NexImage 93709 - Digital Camera CELESTRON - Free user manual and instructions

USER MANUAL NexImage 93709 CELESTRON

USERS MANUAL Model #937092 I ENGLISH Congratulations on your purchase of the Celestron NexImage Solar System Imager. Please read the instructions carefully and be sure to setup your camera and computer indoors first before taking it outside and trying it at night. Your NexImage camera comes with:

1. Place the CD into your computer’s CD-

2. Install both the NexImage iCap and

RegiStax software onto your computer.

3. Plug the USB 2.0 connector into a port on

your computer. Once connected, the Found New Hardware message will appear. Follow the installation Wizard until the device has been successfully installed.

4. Double click the NexImage

iCap icon on your desktop to start the program.

5. If the NexImage is not already detected,

select the camera from the list and press OK.

6. You should be able to see light displayed in

the Preview window of the iCap software You are now ready to use the camera outside and image the planets!ENGLISH I 3 Capturing imageS

1. Setup your telescope outside with an

2. Select an easy target like the moon to

begin with. Using the telescope’s normal eyepiece, center and focus your telescope on the feature you wish to image.

3. Replace the eyepiece on the telescope with

the NexImage camera by sliding the 1.25” eyepiece into the eyepiece holder. Secure the NexImage in place.

4. Double click on the NexImage iCap icon

to launch the image capturing software. If necessary, select the NexImage from the Select Device screen.

5. You should see light displayed in Preview

6. Use the telescope focuser to focus the

image until the object is visible and sharp.

7. Use the exposure slider to adjust the image

so that it is not over or under exposed.

8. Select the resolution setting using the drop

down menu. For the highest resolution, select 1280x720. Sometimes planets may not fill the field of view, so you may use a lower resolution setting to avoid taking up memory by recording a lot of empty space in the frame.4 I ENGLISH

9. Press the Video File button to bring up the

Recording Setting box. a. Click on the Video File tab to display and change the file locations where you will save your video files. b. Click on the Advanced tab to control the length of the video you want to take. You can either select the amount of time or the total number of frames you want captured c. Press OK to save your settings

10. Press the record button when you are ready

to begin recording the video file.

11. Once the recording has been completed,

press the Check Video button to view the captured video. To learn more about the more advanced features of iCap software, please click on the Help button on the main toolbar. Now that you have captured your first video you are ready to process it into one high resolution image.ENGLISH I 5 Double click on the RegiStax icon on your computer desktop to start the program.

2. Press the Select button (A) and select the

video that was just recorded.

3. Press the Set Alignment Points button (B)

to have RegiStax automatically select the alignment positions over your image.

5. Select the Best Frame option under the

Limit Setup box (D) and enter a number that represents one-half of the number of image frames that were captured, i.e. if 300 frames were captured then enter 150. Press the LIMIT button (E). proCeSSing the Video6 I ENGLISH

6. You will automatically advance to the

STACK screen. Accept the default settings and press the STACK button (F).

7. Next moved to the wavelet processing

screen by clicking on the Wavelet tab (G). See Fig 14.

8. On the wavelet page use the wavelet-sliders

(H) to enhance the image. The power of RegiStax sits in the usage of Wavelets. This is a special filtering technique that is very good for enhancing details in images. Each wavelet layer carries part of the image within it. The lower numbered wavelets control the fine detail stored in the image whereas the larger numbered wavelets control the coarse detail. Each layer can be adjusted individually to reveal the desired amount of detail for your image.

9. Finally, press the SAVE IMAGE button to

save the final image. To explore the many other features of RegiStax and view helpful tutorials, go to the RegiStax homepage at: http://www.astronomie.be/registax/index.htmlENGLISH I 7 NexImage utilizes a light sensitive imaging sensor to capture streaming video of any solar system object. This video can easily be viewed as hundreds of individual images (frames) that can be digitally stacked to significantly reduce the electric “noise” inherent in video chips and bring out the unseen fine detail (signal) hidden within your image. The NexImage camera takes advantage of the fact that the signal to noise ratio of your stacked composite image is proportional to the square root of the number of frames combined. This means that stacking as few as 16 frames will reduce the grainy noise of the composite image by 4 times. While stacking as many 900 frames will improve the image by 30 times! However, stacking the individual frames is only half the power of the NexImage imager. With the included software package, each individual frame is analyzed for quality to filter out those frames most affected (blurred) by poor atmospheric “seeing”. This form of after-the- fact adaptive optics, leaves only the sharpest, clearest frames to be stacked and aligned into a high quality image. Finally, powerful processing features automatically break the image up into individual unsharp mask layers that can be used to bring out tremendous detail. Focusing As with all astrophotography, sharp focus is essential for high quality results. Although there are many techniques and devices for focusing your telescope, the human eye still remains one of the best detectors of subtle changes in detail. One advantage that video imaging has over imaging with more sophisticated (and expensive) CCD cameras is the speed in which it can display its image. Focusing NexImage is more similar to focusing an eyepiece than a CCD camera. Unlike with long exposure cameras you don’t have to wait many seconds to see the effect of a focus change. To achieve best focus, concentrate on a high contrast feature of the object you are imaging. Focusing on small features such as a moon’s shadow on Jupiter or Cassini’s division in the ring of Saturn will guarantee best focus across the entire image. Once the frames of your video are stacked, the overall brightness of the composite (stacked) image is usually brighter than its individual component frames. For this reason it is best to keep the brightness of the video image seen on the screen dimmer than you would normally desire. It is important that no part of the image is over-exposed to assure the maximum amount of detail in the final composite image. how neximage workS the BaSiCSwww.celestron.com Torrance, CA 90503 U.S.A. .• Telephone: [phone] ©2013 Celestron . • All rights reserved. • Printed in China • 09-13 FCC 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 equipment and receiver.

• 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. Celestron binoculars/monoculars are designed and intended for those 14 years of age and older. Product design and specifications are subject to change without prior notification. 8 I ENGLISH Collimation No matter what type of telescope you image with, poor collimation (alignment of the optics) will ruin your chances for a good image. Before you begin imaging, always check the collimation of your instrument and make adjustments if necessary. Refer to your telescopes owner’s manual for instruction in collimating the optics. Finding Objects At first it can be difficult to locate individual planets due to their relative brightness. To make it easier to initially find your object in the imaging window, increase the brightness and gain controls on the Exposure Tool Bar. This will allow you to better see the object as it passes through the imaging window. Once the object is located and centered, you can adjust the setting until the object is at the desired brightness and contrast. Video Length At first you may think that the more frames you record the better. However there are some limitation to the duration of video and the amount of frames you can acquire. Resolution and file size can both limit the length of time of your video. Since the NexImage will combine as many sharp frames as possible to achieve one high quality image, you don’t want to take so many images that you start to detect the rotation of the planet, especially on Jupiter which makes one complete rotation in under 10 hours! Also each frame of a high resolution video can equal a large file size. Hundreds of frames can take up much of your hard drive space. Since file sizes of each video taken can be quite large, it is recommended that you save your video data onto a CD-ROM. This way you can have a library of files stored for processing without filling up your hard drive in the process. Specifications Sensor: 1 MP color CMOS Sensor Camera Resolution: 1280x720 Sensor Size: 3.864mm x 2.184mm Pixel Size: 3.0µ x 3.0µ Computer Connection: USB 2.0Félicitations pour votre achat de l’Imageur de système solaire NexImage de Celestron. Veuillez lire attentivement les instructions et n’oubliez pas de configurer d’abord votre caméra et votre ordinateur à l’intérieur avant de vous rendre à l’extérieur et de l’essayer pendant la nuit. Votre caméra NexImage est livrée avec :