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Xterminator User Manual

1. 121 Imaging BNC S VHS High Resolution Monitor eeeeeessssssssssoeeeeresssssssssssssserrrrersssssssssseses 121 PACING SOARS EE 122 ae n a leet 122 lHiiasine s USB 20 Adapter C olot EA E 122 Appendix M Suggested Item Specific Settings 123 Appendix IN No0 l6Suuu uy y ul u eaa ee EEE e E aa E davsexsueataess 127 Xterminator User Manual Page 3 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 1 Introduction Welcome to the world of the MallinCam Xterminator a hand crafted Colour Astronomical Video CCD Cameras with a fourth generation hyper circulf allowing a choice of a variable shutter with extended exposures from three seconds to a hundred minutes all with automatic refresh The Mallincam Xterminator is the finest most advanced video CCD camera ever created for astronomical work by anyone If has q new 14 bits DSP processor dual pre amps and dual bias algorithm allowing continuous automatic adjustment of the CCD sensor regardless of the exposure If also has the latest ICX828 EXview HAD II CCD ceramic sensor CirDIP available in Class 1 astronomical grade and Class 0 grade as an option The new A D converter to DSP has been reconfigured to deliver the cleanest image ever seen in q live video CCD camera even with short exposure Times The custom designed Mallincam Xterminator software allows for simpler operation The camera can also be use
2. 50 Sense Up Mode Bright Stars and Dim Plaqanets 51 Hyper Mode Deep Sky Objects 52 Connecting to Night Skies Network NSN using Miloslick Software 54 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 IER 63 Appendix A Amp Glow and Warm Pixels 63 Appendix B On Screen Display OSD Menu 64 NI I DEE 64 lll EE 64 SEN LIT EE 64 ALCEEC EE 65 AUC cua s uma umu Acie eat tee ec alee au usa uapa au yah aq apupa As a 65 C uama s uma um a una u maaa au uqa aaa Asu yh sapna ua Ta 65 LLC EE 66 JS ne ene ne PO INIAP INA PPK OE Ree ne NN 68 E 69 ENT EEN 70 ENEE 70 Nee 70 M ia EECH RE GE 71 Eege et geb ES O TO ege 73 MASK A MASK B MASK C MASKD 73 POSUNE C EE 73 HERE EE 73 E EE 73 PREEZ ee eelere eege 73 PRIORIT eege eelere 74 Eeer 74 EE 75 JOJ T O I EE 76 EE 76 LOON EE 71 MOTION DI TI C Puca sy uum au hss uuu amsa uuu sa 78 Appendix C On Screen Display OSD MAP 80 Appendix D Special Button Power Sequencoes 83 Appendix E Installing the MOV y k y u A u u a S aaa 84 Appendix F Installi
3. Xterminator User Manual Page 20 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 At this stage we are imaging objects that we can see in the finder scope therefore we know it should be in the main telescope s field of view Of cause it depends on how accurately the finder and the telescope are aligned so sometimes you may need to do some hunting Steo2 With your Telescope still covered Press and Hold Down the Centre Z Button on the back of the Xterminator for about 2 seconds or the d Centre Button on the Remote Wired Keypad The lt MENU gt screen will appear on your monitors screen with TITLE flashing OFF OFF ALC OFF OFF ATW INT SET OFF MOTION DET ON Exit SAUVE Before uncovering the telescope we just want to make sure that the Xterminator is not in Hyper Mode but rather has SENSE UP set as OFF Go into the ALC menu see STEP 3 in Fixed Exposure Section and ensure that SHUTTER is also OFF and that the LEVEL bor is all the woy to the right then return to the lt MENU gt __Steo 3 J Remove the cover form the telescope Don t worry if you don t see anything in your monitor the Xterminator is still most likely in FIX SHUUTER Mode and the star may be too dim to see Step 4 d Using the DOWN Button select SENSE UP gd Xterminator User Manual Page 21 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Step5 gt Now press the RIGHT Button and SENSE UP will change to X
4. Version 1 2 Michael Burns Rock Mallin Xterminator User Manual This document will introduce you to the wonders of the MallinCam Xterminator Camera It will include instructions on how to connect the Xterminator to your computer along with explanations of the camera s various settings Imaging techniques with the various hardware and software options will be covered Both the standard Composite Video output and S Video output will be discussed along with hints and suggestions on how fo resolve any problems that you encounter with this camera Enjoy the adventure with Rock Mallin s professional Deep Sky Video camera which will provide you with amazing images in near Real Time Xterminator User Manual Page Revision Sheet Revision History Xterminator User Manual Page ii Table of Contents Revision HIStory u D uu uuu s aaa lah k uuu n a l hah u huan H Table EE 0 f PNT OD UGH ON EE 4 The Contents of the Xterminator Packages 6 MalhnCam Xterminator RS252 See 6 The Camera Just the Facts ua y S uu SS 7 Tne Camera iS AMatOmy BE 8 2 MAKING e ee 9 The Camera Connection Diaeram 9 Connecting X terminator io Monor muu Geen deed Qa mua saa 9 COTO E 9 SS V OO na Q Sun um una Sas uay ees 10 Checking Out the X terminator tor he First Tin EE 12
5. 0 141 by 0 1132 MallinCam Planetary Nebula Rock s Daytime Picture Gain Nice to hear from you again on the list You are right about focus could not have a good enough live view of M 57 to fully have a firm focus It was greatly affected by the heat waves of the late afternoon time So left it that way and started to image a bunch of BMP snaps Beside had the focus setup for the night before observing imaging run so figure it would be close enough Capturing a nebula such as M 57 is far more difficult than M3 back in April 2006 At least with M3 had stars to focus on Not so for M 57 The camera setting was standard mode without any integration SENS was OFF AGC was set at MANual and full right to get the maximum gain possible without integration Next had the ALC set to OFF and the slider to full right might of have the ALC ELC set to ELC gt can t remember but m pretty sure it was set to ALC OFF What saw live was a shape that s all Not sure if it was M 57 confirmed it by slewing the scope to Vega which can be seen live in the day time with the camera Once did the sync punched M57 on the keypad and the telescope brought me to M 57 took near 50 minutes studying the live view to see if could actually see something did but very faintly and once in a while That s where decided to snap a bunch of BMP images and see if could pull something out There was on frame that came out quite clearly
6. 3 Operating the Xfterminator 14 ic uu unun E N Su R Du usu tu u R u 14 F x cndeod eege 14 Hyper E E 15 AGR Amp Glow Kerger 16 4 Controlling the Xterminator DY Hand 17 The Moon Fixed EXPOSUTE uuu aa uama Suatu Susah haatun 17 A Bright Star or Bright Deep Sky Object Extended Exposure 20 HYPER MODE Deep Skyy OD C Picie E a Gocetuniad wear sacttvad k aaa baza ua a 22 5 Controlling the Xterminator by Computer 26 Connecting Xterminator to Comput er 26 Controlling the Xterminator using Software 27 Elei AER TEE 28 nie a the Video Ca bie u n suan tauna ots he uD E Dua a ee a 29 Using MallinCam Control Xterminator Software 30 Jee le Le WEE 30 Starting Mallincam Control Soflwore 32 Checking out the Xterminator with the Xterminator Control Software 36 Connecting to Night Skies Network NSN using Mallincam Xterminator Software 39 Usine Miloslick SOL EEN 46 Video Mode the Moon and Daytime Obpjects
7. Buttons or if using Xterminator Control Software control the camera thru software See Making Connections in Chapter 2 for instructions on how to check out the camera Xterminator User Manual Page 26 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Controlling the Xterminator using Software As of this writing there are a few Software packages that can control the Xterminator camera some even with the ability to disolay and capture the images trom the Camera itself The current software packages are Free gt MallinCcam Control Software by Stephan Lalonde Paid gt Miloslick by Bill Koperwhats coming soon gt Astrolive by Kyle Goodwin at Astro Precision coming soon Each software has its pros and cons depending upon what you require the software do This manual will introduce you to two packages one free and one paid The goal is to guide you in getting these pieces of software up and running More detailed instructions will be found in the appropriate vendor s site Hardware Requirements Both of these packages will require two hardware components gt A USB to RS232 adapter that attaches to MallinCam s Optional RS232 cable This combination allows software to communicate from the computer to the Xterminator Xterminator User Manual Page 27 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 gt A USB video capture device such as MallinCcam s MCV This device will allow the output from the Xterminator
8. Use Trial and Error to match your seeing conditions and humidity Now is the time to play with the various settings and features of Miloslick and the Xterminator Having read the Miloslick Manual you will know how to stack save enhance and perform hundreds of other tweaks on your image Patience and asking for assistance on the Yahoo s MallinCam Group site is the best advice can give Xterminator User Manual Page 53 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Connecting to Night Skies Network NSN using Miloslick Software Introduction found that when first started connecting to NSN things started happening too fast for me to keep track of everything at once So pre planning was the most the most crucial step for me found that by doing test runs in the comfort of my house allowed me to develop my techniques that work for the equipment and software that use Below are the results and steps that use to broadcast on NSN feel free to follow them and or made modification as you deem as necessary Computer real estate will be your nemesis So depending upon the size of the monitor laptop then number of screens that you are using then number of software programs that using are simultaneously are using will dictate how you will manage your windows will describe how have organized my windows under a variety of situations 1 computer 1 computer with 2 monitors which software packages am using and
9. 1 60 th of a second When have finished observing the Moon all you need to do is power off the Xterminator There is no special instructions for shutting down when using the Fixed Shutter Mode A Bright Star or Bright Deep Sky Object Extended Exposure Now that you have success with imaging the Moon or bright planets now Is the time to jump to the next level Bright stars or Bright Deep Sky Objects You have the telescope set up with if covered and the Xterminator attached to the eyepiece holder the video cables are attached to your monitor and power is connected to everything You are feeling a bit more confident with the equipment and using the buttons to selection the setting options on the Xterminator Time for some more fun You will be using SENSE UP in this Mode The Xterminaftor will actually build up the image with the settings you have made You can watch the image brighten as the camera gets to your setting At X128 this process can take up to 3 minutes as it needs to run through the previous multiplier settings until reaching X128 SENSE UP has some smarts it won t brighten the image and overload the sensors That is you may find that having SENSE UP set at x96 or set to X6 that the image is the same brightness This is because X6 is the brightest that this object should go before overloading the Xterminator Step 1 Using your finder scope point your telescope at the Bright star or Bright Deep Sky Object
10. 12V DC power supply battery solely tor the MallinCam It is also recommended that you try not to have your power cable and your video cable running parallel fo each other When have Miloslick connect to my Mallincam through my MCV 1 adapter only see a Blue screen Diagnosis The MCV 1 or other adapters can have multiple video input connections For example the MCV 1 has both composite and S video The cause of this symptom is that MallinCam is looking at one of those input ports while the camera is sending the image through the other Miloslick then just gives a Blue screen to say that see nothing at the MCV 1 source Xterminator User Manual Page 107 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Cure Miloslick can change the port choice of the MCV 1 Just go into the Video Tab and in the Drop Down list choose Video Input Inside this drop down will be the choice of input ports When start Miloslick receive the error NilOjectexception and the program will run Diagnosis Cure This is an error most likely caused by a hardware configuration changed in your system at least the Operating System thinks so sometime just using another camera or port sets up a change in Windows configuration yet the Miloslick Preference file expects no change and this causes the error message to appear when both collide You can force the program to delete the preferences and start fresh by launching while holding down the
11. B SYNE jE OPTION T On MIN MA OOM LEWEL f H MOTION CET Re TUR Exit Xterminator User Manual Page 80 Xterminator User Manual 6 WIB DL CELL BLC AGC WB SAC e LUS POTION DET ALC ELC BLC AGC ll B SYNG OFPTION OO0fri POT ION DET Exit 8 OPTION MOTION DET OF Ex t D C K D 0 POSI NEGAR H REW REU FREEZE PRIORITY GAMMA NEST D MOTION CET Ex t lt lt WUB gt gt PRESET 3200K Return lt lt OPTION gt gt MASK A OFF MASKE OFF MASEK OFF Mask OFF SOS Ich Go POSI H FE Li OFF W REU OFF FREEZE FIELD PRIORITY AGC bAMMA LI ez Return lt lt OPTION gt gt APC SET HIGH LIGHT SET COLOR BAR OFF Return APC SET HIGH LIGHT SET COLOR BAR OFF Return November 1 2014 lt lt WeB gt gt PRESET OFFCUSER gt RED gt M lt BLUE gt E lt Re turn lt lt AREA MASK gt gt LOCATION SIZE Re turn lt lt BPO gt gt PRESET OFF H GAIN m lt U GAIN gt E Return LIGHT SET gt LEVEL gt E Return Xterminator User Manual Page 81 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 H ZOOM lt MENU gt lt lt 200M gt gt TITLE OFF SENSE UP OFF ALC OFF oN ATW gt Y NIL INT DFP T ION SET z00mM SUN 200M 2S es eat MOTION CET OFF Re turn Emit SAVE lt MENU gt lt MOTION DETECT gt TITLE OFF SENSE UP OFF ALC ELC ALC AREA SET BELE O
12. RS232 Protocol Operating 30 C to 50 C 22 F to 122 F Temperature Power Supply 12 1V DC at 1A Xterminator User Manual Page 7 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 The Camera its Anatomy The Xterminator camera is 4 5 x 2 x 2 and weighs in at about 11 50 ounces 326 grams Xterminator User Manual Page 8 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 2 Making Connections The Camera Connection Diagram 6 Computer Wired adapter plug ra 7 Enter Ke 8 UpArrow sd 9 DownArrow _ Connecting Xterminator to Monitor The MallinCam Xterminator provides two Video Out Ports that allow the video signal to be distributed to Video monitors One Video Out Port provides standard Composite video out by the BNC connector on the back of the Xterminator 1 on the above Connection Diagram while the other Video Out Port provides a S Video signal Both Ports provide a simultaneous video signal output Composite The Composite Signal is obtained by connecting the included MallinCam Video Cable from the back of the Xterminator to the Composite Video In Port on your monitor since in most monitors the Composite Video In connector is a RCA style MallinCam provides a BNC to RCA adapter to facilitated that connection To connect just align the two little openings on the BNC cable male with the two notches on the Xterminator s BNC female connector push and twist so the notches slide into p
13. Setting Tab scroll down to the Camera Output heading and click in the Color Bars CheckBox If everything is working correctly you will see Color Bars in the Video Window SS File Edit Camera Video Vindo Help RRG eieg Veoste lt meer Single Snapshot Not Stacking ATW rom Open Save Save As Capture Mode Capture st soen Pause Reset Preferences Help Le m Q O li IQ 10 J gp Flip Horiz vert Reset Gamma 0 45 recommended for CRT 1 0 LCD capture device etc Advanced Pixel Control APO Horiz Vert Highlight Coronagraph Level Mask Video Crosshairs None Camera Output V Color Bars Flip Horizontal Flip Vertical MC Jr Pro Connected If you successfully obtained the Color Bars un check the Color Bar Feature for you are ready to Image Xterminator User Manual Page 49 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Video Mode the Moon and Daytime Objects Step 1 Set the Exposure to Video Mode and select the time to something like 1 500s Turn AGC to OFF Step 2 Set White Balance to AWC and press the Set Button Now you can move White Balance to ATW and leave it there ey Try both 0 45 and 1 0 in Gamma to see which one you like the best Step 4 7 Set Peltier Cooler to 0 Step 5 In the Filter Settings Tab looks like a pair of glasses Enable the Histogram Play with the both the Left and right arrows to see how they improve y
14. User Manual November 1 2014 Set Device to None on Mallincam Xterminator Control Software Step 2 We will want the NSN Flash driver to capture our video port USB 2828x Device in my case with MCV so we must release it from Stephan s control So Click the Device button in the Video Tab on Stephan s Xterminator Software Choose None from the pop up window and then Click OK Stephan s software will still control the camera but it no longer has the ability to adjust the video image controls brightness contrast etc in the Video Tab Some users will actually shutdown Stephan s Software at this time and restart it after they have connected to NSN This method starts the 3 minute timer again I know you can ignore it but this way everything is running fine gt lt Sai MallinCam Xterminator Control We Default Hauppauge WinTY PVA PCI II Capture SplitCam Video Driver ASI120MC Camera 20 Design Discovery C15 SplitCam Video Filter IP Camera JPEG MJPEG SparkoCam Virtual Webcam Jf OK X Cancel Xterminator User Manual Page 40 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Select the NSN Mode check box on Stephan s Xterminator Software Step 3 Now we want to release control of the Video Capture Card held by Mallincam Xterminator Control so that it can be used by NSN So Check on the NSN Mode selection in the Video Panel The Preview Window will close releasing control of the Vid
15. View Camera Video Window Help I Hr AGC 4 d C e ZAR Gelee S Waiting 00 02 57 lt WO e e Open Save Save As Capture Mode Capture Pause Reset Preferences Help I Q J 100 CH J 0 Flip Horiz vert Reset CAMERA SETTINGS P LI Exposure SCH SENSE UP x1 28 ALCALC ALC Amplifier Gain AGC Level 4 w BLC OFF OF Als F 4 SS OO AGC MANU Auto Trace ATW gt Red 4 Al n T lu Gob ads E S e e SYNC INT e OPTION SET UU OFF Y DET OR 1 0 LCD capture device etc Advanced Pixel Control APC L Reset MC Jr Pro Connected You will notice that MiloSlick automatically starts a timer see Waiting 00 02 57 at the top of the Miloslick window Xterminator User Manual Page 52 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 In Hyper Mode the Xterminator will heat up producing warm pixels little white dots that appear on the screen The number and severity can be reduced by a couple of techniques but cooling the camera in the best The Xterminator can be cooled by using the built in Peltier Cooler Step 3 Again in the Camera Settings Tab at the bottom of the Tab set Peltier Cooler to a value that matches your seeing conditions Peltier Cooler Cooling H 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 amp On If you have the Pelktier Cooler too high you may get frost on your sensor looks fuzzy at the centre of your image
16. Xterminator Control AMCAP Miloslick USB Video capture adapter such as MallinCam MCV Mallincam dual power video cable or optional S Video cable Xterminator AC to DC power adapter Xterminator camera Procedure l 2 Power on your computer but do not power the Xterminator Connect the Xterminator Camera to Telescope and connect either the Composite Video cable BNC end to the Video Out jack on the back of the MallinCam or the S Video cable to the S Video port on the back of the MallinCam Keep lens cap on Telescope Connect the USB Video Adapter to computer see Installing MCV in the Appendix D for instructions on how to install the MallinCam MCV Video adapter Connect other end of Video cable RCA to the Video Capture Device MCV or connect the S Video cable to the Video Capture Device MCV Power the Xterminator plug in the AC to DC adapter and connect to the Xterminator Start the video display software Mallincam Xterminator Control Miloslick Or AMCAP Choose the Video Device for the software USB 2828x Device for the MCV If necessary select the correct Video Source for the software to display either Composite or S Video Hold down the Centre button on the back of the Xterminator for about 2 seconds release when you see OSD menu on your Video Display Software After Step 9 you should see the Xterminator s output with the On Screen Menu overlaying the image You can now control the camera with the Back
17. and V Vertical pixels control and Horizontal pixels control Give is a try and let us know the results Imaging Deep Sky nothing see live Settings Here s how did some daytime shot of deep sky objects Camera settings were SENS OFF ALC OFF wide open AGC MAN 1 4 from left W B ATW or MAN you have to experiment with this for color model only Options Gamma gt 1 00 Grab as many frames as possible You may or may not see anything live for the moment Co add everything you have then process it to retrieve the information especially using the brightness and contrast of any software that allows such adjustment used Photoshop Curve Imaging BNC S VHS High Resolution Monitor We recently did some experiments with a Hyper B W using the composite BNC connector output and S VHS There is actually a difference between the two especially when using a high resolution monitor Capturing an image with a high resolution capture device will provide the better result using S VHS now use exclusively S VHS when possible to capture images When use the high resolution monitor to observe the image while capturing still use the composite BNC camera output The MallinCam can use both at the same time with no loss in signal and Xterminator User Manual Page 121 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 signal quality The best performance for serious observing would be to use S VHS with either model of the MallinCam Hy
18. effect since my hot pixels are also elongated Diagnosis Since you have eliminated mount and telescope optic issues Then the star images are being affected by the APC settings in the Camera Cure You will need to adjust the APC settings in the Camera either by the back buttons or through software First ensure that both the Horizontal and Vertical APC settings are set to 0 Next start with the Vertical APC move it up one setting to 1 and see how the images of the stars look If better but not perfect move it up to 2 and again check Keep adjusting Vertical or Horizontal if Vertical makes it WOISE Most find Horizontal at 0 and Vertical at 1 or 2 is the best have been imaging for a while and now my images on the screen are looking washed out almost foggy like Diagnosis This most likely is cause by dew or frosting on the sensor depending upon the season and settings Usually caused by attaching reducers or filters in a humid environment and thus trapping humid air next to the sensor Cure First advice Is to clean sensors or make attachment adjustments inside where there Is little humidity Use Desiccant Silica Gel Packs when storing camera You will need to adjust the level of cooling that the camera Is providing for the sensor Less in winter More in summer If Using Miloslick the setting range from 0 to 8 with 0 being the minimal cooling and 8 the highest There also is an ON setting witch keeps the cooling ru
19. have a internal AGC such as TV monitor have They have a fix settings Lowering the Brightness and augmenting the Contrast will bring back the color intensity and image quality while capturing AGC Manual Amp Glow You are right The adjustment of the AGC to full left and one notch will equal to about 15 gain Amp glow is minimized To get the best result from a high gain circuitry like the MallinCam is to have the AGC in MANual mode correctly adjusted This take a while to get it right for proper background and amp glow reduction Once achieved it is saved permanently into the memory settings of the camera AGC Integration Image drop out When I dropped the AGC and set the integration to 28 sec the image would appear then disappear It did this at each integration Did you have the white balance W B set to ATW tried using ATW last Saturday night and experienced something similar think what is happening is the camera is detecting too much light with the way it is set up and shuts off the image as a protection When re set the W B to MANU with Red 2 to the left of center and Blue 1 to the right the image appeared and stayed had AGC on MANU and 2 from the far left AGC Light Gathering and Moon Interference had the AGC in MAN mode which is mandatory to have in order to use the Hyper mode This setting was set at 1 4 way from the left to give me an image that was not affected by the moon glow who happens to be out in f
20. increase the voltage at the well pixel and make it look brighter than it should Manufacturing variations will cause some pixels fo have much more leakage current than others specifically as the CCD warms up Even a few of these few pixels may permanently leak these pixels are known as Hot Pixels Since this is a property of the physics of the design of the CCD chip there is no way to stop this from occurring on long exposures What we can do though is minimize both the amp glow and warm pixel production gt Keep the exposures as short as possible and use a low AGC value Xterminator User Manual Page 63 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Appendix B On Screen Display OSD Menu MENU This is the main menu for the Xterminator It is from here that you select which setting you would like to adjust TITLE 4 TLILE 29 ABCDEFGHIJKLM NOPQRSTUVWXYZ 0123456789 NA SP SP LOCATION Return This setting is used to place a small Title on the screen SENSE UP You can create a Title containing up to 12 characters chosen from the ones listed The Title can obscure parts of your image so most users leave this in the OFF setting When set to ON you can hit the CENTRE Button to then select the characters by using the Arrow Buttons with CENTRE to select the flashing character LOCATION allows you to place the message in one of the 4 corners When SENSE UP is set to O
21. model of camera Ensure you order the XTERMINATOR RS232 cable from your vendor The USB to RS232 Adapter To control the camera through the Xterminator RS232 Port you will require a USB to RS232 Adapter Cable on the computer side and a MallinCam RS2332 adapter cable on the Xterminator side Xterminator User Manual Page 87 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 The ideal USB to RS232 Adapter is Usually computer specific and sometimes Operating system specific When you purchase a USB to RS232 adapter purchase a brand name one that specifically states that it is 100 compatible with your operating system There are some cheap prolific chip set knock offs that are incompatible with updated drivers Error 10 failure to load drivers MallinCam users have had no issue with USB to RS232 Adapters with the FTDI chipset On the Macintosh excellent results with adapters from Tripplite formerly Keyspan IOGear FTDI and TrendNet since these manufactures provide up to date drivers compatible with most versions of Mac OS X Installing the USB to RS232 Adapter Windows 7 8 Specific Most USB to RS232 Adapters come with a CD that contains the driver for the adapter recommend using that CD as a last resort as Windows Operating system Windows 7 Windows 8 Windows 8 1 Usually goes a fine job in automatically downloading the latest drivers for your adapter Step 1 Insert you USB to RS232 Adapter into a free USB Port on y
22. need to add a 1 25 adapter to this to fit it into a focuser Xterminator User Manual Page 101 Xterminator User Manual SU girig oF UERS 5 ar A tors Idezikradue en Wh rte UVP Si 2 412 13 91 ties 211221 O 1r13 2 JUN o AA omm sctorigiorn tues ft more foczibrocluetiog Mir rt vu Tae 9024172241 ciety or JUs gt 20040 AA 53N wierd foezibrseltiestiog Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Here s the complete MFR 5 screwed together and mounted on the camera This results in about a 0 6x focal reduction The amount of focal reduction 1s dependent on each scope design primary mirror position thickness of external focusers on SCT scopes etc So different setups will result in different amounts of focal reduction even with seemingly similar scopes or MFR 5 configurations For additional focal reduction you can add extension tubes The more you add the more focal reduction you get Pm an Old School photographer and we called these things extension tubes in the day So that s what I still call them Schneider calls them extension tubes also But many people call these things spacers or extension rings or ERs for short They re all the same thing Here s a setup I ve successfully used on a Celestron C9 25 SCT with a JMI EV Icm external focuser attached I m guessing this results in about a 0 4x reduction So for a C9 25 that red
23. simply lower the AGC further more Always have the camera running at SENS 128X while in 7 14 28 56 sec mode as the Hyper circuits dependent on that frame count for a proper refresh and safeguard of electronics ALC Automatic Level Control ELC Electronic Level Control ALC There are two ALC ELC settings Put the camera into the ALC settings It will display a series of pre fixed value on the screen Xterminator User Manual Page 116 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 ELC If you put the ALC ELC menu into the ELC menu no value is determined Simply adjust to suit the best live view with the AGC turned to OFF position Do not use ALC ELC function if you are going to use the integration mode such as 128X and the Hyper mode of 7 14 28 56 seconds Only use the shutter speed or variable speed to achieve best lunar planetary view or if using a solar filter The ELC is totally variable to suite your specific needs and view never use it while in deep sky mode use the pre fixed values in the ALC mode To switch from ALC ELC simply press the right key or left key when the cursor is next to the ALC ELC then press the center key to access the full menu for the specific shutter speed value ELC shutter speed A wider extended range of shutter speed effect when used in the ELC mode which can be better for certain observation you may have For example if 1 12 000 is not enough try the ELC mode and slide the adjustment far left Yo
24. star or Bright Deep Sky Object At this stage we are imaging objects that we may not be able to see in the finder scope So sometimes you may need to do some hunting to get the object in the image window Step 2 Wilh your Telescope still covered Press and Hold Down the Centre Button on the back of the Xterminator for about 2 seconds or the Xterminator User Manual Page 23 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Centre Button on the Remote Wired Keypad The lt MENU gt screen will appear on your monitors screen with TITLE flashing Go into the ALC menu and ensure that SHUTTER is also OFF and that the LEVEL bar is all the way to the right Go into the AGC menu and manually see if it set to OFF I would keep AGC at this setting when using Hyper Mode initially remember when you change the value AGC it will take the Xterminator about 3 minutes to reinitialize everything Step 3 7 Remove the cover form the telescope Don t worry if you don t see anything in your monitor the object is most likely not bright enough to be visible Step 4 f Using the DOWN Button select SENSE UP Step 5 Using the RIGHT Button set SENSE UP to X128 watch the image slowly build up if it is bright enough The Xterminator is now at about 2 1 seconds There may be just a hint of the object you are trying to image If so this is a good time to make sure it is centred Press the POWER button on the WEC Rece
25. the shutter just like a ccd imager for either 7 or 14 seconds depending what you have selected Once the image has been accumulated on the ccd it then sends it the memory then to a converter to convert the data into video output Image is displayed instantly and refreshed at every 7 or 14 seconds depending which integration was used Once you got the Hyper mode going the next switch is for multiply the integration Example at 7 seconds Hyper switch down once the X4 has been activated up you now have 28 seconds integration happening Shutter is open for about 28 seconds If you had the Hyper switch selected to 14 seconds then the X4 switch becomes 14X4 56 seconds All of this is refreshed automatically The X4 switch only works with the 7 and 14 seconds integration switch Hyper mode Its that simple Sense Hyper CCD imager like camera Let s come back to the SENS Once you have the camera set to 128X under SENS menu Activating the Hyper switch on the side of the camera to increase the integration to 7 or 14 28 or 56 seconds our own circuits becomes active and the ccd sensor Is in part independent from the rest of the camera It is now a full blown ccd imager like camera The only difference from a full ccd imager is each image are stored independently into a 32 megs memory until the next image become available after the exposure This is done instantly through two independent CPUs inside the camera The DSP APC feature is self adju
26. used by the Xterminator to determine how much adjustment it should automatically apply to the image lt lt BL gt gt AREA PRESET SET OFF Return When BLC is set to ON and you press the CENTRE Button the above menu appears From here you can set the PRESET to ON which activates augmentation of the Centre Zone of the CCD chip while leaving the outside area Xterminator User Manual Page 66 Xterminator User Manual feature can be used to help reduce the amp glow that can occur during long exposures When shaded grey that Zone is augmented to increase the sensitivity of the CCD in that Zone When black the sensitivity is reduced in that zone BLC offers three settings OFF ON and PEAK Only PEAK and ON have Sub Menu s that can be accessed by the CENTRE Button Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 of the chip with reduced sensitivity The amount of gain sensitivity is set with the PEAK feature If PRESET is set to OFF then the Xterminator uses what you have set with the AREA SET function To set your own area of augmented and non augmented Zones select AREA SET and press the CENTRE Button The following screen should appear unless you have already created a pattern This pattern matches the PRESET ON with the CCD being more sensitive in the middle and less sensitive in the outside The WHITE flashing square in the upper left is your current zone Using th
27. using a computer attached to the camera via the RS232 Port There many software packages available that provide all the control options some are free while others are fee based See section Controlling the Xterminator using Software One of the great features of the MallinCam Xterminator is its ability to be used in the field without the need to attach it to q computer This reduces the number of cables and the power requirements that using q computer needs Yet as technology gets smaller and more efficient the ability to use the computer Is already built into the Xterminator and some of the Xterminator users the computer provides them with the tools they need Whatever your preference Computer or manual the Xterminator can handle both See the Optional Accessories in Appendix I for some devices that will make both scenarios more effective Xterminator User Manual Page 15 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 AGR Amp Glow Reduction AGR makes the camera act like it is in photographic mode The Result will be a softer image therefore an increase in sharpness will be required by the frame grabber you use Also when activated the colors will change slightly This is due to the IR cut range where sensitivity is lost by about 15 A white balance W B must be conducted when the AGR is engaged to regain colors The Image will then return its sharpness and the colors will be back balanced as well Cutting off the IR range will re
28. what am trying to do this session Remember it s all about having fun and time and patience are your best friends not to mention all the guys and gals and the Yahoo MallinCam site http tech groups yahoo com group mallincam messages One of the most important decisions you will need to make with broadcasting the image of the XTERMINATOR is what Video capture software are you going to use Some simple suggestions Currently Miloslick s Xterminator Control Software is not capable of modifying the Video Image and having that Video Image be directly captured by NSN Flash So if you want to use all the features of the Miloslick software and broadcast those results as well as save screen shots and videos of your images then we need another program to capture Miloslick s output and have the output from that program linked to NSN s Flash grabber You currently have three choices for that other program Splitcam Manycam WebcamMax All three have about the same features some of these have versions that will cost you but all have a version that is free reduced functions advertisements etc My current program of choice is Splitcam I can live with the Advertisements but it has some amazing extras such as the ability to change Video Input from S Video to composite a must if you use MallinCam s MCV device with a variety of cameras You will then use Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max along with Miloslick Xterminator Control Soft
29. while stacking them with RegiStax got to love that program Not sure if the 16 larger aperture helped know had to use F 10 to reduce the daytime glow of the blue sky tried with F 3 3 and F 6 3 but the background was way too bright Only at F 10 was able to reduce the blue sky glow enough to find a contrast The part that amaze me the most is similar result with M 3 in the daytime was the excellent signal to noise ratio and color result and dynamics of the camera at high gain settings Some have commented about the high gain use in the MallinCam but this is useful under situation as presented here High gain is important That s why change some IC s in the camera to obtain a cleaner gain at high gain settings Gain Is very important contrary to some who commented on other lists Once gain is augmented circuit redesign must be done to filter or reduce the noise to achieve the best signal to noise ratio Once coupled with integration result are spectacular for all astronomical subject to be viewed or imaged MallinCam Sun Solar Here s my settings when I view image solar prominence With the menu open on the camera choose W B press the left or right button until it reads MAN for manual Once in MAN press the center key You will be able to choose between 3200K 5600K and RED BLUE choose RED BLUE While watching the monitor adjust the RED to Minimum left From that point either increase the BLUE or REDUCE the BLUE Yo
30. white image in the observing monitor and on the computer imaging monitor There is a menus on the MC Hyper where you can choose manual RED and manual BLUE with Green being fixed It won t provide any black and white image but was able to dial up the sensitivity to provide the best black and white image using the USB 2 0 adapter with the Saturation set to minimum or zero It worked well Increasing the RED on the camera and having the Saturation turned all the way down on the USB 2 0 adapter provided sensitivity that rivaled the Hyper B W Also by turning down the RED on the camera was able to control the amount of Infrared being displayed MallinCam Color Vs B W Sensitivity did more extensive testing last night measuring sensitivity compared to the Hyper B W and the Hyper Color Results were very close and productive So far estimate about 15 to no more than 20 less sensitivity between the Hyper B W and the Hyper Color This is just a rough guess for the moment and not conclusive Rock MallinCam Lunar Occultation s AGC Lunar Dark Shadow You should be able to do occultation with all MallinCam providing the Hyper mode is turned off and the SENS is turned off Use the AGC in MANual mode to get the maximum gain The MallinCam has the highest gain available with the lowest noise for such work The AGC amplifier is a high gain type plus we have redesigned the circuit to accommodate lots of gain available without having to eng
31. without q computer through the addition of the optional Wireless Exposure Controller WEC The MALLINCAM Xterminator comes complete with our new custom manufactured true 75 Ohms 100 shielded Video Cable 18 gauge power DC cable 18 gauge wire is needed to deliver the current required to run the camera and dual heat dissipater fan kit The Mallincam Xterminator also comes with the new 5 amps regulated switching power supply with 5 outputs allowing the powering of multiple 12VDC powered equipment such as the Mallincam 8 monitor or any other Mallincam accessories running on 12 VDC from one power source The Mallincam Xterminator Video CCD Camera has a new sealed CCD chamber with a multicoated 1 4 inch 6 71mm thick optical glass along with special dual O ring seals The sealed chamber is filled with Industrial Medical Grade Argon gas to maintain an absolutely dry dew and dust free environment The Sensor is Deep Cooled to 20 C The New Mallincam Xterminator is a true video CCD camera running in NTSC PAL available mode allowing the use of any monitor or TV with VIDEO IN to display its output Its output can also be displayed on a computer by using the optional MCV 1 frame grabber The Mallincam Xterminator is truly the most versatile Video CCD camera Unmatched in the industry This camera was design for those wanting to use VERY short exposures to view live astronomical objects The Mallincam Xterminator can reach magnitude 17 wit
32. 0 FID AV Grabber with Auciio Install Drivers Install DVR2 5 Install DirectX 9 0C gt User Guide gt Browse CI Exit e You may receive a Windows warning asking you if you want to allow the installation to run Click Yes e Follow the instructions on the Installation of USB Video Audio Device Driver Wizard that is displayed on the desktop e The installation takes under a minute Once complete you will be presented with a notification windows click Finish with the Yes want to restart my computer now option selected e The computer will restart Login in as you normally would e You don t need to install any of the other files from the HD AV Grabber installer Xterminator User Manual Page 85 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Step3 Checking out the MCV 1 or MCV 1e It is always a good idea to check out the MCV 1e to see if it is running correctly after you have done a first time installation e Start the Image software that you will using to display your Xterminator Video image such as AmpCap SharpCap VirtualDub e Inthe Video Device menu you should see a Video Source called USB 2828x Device This is the driver for either the MCV 1 or MCV 1e device This is the one we want Select it e Power up your Signature and you should be able to see the camera s images on the video window of your software Oh No the video is not working correctly strange stuff is happening and it is not my
33. 2 you have e just doubled the exposure to 1 30 of a second did you see it slowly brighten lt MENU gt TITLE OFF SENSE UP x2 ALC ELC ALC BLC OFF AGC OFF W B AWC SYNC INT OPTION SET ZOOM OFF MOTION DET ON Exit SAVE Steo6 Do you see your star If not press the RIGHT Button again and SENSE i UP will now say X4 or 4 times the exposure 1 15 of q second Keep increasing the EXTENDED EXPOSURE until the object is bright enough to see Recall X2 1 30 X4 1 15 X6 1 10 X8 2 15 X12 1 5 X16 4 15 X24 2 5 X32 8 15 X48 4 5 X64 1 1 X96 1 6 and X128 2 1 seconds Don t forget to adjust the image on the Monitor that you are using to improve the gain and brightness Most users find that setting the Xterminator to X128 is a great setting to work on using q focus mask to assist in focusing their telescope Now is the time to also play with the AGC level on the Xterminator this will give you the ability to increase or decrease the brightness of the image including noise Either set AGC to OFF or a low setting Remember as AGC is changed the Xterminator will need to refresh the SENSE UP and that can take up to 3 minutes depending upon the Sense Up X factor HYPER MODE Deep Sky Objects You have pushed the Xterminator to 2 1 seconds but now you need to take the plunge and do exposures way into the minutes The Xterminator is ready for you To make this happen you will need the MallinCam Wireless Exposu
34. About HA e Wl Color Bars e oN Coronagraph o E sss OFF Exposure Control ALC C Freeze OFF mee MAME TEC E Fresa Secs Off iu 55 Integration White Balance Tu iis ES Red Manual Blue Camera Alerminator If the color bars do not appear in the window re check MCV Video input adapter Hold down both the UP and Down arrow on the back of the Xterminator for about 2 seconds The Color Bar should appear If it does then software is not communicating with the Xterminator double check com port and cable connection If No color Bar appears then follow Checking out the Xterminator Manually to help determine the issue l Steng J Click on the Color Bars CheckBox to turn off the color bars Xterminator User Manual Page 37 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 m MallinCam Xterminator Control Now that you are communicating with and can display an image of what the Xterminator is seeing It is time to have some fun with the camera The Xterminator Control Software provides automatic setting adjustments to get you going quickly until you become more familiar with the Xterminator features These automatic PRESETS are located in the Basic Tab Select the type of object you will be looking at by clicking on the appropriate button in the Basic screen This will load the Xterminator Control Software with the recommended pre sets Planetary abba Ain
35. Ais ideal for all telescope designs but particularly refractors SCTs RCs and DK optical designs It has been used successfully on curved field and flat field scopes and astrographs The MFR 5 has two parts that unscrew from each other I call the left shorter part the B part and the longer part on the right the A part Since both parts have male C mt threads both parts can be attached to the camera Just mounting the B part results in about a 0 8x focal reduction I ve never used just the A part but lve been told it provides about a 0 75x focal reduction by itself Standard 1 25 astronomical filters can be threaded into the end of the A part Page 100 Xterminator User Manual er part Of P WF Osby Tats inn losis Bove to Jr Jr t9 z josusor Tu vist Oe IGal Babe KMOWT MS LI Uber ad eut TOW At WUTCITASe Separately Mey Gut oF VISE NEM zu Ge LZ 1192291253 139 Dole Aiar al MA ut oF MIF rte shot 2105 ac November 1 2014 By separating the two parts and just screwing the shorter B part a k a MFR 6 and sold separately now into the camera you get the lowest amount of focal reduction Depending on your scope and configuration you can expect about 0 8x focal reduction Many solar imagers find this configuration handy to fit the entire solar disk into their FOV But this is too short to insert into a focuser by itself You
36. Alt key Windows or Option key Mac OS In some versions of windows holding down the Alt key while double clicking the MallinCam Control icon will simply bring up the Properties dialog rather than launching In this case right click on the application icon hold down the CTRL key and chose Open from the popup menu My MallinCam is frozen or the commands do not seem to be working correctly the camera is acting strangely Diagnosis Cure Somehow the MallinCam internals have become corrupted power surge static cosmic ray and all we need to do Is reset everything back To factory settinos The first thing you should do is turn off MallinCam for about 30 seconds then power it up as you normally would this fixes about 95 of the Issues If this didn t helo you can reset the MallinCam to its Initial Factor Settings by following this sequence e Press the Center Button for about 2 seconds until the menu appears e Press the Upper Button once which will send the cursor to the last line lt SAVE gt e Next press Right Button once Word lt SAVE gt will change to lt PRESET gt e Press Center Button once to execute Preset This will send the camera to factory Preset and the camera should be ready for you in about 5 seconds Xterminator User Manual Page 108 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 My stars look elongated have checked my focus and collimation and I know it is not an optical
37. Button 7 to return to the lt MENU gt screen Use the DOWN Button 9 to move to EXIT Press the CENTRE Button 7 to turn off the menu display Xterminator User Manual Page 13 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 3 Operating the Xterminator The MallinCam Xterminator is a scientific grade instrument whose capabilities are in the hands of the user As you will discover when you become more confident with the camera that your images will the result of the combination both artistic prowess and scientific skill Both of these components will become enhanced as your Journey progresses and suggestions and advice from fellow explorers sharpen your skills and enrich your adventure One of the first pieces of advice we can offer you is that every telescope system is different the variety of optical sizes and attached accessories combined with the ever changing seeing conditions makes it impossible to determine the precise setting for the Xterminator to use with your telescope setup What we can do Is provide suggestions that will get you started in the right direction We recommend that you experiment and tweak the settings that we offer to see what works best for you Patience will be your best friend as you learn what the Xterminator can do and what you can adjust Do not be afraid to visit Night Skies Network or the Mallincam Group on Yahoo and ask questions The Xterminator provides three modes of exposure control Fixed Exten
38. DMI upscaler This device Up Scales Composite Video S Video and HDMI to 720p 1080p selectable HDMI Motion Compensated 3D Wavelet Video Coding Technology is applied to make the converted picture rich in color and more vivid Input video systems NTSC and PAL is automatically detected and adjusted and it provides a built in Time Base Correction T B C for signal synchronization Xterminator User Manual Page 11 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Checking out the Xterminator for the First Time Now is the time to do a quick check of the Xterminator to see if you can obtain a video signal This walk through assumes you have a monitor with either a S Video or Composite input capabilities or q Laptop with a Video Capture Device Hold down the Centre Button 7 on the Connection Diagram on the Back of the Xterminator for about 2 seconds If everything is connected and powered correctly you should see the following image with TITLE flashing lt MENU gt TITLE OFF SENSE UP x128 ALCZELC ALC BLC OFF AGC MANU W B MANU SYNC UBS OPTION SET ZOOM MOTION DET Exit The actual values of the options may be different but the lt MENU gt should now be qisplqyed on your Monitor Next we need to check the colour signal coming from the Composite Port S Video so using the Down Button 9 on Connection Diagram move the little Arrow until it points to OPTION Press the Centre Button 7 and you should see
39. FF AGC OM PRESET OFF WB ATW 3 SYNC INT OPT ION SE i 700M OFF TIMER 30SEC MOTION BET ON Return Emit SAJE Xterminator User Manual Page 82 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Appendix D Special Button Power Sequences The Xterminator camera has a Quick set feature using the back buttons Press both buttons for about 2 seconds Button Function MO Turns on off COLOR BAR UP and DOWN Xterminator User Manual Page 83 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Appendix E Installing the MCV The MCV 1 and the MCV 1e both come nicely packed in its own see through packaging The installation procedures will be the same for either package The following are the techniques have used on 4 different computers 3 laptops and 1 desktop Some are 32 bit and others are 64 bit all run windows 7 have not encountered any problems installing this way Do some pre planning to minimize frustration that may occur when Windows gets a bit temperamental use both the MallinCam Xterminator and the MallinCam Signature exclusively with computer control so needed to assign one USB port for my video input MCV and another USB port for my serial cable Belkin USB Serial cable even label which port is which on my lap top just in case forget will always use the same port for each device so that will not have multiple versions of the drivers for multiple USB ports you are just teasing the windows gods if you m
40. FF you can use ALC to change the exposures in the Fixed Shutter Mode You activate the Extended Shutter Mode by pressing the RIGHT Button and changing the value away from OFF SENSE is adjusted in defined increments increasing the sensitivity of 1 60 second by 2X 4X 6X 8X 12X 16X 24X 32X 48X 64X 96X and 128X These exposure settings are Xterminator User Manual Page 64 Xterminator User Manual This control will try to control the shutter but was designed for daytime use ALC ELC This function allows you to choose which Exposure Control you would like the Xterminator to use You get to choose between the ALC and ELC option by pressing the RIGHT Button ALC stands for Automatic Level Control and ELC stands for Electronic Level Control In the ALC mode pressing the CENTRE Button calls up the lt lt ALC gt gt menu which allows you to change the Fixed Shutter s speed or turn ALC OFF There is a LEVEL bar for selecting the amount of ALC automatic control you want the camera too apply but this LEVEL bar is deactivated in the Xterminator Use ALC for Planetary and Lunar observing November 1 2014 ideal for beginning DEEP SKY OBSERVING or to assist in the focusing on a star When using the Hyper Mode you must set SENSE Up to X128 Set ALC ELC to ALC and in the ALC Menu set SHUTTER to OFF with the LEVEL moved all the way to the RIGHT ALC When the Xterminator is in ALC Mode the camera
41. GC Amp Glow The glow in the upper left is amp glow To reduce it you need to lower the AGC gain The upper left corner glow is caused by the internal ccd amplifier causing electro luminescence during long exposures It can be controlled by lowering the AGC AGC Gain lt is pointless to have 3 4 5 6 seconds when you can get the same affect with 2 seconds with the gain turned up The increase factor would not be worth the trouble to have such 3 4 5 6 second integration The current settings are based on extensive testing done where these exposures are the best to use to gain a substantial amount of image brightness Use the AGC in the Manual mode to compensate between all other settings AGC Gain Control The CCD sensor in the MallinCam series of video CCD camera are more sensitive than most cooled ccd imagers with its variable gain control which can be increased to specific levels where the image would rival a 5 seconds exposure using only 1 second exposure on the camera For example if the camera is set at 2 seconds integration having the AGC MANual mode set at maximum a exposure can rival easily a 7 seconds exposure under dark skies AGC solar deep sky daytime had a pretty good afternoon imaging the Sun through a 1000 Oaks H Alpha filter system on my LX 200 GPS 10 using the Mallin Cam Hyper BW I set Sensitivity to OFF ALC to 1 850th and had good definition of small prominences Any other set variables Your settings ar
42. Genel m eege 117 Colorbapr Nonitorzm eege 117 Color Bar C mm ta RE 117 Colour ua s aa uama uka ees 117 Xterminator User Manual Page 2 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 ZOOM E 117 Z OOO pi uyu ege Ee E ah uka ass 117 Eu E 118 Gamma The way brightness is distributed across the intensity spectrum by a monitor printer or SCN ea ra A E TT ele 118 En EN EL e EE 118 Gamma back ground Image ba EE 118 Gamma light pollution back ground imaging cccccccccccssssssssseseeeeeeceeeeeeeeeaaaaaassesseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaas 118 Gamma Background LCD Oppen menu EEN 118 EE Ee 118 PIGS SAM OM EE 119 sense Intesration How it Works Qu u y pu ee Se a us 119 SENSE shorter EXPOSES EE 119 Sense EE ENEE 119 Sense Hyper CCD imager Hke gamertag usunta e i i 119 sense Hyper mode E Ee E E EE 120 Integration Reset Safemode Flashing Image SafeGuards 120 NV BW ites alain Ge EE 120 W B White Balance Manual Red F Ratio aassssssssssaas 120 NEEN 121 WA W C t olop B lice uuu u a Su saa uu Say 121 WIB FS EE 121 NN A WC EEN 121 los no so E 121 Imaging Capture Device ring around stars APC 121 Imaging Deep Sky nothing see live Settings
43. J long half MFR5 M f 6 3 Woadapt 5 10mmtween 142 6 telecomp m f 6 3 50 tween 155 4 Additional Compound Focal Reducer Tests Aug 23rd 2013 short half MFR5 Meade telecomp 40 9 tween 442 0 ong half MFR5 MFR2 RC 20 tween 183 3 1 short half MFR5 MFR2 RC 40 tween 194 7 2 whole MFR5 MFR2 RC 157 3 4 102 70 05 92 31 0 349 84 6 61 35 98 99 0 374 Wu Wu Oil O1 O 3 3 0 u 8 ong half MFR5 M f 6 3 Woadapt 2filters tween 137 99 long half MFR5 MFR2 RC 3 filters tween 54 9mm in front 142 79 6 121 20 3 66 0 458 Xterminator User Manual Page 105 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Jack Huerkamp has also done some incredible research on attaching various Focal Reducers to the Mallincam Cameras Below are options on using a diagonal with a Mallincam Camera For those wanting to use their Meade f 3 3 focal reducer with either their SCT or refractor and 2 diagonal follow the steps below An additional part will be needed from ScopeStuff a 2 Female Barrel to Female Schmidt Thread Adapter with Compression Ring Part Number ADT3 By placing the Meade f 3 3 Focal Reducer after the 2 Diagonal between the Diagonal and the Camera it is still possible to attain focus and an f 10 SCT will be operating at f 3 3 If the ScopeStuff 2 Female Barrel to Female Schmidt Thread Adapter with Compression Ring Is removed then the assembly can be
44. SB to Serial port on your computer and are ready to control the Xterminator from the computer rather than the buttons on the back of the Xterminator Installing Visit www Mallincam net and select Stephane Lalonde s Mallincam Control software for Xterminator and X2 from the Software Downloads of the Support Tab and download the software Step 1 A Double Click on the downloaded file Setup xterminatorc Accept any security warnings that may appear in your operating system The Mallincam Xterminator Control wizard Pop Up screen will appear JJ MallinCam Xterminator Control Welcome to the MallinCam xterminator Control Setup Wizard The installer will guide you through the steps required to install Mall am terrninator Control on your Computer WARNING This computer program Is protected by copyright law and international treaties Unauthorized duplication or distribution of this program or any portion of it may result in severe civil or criminal penalties and will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible under the law Xterminator User Manual Page 30 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Step 2 Click on Next to Continue Now the software would like to know which folder you would like fo install if in When the Select Installation Folder Window appears select where you want to install the software using the default is recommended uama OOO O s Select Installation Folder The installer will insta
45. The Step 2 of 6 Window will appear Select your Type of Camera Type of Chip and Video Format and Click Next to Continue Please provide information about the type of camera you will be using with the software Selecting the sensor type and video format will help define your camera s capabilities If you are using a generic video camera choose MallinCam Jr Camera Type MallinCam Jr Pro PC sl Sensor Type Standard Color CCD bN Video Format at Te The Sensor Type will determine what type of test pattern can be displayed Black White or Color bars The Video Format is used to calculate the SenseUp exposure duration based on the native frame rate of your camera Xterminator User Manual Page 46 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Step 3 The Step 3 of 6 Window will appear Select the Serial Port that your USB to Serial adapter is using and Click Next to Continue ay Serial Port Step 3 of 6 P j gt x Control of the camera settings Exposure AGC White Balance etc requires a serial connection between your computer and the camera Most recent computers do not have a built in serial port and require some sort of USB to serial adapter Select the appropriate serial port from the list of available ports that have been detected on computer Serial Port Ze Dy If you do not see your serial port listed make certain that the adapter is connected to your computer and the device driver is in
46. age 125 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 SENSE UP ALC BLC AGC WIR ZOOM TEC INTEGRATION Xterminator User Manual Page 126 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Appendix N Notes Xterminator User Manual Page 127
47. age the SENS and or the Hyper mode as long the SENS is turned off have the SHUTTER wide open and control your image with the AGC in MAN mode Never use the camera s AGC in the ON position for astronomical targets unless lunar dark shadow is what you want to look at or daytime scenes APC Advanced Pixel Control APC Nebulas bright Star ringing click on option menu and scroll to exit on exit hit left or right arrow to get next select next to get option 2 menu Both sliders are set all the way to the right maximum digital processing which will enhance nebulas and such It will also increase ringing around bright stars APC Imaging if both sliders are all the way to left the processing is held to a minimum When imaging set it all the way to left and put the vertical up one notch to keep the stars round APC Live Observing Imaging If you re going to do live observing would recommend both APC adjustment sliders in the middle position to give you high resolution on the monitor If you are going to image then these two APC sliders should always be to far left For live viewing of deep sky object the APC set at 3 4 way to the right will give you incredible sharpness and resolution unmatched in the industry APC APC controls the amount of internal digital signal processing that the camera performs If the APC settings are too high stars can appear to be square and bright stars start to show black halos Lowering the H and V v
48. aging session please remember to turn OFF i J The Receiver by pressing POWER Button for 4 seconds or until display goes blank The Transmitter will automatically shut down by itself in about one minute The background light can be turned on momentarily on the Transmitter by pressing the Upper Left Button for 4 seconds or until display light comes on It will turn off automatically after seconds or more to save battery power For long term storage remove batteries from both the Transmitter and Receiver Xterminator User Manual Page 95 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Appendix H Installing the HDX2F Fan Kit Step T4 Attach one of the top of the Heat Dissipater using the 4 provided screws ensure that the power cables are pointing away from the circular opening of the Heat Dissipater see image above Now attach the other Fan to the bottom of the Heat Dissipater again ensure power wires are pointing to the back of the Heat Dissipater Step T Now slide the Xterminator into the Heat Dissipater with the Brass Ring of the Xterminator poking thru the round opening of the Dissipater Now tighten the two brass screws on the Head Dissipater to securely lock the Heat Dissipater to the Xterminator Xterminator User Manual Page 96 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 HDX2 F Mounted to MallinCam Fan Wire Male End Into MallinCam and Held In Place Using Two Brass Screws Step SC g ie HDX2 F pro
49. alues for APC will reduce this phenomenon When dealing with objects like galaxies with nuclear detail like M82 increasing the APC will increase the detail seen in the galaxy So in my estimation lower the APC values when dealing with star clusters and globulars and increase it for diffuse nebulae and galaxies Xterminator User Manual Page 113 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 APC stars imaging Turn down the APC on the camera settings Some stars are square and some have ring around them APC setting must be turned down in Astrophotography For visual APC is a wonderful feature to experiment with offering a more hi res live image APC One thing you may want to try if you have not done so yet is adjusting the APC in the OPTIONS sub menu The APC regulates the amount of digital signal processing performed by the camera usually set the horizontal and vertical values to full left wnen ship the cameras to minimize any artifacts around bright stars However John and experimented with the APC on M82 and M51 and found that more detail was revealed with higher values for H and V APC APC Sun Moon The importance of the APC function is not talked about too much When view the sun in H Alpha the moon use the APC from half way point to near full at times When view galaxies live same applies The careful adjustment of the APC will blow away any cameras as far as resolution is concern and will benefit the user to
50. amMax window so that is beside the Miloslick Window and you can see both with little overlap If you have a dual monitor system you can slide both the Miloslick Software Window and the Manycam Splitcam WebcamMax window to the second monitor Xterminator User Manual Page 55 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Step 4 Have Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max grab the window image All of these packages have the ability to get a desktop image Choose this option and overlay the sizing window on top of your Vii oslick Software Image Window You may need to play with the sizes until you obtain the ideal combination of both the fit in your screen You want to ensure that you get a good image of whatever the Miloslick Software is looking at inside the Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max window gt S Exposure Settings M O d E Exposure Mode Hyper Mode 3sec r other fis NOT you are money IER Te di Exposure 3 sec Zoom J 100 EEN Continuous Shooting Rotate 0 Lal erial Fort Not Foun Selected Selected Screen Rectang Order VOltec EWEG EES This allows you To select the size and location of the desktop that you want on the Manycam Just slide and adjust the overlay on top of your Miloslick Software image Step 5 Adjust the Resolution and frames second fps value on Manycam Splitcam WebcamMax This will be trial and error it all depends upon resolution bandwidth and
51. and will keep the conversations going while waiting for you to come back on Xterminator User Manual Page Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Don t be afraid to ask for advice by typing in on the Video chat window as we are all learning and are willing to assist whenever we can When ready try activating the microphone click on the microphone symbol Other will let you know if they can hear you or if there is noise Remember there are settings for the microphone in the camera settings window have become hooked on Splitcam With my dual monitor system have Splitcam grab my Video device USB 2828x Device directly Splitcam can adjust brightness contrast etc can also call up the USB 2828x Device control panel located in File Video settings which gives you some more control of the MCV s image output by again allowing you to change the brightness contrast sharpness over and above what the Miloslick software does Since place Splitcam on its own monitor the second monitor can make it full screen to see all the detail while my fist monitor has the NSN connection screen with its preview and chat window When you are finished with your session you simply say your good nights to the crowd of NSN viewers to let them know that your session is ending CLICK on the red STOP button on your NSN Window and NSN will shut down your channel and you can power down your system and call it an evening It won t forc
52. blue 113 MallinCam Lunar Occultation s AGC Lunar Dark Shadow 113 APC CACY aneed Pixel CON sit uu umutu nk 113 APC Neb l as Drieht Star ONAIN Seed 113 EE EE EE 113 APC Live Observing z he EE 113 NR 113 A PC Stas EE 114 EE 114 NN E EE 114 APE Meni Star Te yu a w A uu uY 114 APC DSP Digital Signal Processing Options Anti blooming 114 A PC Live ODsery alton IMA NT eege 114 APC DSP sine around Stars erer eege eege dree EN 115 AGC Automatic Gain Control 115 AGC TE EE 115 PAGE PIANGIS deg ee gg ee dg ee gege 115 AROC SAMD CO EE 115 Ge EE 115 AGC e e E 115 AGC solar deepsky aytiy u uuu w usan a A ana i 115 AGC Manual Sense Integration Monltfor 115 AGC Mania Ain GOW araa a a 116 AGC Integration mase drop NL 116 AGC Light Gathering and Moon Interterence 116 AGC ON OFF Deep Sky Adjustments 116 ALC Automatic Level Control ELC Electronic Level Control 116 EEN 116 et Re 117 iC SSi LSS EEN 117 AFC Planets S miter Speed PIETS ae us uu au a ut qaa insta Gu uu G aa s 117 C olor uuu a dees 117 Color Bal
53. camera After you have checked all of the obvious Power to the Xterminator Software AMCAP is pointing to the correct input device on the MCV remember it has 2 connection types RCA and S VIDEO e Down load the updated MCV 1 or MCV 1e driver from the Mallincam Software Links Site have put a copy here on my own site of the latest driver called BDA_UAC_ WHQL_082311 Setup rar My file location http sdrv ms Lb3wV3 Note this is a RAR file and you will need a free RAR extractor program to unzip this file A good free RAR extractor is called 7 Zip Xterminator User Manual Page 86 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Appendix F Installing RS232 Communications RS232 Communications The MallinCam Xterminator communicates via q Computer Adapter Port see 8 on the Connection Diagram on the back of the camera An Optional MallinCam Xterminator RS232 cable is required to connect the camera to a RS232 Port on your computer As most computers no longer include a RS232 Port you will also require a USB to RS232 Serial adapter The MallinCam RS232 cable is then connected to the USB to RS232 adapter which in turn is connected to a USB Port on your computer MallinCam Red Control Cable USB to Serial Adapter Different models of MallinCam camera used a alternative version of the communication cable These communication cables are distinguished by a GREEN dot on the cable This GREEN dot matched the GREEN LED on that
54. ded and Hyper Fixed This mode allows you to set short exposure time from 1 100 of a second to 1 12000 of a second These settings can be directly controlled by the Xterminator itself and no extra hardware is required This mode allows the Xterminator to image daytime objects such as the Sun as well as bright nighttime objects such as the Moon and some planets 1 100 1 120 1 180 1 250 1 350 1 500 1 750 1 1000 1 1500 1 2000 1 3000 1 4000 1 6000 1 8000 and 1 12000 seconds Extended This mode allows you to do longer exposures from 1 30 to 2 1 seconds in fixed steps Like the Fixed mode these exposure settings can be selected from within the Xterminator itself so no extra hardware is required This mode allows you to image those fainter planets along with bright stars 1 30 1 15 1 10 2 15 1 5 4 15 2 5 8 15 4 5 1 1 1 6 2 1 seconds Xterminator User Manual Page 14 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Hyper Mode This mode allows you perform long exposures anywhere from 3 seconds to about 99 minutes Unlike the Fixed or the Extended Mode the Xterminator needs to be controlled by an external devise to trigger and control this mode If you are using the Xterminator manually you will need the optional Wireless Exposure Controller This devise attaches to the side of the Xterminator and allows you to set and control the Hyper Mode Alternatively you can set and control the Xterminator in Hyper Mode by
55. do serious observing of deep sky targets using any telescope Again careful adjustment must be observed since some star artifact can be seen if adjusted incorrectly on bright stars only APC Menu Star Artifacts Your image seem to have light leak Light is entering in the system somewhere near the 1 25 adapter or nearby One thing noticed was the round artifact around the stars Go into the MENU and select OPTION Once in OPTION bring the cursor at the bottom to RETURN Press the right key It will now say NEXT PRESS the CENTER key Once on the MENU 2 you will see a feature called APC Select APC and lower both sliders to the far left This will reduce the DSP to a minimum removing all star artifact APC DSP Digital Signal Processing Options Anti blooming The DSP is always on no matter what This results in high resolution with the lowest noise in the industry If you chose to reduce the DSP Digital Signal Processing you can do so by accessing the APC mode and selecting the vertical settings and the horizontal settings by lowering their values This is accessible through the OPTION settings Once in the OPTION bring down the cursor to SAVE At this point hit the right key or left key This will now change into NEXT Hit the center key You are now under the second menu as OPTION 2 APC is the first selection Next is the HIGH LIGHT Feature next is the COLOR BAR GENERATOR or GRAY SCALE BAR GENERATOR By lowering the APC settin
56. duce the amp glow immensely Amp Glow is generated via electroluminescence from the on board amplifier on the ccd wafer One way to reduce this amp glow Is to reduce Infrared range electronically that is in part what the AGR is Left position is AGR OFF Right position is AGR ON The Xterminator with the ICX828 all black case you MUST KEEP AGC OFF ot all time Otherwise artifacts from the Sony sensor s manufacturing process will show on your image Mi Crab nebula 1 x 50 Sec AGC 4 AGR off D Mi Crab nebula 1 x60 Sec AGC AGR on a a AGR OFF AGR ON Amp Glow Upper Left 50s Minimal Amp Glow even though longer exposure of 60s Xterminator User Manual Page 16 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 4 Controlling the Xterminator by Hand You can control the Xterminator manually in two ways 1 Pushing the buttons on the back of the Xterminator by using your fingers 2 Using the optional Remote Wired Keypad which allows you fo press those buttons but without actually touching thus jiggling the Xterminator A l These instructions will guide you in using the Xterminator and obtaining an image using each of the 3 modes Remember that you may need to adjust your particular settings to obtain the best image Once you get the hang of changing the settings it will be worth your time to peruse the Chapter Understanding the Xterminator Settings to get q deeper comprehension how the adjustments affect your
57. e Username jburns Password Publish Channel Allow Adobe Flash to use your Video Adapters L eps 2 J The Adobe Flash Player Settings window will pop up on your screen asking you d for permission to use your camera and your microphone Select Allow Waterloo Observatory STOP re TT E gt Waterloo Observatory Welcome NetConnection Connect Success You are broadcasting on channel Waterloo Observatory Welcome NetConnection Call Failed Adobe Flash Player Settings KR Camera and Micophone Access Q www nightskiesnetwork com is requesting access to your camera and microphone If you click Allow you may be recorded EI Aw S Deny x Step 7 gt Turn off your Microphone L f d Until you have your microphone figured out it is best to initially turn it off If you do not the viewers on NSN may hear an extreme loud buzzing feedback noise Later on we will look at using the microphone but until then recommend CLICKING on the little microphone symbol on the upper right corner of the NSN video display window to disable the microphone liaterian Observator aj Step8 J Set a message for the NSN observers m f Itis a good idea to display a message above the NSN display window so that the other NSN views understand what you are doing When initially setting up which usually takes longer when you are learning usually type the message Setting Up the Camera then CLICK on the SEND bu
58. e ARROW Buttons you can move around the screen from Zone to Zone Pressing the CENTRE key at any Zone toggles the zone GREY or BLACK GREY is augmented sensitivity BLACK is reduced sensitivity To exit this mode just hold Page 67 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 the CENTRE Button for a second and you will be returned to the lt lt BLC gt gt menu The follow screen would be your worst nightmare for amp glow PEAK gt gt AVE PEAK B59 5 nee t Return Select Peak to adjust the amount of total Back Light Compensation You can manually adjust the level from 0 eu to 8 righ by adjusting the bar Xterminator User Manual Page 68 Xterminator User Manual AGC lt MENU gt TITLE OFF SENSE UP OFF ALCELC ALC BLC OFF AGC SDFF WZB AWC SYNC INT OPTION ZooM MOTION Exit DET ON SAYE AGC or Auto Gain Control instructs the Xterminator how much amplifier gain you would like to apply to the signal coming out of the CCD chip it is equivalent to cranking up the ISO setting on your photographic camera This function is one of the most important functions for imaging Deep Sky Objects when in HYPER Mode but can also be used in both FIXED SHUTTER and EXTENDED SHUTTER Mode There are two simple rules for setting the AGC 1 Set it as low as you can A lower AGC will give you cleaner pictures at the expense of a longer exposure time A higher AGC will let you use shorter exposur
59. e 4 2 for this tyoe of object The software will User Defined then send the settings automatically to the Xterminator PC This can take up to a Camera esas minute for all of the commands to make it Li XA terminator to the camera BEE _ When you are imaging Deep Sky objects if will take the Xterminator W s O Osa oa lt about 3 minutes to prepare itself for this a COM Port Hypermode experience any time you NL change the AGC the default is for no Seege Berti E AGC control but this can be changed lll Enable AGC by the user the Xterminator will require ii other three minutes lf Deep Sky Imaging was the nights plan you can abort the initial 3 minute delay that the Xterminator Control Software imposes when you first start the software by clicking on the Yellow Count Down Timer in the Advanced Tab This will save you 3 minutes in the startup procedure Locaton e When your imaging session is over click on the Park button in the Config Tab and allow the Xterminator a couple of Camera w Presets Aterminator minutes to complete this procedure before powering down the camera a pop up window will let you know when it is ready Xterminator User Manual Page 38 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Connecting to Night Skies Network NSN using Mallincam Xterminator Software Introduction found that when first started connecting to NSN things started happening too fast for me t
60. e commands do not seem to be working correctly the camera is acting BEE ee 108 My stars look elongated I have checked my focus and collimation and I know it is not an optical effect since my hot pixels are also elongated u uy uuu y u nuyu a u as 109 I have been imaging for a while and now my images on the screen are looking washed out almost TO GO v lege 109 Appendix L Xterminator s Settings Notes 110 MallinCam Hyper Mode Daytime Viewing Settings TEC 110 Eeer eeben 110 Matlin Camas Planetary VNISOWInSu uuu uuu EE E has 110 MallinCam Moon Planets Highlight feature 110 MallinCam Daytime Viewing lunar settings ssoooooeneesessssssssssseseetrrrerssssssssssssseeerereresssssssseses 111 MallinCam Planets Filters B W Star Collimation 111 Mallin am Comes Se MINES anran E T eene 111 MallinCam W B MANual Refractor Color Balance focus 111 Meallin atin Planetary Ne EE EE 111 Malkica POV EE e EE 111 MallinCam Planetary Nebula Rock s Daytime Picture Gain 112 MallinCam Hyper Color B W images MANual red
61. e correct The AGC should be set to OFF In the menu the AGC has 3 mode OFF ON and MANUAL For solar with proper filter lunar and planets always have the AGC set to OFF For deep sky always use the MANUAL mode and adjust accordingly For daytime gt observation through an optical system of daytime subject the AGC would operate better to ON position Having the AGC set to OFF will make the MallinCam operate at unity gain similar to a ccd camera AGC Manual Sense Integration Monitor Now if the integration is augmented such as 7 14 28 56 seconds the AGC in MANual mode must be lowered This is a must What that does is it lowers the output Since increasing the integration augments the signal as well it must be lowered at the output Otherwise overload of the monitor will occur and the internal AGC of the monitor will not be able to handle a high signal as such All t v receivers have a AGC input AGC stands for Automatic Gain Control Any device that receive R F such as you car radio your home t v receiver scanners Ham radio all have AGC in the front end In the case of a video signal same applies By lowering the signal output of the camera with the AGC set in MANual mode the user no longer over drive the monitor thus Xterminator User Manual Page 115 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 allowing a greater signal to noise ratio and a clearer and better color reproduction If a capture card is used the majority don t
62. e the NSN viewers off the channel and some viewers will continue chatting long after you have gone to bed II Xterminator User Manual Page 62 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 6 Appendix Appendix A Amp Glow and Warm Pixels When you are using the Xterminator in Hyper Mode or SENSE UP two optical effects will occur due to the way CCD chips are made The first is called Amp Glow and the second are Warm Pixels CCD s operate using the property of silicon to convert light to electrons but this also operates in reverse silicon circuits can emit light when operating At the corner of the CCD array is a high gain amplifier that converts electrons to a voltage that can be measured by the A D converter During the exposure this amplifier can emit enough light that it can be seen as a glow in the left corner or top of the frame in long exposures this is Amp Glow The other effect called Warm Pixels appear as green or purple or even blue dots on your image too small to be mistaken for stars CCD Sensors collect photons in microscopic wells called pixels CCD s do their magic by assigning electric charges to these photons These charges are read as analog voltages These voltages are sampled and quantized to make them into digital values These digital values go through much more digital processing before we get to see them Leakage currents are electric charges which leak into sensor wells These excess electric charges
63. e with surface details Settings on the camera were ALC Shutter Speed 12 000 sec Something SC II or Ill can t do AGC OFF Gamma 1 0 APC Horizontal and Vertical turned all the way down left with V set at one step up Imaging Monitor When observe and image in color use a monochrome monitor on my color camera When capture the image to computer it is in color Using a monochrome monitor on a color camera gives me a much sharper and brighter image to allow a more precise focus try to adjust the color USB 2 adapter settings to match the view of the monochrome monitor as far as brightness and sharpness is concern then adjust the color on the camera to give me the best color combination using the computer monitor Imaging USB 2 0 Adapter Color B W The USB 2 0 adapter is a device that allows you to connect the 75 Ohms or S Video NTSC or PAL video signal output of the camera to computer so you may see the live image on computer This device is a converter that digitize the signal mentioned above If you have a high resolution video card in your computer that allows you to connect a video signal in you do not need the USB 2 0 device The camera is strictly video output to be use on a viewing monitor It cannot be connected to computer unless you have a video card that will allow you to do so Using the USB 2 0 software called AMCAP or ULEAD Video Studio 6 or version 7 which is included in the USB 2 0 adapter you can turn d
64. een gt Under the Save Software Configuration title click on the lt Save gt button to save these selections P Mallin am icin EC Basic Advanced Video Config About Camera es Xterminator User Manual Page 35 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Checking out the Xterminator with the Xterminator Control Software Step 6 To let the Xterminator Control Software know what capture devices you are using with the Xterminator select the lt Device gt Button in the Video Tab A en mme i Control o o agaaga ir x Laptop nlegrated Webcam GD MI Camera Gul Desir Discovery C15 A v anyar Video Source SpltCan Video Capture aia a X Care When the Devices window pops up select the Video Capture Device you are using USB 2828x Device for the MCV on your system and click OK fo accept Step 7 Now click in the Preview CheckBox and a window displaying what the Xterminator is imaging will open up if telescope is covered your may be seeing a black image Step 8 Select the Advanced Tab at the top of the screen and when there click on the Color Bars CheckBox top row near middle If the Computer and software are communicating correctly with the Xterminator you should see the color test bar pattern on your screen Xterminator User Manual Page 36 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 ww Sai MallinCam Xterminator Control Advanced Video Config
65. eft in the middle position which will enhance the image significantly Xterminator User Manual Page 114 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 APC DSP ring around stars You are correct By turning down the APC to minimum the DSP Digital Signal Processing mode is greatly reduced to an absolute minimum removing ring around stars Talking about ring around stars even Hubble Telescope does have ring around stars just checked out a site where planetary nebula are displayed with Hubble images for comparison and Hubble have some ring around stars It s just an artifact in the software that s all AGC Automatic Gain Control AGC Options The AGC has 3 options By having the cursor next to the AGC simply press the right or left key and you should be able to toggle from ON MAN or OFF Always use MAN for deep sky targets with the slider in the mid position for starter Use the OFF position for all lunar planetary and solar with proper solar filter of course AGC Planets Make sure the settings for the AGC is set to OFF when observing lunar and planets otherwise bright light protection in the camera will be activated and will take several seconds if not minutes to regain sensitivity Simply unplug the dc cord from the camera for at least 20 seconds and reconnect AGC Tracking error star smear Try shorter exposure and increase the gain AGC This will make star pattern a little rounder due to less tracking error A
66. either composite or S Video to be captured and displayed by the software Attaching the RS232 Cable Once the USB adapter Is installed and the drivers loaded see Appendix E Installing RS232 Communications and the MallinCam RS232 cable is attached it is time to connect it to the Xterminator Locate the small guide notch on both the cable and the AUX Port on the Xterminator will be on leff when looking at the back of the camera Align the notches and plug in the RS232 cable The flat end will also be pointing towards the left The fit will be snug so a little pressure will be required to properly seat the cable into the Xterminator You will notice that will all of the cables connected the back of the Xterminator gets a little busy Mallincam Serial Cable USB Serial Back of Camera Adapter Xterminator User Manual Page 28 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Attaching the Video Cable Now you attach either the Composite or the S Video cable from the back of the Xterminator to the USB Video Capture Device MCV that you are using see Appendix D Installing the MCV to capture the video signal from the Xterminator Back of Camera BNC Connector Composite Cable MCV 1e Adapter RCA Connector Xterminator User Manual Page 29 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Using MallinCam Control Xterminator Software This assumes you have connected the Xterminator to your Serial or U
67. enter Button located between the arrows until the last two digits flash Using the Up Arrow press it 7 times or hold down the Up Arrow to scroll in fast mode to 7 seconds Press the Center Button to lock in this value Now display will look like the picture below W 282TX Xterminator User Manual Page 93 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Step 7 To active the camera into a 7 seconds integration with AUTO A REFRESH simply hit the upper Right Button which activates or stops the countdown as shown in picture below Note the picture showing countdown to 2 seconds and will start over automatically to 7 seconds once the image has been taken and transferred to monitor To confirm image integration and or transfer look at the Receiver s LED indicator as demonstrated in the picture below When taking qn exposure integration the LED on the Receiver will be solid RED Once the image is transferred it will momentarily turn GREEN indicating that the image is being transferred to monitor The RED LED will automatically light back up while taking another exposure integration This will repeat as long as the hand controller has been activated with the Upper Right Button To stop exposure simply press the Upper Right Button on the Transmitter Die d s WI A A vwolees Timer Remote Control FSK2 4GHz Xterminator User Manual Page 94 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Stepg After the observing im
68. eo Capture Card mmm ve eem Step 4 S Start your Web Browser of Choice You may have to play with a number of Browsers to see which one works well with your particular computer setup have had success with 3 browsers Chrome Internet Explorer and Maxthon My current favourite browser to use for NSN broadcast is Maxthon Step 5 Log into Night Skies Network NSN Have your Web Brower go to the location http www nightskiesnetwork com Locate and click on the BROADCASTERS AND MEMBERS SIGN IN button The next Login screen will ask you to enter your username and password You will next be presented with the Channel Line Up screen for Night Skies network Click on the Login selection on the upper right hand side of the screen Cal Broadcasting Live Now FATS E 155 Give NSNa if you like us Site Rules Site Instructi s ww YW NIGHT SKIES NETWORK OBSERVING WITH TELESCOPES LIKE NEVER BEFORE WELCOME TO THE CHANNEL LINE UP OF NSN NIGHT SKIES NETWORK SPONSORED BY MALLINCAM Click an image below to view the broadcast You can also click on the channel s with red names below You will be presented with the Channel Launch Sign In screen for NSN Again enter your Username and Password and click on Publish Channel button Xterminator User Manual Page 41 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 CHANNEL LAUNCH SIGN IN NIGHT SKIES NETWORK SPONSORED BY MALLINCAM Please verify your login to broadcast Channel Nam
69. eo Image Don t be afraid to practice moving the Miloslick Software window when not broadcasting to learn how it affects the displayed Manycam Splitcam WebcamMax Window If you need to you can again use the Manycam Splitcam WebcamMax desktop select icon and select or change the location or size of the window for it to grab If you have a dual monitor you can leave the Manycam Splitcam WebcamMax window open on the second monitor since real estate will not be an issue in the situation In fact with Splitcam you have an option to view the displayed image in full screen mode by clicking on the J symbol in the upper right side of the screen the escape key returns you back to normal size Start your Web Browser of Choice You may have to play with a number of Browsers to see which one works well with your particular computer setup have had success with 3 browsers Chrome Internet Explorer and Maxthon My current favourite browser to use for NSN broadcast is Maxthon Xterminator User Manual Page 57 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Step 8 Have your Web Brower go to the location http www nightskiesnetwork com Locate and click on the BROADCASTERS AND MEMBERS SIGN IN button The next Login screen will ask you to enter your username and password You will next be presented with the 2 screen for Night Skies network Click on the Login selection on the upper right hand side of the screen Ry Broadcasting L
70. es at the expense of more noise Where you set this depends on how well your telescope can track and how long you want to wait for new pictures generally place AGC to 3 or 4 for most November 1 2014 AGC has three settings OFF ON and MANU ON is an automatic mode which the Xterminator uses to adjust the image This is only useful for non astronomical daytime imaging OFF has the cleanest image no amplification of signal or noise is generated Use this setting for Planetary imaging in FIX SHUTTER MODE MANU manual setting allows you to manually adjust the gain used by the Xterminator Selecting this option and pressing CENTRE Button will display the lt lt AGC gt gt Sub Menu lt lt AGC gt gt FIX LEVEL gt H Return MIN MAA lt From here you can adjust the LEVEL with the LEFT and RIGHT Buttons Note you cannot change the AGC when the Xterminator is in HYPER Mode and is actively capturing an image You have to stop the exposure Make a single change this will take about 3 minutes to reset all registers Xterminator User Manual Page 69 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Deep Sky Objects and set it OFF for Planetary Objects 2 You cannot reset the AGC while in Hyper Mode and the Xterminator is going an extended exposure You must stop the integration Then set your new gain level and then re enable the Hyper Mode If you don t do this the camera can g
71. et into any number of odd states at which time you must reboot it turn it off for 10 seconds Changing an AGC value will require the Xterminator to reset its internals and reinitialize its processes This will take about 3 minutes to perform at X128 White Balance ALN Colours are adjusted automatically This Ee MENU As Is ideal for most viewing SENSE UP OFF AWC ALEZELC ee Allows the Xterminator to set the White yeni Balance based on image that is currently INT SE l ON activate MOTION DET OFF Exit SAVE on the screen Press the Centre Button to The AWC is for calibrating the White Balance on the target you are currently Colour Balance for the Xterminator SE viewing If you change targets you will camera is controlled with the White need to recalibrate it again or leave it on ATW since ATW will auto track the White Balance you previously calibrated on Balance menu This menu has two Automatic states and one Manual state Xterminator User Manual Page 70 Xterminator User Manual The automatic states are called Auto Trace White Control ATW and Auto White Control AWC The Manual State allows you to select from two fixed temperature wavelengths when imaging Each of these fixed settings 3200K and 5600K has its own benefits Manual setting also gives you the opportunity to adjust the Blue and Red to help compensate for light pollution November 1 2014 The
72. ff Once you have adjusted your AGC setting the refresh rate must be up to 128X in order to get the the Hyper mode to run again It takes about 2 to 3 minutes to get the full 128X ot 2 seconds integration mode Once this is achieved then you may flip the switch to 7 14 28 56 to see instant result once the integration has been done Sense Hyper Mode 128X AGC Adjustment Also if you are going to try this on M 42 or any targets that are too bright the SENS will go from 128X to 96 then 64 48 etc automatically and eventually to a level where protection of the electronics will occur If this happens the Hyper mode of 7 14 28 56 will lose the frame rate The Hyper mode is made to operate with SENS at 128X only You may get decent results at 64X but for protection of ccd sensor and associated electronics the SENS must be at 128X while using the 7 14 28 56 mode If this happens the refresh rate will be a quick image then a dark one This is an indication that either the 128X SENS has dropped down due to image being too bright protection mode or the SENS 128X was not up to its full 128X 2 seconds refresh rate after an AGC adjustment was made It does explain this in the sheet included with the camera Integration Reset Safemode Flashing Image SafeGuards There is a reset on the camera there is two way to do it First the problem you had by having a flashing image was caused by the 128X count loss If the camera is exposed to a too b
73. for the XTERMINATOR The TEC control helps with noise reduction and thus helps reduce warm pixels the control provides two simple choices ON or OFF These choices refer to whether noise detection is turned ON or not rather than the cooler itself When noise detect is turned ON the current frame is analyzed for noise If noise is then detected the Peltier cooler is turned on during the next frame If noise is detected on that frame then the cooler stays on if not the cooler is turned off November 1 2014 lt MOTION DETECT gt AREA SET PRESET OFF LEVEL gt lt TIMER Return SOSEC Leave the AREA SET alone not useful for astronomical usage PRESET ON selects the whole chip Adjust level with the LEFT and RIGHT Button to match environment Adjust TIMER to match environment When the rear Yellow LED is ON this indicates that the CCD cooling is OFF LINE actually a very small amount of warmth is sent to the CCD sensor helping remove dew and stabilizing the temperature at a minimal level to avoid thermal shock to the CCD You should see the Yellow LED turn ON and OFF as the Peltier Cooler turns OFF and ON LED ON gt Peltier Cooler OFF LED OFF gt Peltier Coolr ON Xterminator User Manual Page 78 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 ON Should be used for short duration lunar and planetary integrations with the Preset checked which activates the dew removal for the e
74. gs towards the left you reduce the DSP to its minimum Having the APC set in the middle will increase resolution and some sensitivity to a certain point This will result in small artifact around BRIGHT STARS ONLY It is the ANTIBLOOMING feature kicking in If you keep both APC sliding bars to the far left this effect is eliminated totally making the image as clean and free of all artifacts Then only the CCD sensor anti blooming is active Images produced with the APC on or at minimum will provide the highest dynamic range ever seen in any video ccd camera for astronomical purpose on the market today A lot of research and development done right here in Ottawa Ontario Canada went into our cameras to offer the user the finest available APC Live Observation Imaging The APC is a enhance mode feature for live observation If you are going to take images it is suggested to set the V and H to their lowest settings towards far left Increase the V will adjust stars to a perfect round shape compensating for the 4 3 ratio The APC is similar to sharpening algorithm that allows the sharpened observation on all targets during live observation It stands for Advance Pixel Control You can actually adjust the height and width of the Vertical or Horizontal pixels As mentioned above having both settings at far left will run the Enhance feature to a minimum allowing a more photographic feel without any artifact In live mode or observation mode APC can be l
75. h a 6 inch telescope in or about 10 seconds exposure under ideal atmospheric conditions with a short focal length making it the most sensitive Live Video CCD camera ever offered One will rarely ever use exposures greater than 45 seconds to view live full color deep sky objects making this camera ideal for any tracking mount including ALT AZ mounted telescopes Xterminator User Manual Page 4 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Your purchase will provide you with years of discovery and adventure as you view record share and broadcast the wonders of the Night Sky The Xterminator captures images that range from Deep Sky Objects to local Solar System favorites and it does this in near Real Time You will discover that this camera can be used in urban skies where light pollution normally prevents you from viewing images the sky to rural locations where you can pull out even those faintest celestial wonders this camera can do it all To provide the broadest possible applications the Xterminator has two video output ports Composite Video and S Video both of which can simultaneously display images The Xterminator comes in a variety of models to satisfy the all users from those who like minimal attachments fo others who want complete computer control and capture capabilities all from the comfort of home The Xterminator also has a variety of attachments and enhancement accessories available which will allow your system to grow wi
76. half MFR5 10mm in front long half MFR5 15mm in front Meade Telecompressor 07051 Meade Telecompressor pullout 8mm Meade Telecompressor pullout 18mm meade f 3 3 spacing 1 5 8 min meade f 3 3 spacing 2 8 5 meade f 3 3 spacing 3 11 7 meade f 3 3 spacing 4 12 3 max meade f 3 3 spacing 5 taped in focuser meade f 3 3 new adapt 2 filters tween meade f 6 3 spacing 1 5 2 min 7 13 3 30 1 meade f 6 3 spacing 5 34 5 max meade f 6 3 spacing 2 meade f 6 3 spacing 3 meade f 6 3 spacing 4 7 Xterminator User Manual Page 104 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 delta FR to focus focus CCD ref star reduct vignette distance distance distance distance f ratio factor score mm mm mm pixels Compound Focal Reducer Point Tests Aug 18th 2013 long half MFR5 Meade telecomp 23 5 82 38 2 49 0 311 3 ong half MFR5 Meade telecomp 18 2 41 65 89 07 269 0 337 3 6 4 g tween 142 6 a 40 long half MFR5 Meade f 6 3 41 between 172 6 5 114 28 0 432 long half MFR5 Meade f 6 3 64 between 129 1 64 5 96 05 0 363 1 5mm long half MFR5 Meade f 6 3 41 tween 145 6 9 5 longhalfMFR5 M f 6 3 pull out 10 51 43 tween 124 1 97 5 74 5 89 63 2 71 0 339 2 5 66 2 Final Compound Focal Reducer Tests Aug 20th 2013 P P P w o D 79 9 76 masm p esas 65 45 O 8 final 2filters empty ring 19 2mm tween 119 6 N
77. his is the first time using the Mallincam Xterminator Software your Virus protections software may quarantine it So you will need to OK the software it asked Xterminator User Manual Page 32 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 1 The port COM1 does not exist If this is the first time using the Mallincam Xterminator Control Software you may receive the above error message Do not worry This is telling you that the Xterminator software expects the camera to be connected to Com1 on the computer This may not be the case You will have the opportunity in the software to indicate what port the Xterminator is actually connected to Step 2 Click on the lt OK gt button to continue The MallinCam Xterminator Control Basic Screen will open z i MallinCam Xterminator Control If you received the COMI Error when you initially started the MallinCam Control Software then click on the Config Tab that is located near the top of the MallinCam screen We are about to tell the software which port the Xterminator is connected to Xterminator User Manual Page 33 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Step 3 On the right hand side a MallinCam Xterminator Control WN keeten you will see a pull down ee 27 ponya menu beside the COM Port title Select the COM number that the USB port that is connected to the Xterminator You can find the Com number by checking the Dev
78. ht MallinCam W B MANual Refractor Color Balance focus Thank you for sharing the report about the refractor behavior with the color video camera It is known that refractors do not focus red blue colors at the focal point Even with the most excellent optics such as APO s a lens is a lens to the ccd sensor which picks up a lot wider range than the human eye The clear solution is a reflector Also we have to consider the lens in the focal reducers Using the same focal reducer on a Newtonian Result vary immensely compared to a refractor with some of the test I ve done Other focal reducers such as Meade etc have the same results When going through too many lenses red will focus at a different point compared to blue for instance The beauty of the Hyper Color is in the W B using the MANual menu the red and blue can be adjusted to some ones specific telescope To get a good color balance the key is to get a sky background close to dark brown black in color By achieving this the result will be getting the best color balance to true life Often use the sky background to get the right color balance with various telescope including refractors Once have a dark brown black sky background know I m very close to the best color balance allowing me to focus on all stars including red and blue Try this setting Go in the W B and set it to ATW Auto White Control Also reduce the sensitivity Red will appear bigger with many refract
79. ice Manager in the Control Panel See How do determine my COM Port in the Appendix Step 4 Allow the Xterminator to finish its warm up procedure Takes about 3 minutes You can see the countdown timer tick down in the Read Fom des Advanced Tob screen beside q yellow circle If this is your first time using controlling the Xterminator through software would leave the lens cap on the telescope You will remove the cap when the Xterminator is configured correctly Click on the lt Read From gt button located on the bottom left corner of the screen under Camera in the Config Tab This will synchronize the Xterminator Camera with the Control software this takes about 30 seconds Step 5 Xterminator User Manual Page 34 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 If this is your first Time Using Xterminator Control Software you will want to configure the video capture device and file saving locations gt Select the Video Tab at the top of the screen gt Under Video Capture title click on the lt Path gt button to set the location to save captured video files gt Click on either AVI or MPG button to choose saved video format gt Under the Frame Capture title click on lt Path gt button to set the location to save snapshot files gt Click on BMP JPG or TIFF box to select what format to save your snapshot gt Select the Config Tab at the top of the scr
80. ifically if you are not sure When selected use the RIGHT Button to toggle the colour bars ON and OFF ARG SET nien ELGHT SET CORPOR BAR ON Nau ein ZOOM Press the RIGHT or the LEFT Button to Caen S activate Zoom and then press the TIR OFF CENTRE Button to select the SUB SENSE UP OFF ALCZELC ALC MENU Moving the slider bar Left and BLC OFF l AGC MANU Right changes the Zoom Level from 1X to W B AWC SYNC INT 2X with numerous steps in between OPTION SE ZooM gt 0FF MOTION DET ON Exit SAVE lt lt ZOOM gt gt The ZOOM feature can be very useful in planetary and lunar observing It allows the user to electronically change the focal length of any given telescope For Ce e vir erg example at maximum Zoom an f 10 CH telescopes behaves like an f 20 It is also possible to achieve f ratios between 10 and 20 simply by adjusting the Zoom Slider Bar This allows zooming in on features of interest on the object being observed Xterminator User Manual Page 77 Xterminator User Manual MOTION DETECT lt MENU gt TITLE OFF SENSE UP OFF ALCZELC ALC BLC OFF AGC MANU AWC INT acl ON DET gt ON S UE W B SYNC OPTION ZooM MOTION Exit When selected the RIGHT or LEFT Button allows you to toggle between Motion detect ON or OFF If ON is selected the pressing the CENTRE Button takes you to the MOTION DETECT MENU MOTION DETECT is the TEC Thermal Electric Cooler
81. image The Moon Fixed Exposure You have the telescope set up with if covered and the Xterminator attached to the eyepiece holder the video cables are attached to a monitor and power is connected to everything You are feeling a bit of apprehension and excitement after all you have invested in an amazing scientific tool So take a deep breath and let s have some fun Step 1 Using your finder scope point your telescope at the Moon it s hard to miss The Moon is always the best object to look at when learning how to use a new imaging device Step 2 With your Telescope still covered Press and Hold Down the Centre Button on the back of the Xterminator for about 2 seconds or the Centre Button on the Remote Wired Keypad The lt MENU gt screen will appear on your monitors screen Xterminator User Manual Page 17 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 lt MENU gt lt lt ALC gt gt LELLE OFF SENSE UP OFF ALCZELC SHUTTER 12000 MOTION DET ON Return GAN gt S UE lt MOTION DETECT gt lt lt OPTION gt gt MASK A OFF MASK B OFF AREA SET MASK C MASK D PRESET ON POSI NEGA H REYV LEUEL gt A U REU FREEZE TIMER 60SEC PRIORITY Return GAMMA Return The Moon is a very bright object so we need to prepare the Xterminator for that scenario before we remove the cover from your telescope The recommend setting for the Moon are TITLE leave black SENSE UP OFF this al
82. image size An infrared blocking filter would help Planetary viewing must be well setup in order to get best result for any telescopes Once these settings are achieved you should be able to get Jupiter in glorious colors MallinCam Moon Planets Highlight feature The highlight feature is a cool one Try it on the moon Get an area on the moon where half is fine and half is overexposed Try the Highlight Feature On the over exposed part the section will become darker Adjusting the slider bar will result on sensitivity of this effect Its like a mask that becomes active on very bright areas that can be helpful in obtaining the right combination of brightness level while viewing the moon F ratio will also play a major role in combination of the right shutter speed Also try it on a bright planet where it becomes over exposed with the SENS from about 8X to 128X You will see the moons and other stars behind the planet while the Highlight feature is activated Xterminator User Manual Page 110 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 MallinCam Daytime Viewing lunar settings Yes you can use the MCH in the daytime In fact 2 years ago at the first International Video Star party in Foymount Ontario Canada several observers had their MallinCam among other brands on targets through their telescope on a owl eating a mouse on top of a poll at 2000 feet The MallinCam Color gave the best view through Fred Waucaush s 9 1 4 Celestron SCT C
83. is can result in a LOT of focal reduction even too much The following charts come from Jim Thompson s incredible paper Detailed Look At Focal Reducers cannot imagine how many hours it took Jim to produce the document but it is worth reading to obtain a deeper understanding about Focal Reduction Xterminator User Manual Page 103 Kee Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Basic Focal Reduction Results by Jim Thompson Table 1 summarizes the measurements Vignetting and Coma observations were scored from 0 to 3 based on the following 0 none observed I hint observed 2 clearly observed by not obtrusive 3 very apparent and affects viewing delta FR to focus focus CCD ref star reduct vignette distance distance distance distance f ratio factor score mm mm mm pixels non non non Dat A en S MFR2 on 2 c thread adapter MFR2 on 2 c thread adapter 5mm MFR2 on 2 c thread adapter 10mm MFR2 RC MFR2 RC pull out 6 1mm MFR2 RC pull out 10 2mm MFR2 RC pull out 16 6mm MFR2 RC pull out 24 1mm MERDE MFR5 5mm spacer in front MFR5 10mm spacer in front MFR5 5mm between MFR5 5mm between 5mm in front MFR5 5mm between 10mm in front short half MFR5 MFR6 short half MFR5 5mm in front short half MFR5 10mm in front short half MFR5 15mm in front short half MFR5 19 5mm in front long half MFR5 long half MFR5 5mm in front long
84. isplaying your image on any device that accepts analog video via a composite RCA or S Video connection See the Appendix l for q list of accessories available for the Xterminator Xterminator User Manual Page 6 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 The Camera Just the Facts The MallinCam Xterminator Camera is the ultimate video camera that provides near Real Time images of Deep Sky Objects Planetary Lunar and Solar This scientific instrument contains the following specifications Model Xterminator Image Sensor ICX828AKA Color or ICX828 ALA monochrome These are Class 1 Class 0 available Ceramic Sensors Scientific Grade EXview HAD II H CCD Pixels Total Pixels 811 H x 508 V Effective Pixels 768 H x 494 V 8 4 um x 9 8 um Pixel size 4 8 mm x 6 5 mm Chip Dimensions Video Output Format There is both a PAL and NTSC version available Composite Video BNC Female Connector Gain Control Auto Manual Exposure Control Auto Manual S VHS Out S Video Female Connector AES Rolling Shutter ALC 1 100 1 120 1 180 1 250 1 350 1 500 1 750 1 1000 1 1500 1 2000 1 3000 1 4000 1 6000 1 8000 and 1 12000 seconds 1 32th of a second to 2 1 seconds seconds Hyper Mode 3 3 seconds to 100 minutes Gamma Selection 0 45 1 0 White Balance Automatic White Balance Control AWC Auto Trace White Balance Control ATW Manual White Balance Control with presets Digital Zoom 2x in 16 increments Communication
85. ive Now FS E Give NSN a 1 if you like us Site Rules Site Instructi a NIGHT SKIES NETWORK OBSERVING WITH TELESCOPES A LIKE NEVER BEFORE WELCOME TO THE CHANNEL LINE UP OF NSN NIGHT SKIES NETWORK SPONSORED BY MALLINCAM Click an image below to view the broadcast You can also click on the channel s with red names below You will be presented with the screen for NSN Again enter your Username and Password and click on Publish Channel button CHANNEL LAUNCH SIGN IN NIGHT SKIES NETWORK SPONSORED BY MALLINCAM Please verify your login to broadcast Channel Name Username jburns Password Publish Channel Step 9 The window will pop up on your screen asking you for permission to use your camera and your microphone Select Allow Waterloo Observatory STOP Oe WW Sound EFFects Waterloo Observatory Channel Chat Viewers 1 Welcome EE Waterloo Observato NetConnection Connect Success You are broadcasting on channel Waterloo Observatory Welcome NetConnection Call Failed Adobe Flash Player Settings D Camera and Micophone Access yww nightskiesnetwork com is requesting access to your camera and micophone 00 19 If you click Allow you may be recorded oe 2 IQ Allow Deny Xterminator User Manual Page 58 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Turn off your Microphone Step SCH Until you have your microphone figured out it is best to initially turn it off If you do n
86. iver for 3 to 4 seconds to turn A Xterminator User Manual Page 24 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Press any button on the WEC Transmitter to turn it ON check to make sure that both the Transmitter and Receiver have the same Channel number EM Step 8 e Press the Left or Right arrow on the Transmitter to get LONG displaying in its window Step 9 Press the Centre button on Transmitter and the last two digits will start to flash EIU Press the Up arrow on Transmitter to select TIME try 30 seconds Ey Press the Centre button on Transmitter to lock that exposure time Step 12 Press the Upper Right Button to start the exposure on the Xterminator Pressing that button again will stop the exposures Receiver s RED LED will remain solid The Receiver s GREEN LED will light up during Image transfer Step 13 At the end of the Observing session stop any exposures you may be taking Then turn OFF the Receiver by pressing its POWER Button for about 4 seconds The Transmitter turns OFF automatically after about minute The following warning is about changing Xterminaftor settings during when exposing gt Do Not adjust AGC during an exposure Xterminator User Manual Page 25 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 5 Controlling the Xterminator by Computer Connecting Xterminator to Computer Requirements gt v v v v Computer with video display software such as Mallincam
87. ix and match and they will get even The MCV 1 and MCV 1e are heavy and depending upon your computer s manufacturer the MCV may put some strain on the USB port Therefore use a small 6 USB cable extender and plug the extender into the USB port for and plug the MCV into the other end of the extender Step 1 Open the Package When you open the package you will find gt 1miniCD gt 1User s Manual gt MCV 1 1e Do not inset this into USB port until instructed e Take the instruction booklet and the mini CD and place them on the table If your computer cannot handle a mini CD you cannot physically lock the CD into the centre hole of the CD drive then you can down load the software by following the next step e Goto the Mallincam website and download the latest drivers for the MCV device http www mallincam net software downloads html Xterminator User Manual Page 84 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Step 2 Insert the MCV 1 or MCV 1e Remember the USB port you choose for the MCV you will always use this USB port for the MCV e The Windows will find new hardware and will attempt to load drivers It will most likely fail on one driver Don t worry that is why you have the driver installation software e Either insert the CD or run the program autorun exe in the folder of the file you downloaded e When you see the green USB 2 0 HD HV Grabber screen CLICK on the option Install Drivers USB2
88. l Page 10 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Orient the cable so that the rectangular peg will slide into the rectangular hole You should have the flat part of the cable facing the outside of the Xterminator if the orientation is correct Push the S Video cable into the connector on the Xterminator The fit will be snug so a little pressure is required Once connected with the Xterminator attached to your Telescope and the Telescope opening covered you may not have yet have the opportunity to adjust the settings on the Xterminator so it safer to block any light from entering the camera so that the camera Is seeing a dark image power up the Xterminator plug in the power adapter and power up the Monitor don t forget to have the monitor use the S Video in Port Both cable types have their benefits but most aficionados prefer the capabilities of the S Video cable for the final image even though most won t see a difference If you are going the S Video route then about 50ft is the maximum distance without boosting the signal with an S Video booster Also be careful about crossing a S Video cable with unshielded power cable as interference is possible If you observe Horizontal banding lines rolling on your image most likely culprit you are getting interference inside your S Video Cable For those of you who want to display the analog signal from the Xterminator on a HDMI monitor Mallincam provides an analog to H
89. lace This locks the cable to the Xterminator oo I A 4 k Xterminator User Manual Page 9 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Once connected and with the Xterminator attached to your Telescope and the Telescope opening covered you may not have yet have the opportunity to adjust the settings on the Xterminator so it safer to block any light from entering the camera so that the camera Is seeing a dark image power up the Xterminator plug in the power adapter and power up the Monitor don t forget to have the monitor use the composite port Now Jump to the section after S Video Checking out the Xterminator to see how to activate the Xterminator S Video The S Video signal is obtained by connecting an optional S Video cable male male from the back of the Xterminator S VHS 4 on the Connection Diagram to the S Video In Port on your monitor Always use a professional quality shielded S Video cable Preferably a cable that is both grounded and has baluns on both ends Be careful when you are attaching an S Video cable as you can damage and even break off pins if you try to force the connection The images below show both the Xterminator S Video Port and an S Video cable end Notice that the Port has a rectangular hole as well as a small notch cut out The cable also has a plastic rectangular peg which is on the opposite side of that flat external part of the cable Xterminator User Manua
90. lance in the MAN mode with the red slider left and one notch up from the left Keep the BLUE in the middle or so The lower the F ratio the darker skies you will need Light pollution air pollution reflect easily in the red spectrum If you have humidity same applies Keep the RED down as all ccd sensors are more sensitive in the RED region W B AWC Have you done a AUTO WHITE BALANCE Go into the MENU under W B and choose AWC Once there with your image centered hit the center key You will notice the AWC will now flash Hit the center key again The camera will now be calibrated for white balance on the target you have chosen The RED should now be lowered by a large margin Go back in the MAN mode and set the RED so the background will now be set to your aperture F Ratio By doing a one push AUTO WHITE BALANCE it will fix the current environmental color as a standard white balance Imaging Settings Imaging Capture Device ring around stars APC Your image is fine have a feeling the settings on your capture device are not quite to the point think it may lack brightness Also if you have a MC Hyper 12 bits CPU camera make sure the APC is all the way down This will eliminate all ring around the stars and produce a smoother image The APC is mainly used for visual observation through a monitor which increase resolution and sharpness For imaging this function should be turned all the way down to the left on both slider control the H
91. lash Player Settings Window Adobe Flash Player Settings Privacy ey Allow www nightskiesmetwor com to Bess your camera and micophone e Allow O Deny _ Remember gt CLICK onthe Camera Icon and you will be presented with a pull down menu to select your camera SS eS Ch gkse gt CLICK on the Pull Down list to select your camera of choice Adobe Flash Player Settings Cameras a Mam am Virtual Webcam w G lt OC c gt CLICK on CLOSE to Continue NSN will remember what camera you chose from the last visit So usually you only have to go through this process whenever you want to change what camera device you would like the NSN flash driver to use Choose your Camera Settings gt We will now select the settings for our camera We have the option of changing The Bandwidth Picture Resolution Framerate and even the microphone rate when you are ready The changes will not be activated until you CL CK on the Green OK symbol in the window Xterminator User Manual Page 60 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 gt LEFT CLICK inside the NSN video Window to bring up the Camera Settings Window 6 Manylam Virtual Webcam Bandwidth kawa Resolution Framerate e Microphone Realtek High Definition OK gt Use the sliders for Band Width and Picture values usually have both of my sliders way on the right Over time you will find the sweet spot for your system gt Selec
92. ll MallinCam amp terminator Control to the following Folder To install in this folder click Next To install to a different folder enter it below or click Browse Folder C Program Files H allinlam terminator Control Install MallinCam tenninator Control for yourself or for anyone who uses this computer gt Evervore Just me Step 3 VA Click Next to Continue The Confirm Installation Window will now appear as a last chance to cancel the installation of the software Confirm Installation The installer is ready to install Mat am terminator Control op your computer Click Next to start the installation Xterminator User Manual Page 31 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Step 4 A Click Next to Continue The Mallincam Control Software for the Xterminator will now install itself on your computer Windows mays give a final warning accept the installation When completed the Installation Complete Window will appear P a Installation Complete MallinCam terminator Control has been successfully installed Click Close to exit Please use Windows Update to check for any critical updates to the NET Framework Step 5 S Click on Close to Finish You should now have a Mallincam Xterminator icon on your desktop de MallinCam Aterminator Starting Mallincam Control Software Step 1 Double Click on the MallinCam Xterminator Icon on your computer screen If t
93. lows you to set the FIX exposure rate ELC ALC ALC gt ALC 1 12000 as a starting point AGC OFF the Moon is bright enough without trying to brighten it more W B ATW or MANU you will play with this later SYNC INT Always leave at INT OPTION SET gt GAMMA at 0 45 Staring Point MOTION DET ON This is the lowest cooling rate gt High Level and TIMER at 60 sec So let s adjust the Xterminator to match those settings Xterminator User Manual Page 18 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 It won t take long for you to become familiar in how to move around the menu settings in the Xterminator using the back buttons so literally will step you through it to match the above settings TITLE will be flashing Press DOWN Button moves to SENSE UP Press RIGHT Button to ensure SENSE UP settings are OFF Press DOWN Button moves to ALC ELC Press RIGHT Button to toggle to to ALC Press CENTRE Button fo enter lt ALC gt Menu Press RIGHT Button to set to 12000 Press DOWN Button fo move to the RETURN Press CENTRE Button fo return to lt MENU gt Press DOWN Button to get to AGC Press RIGHT Button to set to OFF Press DOWN Button fo get to OPTION Press CENTRE Button fo enter lt lt OPTION gt gt menu Press DOWN Button to get to GAMMA Press RIGHT Button to set to 0 45 Press DOWN Button fo get to RETURN Press CENTRE Button fo retu
94. nding CLICK on the red STOP button on your NSN Window and NSN will shut down your channel and you can power down your system and call it an evening It won t force the NSN viewers off the channel and some viewers will continue chatting long after you have gone to bed II Xterminator User Manual Page 45 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Using Miloslick Software will assume that you have installed the software but this is the first time using Miloslick For more detailed instruction in using this powerful piece of software please read the Manual that came with its download Step 1 Double click on the MallinCam Control icon on your desktop The Step 1 of 6 Splash screen will appear Click on Next to continue Welcome to MallinCam Control This setup wizard will help you get started using the software to control and view the output of your MallinCam on your computer screen Please take a few moments to go through the following steps to configure your software and hardware correctly You do not need to have your MallinCam connected for this process but you will need your Video Digitizer and Serial Port adapter connected to your computer if you have them If you don t have these you can cancel the Wizard and run it again later from the File gt Run Setup Wizard menu item Any changes to settings made here can easily be modified later from within the application ols Previous Step 2
95. ng RS232 Communications 87 IO 252 CO nimunicaltioiu uu k y u Du atu oun sin ku avai tat eesti 87 The USB tor E E EE 87 Installing the USB to RS232 Adapter Windows 7 8 Speclfic 88 Oh No Diver did motanstalll OGPeC Lys ee 89 Rez 52 Cable Pots or C Ome ip zu uu suny caring Bitte au Ds a tu eae a meee 90 Appendix G Installing the Wireless Exposure Controller WEC 91 Appendix H Installing the HDX2F Fan Kiltl 96 Appendix Accessories for the Xterminator 98 Appendix J Focal REGUCUON BE 100 Appendix K First Aid for the Xterminator 107 The Image from the Xterminator is Blinking and Flashing Constantly 107 Xterminator User Manual Page Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 My Image has evenly spaced Horizontal Jupe seen ssiecotestracdndancasaagivendanoteie sate teawdacceai tedea teresa SE 107 When I have Miloslick connect to my Mallincam through my MCV 1 adapter I only see a Blue SE eene 107 When I start Miloslick I receive the error NilOjectexception and the program will run 108 My MallinCam is frozen or th
96. nning at 100 this can cause condensation on the outside of the chip If Using button you will need to adjust the Motion Detect TEC settings Note PRESET OFF NOISE DETECTION OFF means cooling runs at 100 For Minimum Cooling e NOISE DETECTION ON e PRESET ON the whole chip is selected e LEVEL 8 all the way to the right e DEW REMOVAL 60 Xterminator User Manual Page 109 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Appendix L Xterminator s Settings Notes The following pages are due to the hard work of Dean Herring have included his worksheets and settings here lots of valuable information in these pages obtained from questions and posted answers about the Xterminator Worth reading MallinCam Hyper Mode Daytime Viewing Settings TEC Never turn the Hyper mode on during bright conditions This will overload the electronics Or that have implemented a safety factor in each cameras If bright lights enter the ccd sensor while in 6 or 12 seconds mode the camera will revert to a lower frame accumulation reducing overload of the electronics Here s what suggest to do daytime viewing SENS OFF ALC Shutter setting 350 12 000 AGC OFF W B ATW auto white balance With these guidelines you will be able to do daytime viewing Try the Moon setup on the quick sheet provided with the camera This will give you a good starting point Simply change the ALC Shutter to obtain the best view in your monito
97. nsert the receiver 4 pin plug into the side socket of the camera as m shown in picture above and below Sten 2 Connect the other end of the cable into the receiver as shown J J below Xterminator User Manual Page 91 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Step 3 Now turn on receiver by holding the left button called POWER for 3 mmm J to 4seconds The display will show either a blank channel or a channel number as shown in the picture below You can change channel by pressing both buttons at the same time for 3 to 4 seconds until display flashes Then select the Channel of your choice Step 4 Now take the wireless hand controller the Transmitter and press I any button to turn it on The hand controller will show a channel on the display as shown below Press the left or right arrows on the Transmitter until CH in the upper display Press the Center Button located between the arrows until the display flashes Now match the Channel Number in the display window to the Receiver Channel Number by pressing the Up or Down Arrow Button Press Center Button to lock in the channel Xterminator User Manual Page 92 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Step 5 Now press the Right or Left arrow Button until upper display indicate LONG as indicated by the picture below This is where the integration time is entered For this example we will use 7 seconds integration Step 6 Press the C
98. ntire CCD chip It is recommended that you set the TIMER to 60 seconds and the Level to 8 which is the most sensitive noise detection setting You can also manually change the duration time and chip location for Dew Removal assistance OFF For longer integrations like DSOs the noise detect should be turned OFF which means the cooler runs continually for every frame Any integration over 14 seconds should have the MOTION DETECT turned OFF so the cooler runs continuously for every frame Xterminator User Manual Page 79 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Appendix C On Screen Display OSD MAP 1 TITLE lt lt TITLE gt gt ABLCDEFGHIJKLME NOPGRST UUW YZ OL2343678o ma gt SP SP LOCATION Return ALC ELC DI C AGC WB SYNC OPT LON UO MOTION CET Ex 1 DOP T COGITICOI CI w Nese TI Ne k a WT L I m 3 ALC ELC MENU lt lt ELC az lt ALC gt gt TITLE F SENSE UP L Ce BLC AGC WB SYNC WE OPTION ET SHUTTER OFF zoom LEVEL 3 H LEVEL 3 H keH LON CET Return Return mit lt lt PEAK gt gt ALC ELT BLL AGL lA B SYNG WE OPTION AVE PEAK O00 LEVEL AN cl ess s MOTION DET Return Exit s lt lt BLC gt gt ALC ELC AREA SET BLC AGL PRESET OFF WB SYNC FIT ION GET re turm Esa t 5 AGG lt MENU lt lt AGC gt gt TITLE FF SENSE UP DL Lett BLC AGC W
99. o keep track of everything at once So pre planning was the most the most crucial step for me found that by doing test runs in the comfort of my house allowed me to develop my techniques that work for the equipment and software that use Below are the results and steps that use to broadcast on NSN feel free to follow them and or made modification as you deem as necessary Computer real estate will be your nemesis So depending upon the size of the monitor laptop then number of screens that you are using then number of software programs that using are simultaneously are using will dictate how you will manage your windows will describe how have organized my windows under a variety of situations 1 computer 1 computer with 2 monitors which software packages am using and what am trying to do this session Remember it s all about having fun and time and patience are your best friends not to mention all the guys and gals and the Yahoo MallinCam site http tech groups yahoo com group mallincam messages Step 1 Make sure that you can see the image you would like to broadcast on the preview Window on Mallincam Xterminator Preview is Checked sal MallinCam Xterminator Contro F rs lt MENU gt 20FF SSNS Ss V 945 AUCA See ALC BEC OFF AGE MANU WB MANU SUNG INT OPTION SET ZOON OFF HOVION DE T DEE Se SAVE Camera Xterminator User Manual Page 39 Xterminator
100. olor is the core color that gently contrasts the ring color The picture held nicely with the Zoom set at maximum on top of 2 inch Televue Barlow Gamma The way brightness is distributed across the intensity spectrum by a monitor printer or scanner Gamma back ground Try setting the Gamma to 1 0 There are several setting to get the right background Under W B 2 settings are usable ATW is automatic White balance AWC is Auto Trace White balance which requires you to push the center key to take a sample through the camera to adjust itself for the best white balance This method is for one object at a time My favorite is MAN for manual Once in the manual settings you have a choice of 3200K infrared 5600K visual and some infrared My favorite is PRESET which allows you to set the RED and BLUE so the red background can be reduced This is very important to achieve the right background All ccd sensors not matter who makes it are always more sensitive in the RED It must be reduced using the adjustment Light pollution and star light reflects in the atmosphere and is seen by the camera in the red spectrum Keep the AGC down and adjust the W B settings Depending on which monitor used set the GAMMA at 1 00 This will keep the background darker It is a little bit difficult to get the right adjustment ratio achieved When observe or image from my light polluted backyard always turn down the RED to one notch up from the left If condition
101. olors were stunning Tried it on my 10 Meade SCT but the Celestron gave a sharper view with vivid colors Daytime conditions were hazy but sunny evenings were cloudy It figures If you are going to try the camera in the daytime avoid exposing the ccd sensor to direct sunlight while installing the camera on a lens or on your telescope Direct sunlight will desensitize the ccd sensor with time and start a irreversible damage process Keep your hand over the opening of the camera while installing on the telescope Also do not use the Hyper mode of 7 14 28 56 integration It will result in a white out screen Use the lunar settings supplied with the camera as a starting point MallinCam Planets Filters B W Star Collimation If you want more detail out of a MallinCam B W try a green filter This will cut IR and pull details plus ease of focusing Make sure telescope is collimated to the best of your ability Very crucial for lunar and planetary observing This will make the difference of seeing cloud bands on Saturn or not Use the camera on a star to collimate It makes a great precise collimating tool Use the zoom feature to further refine collimation MallinCam Comets Settings Try the deep sky settings in 2 1 seconds Comets are usually bright At least this is how some have done it No need to turn the Hyper mode of 6 12 sec Use only the 128X under the SENS Make sure you have the AGC set to MAN and slider bar at 3 4 way to the rig
102. onnector or channel For example the MCV 1 has composite s video and component video inputs Chose which input you will be using to connect to your MallinCam If your digitizing device only has one connection leave this as default Video Input No Video Inputs i The MallinCam has two video outputs which can be used to viewthe image on your computer and an external video monitor simultaneously Often times users use one output connected to a small vide o monitor near the telescope to aid in centering and focussing and run the other inside to the computer Remember that many of the features of the software will only show up in the computer preview histogram stacking etc and not on a monitor connected directly to the camera lt Previous Step 6 The Final Flash screen will appear informing you that you are Ze reody lo use Miloslick Click Finish to continue and you re finished Now you are ready to start using your camera and software If you need to modify any of the settings from this wizard this can be done from the Preferences dialog or from the Video menu We suggest that you take a look at the MallinCam Control User s Guide which came as a PDF file with the software There you will find lots of useful information on how to utilize the software to get the best results from your MallinCam If you have any questions contact us via email at support miloslick com for further assis
103. op into view For info on color bar generator check out the following link http www mivs com products videoproducts tsg index html Color Bar would call up the Color Bar from the OPTIONS sub menu to see what it looks like on your Sanyo monitor Tweak the monitor functions to get the colors to show correctly See the following link htto www videouniversity com tvbars2 htm Once the monitor is set correctly try checking the W B on the camera s menu Is it set too red If so try lowering the red scale You can also change from MANU to ATW to see if it helps Zoom Zoom Laptop observed and imaged the Ghost of Jupiter NGC3242 last night with my 24 and the MCHC found that exposures of just 2 seconds were all that were needed with the MallinCam zoom feature on When the image came up on my laptop using the AVerT VMedia Express MCE card then needed to turn the contrast down sharply to get central detail and the center star am Xterminator User Manual Page 117 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 posting an image of the Ghost of Jupiter in my gallery astroimaging by Tom O in the Photos section The color in both that image and the one saw on the screen is amazing Zoom Barlow Ring Nebula M57 It was as enjoyable as M27 We had no difficulty seeing the central star and the one star in the central region that is off center The coloration was wonderful contrast was excellent The nice thing about this object in c
104. ors dependent of their quality glass Camera picks up what you feed it Id say to reduce sensitivity and try the setting mentioned above Make sure the AGC is set to MAN for MANual and select the red blue settings by reducing the RED You can also experiment with setting the MAN in 5600K have not fully finish experiment with refractors yet MallinCam Planetary Nebula You are over exposing the target On most planetary nebulae treat them as if they were planets Use similar setting for planets and results will be excellent Run the camera at about 36X or so and try the AGC MAN only with the slider to full right Or try this Run the SENS at OFF and try the Shutter at 100 to 250 Also Adjust the brightness and contrast of your monitor MallinCam FOV Calculation PS have found the formula for FOV using the effective focal length and the CCD pixel array Size To calculate your camera FOV divide 57 3 by the scope s effective focal length in millimeters to Xterminator User Manual Page 111 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 get the lens s plate scale in degrees per millimeter and then multiply the scale number by the dimensions of the CCD s pixel array in millimeters For example a Meade 12 f 10 3000mm FOV SCT will have a plate scale of approximately 57 3 3000 0 0191 degree per millimeter When coupled to MallinCam with a pixel array 7 40mm x 12 7mm the camera will record a FOV of about 0 0191X7 40 0 0191X5 95
105. ot the viewers on NSN may hear an eXterminator loud buzzing feedback noise Later on we will look at using the microphone but until then recommend CLICKING on the little microphone symbol on the upper right corner of the NSN video display window to disable the microphone Watering Observatory Step 11 S Set a message for the NSN observers It is a good idea to display a message above the NSN display window so that the other NSN views understand what you are doing When initially setting up which usually takes longer when you are learning usually type the message Setting Up the Camera then CLICK on the SEND button to have it displayed When you are us and running and everything is working as it should you will change the message to indicate what telescope mount and camera you are using For that is the most frequently asked question from the NSN viewers Select the Camera a Now is the time to activate the camera or in our case have NSN driver point to our Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max output gt RIGHT CLICK inside the NSN Video window to bring up a Settings Window Xterminator User Manual Page 59 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 RIGHT CLICK TOGET THE FLASH PLAYER SETTINGS YOU LL SEE THIS Live Streaming v2 75 Broadcast Developed by VideoWhisper com Print Embed Channel lt ob HTML Code gt CLICK onthe Settings choice and you will be presented with the Adobe F
106. our A computer Windows will beep to recognize that an adapter has been inserted into a USB Port After a few seconds the following message singular to the one below should appear on the bottom right of your Windows screen WinterOly Installing device driver software gt X Click here for status 10 06 AM DE A d 29 03 2014 The little green shade will move around the icon that the Installing device driver software message is pointing to while the driver is being installed may take about a minute Once completed the following pop up message should appear name of driver may be different depending upon which USB to RS232 adapter you are using e Prolific USB to Serial Comm Port COM5 gt X WinterOly Q Device driver software installed successfully 10 06 AM 29 03 2014 2 OR enn il SEND b Xterminator User Manual Page 88 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 The driver has been successfully downloaded and installed Make note of both the Port that you have used for your USB to RS232 Adapter you should always use the same Port and what COM value Windows has assigned for this adapter 5 in image above Oh No Driver did not install correctly Sometimes the Window s gods are having a bad day and they decide to take it out on you Don t Panic If you check the Ports COM amp LPT or Other devices list item in the Device Manger from the Control Panel you may see a yellow warning beside the Adapter thi
107. our images appearance FILTER SETTINGS Histogram v Enable Reset Channel Intensity Y w 8 Steg desen G hee Input Levels 92 to 204 z counts w w G hee Output Levels O E to 255 d counts w Ba Have fun playing with the other features remember read the Miloslick s Manual Xterminator User Manual Page 50 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Sense Up Mode Bright Stars and Dim Planets This mode is ideal for verifying what your Telescope is looking at as this mode allows exposures up to 2 1 seconds A large number of MallinCamers use this for collimating and focusing their scope Using SenseUP Mode along with AGC you may start imaging some dimmer objects Step 1 In the Camera Settings Tab select SenseUp Mode and select a Sense multiplier by moving the slider between X2 and X128 It takes the Xterminator some time to build up the image when moving from one X value to the next It is fun to watch the image build up Step A Do you see your star If not then keep increasing the slider to q higher value Keep increasing the EXTENDED EXPOSURE until the object is bright enough to see Recall X2 1 30 X4 1 15 X6 1 10 X8 2 15 X12 1 5 X16 4 15 X24 2 5 X32 8 15 X48 4 5 X64 1 1 X96 1 6 and X128 2 1 seconds Most users find that setting the Xterminator to X128 is a great setting to work on using a focus mask to assist in focusing their telescope Other jump back down to SenseU
108. own the function Saturation in order to see the image in black and white using a color camera This function cannot be done through the camera You can control the RED and BLUE by turning the adjustment in the camera MENU but the GREEN is fixed Xterminator User Manual Page 122 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Appendix M Suggested Item Specific Settings SATURN 1 3000 MAN OFF R 2 B 2 MAN OFF R 2 B 2 MAN OFF R 2 B 2 PRESET ON PRESET ON LEVEL LEVEL 8 DEW 60 DEW 60 Xterminator User Manual Page 123 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 M104 M64 NGC 4565 NGC 4725 SENSE UP 128X 128X 128X 128X ALC OFF OFF OFF OFF BLC OFF OFF OFF OFF AGC OFF OFF OFF OFF W B MAN OFF MAN OFF MAN OFF R 2 B 2 SAME R 2 B 2 R 2 B 2 ZOOM OFF ON 8 ON 8 OFF TEC OFF OFF OFF OFF INTEGRATION 30 SEC and up 30 SEC and up 30 SEC and up 45 SEC and up Xterminator User Manual Page 124 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 M57 M27 M82 M106 SENSE UP 128X 128X 128X 128X ALC OFF OFF OFF OFF BLC OFF OFF OFF OFF AGC OFF OFF OFF OFF W B SAME SAME SAME SAME ZOOM ON 3 OFF ON 4 ON 3 TEC OFF OFF OFF OFF INTEGRATION 30 SEC and up 30 SEC and up 30 SEC and up 30 SEC and up Xterminator User Manual P
109. p Mode from HyperMode when they are moving their telescope from one object to another This way they can see quickly if their telescope is pointing at the correct location You should set AGC to OFF but if you need to adjust it set it to a low setting The AGC level on the Xterminator this will give you the ability to increase or decrease the brightness of the image including noise Remember as AGC is changed the XTERMINATOR will need to refresh the SENSE UP and that can take up to 3 minutes Xterminator User Manual Page 51 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Hyper Mode Deep Sky Objects You have pushed the Xterminator to 2 1 seconds x128 in SenseUp Mode but now you need to take the plunge and do exposures way into the minutes as those Deep Sky Objects are beckoning Most objects that you will be imaging in this mode will not be seen in the SenseUP mode so ensure your Telescope has accurate go to capabilities One of the big decisions you will be making in this mode is what AGC value you will use recommend starting with OFF or 1 and then work yourself up Recall every time you change the AGC value the Xterminaftor will require 3 minutes to structure Itself for the new value The Xterminator is a very sensitive camera and as such does not require much AGC to brighten the image Step 1 From the Camera Settings Tab set AGC to OFF or a Low Setting Step 2 Set the exposure to Hyper Mode zowa OO rn F File Edit
110. pers the B W the color camera have noticed that certain type of capture devices won t show as much of a difference but when a high resolution unit is used the difference is remarkable Imaging Solar Sun Here s some more detail on how I ve captured the solar image posted today use 2 separate images The first one was the prominence which were taken at shutter speed of 350 sec at F 6 3 with the 10 SCT The seconds set of images were the surface structure which was taken at 12 000 sec shutter speed at F 6 3 with the same 10 SCT combined the two then change the monochrome image into red orange This was very simple using Photoshop This is a result of only 4 coded images The image shows the excellent dynamic response of the camera without having to take hundreds of frames and coding them like most do The high gain circuitry really shines here resulting in a excellent signal to noise ratio High gain is very important in video ccd camera for astronomy work Imaging Sun Here s an image just taken this afternoon Dec 4 2006 from my Downtown location in Ottawa Sun was only 22 deg above horizon and just above the roof line of the house Imaged with a LX 200 GPS 10 with F 6 3 focal reducer in ALT AZ with a Thousand Oaks H Alpha Solar filter 0 9 A 4 images coded with RegiStax 6 0 Camera was MallinCam Hyper B W monochrome Video CCD Camera Color done with Photoshop 7 processed with RegiStax 6 0 This is my first H Alpha complet
111. placed into a 2 focuser on a refractor for wide field viewing Xterminator User Manual Page 106 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Appendix K First Aid for the Xterminator The Image from the Xterminator is Blinking and Flashing Constantly Diagnosis This camera is incredibly sensitive to light and any stray light or an overload of light too long an exposure on a very bright object may trigger the safety inside the camera that will prevent overloading the internal camera electronics If you do trigger the safety you will see a flashing screen Cure Simply unplug the camera for about 5 seconds and reconnect the power and wait about 3 minutes for electronics to settle Change the exposure settings to eliminate the re occurrence of the same event If Day Time viewing Set Sense UP to OFF Set to Video Mode if using Miloslick Set AGC to OFF Set ALC to 1 12000 Set Shutter to 1 12000 in Exposure if using Miloslick My Image has evenly spaced Horizontal lines Diagnosis The horizontal lines are caused by interference The cause of this interference can be anything from a loose connection bad wire external interference from another power source or even a PAL version MallinCam set to NTSC settings The most likely cause though is Power Interference from your Power Supply Cure Try to isolate the power for the MallinCam don t plug into multi jack power source The best recommendation is fo have an isolated
112. r Do not turn on the TEC it is not needed for anytime The TEC should be used at the 2 seconds and above exposure only Beside daytime heat may produce some condensation on the ccd sensor The TEC is designed to be used at night time ambient temperature MallinCam Daytime For daytime use start with the lunar settings for the camera Make sure the SENSE is in the OFF position you don t need 2 1 6 or 12 seconds for daytime shots Make sure ALC ELC is set to ALC and start with 4000 to 12000 1 4000 to 1 12000th of a second exposure Turn the AGC down full left Using my friend s Meade 8 at f 6 3 on the Friday before New Year s we looked at the moon in the afternoon under a blue sky We were using the ALC at around 4000 to 6000 If your 6 SCT is set up at f 10 you may have to change the ALC to something less than 4000 MallinCam Moon For Moon stuff you want it as an ordinary video camera no gain and no sense up at all maybe set the gamma to 1 0 for better contrast and experiment with fast shutter speeds Certainly there is no problem with using a neutral density filter as well if you wish MallinCam Planetary Viewing To view Jupiter first you must remove the focal reducer Next the AGC has to be turned OFF in the menu Next go to ALC then choose at least 1 6000 to 1 12 000 seconds in order to increase shutter soeed Also under W B have the setting at ATW for Auto White Balance A Barlow will decrease sensitivity and increase
113. re to the RIGHT position maximum sharpening and digital ant blooming occurs The default position is with both sliders to the CENTER position The higher the level the more blocky stars Xterminator User Manual Page 75 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 look but the higher settings can tease details out of faint galaxies and nebula Generally higher settings are best used for lunar and planetary targets medium levels for galaxies or nebula with structures and APC 0 on stellar targets like open or globular clusters APC can be changed on the fly If both AGC is turned OFF and the APC sliders are to the LEFT then there is NO GAIN the camera is converted into a straight through CCD imager HIGH LIGHT Once selected by the CENTRE Button you will be allowed to adjust its setting via the LEFT and RIGHT Buttons lt HIGH LIGHI SEI 2 LEVEL gt H d Return This feature is like a CORONAGRAPH and is used to artificially darken bright areas on the video image When viewing the sun through a Hydrogen Alpha filter the Highlight Coronagraph slider can be used to effectively block out the bright surface of the sun allowing the solar prominences to be seen more easily COLOR BAR Xterminator User Manual Page 76 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Use this feature to show a colour bar on the screen It is a great way to see if the Xterminator is outputting an image spec
114. re Controller or q computer and computer software In this Section will discuss how to activate this mode using the MallinCcam WEC device you can jump to the Controlling the Xterminator by Computer Section to see how to activate this mode using software Xterminator User Manual Page 22 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 The Wireless Exposure Controller consists of two elements a Receiver which attaches to the Xterminator and a Transmitter thru which you send the exposure duration to the receiver Wireless Exposure Control Receiver and Transmitter See Installing the Wireless Exposure Controller WEC in the Appendix F for detailed instructions on how to attached and use this device You have the telescope set up with if covered and the Xterminator attached to the eyepiece holder the video cables are attached to your monitor and power Is connected to everything The Wireless Exposure Controller is attached and channels are set You have the telescope pointing to some Deep Sky Object and are ready to explore what the Xterminator can do You will be using SENSE UP in this Mode The Xterminaftor will actually build up the image with the settings you have made You can watch the image brighten as the camera gets to your setting At X128 this process can take up to 3 minutes as it needs to run through the previous multiplier settings until reaching X128 Step 1 Using your finder scope point your telescope aft the Bright
115. recommend technique when imaging is just select AWC at the start of your imaging and activate it then put the Xterminator in to ATW mode for the rest of the evening or move between ATW and MANU modes depending upon what objects you are imaging Manual MANU The most important control features of White Balance on the Xterminator when viewing Deep Sky Objects When MANU is selected and you are in its Sub Menu you have three selections available to you in the PRESET feature 3200K 5600K and OFF PRESET OFF lt USER gt d Return gt 3200K allows Xterminator to see about 80 more into the near infrared This will allow some of the Deep Sky Objects to be viewed in a slightly different detail Slight Haze punching capabilities while imaging in this mode Xterminator User Manual Page Xterminator User Manual SYNC lt MENU gt TITLE OFF SENSE UP OFF ALCZELC ALC BLC OFF AGC OFF W B AWC SYNC JINT OPTION el ZOOM OFF MOTION DET ON ELT SAVE DO NOT TOUCH THIS SETTING It should be in INT mode November 1 2014 5600K allows Xterminator to capture mostly in the visual range Different Nebula can have subtle colour shifts and detail in this setting OFF allows for adjustment of the Red and Blue color By augmenting or reducing either the Blue or the Red you can change the colour to compensate for light pollution and other seeing conditions Xterminator User Man
116. right environment it will lose the 128X count automatically allowing the safety to kick in The view were not suitable and the camera goes into safe mode by losing 128X count so no image is kept for long period in the memory This also avoid electronics overloads If you want to reset the camera completely simply go to the SAVE at the bottom of the on screen display and hit the right KEY It will now say RESET hit the center key You will lose all info and settings You will have to start over from scratch by adjusting all your settings Always perform a hard reset with the Hyper mode off 7 14 28 56 sec W B White Balance W B White Balance Manual Red F Ratio At 5600K the sky is an amazing red and it got redder with longer settings So much so that the target is somewhat washed out ended up viewing at 3600K which was much better tried all kinds of setting to get rid of the red but no luck and did have the user guide trying to eliminate finger trouble What in the world am doing wrong gt Do not use the 3200K or 5600K In the W B white balance there is the ATW for Auto Trace White balance AWC Auto with Control and MANUal mode Go into the manual mode you will see 3200K which is near infrared 5600K is visible and some near infrared next is preset lt USER gt There you will have the red adjustment blue adjustment Since ccd sensors are more sensitive to RED simply lower the RED adjustment by 2 notches and increase
117. rn to lt MENU gt Press DOWN Button to get to MOTION DET Press RIGHT Button to set to ON Press CENTRE Button to enter lt MOTION DETECT gt Menu Use DOWN and RIGHT Buttons to Match image in previous page Press DOWN to get to Return Press CENTRE Button To return to lt MENU gt Press Down Button fo get to Exif Press Centre Button fo turn off the Menu Display y V V V YV YV V VV V V VV V V VV VV VV VV WV We have set the Xterminator to have qn exposure of 1 12000 sec and are ready to look at the image of the moon So remove the cover form the telescope You should be able to see something if may be out of focus or if may be Too dim First Play with the focus to make the image as sharp as you can If the image Is too dim the go back to the ALC and increase the exposure from 1 12000 to a value where the image of the Moon is bright enough Now is the time to change GAMMA from 0 45 to 1 00 to see if what works best for your monitor see Step 2 on how to activate the On Screen Display Don t forget your monitor also has adjustments so you may need fo play with them as well Xterminator User Manual Page 19 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 would read about White Balance W B in the Appendix so that later on you can play with those settings Again use the contrast capabilities of your monitor to help bring out all of the lunar details Have fun observing If you set ALC to OFF then the exposure rate is
118. s are better sometime set the camera to ATW with luck You may want to consider going to F 3 3 to reduce sensitivity increasing background darkness Gamma back ground image TV Go into the Main menu Point the cursor to OPTION Click center key This will bring you to the 2nd menu Near the bottom look for GAMMA Standard it 0 45 and option is 1 00 This will darken the background considerably Excellent if you are going to image or use a regular TV to view object You may lose a bit of sensitivity though depending what type of monitor you use Gamma light pollution background imaging When imaging under sever light pollution like you have put the GAMMA at 1 0 This will darken the background to an acceptable level You will have to increase the AGC accordingly to increase the loss of gain Make sure both APC the Vertical and Horizontal are set to far left If you use these settings you may be able to go to 28 seconds Gamma Background LCD Option menu By adjusting the gamma from 0 45 which is the default to 1 00 in the OPTION menu this mode will not make the background whiter when using the USB 2 0 adapter or a LCD observing monitor By having the gamma to 1 00 the sky back ground is much darker Normally would have to turn down the Brightness and augment the Contrast in the USB 2 0 menu to reduce the white background If you use a LCD monitor to visually observe it is strongly recommended to put the camera in the 1 00 gamma
119. s indicates the current driver is incompatible 413 Ports COM amp LPT 4 De Other devices i 3 Communications Port COM1 gt in USB Serial Controller KI Prolific USB to Serial Comm Port COM3 b 277 Ports COM amp LPT 7 There could be many reasons for the driver not to install the most common being that there already is an old incompatible driver already in the system or Windows could not locate the driver for you particular USB to RS232 Adapter Check to see if you already have a driver installed and remove it if ae Ce necessary from your system With the USB to RS232 Adapter still inserted in q USB Port gt From the Control Panel go into the Device Manager and click on the Ports COM amp LPT arrow PZ mamaman File Action View Help Ea H pa amp a MASTER ut Away Mode Devices jE Computer ca Disk drives KS Display adapters amp DVD CD ROM drives QA Human Interface Devices IEEE 1394 Bus host controllers R Mice and other pointing devices HE Modems E Monitors Sr Network adapters KR Portable Devices a J Ports COM amp LPT Prolific USB to Serial Comm Port COM4 DI Processo rs Sound video and game controllers lt gt Storage controllers cb System devices gt Right Click on the driver name Prolific USB to Serial Com Port Com4 in my image above and Choose Uninstall when Pop up List appears gt Let Windows do its uninstall
120. setting If you use a CRT observing monitor the AGC and dynamic range in such monitor is continually self adjusting to the signal being fed to the CRT monitor then it s a known issue with such monitor Gamma LCD CRT AGC The camera has two settings for GAMMA if you are going to use a LCD display set the camera to GAMMA 1 0 If you are going to use a CRT use 045 and adjust your monitor brightness and contrast for the best dark background image contrast This is a personal setting for each individual taste and setup Use the AGC to lower the output of the camera to get the right combination of image brightness best background possible Each monitor telescope and F ratio is different from one owner to another and adjustment must be perform using your own setup Xterminator User Manual Page 118 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 combination Same applies if a capture device will be used to capture images Calibration of the capture device must be perform before you can take images to computer This is live video with many parameters to be adjusted to suit your own telescope F ratio monitor combination If a proper adjustment is achieved no need for histogram Your monitor will act as if it was a live histogram by adjusting the contrast and brightness controls Integration Sense Sense Integration How it Works How the Mallincam integration works The camera is always running in full video mode Once you activate
121. stalled properly Note The original MallinCam Jr does not include support for serial control In this case you will need to adjust all camera settings using the rear buttons and you can ignore this step Step 4 The Step 4 of 6 Window will appear Select the Video Device you are using USB 2828x Device for the MCV and Click Next to Continue Images from your camera are transmitted as high quality analog NTSC or PAL video and require some type of Video Digitizer device to view on your computer Video digitizers usually connect via your computer s USB or Firewire ports Select your digitizer from the list below Video Device SplitCam Video Capture If you do not see your device in the list it could be that the driver is not Y f installed correctly or is incompatible with your operating system Make e sure that you have the latest drivers installed for your device Occasionally the device name as returned by the driver may be a bit confusing For example the MallinCam MCV 1 video digitizer often shows up as USB 2828x Device since it is based on the Empia Technologies 28285 chipset lt Previous Xterminator User Manual Page 47 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 The Step 5 of 6 Window will appear Select the Video Input Composite or S Video that you are using with your Xterminator and Click Next to Continue e Video Input Step 5 of _ ES Some video digitizers have more than one input c
122. sted filtration is augmented and speed Is running at maximum on both CPU inside the camera SYNC is also affected to give the readable image at the video output circuitry This is why at 7 14 28 or 56 seconds integration a small variation will occur as far as time integration is concerned SYNC and other video section must be handled to keep a 29 970 frame per seconds output All this is done through the CPU and the Hyper Circuit which takes over the whole camera as soon the Hyper mode is engaged This is why we called it the Hyper camera When you hit the switch on the side there is a lot of things are happening in there to give the finest most noise free artifact free and most sensitive image available today compared to any video ccd cameras One must learn to access these features and learn the correct procedures in order to get the most out of the camera The Hyper camera sensitivity will beat anything out there as far as integration is concern especially at 14 seconds Xterminator User Manual Page 119 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 integration If one is using a Hyper B W look out With the EX type ccd sensor we use being of class 1 which WE INSTALL IN EVERY CAMERAS sensitivity will go beyond anything seen to date on the market for astro ccd camera Sense Hyper mode AGC Adjustment There are a few steps to look for when using the MallinCam When changing AGC settings the Hyper mode 7 14 28 56 seconds integration must be o
123. t your Resolution from the Pull Down Menu Select a starting value of 640 x 480 for the system Again play with these to see what settings the NSN viewers Say is the best gt Select your Frame Rate From its Pull Down Menu usually leave it at 15 fps but have used 30 fps at times Again trial and error for your system gt CLICK onthe green OK symbol to accept these settings That s it you are done If everything is working well and the Window s gods are in a good mood you should be broadcasting whatever object the XTERMINATOR is capturing You should now enter another Message and SEND it out to indicate what system you are using and what object you are viewing e There is a time delay on what you Say if you have you microphone activated and do on your computer as compared to what others see and hear on the NSN broadcast You will freeze and don t mean like what Chris does when he broadcasts in winter till 3am mean from time to time your NSN connection will freeze for no apparent reason It happens to us all When this happens you can simply terminate the Web browser program Ctrl Alt Del Then restart your browser and Log back into NSN This usual is a very quick process But sometime we all have to restart our computer this takes longer for we need to power down hardware and software and reactivate everything before login back in Don t worry the NSN viewers sense what is happening
124. tance w The Miloslick Main Screen will appear It is from here that you will control the Xterminator camera There are usually three type of observing you will do with your Xterminator gt Video Mode for daytime imaging of bright planets Lunar or Solar gt SenseUp Mode for Planets Bright Stars Collimating and Focusing gt Hyper Mode for Deep Sky Objects Xterminator User Manual Page 48 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 ay Untitled mc File Edit View Camera Video Window Help 2 wl B c ing S EE Gs gy Notlntegrating 3 sec E LA D E bend Single Snaps Not Stacking ATW pen Save Save As Capture Mode Capture a th Q O bd lll 100 ts 0 Lo m e LO a CAMERA SETTINGS White Balance Auto Trace ATW Gamma 0 45 recommended for CRT 1 0 LCD capture device etc Advanced Pixel Control APC Getting camera settings After Miloslick gets going you should see the name of the MallinCam Camera you have previously told Miloslick that you are using in the above image you can see Miloslick is currently getting camera settings Miloslick will read the current setting from your camera so that they are both in agreement Your image window may be a black screen if you have your lens cap on your telescope It is always a good idea to see if all the connections are working properly between Miloslick and the MallinCam So In the Camera
125. th your future needs and adventures This manual is in the way the work of the MallinCam Xterminator users before me have borrowed their ideas and even some of their documents and have placed them in the manual so that we have everything Is in one place Special thanks to Chris Appleton and Rock Mallin who expertise and experience are way beyond my capabilities So thank you for your purchase and let the adventure begin Xterminator User Manual Page 5 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 The Contents of the Xterminator Package Depending upon the Xterminator Model purchased the contents may vary but all Xterminator cameras include the following standard equipment gt MALLINCAM XTERMINATOR COLOR Camera with q multicoated Class 1 Class 0 available as an option sealed argon gas chamber CCD gt Regulated 5 amp Power Supply 120 volts to 12 Volts D C Adapter with 5 output adapters to simultaneously power 5 devices gt HDX2 F fan kit included gt 25 foot 8m 75 Ohms 100 Shielded Video Cable with 18 Gauge DC wire gt High Precision 1 25 Eyepiece Adapter Heat Transfer Unit Custom Made for the MallinCam gt BNC Male to RCA Female Adapter MallinCam Xterminator RS232 OPTION Comes with all of the standard equipment plus gt 25 RS 232 PC CABLE These accessories will provide you with the ability to connect the Xterminator Video camera to your telescope power it using to a 120V AC power source and d
126. the lt lt OPTION gt gt menu lt lt OPTION gt gt MASK MASK B MASK C MASK D POSI ZNEGA H REV U REU FREEZE PRIORITY GAMMA Return Now using the Down Button 9 move the select the last entry Return and press the Right Arrow Button 4D and the Return will change to NEXT Xterminator User Manual Page 12 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 lt lt OPTION gt gt MASK A OFF MASK B OFF MASK C OFF MASK D OFF POSIZNEGA POSI H REU OFF U REU OFF FREE ZE FIELD PRIORITY AGC GAMMA 0 45 NEXT Press the Centre Button 7 and the Xterminator will display the lt lt OPTION2 gt gt screen lt lt OPTION2 gt gt APC GET HIGH LIGHT SET COLOR BAR OFF Return Now using the Back Arrow Buttons move to the COLOR BAR option which should say OFF and activate it by pressing the RIGHT Button 4D MENU OFF SANI V 9142 D SE C ALC SI OFF AlEIC MANU HB MANU SHANIC INT ORION J3 ZA OVOJN OFF W JHRRON DET OFF J ol SAVE Now adjust the colour on you Monitor to sharpen the image and thus providing a set of distinguished colours Once you are comfortable with the colours you can again navigate to the COLOR BAR Option which now says ON and activate the option with the RIGHT Button 4D which toggles off the Color Bar Now using the DOWN Button 9 move to RETURN Press the CENTRE Button 7 to return to the lt lt OPTION gt gt menu Press the CENTRE
127. the BLUE adjustment by one notch This should provide a good starting point If the image is too red lower the RED adjustment some more If hazy atmospheric conditions is evident the RED will have to be lowered even more since light pollution can reflect from haze making the background in the image red Once this setting is saved it will remain permanently in the memory until you play with it again Also check the F ratio used If F 3 3 and below is used to view an image this will make the background more sensitive to red Increase the F ratio to F 5 or F 6 3 Xterminator User Manual Page 120 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 W B All ccd sensors are more sensitive in the red spectrum One reason why the LED on the camera is green Try to lower the RED setting under W B white balance menu or set the W B to ATW Auto White Balance Are you imaging from the city or dark sky If from the city light pollution is reflected as red High humidity condition will also reflect as red W B AWC Color Balance Doing a white balance is mandatory in order to have the right color balance Use the AWC To do so while AWC flashing press the center button again to capture an auto white balance into the memory of the camera which will be used for all other settings in the W B mode find the color MallinCam requires more adjustments and experiment to achieve good color balance It is part of the fun W B Deep Sky Keep the W B white ba
128. the CENTRE Button again will UN FREEZE the image Xterminator User Manual Page 73 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Pressing the RIGHT Button will alternate between FRAME and FIELD Leave as default PRIORITY Leave in AGC mode the other mode is SENSE GAMMA When selected pressing the LEFT or RIGHT Button will switch form a GAMMA setting of 0 45 provides a brighter image or 1 00 provides a darker image Use this feature to match your monitor s performance RETURN Pressing the CENTRE Button on RETURN returns you to the MAIN MENU Pressing the RIGHT Button on RETURN changes the word to NEXT Pressing the CENTRE Button on NEXT takes you to the OPTION2 MENU lt lt OPTION2 gt gt APC SET HIGH LIGHT SET COLOR BAR OFF Return Xterminator User Manual Page 74 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 This OPTION2 MENU is important for it is in here that you find the COLOR BAR feature APC This is Advanced Pixel Control and it is useful if your stars do not look perfectly round APC can help adjust their shape When selected pressing the CENTRE Button takes you to the APC settings screen lt lt APC gt gt PRESET OFF H GAIN gt lt U GAIN gt NH lt Return Leave PRESET at OFF By sliding the two adjustment bars to the LEFT sharpening and digital anti blooming are held to an absolute minimum When the two adjustments a
129. the X2 X 4 etc under the SENS what happens is the shutter opens like a ccd camera would under exposure Once the shutter close the image is sent to the memory while another exposure is taken This is repeated instantly and forever for as long the shutter or the SENS is set to any settings While the image is stored in the memory an exposure is taken once the exposure is taken the previous image is displayed into the video section through the video chip Once you change the settings of say AGC or SENS or ALC ELC the memory has to emptied itself and the SENS count start with the new settings you have chosen If you choose for example X64 it take a few minutes to reach the proper count Several things are happening here The AGC SENS must keep a steady video stream in order to produce a viewable image until the maximum SENS is reached without overloading the video section and keeping the electronics safe Something the competition lacks Sense shorter exposures Don t use the 7 14 or the X4 switch with SENSE in any setting other than 128X To get shorter exposures place the switches in their respective OFF positions and lower the SENSE 64X is 1 second 32X is 1 2 second etc Sense Hyper mode First the camera must be running in 2 seconds mode via the main menu with SENS set at 128X That equals to about 2 1 seconds Once this is achieved you can now activate the Hyper switch the 7 and 14 seconds integration What that does it opens
130. thing and when completed remove the USB to RS232 Adapter from the Port Xterminator User Manual Page 89 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Download and install latest driver specifically for your Device or Sten 2 Ce use the installation CD that came with the Adapter gt Now visit the site of the USB to RS232 Adapter you own and download the latest driver and follow the installation instructions from the site If you are using the CD follow the instruction that came with the Adapter gt The Final step in either the download or CD option you chose will be to reinsert the USB to RS232 Adapter back into you USB Port and windows should finish the installation process and then display success popup menu with the COM Port it has assigned to your Adapter RS232 Cable Points of Concern Distance At 9600 baud the distance should be no more than 50 feet and at 19200 baud the cable length should be no more than 20 feet Interference Cheap Power cables can cause interference always use shielded cables when moving data or Power from one location to another Secure Always make sure your connectors are securely attached to the Xterminator port You may want to make a loop and attach that with Velcro to your scope to help reduce the risk of if being pulled OU Xterminator User Manual Page 90 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Appendix G Installing the Wireless Exposure Controller WEC Step A I
131. tton to have it displayed Xterminator User Manual Page 42 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 When you are us and running and everything is working as it should you will change the message to indicate what telescope mount and camera you are using For that is the most frequently asked question from the NSN viewers Step 9 Select the Camera Now is the time to activate the camera or in our case have NSN driver point to our Video Adapter Card s video output gt RIGHT CLICK inside the NSN Video window to bring up a Settings Window RIGHT CLICK TOGET THE FLASH PLAYER SETTINGS YOU LL SEE THIS Live Streaming v2 75 Broadcast Developed by VideoWhisper com Print Embed Channel Ease HTML Code gt CLICK onthe Settings choice and you will be presented with the Adobe Flash Player Settings Window Adobe Flash Player Settings Privacy ts Allow www nightskiesnetwork com to access your camera and microphone e O Allow O Deny _ Remember ss Si Gk amp Gees gt CLICK onthe Camera Icon and you will be presented with a pull down menu to select your camera Si E O gt CLICK onthe Pull Down list to select your camera of choice Xterminator User Manual Page 43 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Adobe Flash Player Settings sk lt oe gt CLICK on CLOSE to Continue NSN will remember what camera you chose from the last visit So us
132. u will exceed the range of 1 12 000 when the AGC is set to off ALC Planets Shutter Speed Filters Setup the scope without a focal reducer If too bright increase the ALC to 8000 Cameras that has only 1 2000 will not possibly get the full benefit of true planet and lunar views without using a polarized filter Something the MallinCam don t need The ALC goes as high as 1 12 000 for shutter speed allowing full coverage of all astronomical targets without filters Color Bar Color Bar Generator Have you tried to calibrate capture card using the built in color bar generator in the MallinCam To access the color bar generator you need to go through the second menu or while in the 2 seconds mode 128X press the upper button and lower button at the same time for about 2 seconds and you will have the color bar generator on screen to adjust all the settings of the video capture card It is a reference to adjust monitor capture devices etc Very handy to have This feature is in every MallinCam Hyper and Hyper PLUS COLOR or B W models Color bar Monitor WRT the Speco it has performed WONDERFULLY Everyone has marveled at the rich colors shown on it When you actually get it out under the stars you will forget the color bar and tweak the monitor to give the best live appearance Color Bar Camera There is a built in color bar generator in the camera Just depress the top and button menu buttons while the camera is running and it will p
133. u will have to experiment with your own telescope solar setup for best view had to retune my adjustment on my H Alpha filter in order to make the prominence come out this is very important Adjusting your filter on prominence will make the big difference while viewing live on a monitor After you may adjust the RED and BLUE to increase decrease the visual of the prominence on the camera Took a while to get it right but it was well worth it This is very important make sure the AGC is set to OFF Use the same settings as LUNAR as stated on the quick sheet made for the camera If remember right had the SHUTTER set to 750 to get the best contrast ratio on the live monitor to see all the prominence use a Thousand Oaks H Alpha Prominence filter for ease of adapting to my various telescopes which they include 10 14 and 16 among a few others just finish making an adapter for the 14 SCT and hoping to capture some solar image soon The opening in front of the energy rejection filter is 3 Hope this help a little Xterminator User Manual Page 112 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 MallinCam Hyper Color B W images MANual red blue was out late last night in my backyard testing the Hyper color just recently put together with a class 0 CCD sensor and did managed to get a B W image using the USB2 0 adapter In one of the settings used Saturation and turn it all the way down to minimum Results were a black and
134. ual Page 72 Xterminator User Manual OPTION lt MENU gt TLILE SENSE UP ALCZELC BLC AGC W B SYNC OPTION ZOOM MOTION ERIT DET The OPTION menu has a lot to offer in the Xterminator Camera Masking features MIRROR effects POSITIVE NEGATIVE effects and image PRIORTY sensitivity Settings are many of the features that can be used for various situations with any given telescope Press the CENTRE BUTTON to enter the OPTIONS Sub Menu One OPTION is PRIORITY and its two Sub Menu items are AGC and SENS This switches the signal detection from the AGC section the amplifier to the SENS section CCD input Once a bright object is detected either the CCD sensor SENS detects November 1 2014 lt lt OPTION gt gt MASK A MASK B MASK C MASK D POSIZNEGA H REV U REU FREEZE PRIORITY GAMMA Return MASK A MASK B MASK C MASK D These don t have an application in astronomy imaging so there is no need to talk about them doesn t mean you cannot experiment with them POSI NEGA When selected Pressing the Left or Right Arrow Button makes the image either the Positive Normal or Negative complement H REV When selected pressing the LEFT or RIGHT Button will flip the image HORIZONTALLY V REV When selected pressing the LEFT or RIGHT Button will flip the image VERTICALLY FREEZE When selected pressing the CENTRE Button will FREEZE the image not the camera Pressing
135. ually you only have to go through this process whenever you want to change what camera device you would like the NSN flash driver to use Step 10 ei Choose your Camera Settings We will now select the settings for our camera We have the option of changing The Bandwidth Picture Resolution Framerate and even the microphone rate when you are ready The changes will not be activated until you CLICK on the Green OK symbolin the window gt LEFT CLICK inside the NSN video Window to bring up the Camera Settings Window manycam virtual Webcam Bandwidth ee Resolution Framerate e Microphone Realtek High Definition OK E gt Use the sliders for Band Width and Picture values usually have both of my sliders way on the right Over time you will find the sweet spot for your system gt Select your Resolution from the Pull Down Menu select HDCAM 640 x 480 for my system Again play with these to see what settings the NSN viewers say is the best gt Select your Frame Rate From its Pull Down Menu usually leave it at 15 fps but have used 30 fps at times Again trial and error for your system gt CLICK onthe green OK symbol to accept these settings Xterminator User Manual Page 44 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 That s it you are done If everything is working well and the Window s gods are in a good mood you should be broadcasting whatever object the XTERMINATOR is capturing You sho
136. uces the focal length from 2350mm down to about 940mm 2350 x 4 940 I m guessing on the reduction here so don t quote me or blindly believe me But it s a substantial amount of focal reduction Page 102 Xterminator User Manual Mie cul Juun asangu tues YIM an Scie ejej MEP art Ji r Se AA B A MALLINCAM LGiuluf ert leit 0092 Wlor2 feperzibepseltsestieyey San alloka tat roailz e ei leet ul 211101 24 LU bel Lad eT cd us DOr eh 921224 E A Dr elle ai Wkry Lieziradue ein jor a G22 zatu y tise U 322 Sums Visortincs In coro November 1 2014 We recommend that when you use the MFR 5 or the MFR 5 Mk II or even MFR 5 Mk x that you put extension tubes between the camera and the MFRS This also increases the amount of focal reduction There is one potential advantage to placing the extension tubes here to remove internal reflections between the back of the MFR 5 and the camera s sensor if you re getting one Plus it prevents the Lens on the MER 3 series from touching the glass seal on front of the sensor NOTE Let me point out here that when you add the MFR 5 your focus point changes a lot And when you put extension tubes between the MFR 5 and camera focus changes even more And you can combine extension tubes between part A and part B at the same time as adding an extension tube between the camera and the back of the MFR5 Th
137. uld now enter another Message and SEND it out to indicate what system you are using and what object you are viewing There is a time delay on what you say if you have you microphone activated and do on your computer as compared to what others see and hear on the NSN broadcast You will freeze and don t mean like what Chris does when he broadcasts in winter till 3am mean from time to time your NSN connection will freeze for no apparent reason It happens to us all When this happens you can simply terminate the Web browser program Ctrl Alt Del Then restart your browser and Log back into NSN This usual is a very quick process But sometime we all have to restart our computer this takes longer for we need to power down hardware and software and reactivate everything before login back in Don t worry the NSN viewers sense what is happening and will keep the conversations going while waiting for you to come back on Don t be afraid to ask for advice by typing in on the Video chat window as we are all learning and are willing to assist whenever we can When ready try activating the microphone click on the microphone symbol Other will let you know if they can hear you or if there is noise Remember there are settings for the microphone in the camera settings window When you are finished with your session you simply say your good nights to the crowd of NSN viewers to let them know that your session is e
138. ull force in the last couple of nights Large aperture does have its draw back when it comes to light gathering and moon interference Careful adjustment of the AGC in the MAN mode is important to get the best balance in background glow and color balance contrast AGC ON OFF Deep Sky Adjustments When using the HYPER Mode the AGC must be set to MAN for use of the 6 or 12 second exposure limits Since did not follow that and had been trying AGC with ON and OFF did really mess something up I ve noticed a number of must haves in MallinCam Menu Settings pdf had thought that not following them would just prevent the hyper mode from turning on Since was actually getting useful results at times continued to try Have hurt anything that a PRESET won t fix Never use the camera s AGC in ON mode while doing deep sky observation especially under light polluted environment Always use the AGC in MAN mode and adjust the camera to suite you F ratio aperture seeing conditions If any settings from the AGC is going to be performed always have the camera running in the 7 sec mode This will allow the auto reset to keep all figures set as before with the exception of the AGC of course Once the AGC slider adjustment has been moved the camera will hold the settings for 7 seconds then it will go off by itself then a black image will appear for 7 seconds Your next image will be instant 7 seconds integration If the image is too bright
139. vides a pass thru power arrangement Just plug ina Male 12V DC cable to the Female Power connect on the HDX2 F Fan and then plug the Male end of the HDX2 F Power cord into the Xterminator Some users prefer to have a separate 12V power source for both the HDX2 F and the Xterminator The choise is yours When powered both fans will quietly turn to move air around the Xterminator Xterminator User Manual Page 97 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Appendix Accessories for the Xterminator Upscaler Digital View Finder 8 Monitor 12 and 15 Monitor 2 C mount adapter Xterminator User Manual Page 98 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 MallinCam IR Filter Mallincam 2 5X Barlow Mallincam 0 5x Focal Reducer Xterminator User Manual Page 99 Xterminator User Manual Appendix J Focal Reduction is MallinCam MFR 5 Modular focal reducer MallinCam MFR 5 modular focal reducer Cauk 1 26 fille tuele icingle gt 7 Cuk SEME tuele 1GINEIE Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Here are three images of a MFR 5 focal reducer It s a two piece design and is made to mount on C mt video cameras 1s 1 25 in diameter and has 1 25 filter threads on the end of the larger part I call the A part Depending on how you configure this unit it can achieve different amounts of focal reduction from 0 8x to 0 3x or even more The MER
140. ware Xterminator User Manual Page 54 Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 sees Sep gt Plug in the XTERMINATOR camera into a usb port MCV on your computer Always use the same port for your connected devices even mark on my laptop which usb port is for which device even use a specific usb port for my Video input devices MCV XTERMINATOR Dazzle and a specific port for by RS232 RS485 devices For example if you only have 2 ports then 1 port is for video input MCV and the other port is for RS485 control Double Click on the Miloslick Xterminator Control Software icon Get the image of your object on the Image Window of Miloslick see the Introduction Note if you get a blue screen rather than an image when selecting MCV adjust the settings on the software for your planned object and size the window so you have room for other software on your monitor real estate If you have a dual Monitor system move Miloslick to the second monitor _ During your initial NSN experience you will find it easier to even get the object of interest onto the Miloslick Software window This allows you to spend some time playing and adjusting the settings prior to connecting to NSN As you become more comfortable you will not worry about that and will adjust while connected to NSN with the whole universe watching you live Start Manycam Splitcam WebcamMax Size the Manycam Splitcam Webc
141. what over members on NSN experience from your broadcasted x image You will end up adjusting both on the Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max side as well and on the NSN side to get the best image A helpful hint slide over the Manycam Xterminator User Manual Page 56 Step 6 Step7 J Xterminator User Manual November 1 2014 Splitcam Webcam Max window so that some of the text appears in the Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max window Can the members on NSN read the words If not adjust Remember this may take a couple of sessions until you obtain the ideal resolutions for your particular setup For me have set both Manycam Splitcam at 800x800 and NSN at HDCAM Minimize the Manycam Splitcam WebcamMax software window Click on the little underscore on the top right side of the Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max window This will eliminate the Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max window from your desktop it should now appear on the bottom of your desktop monitor but note that the software is still running and still has hold of your desktop XTERMINATOR VIDEO Software image location Do not move the Miloslick Window around your desktop when broadcasting since Manycam Splitcam WebcamMax is just grabbing the real estate location that currently your Miloslick Software image is situated at If you move the Miloslick Software Window then Manycam Splitcam Webcam Max will still grab the desktop location but may not grab the whole Miloslick Vid
142. will automatically adjust the outputted image for variations in both the sky brightness and lighting levels The LEVEL bar in the ALC Menu is deactivated in the Xterminator When you are using HYPER Mode the SHUTTER setting must be set to OFF and the LEVEL bar must be all the way to the RIGHT ELC Xterminator User Manual Page 65 Xterminator User Manual In the ELC mode a similar lt lt ELC gt gt menu is displayed with a variable LEVEL of the shutter adjustments to suit seeing conditions The ELC setting is not too useful for astronomical applications so we wont discuss it beyond showing you its Menu When the camera is in the ALC mode the Xterminator automatically adjusts the output for variations in sky brightness and background lighting levels based on the SHUTTER setting When using the HYPER Mode the ALC ELC setting must be set to ALC the SHUTTER must be OFF and the LEVEL setting must be set to the Xterminator RIGHT BLC lt MENU gt TEILE OFF SENSE UP OFF ALC7ELC ALC BLC 0FF AGC OFF W B AWC SYNC INT SEI OFF ON MOTION DET Exit SAVE BLC or Back Light Compensation is an advanced setting for the Xterminator that some experienced users like to play with This feature allows you to select an area from one of 48 Zones that you would like to increase or reduce the gain This November 1 2014 We do not use this setting in Astronomy applications But the LEVEL bar is

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