Alcor System OMEA User manual

© ALCOR-SYSTEM 1
OMEA “All Sky” Camera
Installation and user manual
June 16th, 2022 revision

© ALCOR-SYSTEM 2
Table of Contents
1 Camera installation ................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 Camera installation ........................................................................................................................................... 4
1.2 Camera optical settings ................................................................................................................................... 11
1.3 OMEA camera connections (USB version) ...................................................................................................... 11
1.3.1 Temperature sensor and humidity connector (#1) ................................................................................. 12
1.3.2 Power connector and RS232 (#2)............................................................................................................ 13
1.3.3 USB connector (#3) ................................................................................................................................. 16
1.4 OMEA camera connections (ETHERNET version) ............................................................................................ 17
1.5 OMEA camera connections with External Weather Module .......................................................................... 19
1.6 Camera stand .................................................................................................................................................. 19
2 Software .................................................................................................................................................................. 21
2.1 System requirement and operating system .................................................................................................... 21
2.2 Camera installation software .......................................................................................................................... 21
2.3 Embedded Ethernet camera software installation ......................................................................................... 25
3 Using the camera software control ........................................................................................................................ 29
3.1 Initializing ........................................................................................................................................................ 29
3.1.1 All cameras type ...................................................................................................................................... 29
3.1.2 OMEA 8x/7x/9x specific initialization phases ......................................................................................... 30
3.1.3 Camera setup .......................................................................................................................................... 33
3.1.4 OMEA 8x/7x/9x cooling setup ................................................................................................................ 35
3.1.5 Exposure control ..................................................................................................................................... 37
3.2 Storage of files produced by the camera control software ............................................................................ 38
3.3 Camera exposure time and gain ..................................................................................................................... 40
3.3.1 Manual mode .......................................................................................................................................... 40
3.3.2 Automatic mode ..................................................................................................................................... 40
3.4 Image hot pixel removal using dark frame image ........................................................................................... 41
3.4.1 Achieving master dark frame .................................................................................................................. 45
3.4.2 Residual hot pixels repair/fix .................................................................................................................. 47
3.5 Setting the overlay grid ................................................................................................................................... 49
3.6 Cyanogen Boldwood or Sentinel cloud sensors link with camera control software ...................................... 52
3.7 Magnitude per square second display image mode ....................................................................................... 53
3.8 Telescope control software link ...................................................................................................................... 55
3.9 Star count for cloud coverage estimation ....................................................................................................... 55
3.10 24h overview ................................................................................................................................................... 56
4 Sphere condensation heater management ............................................................................................................ 59

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4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 59
4.2 Adjusting and start-up .................................................................................................................................... 59
5 Weather measurement module ............................................................................................................................. 63
5.1 Sensors software management ...................................................................................................................... 66
5.2 Sensor specifications and operating range ..................................................................................................... 69
6 Camera maintenance .............................................................................................................................................. 69
6.1 Sphere cleaning ............................................................................................................................................... 69
6.2 Camera internal desiccant replacement ......................................................................................................... 69
7 Trouble shooting ..................................................................................................................................................... 69
7.1 Camera does not deliver images ..................................................................................................................... 70
7.2 Camera disconnects when heating is active ................................................................................................... 70
7.3 Dew inside the dome ...................................................................................................................................... 71
8 Product terms of use ............................................................................................................................................... 71

© ALCOR-SYSTEM 4
List of applicable products of this documentation
OMEA 6M
OMEA 6C
OMEA 3M
OMEA 3C
OMEA 5M
OMEA 5C
OMEA 8M
OMEA 8C
OMEA 9M
OMEA 9C
OMEA 7C
OMEA 7M
1 Camera installation
1.1 Camera installation
The camera works outdoor, it is weather-tight. Warning, the system is not submersible: it is not a diving
camera. Moreover, it will prevent all intrusion of insects, even the smallest one.
The camera has no mechanical shutter and Sun’s heat does not cause loss of operation of the camera.
Please do not install the camera near a pollution source (like a chimney). Give as much exposure as possible
and avoid obstacles.
It is advised to level the camera with respect to the ground.
The camera has three anchors on the back, these three ISO M6 not thru threaded holes by 10 mm depth.
Use the supplied screws to fix or equivalent stainless steel A4 or A2 screw. The following stand can be used
to install the camera safely (this is an optional item, purchased on request)

© ALCOR-SYSTEM 5
Fig. 1 Optional stand for the camera
Fig. 2 The position of the three screws securing the USB camera (yellow holes)

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There are three other "holes" that are filled with waterproof connectors, leave this space free and 100mm
underneath to allow the cables to run.
The N, S, E and W direction is defined by rotating the camera accordingly. This is up to the user to define
camera orientation according to its needs. Please perform image capture tests before attaching the camera
to the pole.
The cables go straight from the camera bottom. If the cables shall be bent, respect what is shown on the
picture (Fig. 3)

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Fig. 4 Three cables straight descent.

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Fig. 5 Minimum cable radius curvature.
The waterproof connectors connect as follows:
 Identify the number of connector pins of the camera, its type (male / female)
 Identify the number of pins of the connector cord and match.

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 Identify the key pin inside the camera connector and the key at the connector cord side.
 Apply a rectilinear motion. If insertion force strength persists please repeat steps for
locating the pin number and key. Excessive force applied to connector can cause the
destruction of the connector or a bad connection can damage the camera. In case of
damage due to trials to attach cable to the wrong connector kind, warranty could be
canceled.
Fig. 6 Key one of the three connectors (power connector).

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Fig. 7 Push the connector straight
Fig. 8 Then turn the connector’s collar in clockwise fashion