ZWO ASI User manual

ASI Cameras User Guide
ASI Cameras User Guide
Revision 1.3
Nov, 2013
All material in this publication is subject to change without notice and is
copyright Zhen Wang Optical company.

ASI Cameras User Guide
Table of Contents
ASI Cameras User Guide..............................................................................................................1
Instruction .........................................................................................................................................3
What's included in the box? ..............................................................................................................4
Getting started with the camera ........................................................................................................5
ASI Camera Driver Setup .................................................................................................................7
Driver Installation .....................................................................................................................7
Driver Update..........................................................................................................................12
Driver Uninstall.......................................................................................................................13
Software Usage ...............................................................................................................................14
Basic Usage.............................................................................................................................14
Planetary Imaging software.....................................................................................................17
To get the best performance of the camera. ............................................................................19
Capture parameter setting .......................................................................................................20
Auto Guider ....................................................................................................................................21
ASCOM Driver .......................................................................................................................22
Guider with PHD Guiding ......................................................................................................22
Auto Guider with MaxIm_DL ................................................................................................30
Other Third part software support...................................................................................................34
PHD Guiding ..........................................................................................................................34
GM (GuideMaster)..................................................................................................................35
MaxIm-DL ..............................................................................................................................37
MetaGuide...............................................................................................................................38
Astroart ...................................................................................................................................39
Cleaning.........................................................................................................................................40
Mechanical Drawing.....................................................................................................................43
QE Graph ......................................................................................................................................44

ASI Cameras User Guide
Instruction
Congratulations and thank you for buying one of our ASI planetary Cameras！
ASI cameras naming ruler:
The software usage is the same although different cameras have different sensor. So here
take ASI120MC as an example to show how to install the driver and use the software.

ASI Cameras User Guide
What's included in the box?
1：2-metre USB and ST4 guider cable 2: M42-1.25” nosepieces
3：1.25” cover 4：ASI Camera body
5：Driver CD
5
2
3
4
1

ASI Cameras User Guide
Getting started with the camera
ASI120 camera comes with a 150 degree wild-field lens. It can be used an all sky camera.
You can see the sensor after unscrew the lens.
New asi120 camera add a protect window. It is a IR-CUT glass with the color camera. And it’s a
AR coated glass with the mono camera.
ST4 Guider
PORT
USB 2.0 Port
Protect Window
CS lens
M42X0.75 Thread

ASI Cameras User Guide
Attached the 1.25” nosepieces and insert to your telescope’s focuser.
You are ready for your first light now!
1.25” nosepieces

ASI Cameras User Guide
ASI Camera Driver Setup
Driver Installation
With several mouse clicks, the SUPER EASY driver installation can be done in
just ONE minute.
Supported OS: Windows XP 32bit/64bit, Windows 7 32bit/64bit, Windows 8
32bit/64bit
Install steps:
1. download the latest driver from
http://www.zwoptical.com/Eng/Software/index.asp
or CD-ROM, run it.
Choose a folder to install the driver

ASI Cameras User Guide
Click "Continue Anyway" when installing the driver.
Finished, and you are welcome to visit our website!

ASI Cameras User Guide
Then Plug in the camera to a USB port, You can try another USB port if the
one plug in doesn't work. Intel CPU based computer is recommended.
And DO NOT use a USB extension cable or USB hub which will affect the
speed of fast image transfer.
Wait for a while, Windows will prompt "found new hardware"
Windows XP will prompt a driver install Wizard dialog
Windows 7 and 8 will install the driver automatically

ASI Cameras User Guide
Choose the first option
Wait for a while, OS will find the driver and install
Don't forget to click "Continue anyway" when this dialogue shows up again.

ASI Cameras User Guide
Finished
Now you should see ASI120MM/MC listed in the device manager

ASI Cameras User Guide
Driver Update
You don't need to uninstall the old driver when there is a new one.
Just run the new downloaded driver, it will auto detect and update
Please close all the apps which may be using camera before update.
ie:MSN Skype QQ etc..
New driver will be installed to the old path

ASI Cameras User Guide
Driver Uninstall
You can uninstall the driver from the start menu

ASI Cameras User Guide
Software Usage
Basic Usage
Because it is using one of the most popular driver types in the world (Windows
Directshow), the camera can be used on a variety of image/video grabbing
softwares.
The easiest way to test the camera is to use the amcap software which comes
with the driver
Select the camera from Devices menu.
If this dialog show up it means the camera is not connected or not recognized
by windows.

ASI Cameras User Guide
Please check the driver installation and verify that the camera is listed under
Device Manager
You should see an image if everything is fine

ASI Cameras User Guide
Click "Video Capture Filter" to change setting and "Video Capture Pin" to
change Resolutions(you can add or remove resolutions you like).

ASI Cameras User Guide
Planetary Imaging software
SharpCap and Firecapture are suggested as the Capture Software for
astronomy image capturing. you can find them in the CD-ROM or download
from the website.
Both are easy to use and very compatible with the ASI Cameras.

ASI Cameras User Guide
FireCapture is the most effective due to the wider variety of options it offers.

ASI Cameras User Guide
To get the best performance of the camera.
It is best to adjust the FPS manually. 80% is the default value which is 30fps at
1280X960.this is a very stable speed for most computers.
You can try to turn it up to 100% step by step which is 35fps。No drop frames
and No bad frames then it’s a good value.
Smaller resolutions can run at the fastest speeds depending upon the
exposure time you set (within certain resolution limits – you can also lower the
resolution size if the image still fits in the screen window, and choose a faster
fps by reducing the exposure time!).
And DO NOT use any USB extension cable or USB hub which will affect the speed of fast image
transfer.

ASI Cameras User Guide
Capture parameter setting
Gamma: 50 is the default linear output data. This is the recommended setting.
But you can use lower value to help focus when previewing. always remember
to return it to “50” before starting capture! Otherwise onion ring will be there
after stacking and processing.
Gain: the higher the value, the more noise there will be. But it is often needed
to be set high to achieve short exposures/faster frame-rates which can help to
freeze seeing: remembering that faster FPS will result in more frames to stack
which will drastically reduce the noise problems associated with High Gain.
Exposure: the shorter the value, the faster the fps achieved. Fps is usually
calculated like this: fps = 1000 ÷ exposure time (in milliseconds, mS). For
example, 20mS provides 1000 ÷ 20 = 50FPS.
But there are limits to USB2.0 bandwidth and the sensor’s capability. Usually
30-40fps is a good choose for dim object like Saturn and you can achieve
higher fps when capturing bright objects like Jupiter and Mars, Venus.