Oxford Instruments Andor Apogee Alta Series Installation instructions

Apogee Alta
& Ascent Series
andor.com © Andor Technology Ltd. 2016
Hardware Guide
Version 1.5 rev 23 Sep 2016

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Alta and Ascent Manual
Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................................................. 2
Revision History ................................................................................................................................................................ 4
Safety and Warning Information ...................................................................................................................................... 5
SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................................7
1.1 Help and Technical Support ........................................................................................................................................ 7
1.2 Disclaimer.................................................................................................................................................................... 8
1.3 Trademarks and Patent Information .......................................................................................................................... 8
1.4 About Apogee ............................................................................................................................................................. 9
SECTION 2: INSTALLATION ..........................................................................................................................................10
2.1 Installation Summary ................................................................................................................................................10
2.2 General Guidelines.................................................................................................................................................... 10
2.3 Supplied Items........................................................................................................................................................... 11
2.3.1 Standard Supplied Items ........................................................................................................................................ 11
2.3.2 Replacement Items ................................................................................................................................................11
2.3.3 Optional Items........................................................................................................................................................12
2.4 Product Description .................................................................................................................................................. 13
2.4.1 Ascent Series .......................................................................................................................................................... 13
2.4.2 Alta (F Series) .........................................................................................................................................................14
2.5 Power and Signal Connections.................................................................................................................................. 15
SECTION 3: INSTALLING YOUR CAMERA SOFTWARE ..................................................................................................17
3.1 Install/Update Apogee Camera Driver......................................................................................................................17
3.1.1 Installation Example: For Windows 7 .................................................................................................................... 17
3.2 Install MaxIm DL........................................................................................................................................................ 18
3.3 Uninstalling Apogee Software................................................................................................................................... 18
SECTION 4: SETTING UP MAXIM DL SOFTWARE TO CONTROL YOUR APOGEE CAMERA ...........................................19
SECTION 5: CONNECTING YOUR CAMERA ..................................................................................................................24
5.1 Mounting your Camera............................................................................................................................................. 24
5.2 Connecting the power and signal cables .................................................................................................................. 25
5.2.1 Apogee Alta..................................................................................................................................................... 25
5.2.2 Apogee Ascent ................................................................................................................................................26
SECTION 6: CLEANING.................................................................................................................................................27
6.1 General Cleaning Information...................................................................................................................................27

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6.2 Cleaning the Camera Window .................................................................................................................................. 27
6.2.1 Tools Required ....................................................................................................................................................... 28
6.2.2 Window Cleaning Procedure .................................................................................................................................28
SECTION 7: USING YOUR APOGEE CAMERA ...............................................................................................................31
7.1 Standard CCD Image Calibration Procedures............................................................................................................31
7.2 Dark Current Correction............................................................................................................................................ 31
7.3 Bias correction .......................................................................................................................................................... 32
7.4 Flat field correction...................................................................................................................................................32
7.5 Further processing .................................................................................................................................................... 32
7.6 Combining images..................................................................................................................................................... 33
7.7 Field of View and Scale ............................................................................................................................................. 33
SECTION 8: SPECIFICATIONS .......................................................................................................................................34
8.1 Ascent – General Specifications................................................................................................................................ 34
8.2 Alta – General Specifications ....................................................................................................................................35
8.3 Mechanical Drawings – Ascent ..................................................................................................................................36
8.4 Mechanical Drawings – Alta.......................................................................................................................................37
D01 .................................................................................................................................................................................. 37
D02 .................................................................................................................................................................................. 38
D07 .................................................................................................................................................................................. 39
SECTION 9: APOGEE FILTER WHEEL INSTALLATION....................................................................................................40
9.1 Introduction and Setup .............................................................................................................................................40
9.2 Update Apogee Driver (Apogee.DLL) ........................................................................................................................40
9.3 Driver Installation (procedure shown for Windows 7) .............................................................................................41
9.4 Install MaxIm DL........................................................................................................................................................42
9.5 Using MaxIm DL ........................................................................................................................................................ 42
9.6 Filter Wheel Installation............................................................................................................................................ 44
9.6.1 Installing Filters ......................................................................................................................................................44
9.6.2 Mounting the Filter Wheel to the Camera ............................................................................................................... 47
9.6.3 Attaching the Camera to other Optical Equipment ............................................................................................... 48
9.7 Setup Suggestions .....................................................................................................................................................48
SECTION 10: TROUBLESHOOTING.................................................................................................................................49
APPENDIX: OTHER INFORMATION...................................................................................................................................50
Terms and Conditions of Sale and Warranty Information.............................................................................................. 50
Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Regulations 2006 (WEEE) ..........................................................................50

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Revision History
Version Released Description
1.0 13 Oct 2014 Initial Release
1.1 28 Jan 2015 Updated to apply to Ascent and Alta models
1.2 02 Sep 2015
Minor edits throughout.
Added Hot Surface warning description in Safety and
Warning Section
New content added to cover connection of power and
signal cables. (Section 5.2)
1.3 27 Oct 2015
Updated mechanical drawings.
Removed Alta D10 Deep cooled drawing (not available
as standard product).
1.4 19 Aug 2016
General updates throughout (all sections)
Removed references to Windows XP and Vista.
Updated maximum exposure to 95 minutes.
Corrected issue were images in PDF showed Alt text
information.
1.5 26 Sep 2016
Corrected filter wheel mounting instructions to align
with revised filter wheel assembly (Section 9.6)
Corrected section numbering issue (Section 9)

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Safety and Warning Information
WARNING: PLEASE READ THIS SAFETY INFORMATION BEFORE USING YOUR APOGEE CAMERA.
1. If the equipment is used in a manner not specified by Apogee or Andor, the protection provided by
the equipment may be impaired.
2. Before using the system, please follow and adhere to all warnings, safety, manual handling and
operating instructions located either on the product, supplied documentation, or in this guide.
3. Keep this guide in a safe place for future reference.
4. There are no user-serviceable parts inside the product and the enclosure must not be opened. Only
authorised service personnel may service this equipment.
5. This equipment has not been designed and manufactured for the medical diagnosis of patients.
6. Only the correctly specified mains supply should be used.
7. Replacement fuse must be of same type and rating.
8. Only the AC/DC external power supply provided with the product should be used.
9. Only the power supply cord provided with the product should be used. Should this not be correct for
your geographical area, contact your local representative.
10. Make sure the power supply cord is located so that it will not be subject to damage. If replacement
of the detachable power supply cord is required, ensure replacement is of same type and rating.
11. Ensure that the fans are not blocked and that there is sufficient clearance to enable airflow required
for cooling.
12. While running an experiment, try to keep room temperature as stable as possible.
13. Performance of the system may be adversely affected by rapidly changing environmental conditions
or operation outside of the operating conditions specified in Technical Specifications.
14. This product is not designed to provide protection from ionising radiation. Any customer using this
product in such an application should provide their own protection.
15. This is a Class A product. In a domestic environment this product may cause electromagnetic
interference, in which case the user may be required to take adequate measures.
16. This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device,
pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection
against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a non-residential environment. This
equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in
accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.
Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in which
case the user will be required to correct the interference at their own expense.

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17. Shielded I/O cables must be used when operating this equipment.
18. Pollution Degree 2. Normally only non-conductive Pollution occurs. Occasionally, however, a
temporary conductivity caused by condensation must be expected.
19. Your product is a precision scientific instrument containing fragile components. Always handle it with
care.
20. Do not wet or spill liquids on the product, and do not store or place liquids on the product.
21. If spillage occurs on the product, switch off power immediately, and wipe off with a dry, lint-free
cloth.
22. If any ingress of liquids has occurred or is suspected, unplug the mains cables, do not use, and
contact Customer Support.
23. Do not expose the product to extreme hot or cold temperatures.
24. Do not expose the product to open flames.
25. Do not allow objects to fall on the product.
26. Refer to Section 6 for Cleaning information
This symbol means that the surface it is applied to may become hot. Under normal conditions
the surface will not exceed 75°C in an ambient of 25°C. However, in a fault scenario (such as
insufficient ventilation clearance), the surface may reach over 120°C in a maximum ambient
of 25°C.

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SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION
Thank you and congratulations for purchasing your Apogee camera. This Owner's Operating Manual will
help you discover, install and use your Apogee camera with the Microsoft Windows family of operating
systems.
Apogee USB camera systems are supported by the Windows 32 and 64 bit operating systems.
1.1 Help and Technical Support
If you have any questions regarding the use of this equipment, please contact the representative from
whom your system was purchased, or:
Europe
Andor Technology Ltd.
7 Millennium Way
Springvale Business Park
Belfast
BT12 7AL
Northern Ireland
Tel. [phone]
Fax. [phone]
USA
Andor Technology
425 Sullivan Avenue
Suite # 3
South Windsor
CT 06074
USA
Tel. [phone]
Fax. [phone]
Asia-Pacific
Andor Technology (Japan)
Andor Technology (Japan)
IS Building
3-32-42 Higashi-Shinagawa
Shinagawa-ku,
Tokyo 140-0002
Japan
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
China
Andor Technology
Unit 1, Building A,
No. 66 Zhufang Road,
Haidian District,
Beijing, 100085 P.R.
China
Tel: [phone]
Fax. [phone]

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1.2 Disclaimer
Andor Technology Ltd. assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document or the
software which it describes. The user assumes all risks. There is no warranty of fitness for a particular
purpose, either express or implied.
The information contained in this document is assumed to be correct, but in no event shall Andor
Technology Ltd. be held responsible for typographical errors or changes in the software not reflected in this
document.
The specifications contained in this document are subject to change without notice.
Any changes or modifications not expressly approved in this manual could void your authority to operate
this equipment.
If you require further information about this unit, you may contact your local representative. The latest
contact details for your local representative may be found at our website: www.andor.com
1.3 Trademarks and Patent Information
Andor®, the Andor logo and Solis are trademarks of Andor Technology Ltd. Andor Technology Ltd. is an
Oxfords Instruments company. All other marks are property of their owners. The section “Controlling your
Apogee Camera using MaxIm DL” contains copyright material by Diffraction Limited.
All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners, and are used
herein solely for informational purposes only.

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1.4 About Apogee
Apogee Imaging Systems started up in 1993 in
Tucson, Arizona providing imaging solutions to
the astronomy market. The growing company
relocated to Northern California in 2001. Apogee
was acquired by Andor Technology Ltd., in
October 2013 with the Apogee camera range
taking full advantage of Andor’s manufacturing
facilities and quality systems. Apogee cameras
have been used for high-end astronomical
applications like capturing the first images of
optical counterparts of gamma ray bursts, plus
thousands of discoveries of comets, near-Earth
asteroids and extra-solar planets. The Apogee
range of cameras will always be on the brink of
discovery with the latest cutting edge technology.
Front cover image: shows a section of M101 (Pinwheel
Galaxy) courtesy of Greg Morgan.
Above: Solar flare taken by NASA with an Apogee Hi-C Camera

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SECTION 2: INSTALLATION
2.1 Installation Summary
To get the most from your Apogee camera, we recommend the following:
1. Familiarize yourself with this manual
2. Carefully unpack and inspect the contents of the box containing your camera and accessories
3. Install or update the Apogee Drivers
4. Install Maxim DL application software
5. Connect the power and signal connections to the camera
6. Begin using your Apogee camera!
2.2 General Guidelines
The following points provide additional guidelines for safe and effective setup and use of your camera:
•Never connect or disconnect the camera from an operating computer.
•Always ground yourself to dissipate electrostatic charge before handling the camera.
•As much as possible, avoid contact with any of the electrical components of the camera system,
especially connector pins and the controller board edge connectors (or, "fingers").
•Always ensure there is a good, tight physical connection between the camera, its connector cables
and the computer.
•Make sure the power cable is securely connected to the camera and plugged into the power outlet.
•If the camera is to be connected to a moving device, such as a telescope, be sure to secure the
cable with cable ties and allow enough slack so that the cable connector is not stressed during
movement.
•Always allow the sensor warm up slowly.
•Do not expose the imaging sensor to direct sunlight for prolonged periods (i.e., removing the lid
assembly or leaving the shutter open while out of doors).
•Lightning can damage the camera components, even if it is not a direct strike. Always disconnect
the camera and remove it from grounded equipment (such as a telescope) whenever there is
thunderstorm activity in the area.
•This is a Class A digital device - however, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a
particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television
reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to
try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:
oReorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
oIncrease the separation between the receiver and the equipment.
oConnect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that of the receiver.
oConsult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

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2.3 Supplied Items
As you un-box your camera, please inspect the contents and make sure it includes the following items. If
the shipping package is missing anything listed below, or appears it may be damaged, please contact your
local sales representative.
2.3.1 Standard Supplied Items
Apogee Alta or Ascent Camera
Apogee CD
This CD contains documentation for your Apogee
Camera.
USB Cable
A standard 15’ (3 metre) USB cable is included with the
Apogee camera unit
•Alta: 12V power supply
•Ascent: 6V supply
2.3.2 Replacement Items
•12V Alta power supply
•6V Ascent power supply
•12V filter wheel power supply (Alta)

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2.3.3 Optional Items
There is a wide range of optional accessories for the Alta and Ascent. These may be specified at the time
of ordering or purchased at a later date from Andor. Please contact us, or refer to our website
www.andor.com for further information.
•Flange Adapters
•Lens Adapters
•Telescope Adapter
•USB and Fibre Optic Range extender
•Filter Wheels (including a range of filters)
Note: Only use accessories that are specified or supplied by Andor as performance cannot be guaranteed
using other accessories.

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2.4 Product Description
The following section provides a brief overview of the external features and connections of each camera
model family.
2.4.1 Ascent Series
The Ascent Camera Series supports a variety of interline transfer sensors with high quantum efficiency and
low dark current. Refer to the product specification sheet for model specific information.
Figure 1: Ascent Power and Signal Connections
Figure 2: Ascent - view of camera window and sensor also showing Accessory Interface and Cooling Fan location.
Status LEDs
Power
Camera I/O port
USB
Accessory Interface
Cooling Fan
Assembly

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2.4.2 Alta (F Series)
The Alta F Series represents the next step in the evolution of the Alta line of cameras with faster readout
speeds. The Alta line continues to support a wide variety of front-illuminated, back-illuminated and interline
transfer CCDs. Refer to the product specification sheet for model specific information.
Figure 3: Alta Power and Signal Connections
Note: Shutter (not shown) may also be present in some models
Figure 4: View of Alta Shutter and Mounting locations (left) and view of cooling fans (right)
Power
Status LEDs
USB
Camera I/O port
Camera Window*
External Shutter Trigger
Cooling fans and
Thermoelectric
Cooler

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2.5 Power and Signal Connections
WARNING: Do not connect your camera to a PC before installing the drivers. If you do and the "Add
New Hardware Wizard" appears, please select the Cancel button. Never connect or disconnect the
camera from an operating computer.
Power
Provides power to the camera from the mains supply via the supplied external power supply unit.
USB
Connect one end of the supplied USB cable to the camera USB port and the other end into an available
USB port on your computer.
Status LEDs
The two LEDs on the side of the cameras can be programmed to show status of a variety of the camera
functions, such as the camera has reached the set temperature, the shutter is open, or the camera is
waiting for an external trigger. Alternatively, the LEDs can be turned off if you are concerned about stray
light.
Camera I/O Port
Apogee camera systems provide an 8 pin Mini DIN connector, enabling various hardware signals to be
controlled by the device. Five of the eight pins are programmable, and of the remaining pins, pin 6 is for
EEPROM Write Protect (Section 3.5.1), pin 8 is ground and pin 7 is a +12 volt line. Each of the five pins
may be programmed to be either a specific fixed- function I/O pin, or else a general purpose and user-
defined I/O pin.
I/O Pin-out
The programmable pins of the Apogee I/O port are 3.3V, LVTTL signals.
The pin out is shown in the following illustration. The numbers correspond to the I/O pin numbers, defined
in the table below.
Pin
Des cription
1 LVTTL Signal 1
2 LVTTL Signal 2
3 LVTTL Signal 3
4 LVTTL Signal 4
5 LVTTL Signal 5
6 Reserved
7 +12 volt power from the camera head
8 Ground

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Each LVTTL signal of the I/O Port has two modes of operation. The signal may be used as a general
purpose and user-defined I/O pin, or it may be configured to perform a predefined/fixed-function operation.
After initialization, the I/O Port defaults to having the signals set as user-defined.
The ICamera2 property, IoPortAssignment,is used to control whether each signal is set to the user- defined
or predetermined setting. For user-defined signals, the IoPortDirection property determines whether the
signal is an input or output. Please refer to the documentation for these properties for additional details
regarding their operation.
The fixed function descriptions of each pin are as follows:
Pin 1 – Trigger Input – Used to initiate triggered exposures (both single exposures and sequences) or TDI
row read operations. When the CameraMode property is set to Apn_CameraMode_ExternalTrigger, the
ICamera2 interface object will automatically enable this pin to be used as an input for an external trigger
signal. Applications should still call the Expose method to put the camera system into a state where it is
waiting for the trigger to arrive. Triggered exposures use the duration parameter that is specified in the
Expose method to program the camera’s exposure timer. Internally, the camera will automatically continue
flushing the sensor until the triggered exposure begins.

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SECTION 3: INSTALLING YOUR CAMERA
SOFTWARE
Before attempting to connect or operate your camera, make sure you have the correct software
installed on your computer. Once the software is installed as outlined in this section, proceed with
the hardware installation.
3.1 Install/Update Apogee Camera Driver
3.1.1 Installation Example: For Windows 7
WARNING: Do not connect your camera to a PC before installing the drivers. If you do and the "Add
New Hardware Wizard" appears, please select the Cancel button.
1. Make sure your Windows user account has administrator privileges.
2. Double click on the setupApogeeSoftware.
3. If you see the following error dialog, then please refer to section 3.3. After removing v3 software, try
executing the setupApogeeSoftware.exe again.
4. Follow the installation wizard instructions.
5. Upon successful driver installation connect your camera to the PC. Watch the message balloon in
the lower right corner state the OS, search for and successfully install the drivers for the Apogee
USB camera.

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6. The drivers for your camera are now installed on your PC.
3.2 Install MaxIm DL
•Your camera will run at its best when you use MaxIm DL image capture and processing software,
developed by Diffraction Limited. If you will be using the MaxIm DL software, we recommend you
install it prior to setting up your Apogee camera. Please see the MaxIm DL documentation for
specific instructions related to installation of this software.
•Apogee cameras are supported by MaxIm DL version 3.21 and beyond.
•MaxIm DL and other 32-bit applications require the 32-bit installer.
•For other software, please refer to the accompanying installation and user documentation.
3.3 Uninstalling Apogee Software
We recommend use of the Windows control panel to ensure that the Apogee software has been completely
removed.

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SECTION 4: SETTING UP MAXIM DL SOFTWARE
TO CONTROL YOUR APOGEE CAMERA
MaxIm DL, a product from Diffraction Limited, is a powerful camera control and image processing package.
The MaxIm DL software package has an extensive user’s guide, which provides details into setting up the
software and getting started. The section in this guide covers a quick reference of the specific Apogee
functionality in MaxIm DL. The camera must be configured as outlined below before the camera is ready to
use.
The information in this section contains specific MaxIm DL screenshots. These screenshots were correct
and accurate as of MaxIm v5.06, the current shipping version at the time of writing this document. It is
possible that users with other versions of MaxIm DL may notice slight layout changes from what is
described here. Refer to the Maxim DL User guide for further information.
Remember to register your software so that if there are any updates, the latest version of the
software will be made available.
1. To begin, consult your MaxIm DL documentation and launch the MaxIm DL Camera Control
window.
2. This window contains a Setup button. Click the Setup Camera button and then select “Apogee
USB/Net” from the list of camera models.
3. For this driver, please select Apogee USB/Net on the Setup tab.

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4. All settings for the Apogee camera are in the Apogee Configuration dialog, accessed from the
Advanced... button. This dialog is also available while the camera is connected, by clicking the
Options button on the Settings Tab and selecting the Camera Settings command.
5. The first step is to specify the location of the camera. For cameras with a network interface, select
Ethernet, enter the IP address of the camera, and set Device Number to its TCP port number. If
the camera is selected as USB, only the Device Number control is available; set it to the camera
identifying number, as enumerated by the operating system.
6. While the camera is connected, the Interface controls are not available; they are replaced by a
Status area.
7. If you do not know the location of the camera, you can search for it using the Discover button. See
below for an explanation of the camera discovery feature.