Opticstar SL-131C COOLAIR User manual

Opticstar SL-131C COOLAIR
1.3mp Colour Video Camera
Setup Guide
OPTICSTAR
Microsoft Windows
(64-bit & 32-bit)
XP/Vista/7/8 / 10

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1. Please read and follow the installation instructions on the following
pages for a trouble free installation!
2. Do not drop your camera as this can result in serious damage.
3. Only use the supplied power supply unit if you camera comes with one.
4. Do not point the camera to a bright light source like the Sun without the
appropriate filters as this will damage the sensor.
5. Disconnect the camera from the computer when not in use.
6. Treat the camera glass window with the same care as you would of a
photographic lens.
CAUTION
!
Manufacturer’s Warranty
This product has a 12 month back to base warranty. For after
sales support please contact Opticstar at: [e-mail]

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CONTENTS
Introduction....................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Software Support ......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Package Contents ........................................................................................................................................................ 3
System Requirements.................................................................................................................................................. 3
Camera Installation........................................................................................................................................................... 4
Installing Software for Windows DirectShow ............................................................................................................ 5
Installing Software Drivers for Windows.................................................................................................................... 7
Verifying Successful Installation................................................................................................................................ 8
Installing etAMCAP........................................................................................................................................................... 9
Running etAMCAP ....................................................................................................................................................... 9
Image Resolution ......................................................................................................................................................... 9
Automatic Exposure Time......................................................................................................................................... 10
Manual Exposure Time .............................................................................................................................................. 10
Colour Settings .......................................................................................................................................................... 10
Camera Speed ............................................................................................................................................................ 10
Other Settings ............................................................................................................................................................ 10
Installing Opticstar View ................................................................................................................................................ 11
Camera Control .......................................................................................................................................................... 12
Frame Rate.................................................................................................................................................................. 12
Camera Configuration................................................................................................................................................ 12
Colour Adjustment Tab.............................................................................................................................................. 13
Exposure Tab ............................................................................................................................................................. 13
Other Tab .................................................................................................................................................................... 13
Image Capture ............................................................................................................................................................ 14
Image Processing....................................................................................................................................................... 15
Troubleshooting.............................................................................................................................................................. 16
USB Requirements..................................................................................................................................................... 16
Express Card .............................................................................................................................................................. 16
Re-Installing the Software Drivers............................................................................................................................ 16
Re-Installing the Software Drivers............................................................................................................................ 16
Support ............................................................................................................................................................................ 17
Other Software ................................................................................................................................................................ 17
Camera Specification ..................................................................................................................................................... 18
Microscope Attachments ............................................................................................................................................... 18

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Introduction
The SL-131C COOLAIR video camera is an entry level astronomy video camera. It
is suitable for bright targets such as the Moon and the Sun. The camera is also
suitable for microscopy when fitted with an appropriate attachment.
The SL-131C achieves frame rates of up to 15 frames per second (FPS) at full
resolution: 1280x1024 pixels, or up to 48 FPS at 640x480 pixels or up to 140 FPS at
320x240 pixels.
Software Support
Two software applications are bundled with the camera: etAMACAP and View.
EtAMCAP works under Microsoft’s DirectShow model. View, supports the camera
natively offering image processing and measurement functionality.
Package Contents
The following items are included in the package:
•Opticstar SL-131C COOLAIR video camera with removable C ring
•In-situ USB 2.0 cable.
•CS to 1.25” telescope adapter.
•Software CD.
•Setup Guide (this document).
System Requirements
The minimum computer system requirements are the following:
•Windows (32-bit or 64-bit) XP/Vista/7/8/10 with the latest Service Pack.
•USB 2.0 port for the camera.
Please note that for solar photography, the camera should be
used only with an appropriate solar telescope and/or solar filters.
The camera does not incorporate any optics and therefore it
cannot reach focus by itself. A C/CS mounted lens must be used
with the camera or it must be attached to a telescope with the
nosepiece adapter that is included with the camera. To attach it
to a microscope, please use an appropriate attachment.

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Camera Installation
There are four sets of software to install in order to add support for the SL-131C
camera to Windows. They should be installed in the following order:
1. Windows DirectShow software for the SL-131C.
2. Windows software drivers for the SL-131C.
3. EtAMCAP application software for using the camera.
4. Opticstar View application software with more advanced functions and
usability.
The first step is to install software that makes the SL-131C compatible with
Microsoft’s Windows DirectShow model. Such compliance allows the SL-131C to
be used with etAMCAP and possibly with other third party applications.
Power up the computer (or restart Windows) but do not attach the camera to the
computer yet. Once on the Windows Desktop, please follow the instructions in the
following sections that describe how to install the software starting with DirectShow
support.
Anti-virus software may attempt to block the installation. In such
cases the anti-virus software should be temporarily disabled.
Otherwise, when prompted, add the installation files to the trusted
list.
The installation of the software should be carried out by a user with
Windows administrator permissions. Otherwise the installation may
fail.
Please ensure that the camera is not connected to the computer
yet.

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Installing Software for Windows DirectShow
Please follow these instructions for all versions of Windows (32-bit & 64-bit)
XP/Vista/7/8/10.
1. Insert the CD that comes with the camera in the CD/DVD drive.
2. Navigate to the DirectShow folder on the CD and run SL-131C_Directshow.exe
3. A message will appear “Welcome to the SL-131C Camera Directshow Plug-in
Setup Wizard”. Click on the Next button to continue.
Step 2: Open the appropriate installation program. Step 2: Ignore the Windows warning.
4. Windows may display a warning message such as Windows can’t verify the
publisher of this driver software. Select “Install this driver anyway” to
continue.
5. The next message will confirm that “The drivers are now installing…”.
Step 5: Installation in progress. Step 5: DirectShow software has been installed.

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6. Windows will confirm that the
“Drivers were successfully installed
on your computer”. Click Finish to
continue.
7. Finally, if Windows asks to restart the
computer, select “Yes”.
Step 6: Restart the computer.
DirectShow support can be removed from the Windows Control
Panel independently of the camera’s Windows software drivers.
Click the Add / Remove Programs icon (on XP) or Programs
and Features (on Vista/7) or Apps and Features (on Windows
10) and remove the entry headed “SL-131C DirectShow…”.

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Installing Software Drivers for Windows
1. Insert the CD in the drive.
2. Connect the camera to a USB 2.0 port on your computer.
3. A window will appear with the heading Found New Hardware, giving two
options. Select “Browse my computer for driver software”. In the following
step direct Windows to the Drivers folder on the CD.
Step 3: Install driver software.
Step 3: Locating the Drivers folder on the CD.
4. Select the Drivers folder and click OK to proceed.
5. Windows will ask “Would you like to install this device software?”. Click
the Install button to continue.
6. Windows will display “Installing driver software…” and will proceed with
the installation.
Desktop computers have USB 2.0 ports on the front and the
back. Sometimes, the ports at the front are not fully USB 2.0
compliant in terms of bandwidth and power. Please use one of
the ports connected directly to the motherboard if possible.
Such USB 2.0 ports are typically situated at the back of the
computer.

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Step 5: Install driver software. Step 7: Install driver software
7. Windows will copy the installation files and display the following message
“Windows has successfully updated your driver software”.
8. If Windows asks to restart the computer, please do so.
Verifying Successful Installation
The camera will now be visible in Windows
Device Manager and can be identified as
“Opticstar SL-131C USB2.0 Camera”.
You can access the Device Manager by clicking
the Start button on the Windows desktop and
from Settings > Control Panel, select Device
Manager.
Alternatively, press F1 on the keyboard while
on the Windows desktop to access the Help
and Support Center. Once there, search for
“Device Manager”
If the drivers have not been installed properly, please refer to the Troubleshooting
section in this guide.

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Installing etAMCAP
You can test that the
camera has been
installed successfully by
running the etAMCAP
program.
The etAMCAP.EXE can be
found on the accompanying CD
inside the etAMCAP folder.
Copy this to your computer’s
desktop by dragging it from the
CD folder.
Double-click the etAMCAP
icon on the Windows desktop
to run the program.
Running etAMCAP
The camera will be identified as “SL-131C Camera”.Select the camera from the
Devices menu. EtAMCAP can be used as a general purpose program to capture
video in AVI format.
Image Resolution
The camera can operate in a number of image
resolutions. From the Options > Video
Capture Pin menu, select the camera
resolution:
•1280 x 1024
•640 x 480
•320 x 240
•640 x 480 (ROI).
•320 x 240 (ROI).
EtAMCAP can be used to capture video in AVI format. It cannot
capture single frames. In order to capture single frames as well
as video please use Opticstar View.

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The camera can be configured from the
Options > Video Capture Filter menu.
Automatic Exposure Time
AE Enable stands for Automatic Exposure.
When auto-exposure is used, the user cannot
specify the exposure time. However, it is still
possible to add a “bias” by increasing or
decreasing the Target value. Likewise, the
ISO (Gain) value is not user definable in auto-
exposure mode.
Manual Exposure Time
To set the exposure time manually, simply un-
tick the AE Enable option. In this mode, the
time can be set in milliseconds and the
sensitivity gain can be set as an ISO value.
The Target value cannot be set in manual
exposure mode.
Colour Settings
The colour reproduction of the captured images can be modified by the slider bars.
Additionally, the values for Gamma, Contrast and Saturation can be specified.
Camera Speed
The camera speed can be set to Normal or High. This refers to the speed at which
the camera sends the data to the computer. At Normal speed, the image quality is
better but at High speed the camera downloads more frames per second to the
computer.
Other Settings
The orientation of the captured images can be inverted or reflected by the H Flip and
V Flip options. The Mono option produces monochrome images rather than colour.
Resolution
Frame Rate (max)
1280 x 1024
15 frames per second
640 x 480
110 frames per second
320 x 240
160 frames per second
640 x 480 ROI
110 frames per second
320 x 240 ROI
160 frames per second

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Installing Opticstar View
Opticstar View is a more
advanced software
application that can be
used to control the camera, capture
single frames or video, perform
image processing and image
measurements.
View can be used for a wide range
of applications outside astronomy
including microscopy.
1. To install View, navigate to the View folder on the CD and open the
View_setup.exe file.
2. Windows will display “Welcome to the Opticstar View Setup Wizard”.
Click the Next button to continue.
Installing Opticstar View. Running Opticstar View.
After the installation has finished, View can be run by clicking on the Windows
Start button and selecting Opticstar View from the programs list.

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Camera Control
Run View with the camera connected to the
computer. On the right-hand side panel of the
application, under the Capture tab, the
camera will be identified as “Opticstar SL-
131C”.
By default, the camera will be running as soon
as View opens. In order to change the image
resolution, the preview must be stopped by
clicking the Stop Preview button. This button
toggles between Start Preview and Stop
Preview modes.
The Default button resets the camera settings
to the default values.
Frame Rate
When lower resolution modes are combined
with manual exposure times, they can increase
the frame rate (frames per second) at which
the camera operates.
Camera Configuration
The exposure time as well all other camera
parameters can be configured by clicking the
Advanced button. This button is situated
below the Start Preview / Stop Preview
button.
A window will appear with three tabs:
•Color Adjust
•Explosure
•Other
The options under each tab are outlined in
the following sections.
Resolution
Frame Rate (max)
1280 x 1024
15 frames per second
640 x 480
110 frames per second
320 x 240
160 frames per second
640 x 480 ROI
110 frames per second
320 x 240 ROI
160 frames per second

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Colour Adjustment Tab
The first three slider bars labelled: R Gain, G Gain and B Gain, can be used to
manually adjust the red, green and blue colour reproduction of the camera.
Alternatively, the camera can automatically set these values by pressing the White
Balance button. Automatic values may not be appropriate in certain circumstances
depending on the light conditions, luminosity of the target, etc. Other values that are
user selectable include Gamma and Contrast.
User defined settings can be stored for future use. There are four sets of parameters
that can be stored for future use. They are labelled A, B, Cand D. Simply select one
of them and click the Save button.
Exposure Tab
When auto-exposure is used, the user
cannot specify the exposure time. However
it is still possible to add a “bias” by
increasing or decreasing the Target value.
Likewise, the Gain value is not user
definable in auto-exposure mode.
To set the exposure time manually, simply
un-tick the Auto Exposure option. In this
mode, the time can be set in milliseconds
and the Gain value can be set manually.
The Target value cannot be set in manual
exposure mode.
Other Tab
All other configuration settings are situated
under the Other tab. The camera’s frame
speed can be set to Normal (better image
quality) or High (higher frame rate).
The orientation of the captured images can
be inverted or reflected by the H Flip and
V Flip options. The Mono option
produces monochrome images rather than
colour.

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Image Capture
There is a second group of user controls on the
right hand side panel, headed Camera Capture
Config. The Capture button can be used to
capture a single frame or a series of frames in
BMP format. The location of the captured files
and the number of frames can be specified by
clicking the Config button.
By adjusting these options it is possible to specify
how many frames to capture and a time lapse
between the frames. The captured frames are also
displayed as thumbnails on the bottom right hand
side corner.
Video can be captured in AVI format by clicking
the Start Video button. This button toggles
between Start Video and Stop Video. Once the
Start Video button has been pressed, the camera
will capture and store the data on the hard disk
until Stop Video is clicked by the user.
The location of the stored file(s) can be specified by clicking the Config button. By
default, video data is stored uncompressed in order to preserve high image quality.
Optionally, it is possible to compress the AVI files by clicking the Video Compress
button.
Captured images can be processed in View by clicking the Open And Edit button
underneath the captured image.
The image to be processed should be present in the folder in which the image was
stored. This folder can be specified by pressing the Config button.

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Image Processing
View can be used to perform measurements on the captured image(s). It is also
possible to apply various filters and perform image processing operations.
A brief outline of View’s image processing functions is listed below:
•Basic operations including Crop, Mirror, Flip, Invert, Rotate, Bright, etc.
•Copy and paste user defined regions.
•Distances can be measured between user defined points, circles, etc.
•Angles can be calculated by defining three points on the image.
•Operations can be performed on any user defined region.
•Colour operations can be performed on individual R, G, B channels.
•Data combine of two images.
•Data calibration.
•Image-zoom as a per cent of the original image.
•Linear filters to soften, sharpen, emboss, blur and Gaussian.
•Non-linear filters for median, erode, dilate, contour, edge and jitter.
•Transform filters for pinch, punch, twirl and cylinder.
•Fluorescence filters for gamma, colorize, mix and combine.

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Troubleshooting
If you experience difficulty in installing the camera software and drivers this may be
due to a number of reasons related to your computer, operating system and other
devices already connected to it. The following sections outline the most common
problems and suggest ways in which you should be able to solve them. Please also
refer to the documents in the Articles folder on the CD.
USB Requirements
Please ensure that your computer runs Windows XP/Vista/7 or later, has
the latest updates from Microsoft (inc. Direct X) and also has USB 2.0
ports. The SL-131C camera will not work with USB1.1. If your computer has
USB1.1 ports you will need to obtain a PCI USB2.0 type card if you have a desktop,
or an Express USB2.0 card if you have a laptop. The ExpressCard will need to be
fully supported by your computer, in some entry level laptops full ExpressCard and
PCI USB2.0 support in not fully implemented.
If you have a desktop try both the USB ports on the front and back of your PC if the
camera is not recognised on a particular USB port. USB ports attached directly to the
motherboard are more efficient. Please note that PCMCIA USB2.0 cards typically do
not provide the full USB2.0 bandwidth and will not work with the SL-131C camera.
Express Card
To resolve such issues an ExpressCard (with USB2.0 ports) should be used instead
of a PCMCIA/CardBus card due to the ExpressCard's superior speed of 2.5Gbit/s
(480 Mbit/s through USB 2.0) per slot, for comparison PCMCIA/CardBus devices
connected to a computer would share a total 1.06 Gbit/s bandwidth. Express type
cards use a 34mm slot where PCMCIA/CardBus cards use 54mm slots. An
ExpressCard should be connected directly to the computer and not via a
PCMCIA/CardBus card.
Re-Installing the Software Drivers
DirectShow support can be removed or installed independently from the camera’s
software drivers. Please refer to the section Installing Software for Windows
DirectShow in this guide for details.
Re-Installing the Software Drivers
If the camera cannot be identified by Windows then it is possible that the software
drivers have not been installed correctly or they have been corrupted. In such cases,
it is best to uninstall the camera. This can be done from the Device Manager in
Windows.

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Click on the Start button on the Windows desktop and from Settings > Control
Panel, select Device Manager. The camera should appear in the list under Imaging
devices.
1. Right-click on the Opticstar SL-131C entry.
2. On the pop-up menu and select Uninstall.
3. If Windows asks to restart the computer, select “Yes”and continue. When the
computer restarts, please re-install the software as normal.
To re-install the drivers please follow the instructions in the Installing Software
Drivers for Windows section in this guide.
Support
For support regarding the SL-131C please email Opticstar at: [email protected].
Other Software
There is some freely available third party software that may be of interest to some
users. Please note that Opticstar cannot guarantee the suitability the software.
•Deep Sky Stacker. (http://deepskystacker.free.fr).
•RegiStax. (http://www.astronomie.be/registax/)
These programs can be used to post-process video files captured in EtAMCAP and
View. They can stack, align and enhance multiple AVI frames into a single high
quality “master” image.

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Camera Specification
Specification
SL-131C COOLAIR
Image sensor
1/3” CMOS
Sensitivity
1.1v/Lux-sec at 550nm
Sensor
Aptina MT9M111
Pixel size
3.6μm x 3.6μm
Max. Resolution
1280 x 1024 pixels
Speed
16fps at 1280x1024
110fps at 640x480
160fps at 320x240
Data Readout
RGB colour 24-bit
Gain
In hardware
Region of Interest (ROI)
640x480, 320x240
Auto-Exposure
Automatic/Manual
Manual Exposure Time
0.12ms –57.6ms (normal mode);
0.06ms –28.8ms (high speed mode)
Shutter type
Rolling shutter
ADC Resolution
10-bit, dual on-chip
Dynamic Range
71dB
Signal to Noise Ratio
44dB (max)
Window glass
Clear, no Infra Red cut-off
Image Output
USB 2.0, 480 Mb/s
Power Supply
USB 2.0
Lens Mount
C/CS Mount
Mounting to telescope
C/CS to 1.25” (included)
Mounting to lens
C to T-thread (M42 x 0.75)
Mounting to microscope
C to 23mm, C to 30mm, C to 30.5mm
USB Cable
1.8 meter long
Weight
250g
Operation temperature
0ºC to 60ºC
Computer requirements
Microsoft Windows
(32-bit or 64-bit) XP/Vista/7/8/10
USB 2.0
Bundled software
Opticstar View, etAMCAP, Windows drivers &
DirectShow
Microscope Attachments
In order to use the camera with microscope one
or more attachments must be used. The
attachments shown from left to right are: C/CS
to 23mm (x0.5), C/CS to 23mm (x1), C/CS to
30mm and C/CS to 30.5mm. These attachments
are not bundled with the camera.

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OPTICSTAR
Opticstar Ltd,
87 Washway Road, Sale, Greater Manchester, M33 7TQ, United Kingdom.
Tel: [phone] - - Email: [e-mail]
Web: www.opticstar.com