Many users of The Imaging Source cameras have recently phoned, emailed, and even faxed what seems to be a most relevant question concerning the new USB models. Tom Ferraro of Melbourne, FL writes:

[...] the humidity here in Florida is just deadly no matter what time of year it is! Can I extend the USB connection from my laptop to my DMK 21AU04.AS so that I can stay cool while sipping a tasty beverage?

Good news Tom. I’ve purchased a few long USB cables and extension cables from a local electronics shop and tested The Imaging Source DMK 21AU04.AS (and its siblings) up to 10 meters! One note: buy good quality cables!

Have a Great Day,

profjohn

Following my post yesterday about how to use The Imaging Source FireWire astronomy cameras on Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn), below are few screenshots of unicap running.

Main application window with about dialog

Adjustments dialog -> Exposure tab

Adjustments dialog -> Device tab

Adjustments dialog -> Color tab

Adjustments dialog -> Video tab

Preferences dialog -> Video tab

Preferences dialog -> Audio tab

Preferences dialog -> Image tab

Preferences dialog -> Plugins tab

Image in “main application window” screenshot is copyright Dierick Vercouter.

An ever increasing number of customers are writing to us, asking how to use The Imaging Source FireWire astronomy cameras on Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn). This is quite possible! How is described in this blog entry.

Step #1: Set up the hardware

The first step is to connect a FireWire astronomy camera to your PC and to ensure that the camera is being powered.

Please refer to the white paper “FireWire Cameras - Cables, Power Supplies, Interface Boards” for detailed information on which cable and interface card are required for this process.

Once you are sure that you have set up the hardware correctly, it is time to look at the software.

Step #2: Set up the software

The software that is required to use The Imaging Source FireWire astronomy cameras on Ubuntu 7.04 is available from a 3rd party project and released under a General Public License (GPL) and a commercial license.

The project is called unicap and has its own homepage at unicap-imaging.org. Maintained by Arne Caspari, the project is sponsored by The Imaging Source.

According to the project’s web site:

unicap provides a uniform interface to video capture devices. It allows applications to use any supported video capture device via a single API.

unicap offers a high level of hardware abstraction while maintaining maximum performance. Zero copy capture of video buffers is possible for devices supporting it allowing fast video capture with low CPU usage even on low-speed architectures.

To access and install the software, you first need to update your sources.list. This can be done with:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

At the end of the file, add the following two lines:

# The Imaging Source Cameras
deb http://unicap-imaging.org/packages feisty main

Save and close the file.

Update the repository listing:

sudo apt-get update

And install the video capture application (ucview) with all its dependencies:

sudo apt-get install ucview

A detailed description of these steps can be found on the project’s web site.

Next you need to add the group “firewire” for your FireWire astronomy camera:

sudo addgroup firewire

And assign this group to the currently logged on user (in this case “jon”).

sudo addgroup jon firewire

Finally, edit the following file:

sudo gedit /etc/udev/rules.d/40-permissions.rules

Look for the following line (ca. line 26):

KERNEL=="raw1394", GROUP="video"

And change to:

KERNEL=="raw1394", GROUP="firewire"

Save and close the file.

Reboot.

Now, you can start ucview (the capture application) with:

ucview

You should see the following application window:

Please post requests for support in the comments section below.

References

• http://www.theimagingsource.com/en/products/cameras/
• http://www.unicap-imaging.org
• https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Firewire
• http://osvideo.constantvzw.org/?p=35#more-35

Image in screenshot is copyright Dierick Vercouter.

Many astronomy customers of The Imaging Source have recently asked if it is possible to power their DMK 21AF04.AS without the use of the AC power supply, or “Mainy” as we call them. Because the DMK 21AF04.AS and its siblings must be an extremely versatile family of FireWire cameras, we have built them such that they can be powered with a supply voltage between 8 and 30 dc volts while drawing less than 200mA.

Field application can be a breeze with the use of a 12 volt automobile battery, a 12 volt motorcycle battery, or generic power pack. Radio Shack sells an inexpensive “AA” battery pack and the 5mm plug adapter that will fit nicely into the PJ2 cable.

Personally, I much prefer the “Dynamo” from Orion so that I’m certain I can start my truck after a night in the wild! Besides that, the Dynamo is rechargeable, useful in numerous circumstances, and doubles as a great flashlight! The battery packs do have their advantages including a price under $5.00 (plus the 8 “AA” batteries) and they easily fit into your jeans pocket whereas the Dynamo and car batteries weigh A LOT!You can count on at least 2 hours continuous use of your DMK 21AF04.AS from The Imaging Source with 8 fresh “AA” batteries or about 2 years with the Dynamo… the decision is yours! In the end, the power supply is a personal decision that must be weighed against the circumstance of your stargazing situation. The key is… The Imaging Source DMK 21AF04.AS (and its siblings) will function in all situations listed above!

Since so many customers call with questions regarding the DBK versus DFK cameras from The Imaging Source, I thought I’d devote an entire article on the differences, as well as, the similarities between the three camera siblings available from The Imaging Source!

Mostly unknown to the general public, the alphanumeric labels of our Astronomy Cameras do have significance. The fact that they are built in Germany governs the first few characters of their names and CCD chip standards provides the rest.

Below I have listed the alphanumeric characters, the German translations, and finally the (English) translation in parentheses if a difference exists. Let us first look at the best seller in the astronomy world, the ever popular DMK 21AF04.AS:

• D = Digital, M = Monochrome, K = Kamera (Camera)

• The “21A” is a series name and nothing else.

• F = FireWire, 04 = 1/4″ CCD Chip, .AS = Astronomy

This should give you an idea of how the names have been “assigned” from their German origins, sort of like the infamous over-engineered automobiles from BMW. Question:

1. What does BMW stands for?

Now, if Farbe means color in German and we sell cameras with 1/3″ and 1/2″ format CCD chips, can you decipher the following camera line?

2. DFK 31AF03.AS

Finally, the most frequently asked question from soon-to-be users of The Imaging Source cameras is:

What is the difference between the color camera and the Bayer color camera?

This term is derived from the name of its inventor, Dr. Bryce E. Bayer of Eastman Kodak, and refers to a particular arrangement of color filters used in most single-chip digital image sensors. Both The Imaging Source color and Bayer cameras use this technique to interpolate the color which leads us to the answer of the FAQ of the year. The primary difference between the two color cameras is:

• the DFK 41AF02.AS cuts out the IR region of the spectrum

• the DBK 41AF02.AS does NOT cut out the IR region of the light spectrum.

Which leads us to the final quiz question, what type of camera is this?

3. DBK 41AF02.AS

Hopefully this blog post will not only shed light on the method for the naming procedures at The Imaging Source, but also, will give you a little insight to why the DBK 21AF04.AS is the color camera preferred by most astrophotographers!

Answers:
1. Die Bayerischen Motoren Werke AG (Bavarian Motor Works)
2. DFK 31AF03.AS = 1/3″ Color Camera with IR Filter
3. DBK 41AF02.AS = 1/2″ Color Camera with no IR Filter