Sbig ST-402 User Manual

Operating Manual

ST-402

Very Important:

Before you attach the ST-402 to your computer for the first
time you MUST install the software as described Section 2.

Santa Barbara Instrument Group

147A Castilian Drive

Santa Barbara, CA 93117

Phone [phone] • Fax [phone]

Email sbig @ sbig . com • Web www . sbig . com

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.

ST-402 Operating Manual
1st Edition, January 2005

Table of Contents

SBIG ST-402 Operating Manual

1. Introduction..........................................................................................1

Getting Started...................................................................................1

2. Installing the Software.........................................................................3

3. Using the Camera Inside......................................................................6

Running CCDOps..............................................................................6

Getting Help......................................................................................6

Brightness and Contrast.....................................................................9

Establishing a Link..........................................................................10

Camera Info.....................................................................................11

Camera Setup ..................................................................................12

Grab Command ...............................................................................13

Focus Command ..............................................................................14

4. At the Telescope..................................................................................17

Finding and Centering the Object....................................................18

Taking an Image..............................................................................19

Further Adventures..........................................................................19

5. Accessories for your CCD Camera...................................................20

Color Filter Wheel...........................................................................20

Battery Adapter ...............................................................................20

Camera Lens Adapters ....................................................................20

Electromechanical Relay Adapter Box............................................20

1. Introduction

Congratulations and thank you for buying one of our ST-402 cooled CCD
cameras. The ST-402 has the following features:

• Uses Kodak’s microlensed, blue enhanced KAF-0402ME CCD

with 765 x 510 9-micron square pixels.

• 16-bit A/D converter with correlated double sampling running at

1.8 megahertz.

• Temperature regulated Thermo-Electric (TE) cooling with 25C

delta for reduction in CCD dark current.

• Single board, small, compact design with internal shutter allowing

exposures down to 40 milliseconds that makes taking dark frames
a trivial task.

• USB 2 interface yielding up to 1.2 megapixels per second

download rates but full backward compatibility with USB 1.1
computers at 400 kilopixels per second.

• Input power requirements of 10.0 – 14.5 Volts DC at 1 Amp

through the new center-positive locking power jack.

• Telescope interface with four optically isolated normally open

signals on the industry standard RJ-11 jack.

• T-Thread based mechanical interface that supports a variety of

nosepieces and adapters.

• Optional 4-position filter wheel with parfocal Red, Green, Blue

and Clear filters.

• Powerful yet intuitive CCDOps software for image acquisition and

processing.

6. Glossary...............................................................................................21

Appendix A – Connector and Cables.......................................................25

Power Jack.......................................................................................25

Telescope Jack.................................................................................25

Appendix B – Maintenance ......................................................................26

Updating CCDOps and Drivers.......................................................26

Cleaning the Window and Filters....................................................26

Replacing the Desiccant..................................................................26

Appendix C – Camera Specifications ......................................................28

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Getting Started

In addition to this truly fine Operating Manual, the ST-402 package
includes the following items:

ST-402 Camera – The camera body is 4 x 5 x 2 inches with a T-Thread

adapter on the front cover.

1 ¼ Inch T-Thread Nosepiece – This screws into the front of the camera

for telescope work and includes a soft rubber cap for keeping out
the dust when not in use. Optional 2 Inch Nosepiece and Visual
Back adapters are available from SBIG. In addition a screw-in
T-to-C adapter is available for use with C-Mount camera lenses or
C-Mount adapters.

Power Supply – US versions of the camera come with a 12V/2 Amp DC

power supply. Outside the US the camera is supplied with a
Battery Clip adapter.

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SBIG ST-402 Operating Manual

SBIG ST-402 Operating Manual

Extremely Important!
In the past SBIG has shipped products like the STV, ST-5C and
ST-237/A that used a 12-Volt, Center-Negative power supply.
Starting with the ST-402 we are switching to Center-Positive
12-Volt power supplies. How do you know the difference?

All 12-Volt, Center-Positive power jacks and receptacles are
locking with a threaded collar. Don’t ever try to mate an
unthreaded power supply to a threaded camera or vice-versa.

USB Cable – Included is a 15-foot, USB 2 certified, A-to-B type, USB

cable. USB has a limit of 15-foot cables but the range can be
extended with active boosters. Relatively low-cost (~$30) 15-foot
boosters that can be stringed together are available from such
sources such as <www.usbgear.com>. Long haul boosters (more
expensive) are available from <www.icron.com>. Also note that
putting a hub at 15 feet will allow you to go another 15 feet.

Tracking Cable – This cable looks like a simple “RJ-11 telephone cable”

but in fact is a “6-pin reversed RJ-11 telephone cable”. Telescopes
require 6-pin autoguider cables and reversed means that unlike
ordinary phone cables, this one is flips the order of the wires. You
can tell a tracking cable from an ordinary cable by noting that with
tracking cables the tines that lock the RJ-11 jack into the receptacle
are both on the same flat side of the cable or when the ends are put
side by side the colored wires inside are in opposite order on the
two connectors.

Software – We include several CD-ROMs with the ST-402 but the most

important one is labeled “SBIG Software and Catalog”. This
disc contains the drivers and CCDOps software you’ll need to use
the camera.

Very Important:

Before you attach the ST-402 to your computer for the first
time you MUST install the software as described below.

2. Installing the Software

Installing USB drivers on a Windows system can be a difficult task if you
don’t follow the instructions to the letter. Please don’t plug the camera into
the computer until instructed to do so below and please follow the
instructions carefully.

1. Disable Driver Signing – Windows XP adds an extra level of security

to installing drivers that will complicate our installation. To disable it
open the System Control Panel in the Start Menu and then select the
Hardware tab. Click the Driver Signing button and in the dialog that
appears select Ignore then click OK. Click OK one more time to close
the Control Panel.

2. Insert the SBIG Catalog and Software CD-ROM in your computer

and on most systems the installer program will automatically start. If it
doesn’t, explore the CD-ROM drive and double-click on the
autorun.exe icon. Then click on the Setup a New Camera button.

3. Install CCDOps – Click on the Install CCDOps button to install it on

your computer, and then follow the on-screen instructions. CCDOps is
our powerful yet simple-to-use image acquisition and image processing
software and we’ll use it extensively throughout this manual.

4. Install the Driver Checker – Click on the Install Driver Checker

button to install it on your computer and then follow the on-screen
instructions. The Driver Checker is a utility program that installs and
maintains the drivers that are required for operating the ST-402 under
the Windows Operating System.
At the end of the install when you are given the option to launch the
Driver Checker. Check that option.

5. When the Driver Checker starts it will ask you if you have an Internet

Connection on this machine. If you do then answer Yes otherwise
answer No. The Driver Checker will install the camera drivers and at
this point all your drivers should all be current:

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SBIG ST-402 Operating Manual

SBIG ST-402 Operating Manual

6. We’ve finished installing the drivers but now we need to bind them to

the ST-402. Quit the Driver Checker by clicking the X in the upper­right hand corner. If you’re running Windows XP then continue with
step 7 below. Users of older versions of Windows should now look for
instructions particular to their version of Windows in the “Installing
USB Drivers” Application Note that can be found on the CD-ROM or
our web site.

7. Now’s the moment you’ve been waiting for. We’re going to plug the

camera into the computer, but not so fast!
First plug the camera into the power source and note that the Fan
comes on but the Red LED does not. The ST-402 actually has its
internal firmware downloaded to it by the PC at startup. If the LED is
off the camera has not been booted. Please remember that.
Now plug the camera into the USB port on the computer with the
supplied USB cable. Remember which port you’re using because
you’ll want to use the same port again next time or you’ll have to go
through this process of binding the drivers all over again. Windows
will crunch for a while and then present you with the Found New
Hardware Wizard (Wizard) dialog.

8. If you’re asked if it should connect to Windows Update to search for

software click “No, not this time”, then click Next.

11. After booting the camera Windows will bring up another copy of the

Wizard. The ST-402 actually uses two drivers. One to boot the camera
and one to talk to it after it’s booted. We now need to walk Windows
through installing the second driver.

12. Repeat steps 8 and 9, again telling the FNHW to not check for updates

and to install automatically. At this point windows will show you the
Select the best match page:

13. Select the oem file not the sbig file (the second item above) by clicking

on it then click the Next button.

14. Windows will grind one last time copying the SBIG USB Camera

driver then show you the Completing the Found New Hardware
Wizard page.
Click the Finish button and pat your
self on the back. You’re done!

If you ever doubt that the camera is actually connected you can open the
Device Manager from the Hardware tab of the System control panel and
expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers section. You should see a
SBIG USB Camera listed there:

9. Now the Wizard will ask you if you want to install the software

automatically. Select to do so then click Next.

10. Windows will grind for a while copying the SBIG ST-402 Loader

driver then show you the Completing the Found New Hardware
Wizard page.
Click Finish. At this point the
Red LED on the back of the camera
should be on, and if you had been watching it you would have seen it
blink several times while the PC was booting the camera.

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While you’ve got the System Control Panel open, if you want to restore the
Windows Driver Signing security check, click the Hardware tab, click the
Driver Signing button and select:

If Windows can not automatically find the drivers , tell it to Install from a
Specific Location and then browse to the folder:

C:\Program Files\SBIG\Driver Checker\SBIG Drivers

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SBIG ST-402 Operating Manual

3. Using the Camera Inside

When you first receive the ST-402 it’s wise to get acquainted with its
operation inside the house where it’s warm and not to try to fight the
telescope operation in the dark. We’ve included a brief tutorial below to get
you acquainted with the ST-402 and the CCDOps software.

Running CCDOps

Once installed, it’s easy to run CCDOps from the Windows Start menu.
Click the Start Menu, then find the SBIG Folder, which under Windows
XP is under the All Programs section. Finally click the CCDOps Icon to
start the program. You’ll be presented with the startup About Dialog that
shows the SBIG logo and the version of CCDOps. To dispense with it click
anywhere in the dialog other than the two blue fields or simply wait and the
dialog will close itself.

Getting Help

CCDOps includes an extensive help file that can be accessed through the
Help Topics item in the Help menu. In addition many of the
dialogs have an embedded Help button that will take you to the
Help Topic for that specific command. Just remember, help is
always just a click away.

Opening and Inspecting Dark Frames

We’ve included some sample ST-402 images on the SBIG Software and
Catalog CD-ROM to get you acquainted with what you should expect from

your camera.
First, let’s look at what is called a dark frame. In the File menu use
the Open command and then navigate to the CD-ROM’s Images directory.
Double-click on the ST-402 Tutorial folder to show its contents. Finally
double-click on the Image 1 – Sample Dark Frame icon to open the image.
CCDOps will present you with a dialog listing all the parameters
associated with the image such as the Exposure Time, the Date and Time
the image was acquired, etc. Note that the Exposure Time was 1.0 second.
Spend some time inspecting the data then click in the dialog to close it.
Data like this is always attached to saved images and you can show it
using the Parameters command in the Display menu. After the Image
Parameters dialog has gone you’ll see the image displayed in its own
window and the Contrast dialog will appear. The image is shown below:

SBIG ST-402 Operating Manual

This is what’s referred to as a dark frame and it’s what you get when you
take a picture with the nosepiece covered and the shutter closed. It’s a
picture in the dark. Although there’s not much interesting to look at in this
image there are some very important features that you need to understand.
The first thing you’ll see is that while the image looks mostly like salt
and pepper there are hundreds of bright specks. These are called hot pixels.
They are present in every CCD image to one extent or another, even in
images from our most expensive cameras. If your digital snappy camera
didn’t automatically remove them for you, they would be seen in those
images too.
What causes hot pixels? It’s an attribute of CCD sensors called dark
current. A pixel in an ideal CCD, in the absence of light, would maintain a
steady value. When exposed to light the pixel’s value would increase in
response to the light but then as soon as the light went away the pixel would
maintain its value again.
In the real world CCD pixels suffer from the affects of dark current
whereby the pixel’s value slowly increases (brightens) over time. All the
pixels in the image shown above have some component of their signal due
to the build up of dark current.
Dark current builds up over time in a linear fashion but cooling the
CCD can reduced the rate at which it accumulates. For example, cooling
the CCD by 25°C reduces the dark current 16-fold. That’s why
Astronomical CCD cameras are cooled – to reduce the dark current when
imaging very faint objects.

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