Moravian Instruments G3-6300 Manuale utente
G3 and G4 CCD
Operating Manual
Version 2.3
Modified on December 4th, 2012
All information furnished by Moravian Instruments is believed to be accurate.
Moravian Instruments reserves the ri ht to chan e any information contained
herein without notice.
G3 and G4 CCD cameras are not authorized for and should not be used within
Life Support Systems without the specific written consent of the Moravian
Instruments. Product warranty is limited to repair or replacement of defective
components and does not cover injury or property or other consequential
dama es.
Copyri ht © 2000-2012, Moravian Instruments
Moravian Instruments
Masarykova 1148
763 02 Zlín
Czech Republic
tel./fax: +420 577 107 171
www: http://www. xccd.com/
e-mail: ccd@ xccd.com
Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................5
Camera Technical Specifications...................................................................7
CCD Chip...............................................................................................10
Model G3-6300.................................................................................10
Model G3-1000.................................................................................11
Model G3-11000...............................................................................11
Model G3-11000C............................................................................11
Model G4-9000.................................................................................12
Model G4-16000...............................................................................12
Camera Electronics.................................................................................12
Model G3-6300.................................................................................13
Model G3-1000.................................................................................13
Model G3-11000...............................................................................13
Model G4-9000.................................................................................14
Model G4-16000...............................................................................14
CCD Chip Coolin .................................................................................15
Power Supply..........................................................................................15
Mechanical Specifications......................................................................16
Packa e Contents....................................................................................17
Optional components..............................................................................18
Filter wheel for five 2 inch threaded filter cells................................19
LRGB filter set..................................................................................19
Clear (C) filter...................................................................................19
UBVRI filter set................................................................................20
Separate filters...................................................................................20
Telescope adapters for G3 cameras..................................................20
Telescope adapters for G4 cameras..................................................22
Gettin Started..............................................................................................24
Camera System Driver Installation.........................................................24
Windows 7 System Driver Installation.............................................25
Windows XP and Windows Vista System Driver Installation.........25
Windows 2000 System Driver Installation.......................................26
SIPS Software Installation......................................................................27
SIPS confi uration files....................................................................27
G3 and G4 CCD Camera Driver for SIPS..............................................28
Usin of multiple confi uration files for different cameras.............29
Croppin of the CCD area................................................................30
Camera Connection................................................................................31
Camera LED state indicator..............................................................32
Workin with Multiple Cameras............................................................32
Camera Operation.........................................................................................34
Camera and the Telescope......................................................................34
Temperature Control...............................................................................36
First Ima es............................................................................................38
Bri htness and Contrast – Ima e Stretchin ..........................................40
Calibration..............................................................................................41
Color Ima es with monochrome camera and filters...............................43
Color ima es with color camera.............................................................46
Balancin colors.....................................................................................48
Some General Rules for Successful Ima in ...............................................50
Camera Maintenance....................................................................................53
Desiccant exchan e................................................................................53
Chan in Filters......................................................................................54
Chan in the Whole Filter Wheel..........................................................56
Chan in the Telescope Adapter............................................................56
Power Supply Fuse.................................................................................57
Introduction
Thank you for choosin the lar e-format CCD camera. G3 and G4 series of
CCD cameras were developed for ima in under extremely low-li ht
conditions in astronomy, microscopy and similar areas. Desi n of this series
inherits from G2 cameras, with which they share precise electronics providin
uniform frames without artifacts and extremely low read noise limited only by
CCD detector itself. Also the robust construction, rich software support and
easy manipulation are the same. However, G3 and G4 CCD camera head is
lar e enou h to contain detector up to 24×36 mm for G3 series and 36×36 mm
for G4 series.
G3 cameras can contain also filter wheel with 5 positions for 2 inch (50 mm)
diameter filters. Internal filter wheel is not available for G4 cameras, because
a filter wheel capable to carry 50×50 mm square filters is too bi .
External Filter wheels with 5 positions for 50×50 mm square filters or
7 positions for 2 inch (50 mm) diameter filters are available for G4 cameras.
Also G3 cameras can be equipped with external filter wheel, but it is not
possible to combine internal and external wheels on sin le camera. G3 camera
mus be made without internal filter wheel to be compatible with external filter
wheels.
Please note the G3 and G4 CCD cameras are desi ned to work in cooperation
with a host Personal Computer (PC). As opposite to di ital still cameras, which
are operated independently on the computer, the scientific slow-scan, cooled
cameras usually require computer for operation control, ima e download,
processin and stora e etc. To operate the camera, you need a computer which:
1. Is compatible with a PC standard.
2. Runs a modern 32 or 64-bit Windows operatin system.
Drivers for 32-bit and 64-bit Linux systems are also provided, but
camera control and ima e processin software, supplied with the
camera, requires Windows operatin system.
3. Provides at last one free USB port.
G3 and G4 cameras are desi ned to operate with USB 2.0 hi h-speed
5
(480 Mbps) hosts. Althou h they are fully backward compatible with
USB 1.1 full-speed (12 Mbps) hosts, ima e download time can be
somewhat lon er if USB 1.1 connection is used.
A simple and cheap device called USB hub can expand number of
available USB port. Typical USB hub occupies one computer USB
port and offers four free ports. Make sure the USB hub is USB 2.0
hi h-speed compatible.
But keep on mind that if more USB devices connected to one hub need
to communicate with a host PC, USB hub shares its sin le up link line
to the host PC. Althou h G3 and G4 cameras can operate throu h a
USB hub, it can ne atively affect the camera performance, like
download time etc. It is recommended to connect other USB devices
throu h USB hub (e. . the mouse) and to provide the camera a direct
USB connection to the host PC.
The G3 and G4 cameras need an external power supply to operate. It is not
possible to run the camera from the power lines provided by the USB cable,
which is common for webcams or very simple ima ers. G3 and G4 CCD
cameras inte rate hi hly efficient CCD chip coolin , shutter and possibly filter
wheel, so their power requirements si nificantly exceed USB line power
capabilities. On the other side separate power source eliminates problems with
volta e drop on lon USB cables or with drawin of laptop batteries etc.
Also note the camera must be connected to some optical system (e. . the
telescope) to capture ima es. The camera is desi ned for lon exposures,
necessary to acquire the li ht from faint objects. If you plan to use the camera
with the telescope, make sure the whole telescope/mount setup is capable to
track the tar et object smoothly durin the exposure.
6
Camera Technical Specifications
G3 and G4 series of CCD cameras are manufactured with two kinds of CCD
detectors:
●G3 and G4 cameras with Kodak KAF Full Frame (FF) CCD
architecture. Almost all Full Frame CCD detector area is exposed to
li ht. This is why these detectors provide very hi h quantum
efficiency. FF CCD detectors, intended for research applications, are
not equipped with so-called Anti Bloomin Gate (ABG – a ate,
which prohibits bloomin of the char e to nei hborin pixels when
ima e is over-exposed) to ensure linear response to li ht throu h the
whole dynamic ran e. FF CCD detectors used for astrophoto raphy
are equipped with ABG to eliminate disruptin bloomin streaks
within field of view.
Cameras with Full Frame, non-ABG detectors are suitable for
scientific applications, where linear response is necessary for
photometric applications in astronomy, microscopy etc. Hi h quantum
efficiency could be used also for narrow-band ima in , where
overexposure is a rare exception, and for ima in of small objects
without a bri ht star in the field of view.
7
Illustration 1: “Full Frame” CCD schematic diagram
●G3 cameras with Kodak KA nterline Transfer ( T) architecture
(G4 cameras are not produced with IT detectors). There is a shielded
column of pixels just beside each column of active pixels on these
detectors. The shielded columns are called Vertical re isters. One
pulse moves char e from exposed pixels to shielded pixels on the end
of each exposure. The the char e is moved from vertical re isters to
horizontal re ister and di itized in the same way like in the case of
Full Frame detectors. This mechanism is also known as “electronic
shutterin ”, because it allows very short exposures and also
di itization of the ima e without mechanically shieldin of the
detector from incomin li ht.
Also G3 cameras with IT CCDs are equipped with mechanical shutter,
because electronic shutter does not allow dark-frame exposures,
necessary for proper ima e calibration etc.
The price for electronic shutter if lower quantum efficiency
(sensitivity) of IT detectors compared to FF ones. Also all IT detectors
are equipped with ABG, so they can acquire ima es of very bri ht
objects without char e bloomin to nei hborin pixels.
8
Illustration 2: “Interline Transfer” CCD schematic diagram
G3 camera models:
Model G3-6300 G3-1000 G3-11000 G3-11000C
CCD chip KAF-6303E KAF-1001E KAI-11002 KAI-11002
Resolution 3072×2048 1024×1024 4032×2688 4032×2688
Pixel size 9×9 µm 24×24 µm 9×9 µm 9×9 µm
CCD area 27.7×18.4 mm 24.6×24.6 mm 36.3×24.2 mm 36.3×24.2 mm
ABG No No Yes Yes
Color mask No No No Yes
G4 camera models:
Model G4-9000 G4-16000
CCD chip KAF-09000 KAF-16803
Resolution 3056×3056 4096×4096
Pixel size 12×12 µm 9×9 µm
CCD area 36.8×36.8 mm 36.9×36.9 mm
ABG Yes Yes
Color mask No No
Cameras with “C” suffix contains CCD detector covered with so-called Bayer
mask. Color filters of three basic colors (red, reen, blue) cover all pixels, so
every pixels detects only li ht of particular color.
9
These cameras are able to acquire color ima e in sin le exposure, without the
necessity to chan e color filters. On the other side color mask brin s lower
sensitivity and limits the capability to perform exposures usin narrow-band
filters etc.
Because each pixel is covered by one of three basic color filters, it is necessary
to compute (interpolate) remainin two colors for each pixel, which of course
limits resolution of color ima e. Ima in usin color detectors is described in
the “Color ima es” chapter.
CCD Chip
Quantum efficiency (sensitivity) of CCD detectors used in G3 and G4 cameras
depends on the particular camera model.
Inherent dark current of these detectors is quite low compared to other CCD
detectors, suitable for scientific applications, which results into very ood
si nal/noise ratio.
Model G3-6300
G3-06300 uses 6 MPx Kodak KAF-6303E Class 1 or 2 CCD chip.
10
Illustration 3: Quantum efficiency of Koda CCD detectors used in G3 and G4 cameras
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