretch Window. The red slider arrow corresponds to the Minimum value and the green arrow corresponds to the Maximum value. Simply left-click and then drag each arrow to adjust it to the desired level. The best results are obtained by adjusting the arrows (numbers) until the most pleasing display appears. There are also seven automatic settings in the Screen Stretch Window. Typically, Medium will give good results for deep sky objects, so the default screen stretch setting is Medium. Inste
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Figure 12. The Moon’s surface detail looks the best along the terminator. barlow lens between the SSDSMI-2 and telescope to extend the effective focal length of the system and increase image scale (see “Using Focal Reducers and Barlow Lenses”). Since you will be taking multiple images over a period of time, it is important the mount be polar aligned in order to keep the planet within the field of view of the camera and to prevent image blurring due to poor tracking during each exposure. To t
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5. Now, in the box beneath the Mode box, choose Autosave. Set the number of images you would like the camera to take under Autosave (start with 10 or so), select the file folder in which you would like to save the images with Folder, and enter in a Base filename for the captured images. Typically the name of the object being imaged, such as “Mars1”, will be entered here. If “Mars1” is the Base filename, and you choose to Autosave five images, then the images will appear in the selected file fol
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Figure 13. The Combine Images window allows “stacking” of individual images into one high-quality resultant image. Imaging Deep Sky Objects To capture breathtaking images of deep sky objects, such as galaxies, nebu- lae, and star clusters, much longer exposures are needed. As with planetary imaging, you will take several individual images and stack them together to form one high-quality resultant image. But while planetary images are formed by stacking many exposures of less than 5 seconds,
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3. Precisely focus the camera by using the telescope’s focus knob and the Focus setting in the Camera Control Window. Set the Mode to Light 1x1, and try an exposure time of a few seconds to start. Use the Medium setting in the Screen Stretch Window. The focus point for the SSDSMI-2 will be approximately 15mm inwards from the eyepiece’s focus point. If you are having trouble determining best focus, try focusing on a bright star near the deep sky object. If there are no suitably bright stars
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Note: In addition to Average mentioned above, 3 other different combining methods can be chosen: Sum, Median, and Sigma-Clip. To learn more about these combine methods, see “Image Processing – Combine Tips”. 10. Now, find a well-shaped (circular) star in the first image displayed. Use the mouse to center the crosshairs on the selected star and left-click. 11. The next image will now be displayed; center the crosshairs on the same star in this new image, and left-click again. Repeat this for
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To take dark frames for subtraction from “light” images: 1. In the Camera Control Window, set the Mode to Dark 1x1. 2. Set the exposure time to whatever you set it to (or will set it to) for taking actual (“light”) images. Note: When taking dark frames, do not change any of the settings in the Setup button from what they were (or will be) when “light” images are taken. 3. In the box beneath the Mode box, choose Autosave. Now set the number of dark frames you would like the camera to take unde
