SBIG ST-7XE User manual

Operating Manual
CCD Camera Models
ST-7XE/XME, ST-8XE, ST-9XE,
ST-10XE/XME and ST-2000XM/XCM
With High Speed USB Interface
Santa Barbara Instrument Group
147A Castilian Drive
Santa Barbara, CA 93117
Phone [phone] •Fax [phone]
Web:<www.sbig.com> •Email:<[email protected]>
▬▬▬▬
SBIG
ASTRONOMICAL
INSTRUMENTS

Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital
device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable
protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates,
uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with
the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. 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:
• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
• Increase the separation between the receiver and the equipment.
• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the
receiver is connected.
• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
Shielded I/O cables must be used when operating this equipment.
You are also warned, that any changes to this certified device will void your legal right to
operate it.
OPERATION Manual for ST-XE/ST-8XE/ST-9XE/ST-10XE/ST-10XME/ST-2000XM
Revision 1.4
June, 2004

Section 1 - Introduction
Page 1
1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 3
1.1. Getting Started.................................................................................................................. 4
1.2. Installing the USB Drivers for the First Time............................................................... 4
1.2.1. Installing the CCDOps and the Driver Checker ...................................... 5
1.2.2.1. Add New Hardware Wizard for Windows XP Users............................. 6
1.2.2.2. Add New Hardware Wizard for Window 95/98/Me Users ............... 13
1.2.2.3. Add New Hardware Wizard for Windows 2000 Users........................ 18
1.2.3. Getting Started with CCDOPS ....................................................................................... 22
1.2.4. To try some functions with sample images:................................................................. 22
1.2.5. Capturing Images with the CCD Camera .................................................................... 22
2. Introduction to CCD Cameras .................................................................................... 25
2.1. Cameras in General ....................................................................................................... 25
2.2. How CCD Detectors Work ........................................................................................... 25
2.2.1. Full Frame and Frame Transfer / Interline CCDs ................................. 26
2.3. Camera Hardware Architecture .................................................................................. 26
2.4. CCD Special Requirements........................................................................................... 29
2.4.1. Cooling......................................................................................................... 29
2.4.2. Double Correlated Sampling Readout .................................................... 30
2.4.3. Dark Frames ................................................................................................ 30
2.4.4. Flat Field Images......................................................................................... 30
2.4.5. Pixels vs. Film Grains................................................................................. 31
2.4.6. Guiding ........................................................................................................ 32
2.5. Electronic Imaging ......................................................................................................... 32
2.6. Black and White vs. Color............................................................................................. 33
3. At the Telescope with a CCD Camera....................................................................... 35
3.1. Step by Step with a CCD Camera................................................................................ 35
3.2. Attaching the Camera to the Telescope ...................................................................... 35
3.3. Establishing a Communications Link ......................................................................... 36
3.4. Focusing the CCD Camera ........................................................................................... 36
3.5. Finding and Centering the Object ............................................................................... 38
3.6. Taking an Image............................................................................................................. 38
3.7. Displaying the Image .................................................................................................... 38
3.8. Processing the Image..................................................................................................... 39
3.9. Advanced Capabilities .................................................................................................. 39
3.9.1. Crosshairs Mode (Photometry and Astrometry) ................................... 39
3.9.2. Sub-Frame Readout in Focus.................................................................... 39
3.9.3. Track and Accumulate............................................................................... 40
3.9.4. Autoguiding and Self Guiding................................................................. 40
3.9.5. Auto Grab .................................................................................................... 41
3.9.6. Color Imaging ............................................................................................. 41
4. Camera Hardware ......................................................................................................... 43
4.1. System Components...................................................................................................... 43
4.2. Connecting the Power ................................................................................................... 43
4.3. Connecting to the Computer........................................................................................ 43
4.4. Connecting the Relay Port to the Telescope............................................................... 43

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Page 2
4.4.1 Using Mechanical Relays............................................................................... 44
4.5. Modular Family of CCD Cameras............................................................................... 46
4.6 Connecting accessories to the Camera........................................................................ 50
4.7 Battery Operation...........................................................................................................51
5. Advanced Imaging Techniques ................................................................................. 53
5.1. Lunar and Planetary Imaging ...................................................................................... 53
5.2. Deep Sky Imaging.......................................................................................................... 53
5.3. Terrestrial Imaging ........................................................................................................ 53
5.4. Taking a Good Flat Field............................................................................................... 54
5.5. Building a Library of Dark Frames.............................................................................. 54
5.6. Changing the Camera Resolution................................................................................ 54
5.7. Flat Fielding Track and Accumulate Images ............................................................. 55
5.8. Tracking Functions ........................................................................................................ 56
6. Accessories for your CCD Camera............................................................................. 59
6.1. Water Cooling................................................................................................................. 59
6.2. Tri-color Imaging ........................................................................................................... 60
6.3. Camera Lens Adapters and Eyepiece Projection....................................................... 60
6.4. Focal Reducers................................................................................................................ 60
6.5. AO-7 and Lucy-Richardson Software ......................................................................... 60
6.6. SGS - Self-Guided Spectrograph.................................................................................. 60
6.7. Third Party Products and Services .............................................................................. 61
6.7.1. Windows Software ..................................................................................... 61
6.7.2. Image Processing Software ....................................................................... 61
6.7.3. Getting Hardcopy....................................................................................... 61
6.8. SBIG Technical Support ................................................................................................ 61
7. Common Problems ....................................................................................................... 63
8. Glossary .......................................................................................................................... 65
A. Appendix A - Connector and Cables......................................................................... 69
A.1. Connector Pinouts for the AO7/CFW8/SCOPE port:.............................................. 69
A.2. Connector Pinouts for the power jack:........................................................................ 69
A.3. Connector Pinouts for the I2C AUX port:................................................................... 69
A.4. SBIG Tracking Interface Cable (TIC-78)...................................................................... 70
B. Appendix B - Maintenance.......................................................................................... 71
B.1. Cleaning the CCD and the Window ........................................................................... 71
B.2. Regenerating the Desiccant .......................................................................................... 71
C. Appendix C - Capturing a Good Flat Field .............................................................. 72
C.1. Technique........................................................................................................................ 72
D. Appendix D - Use and Maintenance of the Cooling Booster ............................... 73
E. Appendix E – Third Party Vendors Supporting SBIG Products.......................... 75

Section 1 - Introduction
Page 3
1. Introduction
Congratulations and thank you for buying one of Santa Barbara Instrument Group's CCD cameras.
The model ST-7XE/XME, ST-8XE, ST-9XE, ST-10XE/XME, and ST-2000XM/XCM are SBIG's fifth
generation CCD cameras and represent the state of the art in CCD camera systems with their low
noise and advanced capabilities, including Kodak's new Blue Enhanced E series of CCDs and high
speed USB interface. We feel that these cameras will expand your astronomy experience by being
able to easily take images like the ones you've seen in books and magazines, of structure never seen
through the eyepiece. SBIG CCD cameras offer convenience, high sensitivity, and advanced image
processing techniques that film just can't match. While CCDs will probably never replace film in its
large format, CCDs allow a wide range of scientific measurements and have established a whole
new field of amateur astronomy that is growing by leaps and bounds.
These cameras include several exciting new features: improved self-guiding (US Patent
5,525,793), high speed USB interface, improved cooling design and more. These cameras have two
CCDs inside, one for guiding and a large one for imaging. The low noise of the read out electronics
virtually guarantees that a usable guide star will be within the field of the guiding CCD for
telescopes with F/numbers F/6.3 or faster. The new cooling design is capable of performance
similar to that which used to require an optional second stage cooling booster. The relay output
plugs directly into most recent commercial telescope drives and is easily modifiable to virtually any
drive system. As a result, you can take hour long guided exposures with ease, with no differential
deflection of guide scope relative to main telescope, and no radial guider setup hassles, all from the
computer keyboard. This capability, coupled with the phenomenal sensitivity of the CCD, will
allow the user to acquire observatory class images of deep sky images with modest apertures! The
technology also makes image stabilization possible through our AO-7, or self-guided spectroscopy
with our SGS.
The new ST-X series of cameras incorporate the following design improvements over their
parallel based predecessors:
 Uses High Speed USB vs. Parallel Port for 10X to 15X faster downloads.
 Adds a new I2C bi-directional AUX port for future use.
 LEDs on the Digital Board show Relay Activations (helpful for troubleshooting).
 New Heat Exchanger with Water Circulation Capability built-in.
 No firmware ROM to update, software uploads to camera at boot-up.
 New capabilities can be added to the camera by replacing the loader driver.
 New Boot sequence, LED flashes and fan comes on when firmware upload is complete.
 LED flashes when initializing shutter.
 Mechanical/electronic design work to reduce shutter errors and stray light.
 TC237 autoguider CCD added to the ST-8XE, ST-9XE, ST-10XE and ST-10XME.
 Premier software, CCDSoftV5 and TheSky included with each camera.
 CCDOPS version 5 camera control software included with major improvements
o Support for USB cameras
o Support for Ethernet (Ethernet to Parallel) for parallel cameras
o Read FITS files
o Save in several formats (including ASCII format that imports to Excel).
o Multiple images open at once
o New universal drivers

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o Works with all 32-bit Windows OS (95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP).
o Version 5 (Gold Icon) can co-exist with Version 4 (Black Icon).
o Focus Mode Dialog has big numbers for peak brightness to aid focusing.
o Added 1xN, 2xN and 3N readout modes to ST-7/8/9/10/1001
o Magnified preview in crosshairs window
o Sharpen preview in contrast dialog.
o Dockable Icon bar.
1.1. Getting Started.
This manual describes the ST-7XE/XME, ST-8XE, ST-9XE, ST-10XE/XME and ST-2000XM/XCM
CCD Camera Systems from Santa Barbara Instrument Group. The first section contains USB driver
installation instructions. The USB driver installation process must be completed by anyone
installing an SBIG USB camera for the first time on a particular computer. If you wish to run your
SBIG USB camera from more than one computer, you must go through the USB driver installation
process for each computer you intend to use.
For users new to the field of CCD Astronomy, Sections 2, 3 and 4 offer introductory material
about CCD Cameras and their applications in Astronomy. Users who are familiar with CCD
cameras may wish to skip section 2 and browse through sections 3 and 4, reading any new material.
Thoroughly experienced SBIG customers may wish to jump right to the separate Software
Manual, which gives detailed and specific information about the SBIG software. Sections 5 and 6
offer hints and information about advanced imaging techniques and accessories for CCD imaging
that you may wish to read after your initial telescope use of the CCD camera. Finally, section 7 may
be helpful if you experience problems with your camera, and the Appendices provide a wealth of
technical information about these systems.
1.2. Installing the USB Drivers for the First Time
If you are installing an SBIG USB camera for the first time use this section to walk you through the
driver installation process. To operate the camera you must first install camera control software
onto your computer or laptop. Your camera comes with two programs: CCDOPS from SBIG and
CCDSoftV5, which was jointly written by Software Bisque and SBIG. CCDSoftV5 is a very
comprehensive program that incorporates many of the camera control functions of CCDOPS.
However, because we use CCDOPS solely to develop and test our cameras we are able to post more
frequent updates for CCDOPS at our web site for free download. You can use either program to
control the camera but we suggest starting with CCDOPS to install the USB drivers and to make
sure everything is working properly and then move to CCDSoftV5 when you are more familiar
with the operations of the camera. Follow the instructions below to install and run the CCDOPS
software and display and process sample images found at our web site.
Please follow these directions IN SEQUENCE. Do not connect the camera to the PC or turn it on
until instructed to do so below. USB drivers can be difficult to install if you don’t follow the
instructions.

Section 1 - Introduction
Page 5
1.2.1. Installing the CCDOps and the Driver Checker
The first thing you should do in all cases is to install CCDOps version 5 and the Driver Checker
utility. This is relatively simple:
1. Make sure the camera is not connected to the computer. You will do this later.
2. Run the CCDOps Installer. It can be found in the CCDOps directory of the CD-ROM that
came with your camera. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the installation.
3. First make sure you are the Administrator or have Administrator privileges if you’re
running under Windows 2000, or Windows XP. On Windows XP Home edition you are the
administrator so you don’t have to worry about that. Next run the Driver Checker Installer.
It can be found in the Driver Checker folder of the CD-ROM.
4. Towards the end of the Driver Checker installation the installer will run the utility. This
utility checks to make sure you have the latest version of the SBIG camera drivers installed
on your system. When the SBIGDriverChecker utility is run you’ll see a dialog like:
If you have previously installed CCDOPS you’ll see some entries in the table. Most likely
one or more drivers is not installed or is not up to date. Also if this is the first time you’ve
run the Driver Checker you may get a warning something like “The sbigudrv service can
not be found”. Just ignore this error.

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5. Using the Driver Checker to update your drivers is a two-step process:
A. If you have an internet connection, Click on the Download button then follow the
instructions to download the current drivers from SBIG’s Servers. If you don’t have an
internet connection on this machine then make sure you have downloaded the latest Driver
Checker Installer from SBIG’s web site, copied it to this machine and run it.
B. Whether you have an internet connection or not then click the Update button. This will
copy the current drivers to your system and make sure they are properly installed. Some
new computers without parallel ports will report that the SBIGUDRV.SYS was not started.
Don’t worry about that. The SBIGUDRV.SYS is the parallel port camera driver and is not
use with USB cameras.
You may be asked to reboot your system as well. If so, click Done and do so. Otherwise
simply click Done.
6. Follow the instruction in Sections 1.2.2.1, 1.2.2.2 or 1.2.2.3 below depending on the version of
Windows you have on your computer.
1.2.2.1. Add New Hardware Wizard for Windows XP Users
1. With the camera disconnected from the computer, plug in the power to the camera and if
your power supply has a power switch turn on the power to the camera.
2. Plug the camera into the computer with the supplied USB cable. The computer will then
present you with the Found New Hardware Wizard. Click the “Install from a list…” radio
button then click the Next button.

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3. As shown below, click the “Search for the best driver…” radio button then check the
“Include this location…” checkbox then click the Browse button.
You will see the Browse for Folder dialog shown below:
Navigate through the directory structure of you hard drive to the:
My Computer\C:\Program Files\SBIG\Driver Checker\SBIG Drivers

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directory. Expand each section by clicking on the “+” next to the name. For example scroll
to the top and click the “+” next to My Computer, then click the “+” next to C:, etc. Finally
click on the SBIG Drivers folder to select it (it will turn blue as shown below) then click OK.
You’ll then be back in the Found New Hardware Wizard. Click the Next button.

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Page 9
4. Windows will show the dialog below while it is copying the driver:
5. You may be presented with the dialog below warning you the SBIG USB Loader driver has
not passed the Windows Logo testing procedure. At this point click the Continue Anyway
button.

Section 1 - Introduction
Page 10
6. Windows will continue installing the driver as shown in the dialog below:
7. Windows will finish installing the SBIG USB Loader driver as shown in the dialog below
Hit the Finish button. At this point the Camera’s Fan and LED should come on.
You are half-way through the installation of the drivers.

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Page 11
8. Again you will be presented with the Found New Hardware wizard for the SBIG USB
Camera driver as shown in the dialog below. Repeat steps 3 through 7 for this driver just
like you did before.
9. At one point you may be presented with the following dialog:
Select the top entry and hit the Next button. When you’re all done if you open the System
Control Panel from the Start Menu, select the Hardware tab then click the Device Manager
button and finally expand the Universal Serial Bus Controllers section at the bottom you
should see the SBIG USB Camera entry as shown below:

Section 1 - Introduction
Page 12

Section 1 - Introduction
Page 13
1.2.2.2. Add New Hardware Wizard for Window 95/98/Me Users
1. With the camera disconnected from the computer, plug in the power to the camera and if
your power supply has a power switch turn on the power to the camera.
2. Plug the camera into the computer with the supplied USB cable. The computer will then
present you with the Found New Hardware Wizard shown below:
Click the Next button.
3. Click “Search for the best driver..” then click the Next button as shown below:

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4. Uncheck all the options except “Specify a location” as shown below then click the Browse
button

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5. Navigate through the Browser window to the
My Computer\C:\Program Files\SBIG\Driver Checker\SBIG Drivers
directory as shown below. Expand each section by clicking on the “+” next to the name.
For example scroll to the top and click the “+” next to My Computer, then click the “+” next
to C:, etc.:
Click on the SBIG Drivers folder until it is highlighted as shown above then click the OK
button. This will get you back to the dialog shown above in step 4 but with the location
filled out. Click the Next button.
6. You’ll see the dialog below. Click the Next button.

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7. Windows will spin for a while and then present you with the dialog below. Click the Finish
button and you’re done. The SBIG cameras actually use two drivers and after you click
Finish the system will automatically install the second driver. At this point the Fan and
LED should come on in the camera.

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8. If you have any question about whether the drivers were installed correctly open the Device
Manager tab of the System Control Panel. Click the “View devices by type” button and
expand the “Universal Serial Bus controllers” section by clicking the “+” to the left. You
should see something like the dialog below where we have highlighted the SBIG USB
Camera in red outline:

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1.2.2.3. Add New Hardware Wizard for Windows 2000 Users
1. With the camera disconnected from the computer, plug in the power to the camera and if
your power supply has a power switch turn on the power to the camera.
2. Plug the camera into the computer with the supplied USB cable. The computer will then
present you with the Found New Hardware Wizard shown below. Click the Next button.