ATIK Cameras ACIS Series User manual

Atik ACIS Camera Manual
Version 1 – February 2020
Advanced CMOS
Imaging Systems

Introduction......................................................................................2
Further information.................................................................................2
What’s in the box....................................................................................2
Getting to know your camera
Camera parts..........................................................................................3
Sensor.......................................................................................3
Optical window.......................................................................................3
Analog to digital converter (ADC)...........................................................3
Power consumption...............................................................................3
USB port.................................................................................................4
Cooling.........................................................................................4
Dark frames............................................................................................5
Binning............................................................................................5
Gain and offset.......................................................................................5
Gain presets...........................................................................................6
Offset for advanced settings..................................................................6
Additional settings in Artemis Capture..................................................6
Replacing the desiccant.........................................................................7
Technical specication...........................................................................8
Declaration of conformity.......................................................................9
Disposal of the camera.........................................................................9
Servicing and repairs.............................................................................9
Warranty............................................................................................10
Contents

Introduction
Congratulations on your purchase of an Atik ACIS camera. This manual will
help you get the most out of your Atik Camera so please take the time to read
it thoroughly and you’ll soon be ready to discover new worlds.
Atik Cameras provide exceptional value for money, superior performance
and unparalleled ease of use. They are the result of extensive research and
development; each one having been designed and built with the requirements
of the most demanding end user in mind. Your Atik camera incorporates state-
of-the-art design and materials, and will be your trusted imaging companion
for a long time to come.
Further Information
For easy installation instructions and useful information about how to take your
rst image, please refer to the Quick Start Guide included with your camera.
Further information about our software can be found in our Documentation
PDFs (Start Menu > Atik Cameras > Documentation), which are copied to your
computer during the software installation. There is also a variety of tutorial
videos and helpful blogs on our website www.atik-cameras.com
What’s in the Box
Your Atik ACIS box includes:
• Atik ACIS CMOS camera
• Dust cap
• USB3 cable
• Quick start guide
• Desiccant port tool
• Please note software and manuals are available online at
https://www.atik-cameras.com/software-downloads/
2
Advanced CMOS
Imaging Systems

3
Getting to know your camera
Camera Parts
1Desiccant port
22.1mm centre-positive 12V DC input
3USB 2/USB 3 Port
Sensor
The sensor in the Atik ACIS camera is a Sony IMX428 CMOS sensor.
Optical Window
The optical window is quartz with BBAR coatings on both sides to negate
problems with reections in your images.
Analog to Digital Converter (ADC)
The Atik ACIS uses 12-bit analogue to digital converters.
Power Consumption
Atik Cameras are designed to have low power consumption to improve
performance in the eld. If you would like to run the camera from a 110/220V
mains supply, make sure it’s of good quality with a 2.1mm type plug, centre
positive and capable of supplying a minimum of 2.5 amp.
WARNING Mains power adaptors are intended for indoor use only. There is a
risk of electric shock if the adaptor is used in damp environments. If in doubt,
do not use the adaptor and consult a trained electrician.
1Desiccant port
22.1mm
centre-positive
12V DC input
3USB 2/USB 3 Port

4
USB Port
The Atik ACIS can be used with either a USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 cable. Your
camera comes with USB3 lead, any good quality USB2 lead will work to give
you the exibility to choose whichever suits your set up and your imaging
requirements best.
The Atik ACIS features a 256mb DDR III image buffer to ensure fast image
transfer from sensor to memory and low amp glow. The type of USB (2 or 3)
connection determines the speed of transfer between this buffer to the PC. For
high speed, you can use USB 3.0 or for a lighter more exible cable use USB
2.0. The type of connection does not affect image quality.
The USB 3.0 cable is
connected as shown below,
and can be connected to
either a USB 3.0 or USB 2.0
port on your PC. Please note
that USB 3.0 transfer speeds
will only be reached when
connecting the cable to a
USB 3.0 port on your PC.
Cooling
The Atik ACIS has a regulated cooling system, meaning that the CMOS sensor
can be kept at your desired temperature throughout an imaging session. This
also makes it easy to take dark frames at the same temperature as your light
frames.
The cooling delta of the Atik ACIS is -35°C. Please note that the cooling delta
is how far below the ambient temperature the camera can achieve, rather than
a xed temperature it can cool to. This means the best temperature to image
at will depend on your environment, and we recommend using a repeatable,
stable temperature, rather than simply the maximum the camera can reach on
a given night.
After switching on the camera, it’s advisable to allow up to 5 minutes before
taking images so that the temperature can stabilise. At the end of an imaging
session, turn off the cooling and allow a few minutes before disconnecting the
camera so that it can complete its warm up sequence.

5
Dark Frames
To get the most out of your Atik ACIS camera for astrophotography, we
recommend processing your images using dark frames. You can take dark
frames by covering the front of the camera with a lens cap. Dark frames should
be taken at the same temperature, exposure length and with the same gain and
offset settings as your light frames.
A master dark should be generated by averaging a large number of individual
dark frames. This can then be subtracted from the individual image sub frames
during processing. Further information on using dark frames should be available
in the manual of whichever image processing software you choose to use. Dark
frames are not required for High Speed Imaging.
Binning
Binning is a technique where groups of pixels are added together, with the
result being a brighter image. The CMOS sensor in the Atik ACIS only supports
binning in software. This is where the pixel values are added together after
image acquisition, as opposed to hardware binning where pixels are combined
on the sensor.
Gain and Offset
Your Atik ACIS allows you to change the gain and offset settings for the camera.
In very simple terms, this is analogous to the volume control on a radio. The
greater the gain, the easier it is to detect faint signals; however, less detail
might be seen in the brighter ones.
The full well depth (i.e. maximum signal) of the Atik ACIS is around 20,000e-,
which we map to a pixel value of 65,535. By increasing the gain, we reduce the
full well depth, which has the effect of making the images appear brighter. Using
a gain of x2, the full well depth is around 10,000e-. This 10,000e- now gives a
pixel value of 65,535, which makes the image appear twice as bright. The read
noise, or how ‘grainy’ the background looks, will also increase. However, this
increases a little less than two times.
The useful range for gain is up to x30. Here, the image is 30 times as bright, but
the full well depth is only ~650e-. This means bright objects will saturate very
quickly. Although it may look bad due to the small full well depth, the read noise
will only be about 1/3 of what it was at x1 gain. These kinds of settings are very
useful for very dim objects if you don’t mind the bright objects saturating.

6
Gain Pre-sets
We provide three gain pre-sets, and the option to use your own custom settings.
The pre-sets are:
Low - Best for normal imaging. It is the best setting for detail in brighter objects
and when individual images have high dynamic range.
Medium - A compromise of low and high. It’s very useful if your mount is
unguided and you need to take a lot of shorter exposures.
High - Best for sensitivity on dim objects, but sacrices detail in some of the
brighter parts.
Custom - You can also experiment with using your own gain and offsets.
As mentioned, we nd gain settings up to x30 are useful, depending on the
situation, but above this the full well depth becomes incredibly low.
Offset for Advanced Settings
The offset is a voltage added to all pixels. It’s used to ensure the digitised pixel
values remain above zero while maximising dynamic range. It can set between
0 and 511, with the default setting as the Low pre-set values.
Additional Settings.
Pad Data – The Atik ACIS sensor creates a 12-bit image, however, as images
are usually stored as 16-bit images, this means we have a choice as to which
bits the image uses. The ‘Pad Data’ setting allow you to choose between
these options. With the checkbox ticked, the image will be stored in the upper
12-bits, with all pixel values being multiples of 16 (from 0 to 65535). With the
checkbox unchecked, the image is stored in the lower 12-bits, meaning that all
pixels will fall into the range 0 to 4095.
We would generally recommend keeping the ‘Pad Data’ checkbox ticked.
However, if you are binning, you can increase the dynamic range of the image by
keepingthecheckboxunticked.For example, in 2x2 binning,eachpixelisthe sum
offourindividualpixels, each withavaluebetween 0and 4095. As a consequence,
the binned image will have pixels in the range of 0 to 4 x 4095 (= 16,380).

7
Even Illumination – The ‘Even illumination’ determines how the sensor is
cleared between images. With the checkbox unchecked, the whole sensor is
cleared immediately before the exposure begins. This results in a less-noisy
image. However, as the image takes around 67ms to read out, you may see a
slight gradient in the image. This is only likely to be an issue if you are using a
short exposure time (less than a second) or imaging a very bright object.
With the checkbox checked, the image is cleared at the same rate as the image
is read. This results in each pixel being exposed for the same length of time,
but will result in a noisier image.
We recommend keeping this option unchecked unless you are taking short,
bright exposures.
Replacing the Desiccant
Your camera includes a high-performance molecular sieve desiccant tablet
which is used to avoid condensation inside the CMOS chamber. Although this
desiccant will last a long time it may eventually need replacing or recharging, in
which case please follow the instructions below:
To replace the desiccant, open the desiccant port with the supplied plastic
tool and a screwdriver and take out the used tablet.
To recharge the desiccant, place the tablet in an electric oven at 200ºC for
2 hours. Take the tablet out the oven (CAUTION: the tablet will be very hot)
and allow it to cool down.
Place the recharged tablet back in the camera, replace the port cover and
tighten (no need to over-tighten). Wait 24 hours before connecting the
camera again.
We recommend leaving the camera in a warm, dry environment with the port
open while you are recharging the tablets to ensure any remaining moisture
can dry out.
You will notice that there is a lter inside the desiccant chamber. The purpose
of this is to avoid contamination of the chamber when the desiccant is being
replaced. The lter is very fragile and should not be touched.

8
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF ACIS SERIES
ACIS 2.4 ACIS 7.1 ACIS 12.3
Sensor Sony IMX249
CMOS
Sony IMX428
CMOS
Sony IMX304
CMOS
Resolution H 1936 x pixels 3208 x pixels 4096 x pixels
Resolution V 1216 x pixels 2208 x pixels 3008 x pixels
Pixel size 5.86 µm 4.5 µm 3.45 µm
Readout Noise 6.6e- (Typical) at
low gain
3e- (Typical) at
low gain
2.4e- (Typical) at
low gain
ADC 12 bit 12 bit 12 bit
Cooling T(amb)-35°C
(Regulated)
T(amb)-35°C
(Regulated)
T(amb)-35°C
(Regulated)
Water assist No No No
Back Focus 12.5 mm ±0.5 12.5 mm ±0.5 12.5 mm ±0.5
Max exposure Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Min exposure 0.001s 0.001s 0.001s
Gain factor Variable Variable Variable
Full well capacity ~33,000e- ~20,000e- ~11,000e-
Thread on front M42 x 0.75 M42 x 0.75 M42 x 0.75
Weight Approximately
530g
Approximately
530g
Approximately
530g
Dark current ~0.62 e-/pix/sec
at -10°C
~0.03 e-/pix/sec
at -10°C
~0.027 e-/pix/sec
at -10°C
Interface USB 3.0 USB 3.0 USB 3.0
Power 12VDC 2A
(Centre positive)
12VDC 2A
(Centre positive)
12VDC 2A
(Centre positive)
Mono or colour Either Either Either
Shutter type Global shutter Global shutter Global shutter
Frames per
second
Up to 175 FPS (with region of interest) and 28 FPS
full frame.
The formula to calculate focal length is:
(Pixel Size (µm) / Focal Distance (mm)) * 206.3 = angular resolution
(arcseconds/pixel)

9
Declaration of Conformity
EU Declaration of Conformity
This product carries the CE Mark in accordance with the related European
Directive. CE marking is the responsibility of:
Perseu, SA
R. Dr. Agostinho Neto, 1D
2690-576 Sta Iria da Azoia Portugal
Critical Applications
This product is not designed for any “critical applications”. “Critical
applications” means life support systems, medical applications, connections
to medical devices, commercial transportations, nuclear facilities or systems
or any other applications where product failure could lead to injury to persons
or loss of life or catastrophic property damage.
This product is not a toy.
This is a class A product. In a domestic environment this product may cause
radio interference in which case the user may be required to take adequate
measures.
Disposal of the Camera
When no longer required do not dispose of this electronic device
with general household waste. To minimise pollution and protect
the environment the camera should be recycled. Local recycling
drop off points available under the Waste from Electrical and
Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations which will accept the
camera. For further information contact Perseu SA at the above
address, or the shop from which the camera was bought.
Servicing and Repairs
Repairs, servicing and upgrades are available through your local dealer or by
emailing contacting our technical support team through our contact page
Please note that modications to the camera and/or accessories which are
undertaken without the manufacturer’s written permission will void the warranty.

10
Warranty
The equipment is guaranteed against defective design, manufacture or
materials for a period of one year from the date of purchase.
This means that Atik Cameras will repair or replace the equipment at its sole
option, at no charge to the purchaser for parts or for labour, if the fault is
reported within the guarantee period, provided however that Atik Cameras
is able to duplicate the defect or problem at its facilities. This warranty does
not apply to damage that occurred as a result of abuse or misuse, abnormal
service or handling, damage which may have been caused either directly or
indirectly by another product, or if the equipment has been altered or modied
in any way, or if the damage was caused by repairs or service provided or
attempted by anyone other than Atik Cameras. This warranty does not include
or provide for incidental or consequential damages.
To exercise your rights under this warranty, you must return the equipment to
the dealer from whom it was purchased together with proof of purchase and a
clear description of the fault. If it’s not possible to return the equipment to your
dealer, you should contact Atik Cameras. Equipment returned to Atik Cameras
must be sent in appropriate packaging and at your expense (insurance is
recommended), together with proof of purchase, a return address and a clear
description of the fault.
This does not affect your statutory rights.