User manual SBIG ST-1001E

[. . . ] Operating Manual CCD Camera Models ST-7E, ST-8E, ST-9E, ST-10E and ST-1001E Santa Barbara Instrument Group 147A Castilian Drive Santa Barbara, CA 93117 Phone (805) 571-7244 · Fax (805) 571-1147 Web:<www. sbig. com> · Email:<sbig@sbig. com> Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. [. . . ] Note: You only need to interface the camera's Telescope port to your telescope if you are planning on using the camera system as an autoguider or selfguider, or feel you need to have the Track and Accumulate command make telescope corrections between images because your drive has a large amount of long term drift. Some recent model telescopes (like the Celestron Ultima and the Meade LX200) have connectors on the drive controller that interface directly to the camera's TTL level Telescope port. All that's required is a simple cable to attach the 9 pin Telescope port to the telescope's telephone jack type CCD connector. SBIG includes its TIC-78 (Tracking Interface Cable Adapter) for this express purpose although it is easy to modify a standard 6-pin telephone cable for interface to the Telescope port (see Appendix A for specific pin outs, etc. ). The TIC-78 plugs into the 9-pin port on the ST-7E/8E/9E/10E/1001E, and a standard phone cable, which we supply, connects the adapter to the telescope drive. We use the six-pin cable, and the pin order is reversed left to right relative to the connector from one end to the other. This is identical to what is typically sold at Radio Shack stores as an extension cable. 4. 4. 1 Using Mechanical Relays Older telescopes generally require modifying the hand controller to accept input from the camera's Telescope port. The difficulty of this task varies with the drive corrector model and may require adding external relays if your drive corrector will not accept TTL level signals. We maintain a database of instructions for the more popular telescopes that we will gladly share with you. For a minimal charge will also modify your hand controllers if you feel you do not have the skills necessary to accomplish such a task. We sell a mechanical relay box that interfaces to the ST-7E/8E/9E/10E/1001E, and will interface to the older drives. In general, the camera has four signals that are used in tracking applications. There is one output line for each of the four correction directions on the hand controller (North, South, East and West). Our previous cameras had internal relays for the telescope interface, but with the proliferation of TTL input telescopes the relays were removed in the ST-7 and ST-8 (we do offer an external relay adapter accessory). The following paragraphs describe the generalpurpose interface to the telescope which involves using external relays. Page 24 Section 4 - Camera Hardware In our older camera models and in the optional relay adapter accessory, each of the relays has a Common, a Normally Open, and a Normally Closed contact. For example, when the relay is inactivated there is a connection between the Common and the Normally Closed contact. When the relay is activated (trying to correct the telescope) the contact is between the Common and the Normally Open contacts. If your hand controller is from a relatively recent model telescope it probably has four buttons that have a "push to make" configuration. By "push to make" we mean that the switches have two contacts that are shorted together when the button is pressed. If that's the case then it is a simple matter of soldering the Common and Normally Open leads of the appropriate relay to the corresponding switch, without having to cut any traces, as shown in Figure 4. 1 below. A: Unmodified Push to Make Switch B: Modified Push to Make Switch c common switch switch relay nc no normally open Figure 4. 1 - Push to Make Switch Modification Another less common type of switch configuration (although it seems to have been used more often in older hand controllers) involve hand controller buttons that use both a push to make contact in conjunction with a push to break contact. The modification required for these switches involves cutting traces or wires in the hand controller. Essentially the relay's Normally Open is wired in parallel with the switch (activating the relay or pushing the hand controller button closes the Normally Open or Push to Make contact) while at the same time the Normally Closed contact is wired in series with the switch (activating the relay or pushing the hand controller button opens the Normally Closed or the Push to Break contact). [. . . ] The CCD array is protected by a thin cover glass that can be cleaned with Q-Tips and Isopropyl Alcohol. The optical window of the chamber housing can be cleaned the same way. When reinstalling the chamber housing, be very careful to make sure the O-ring is in the groove when seated. B. 2. Regenerating the Desiccant This section describes the regeneration procedure for the desiccant used in the ST-7E/8E/9E/10E/1001E. The desiccant absorbs moisture in the CCD chamber, lowering the dew point below the operating temperature of the cooled CCD, thus preventing the formation of frost. [. . . ]