For those of you that are just starting off in the imaging field with your DMK and need a couple of good reference “go to” places, let me help. AstronomyCamerasBLOG.com will, of course, provide you not only with FAQ’s from your peers, but also brilliant shots sent to us by the DMK camera community.

Additionally, The Imaging Source has a wealth of information both on the homepage in “The White Papers“and in the Imaging Control Forums monitored by our own IC Capture Guru, Stefan. “The White Papers” and the Forums can be found directly at the links below:

http://www.theimagingsource.com/en/resources/whitepapers/

http://www.theimagingsourceforums.com/

Alternatively, I recently ran across quite a nice CCD glossary by Ron Wodaski on Sky Insight, a downloadable magazine for sky imaging. One thing you can never have enough of in the imaging world is support. Hopefully these are a good beginning!

Many DMK users have inquired about the possibility of using The Imaging Source astronomy cameras in conjunction with MaxIm DL for guiding. Shown with graphical displays, here are step by step instructions to guide your scope via the Cyanogen software:

1. Open the MaxIm DL software and click on View CCD Control Window.

2. In the Setup tab, click the Setup button in the Main CCD Camera window.

3. Select Video DS as the Camera Model.

4. Select your DMK camera model in the Source dropdown.

5. Now in the CCD Control Window, click Connect.

6. To adjust the properties, click on the Settings tab in the CCD Control Window.

7. Next click on Options>Camera Settings>Video Capture Filter.

8. When the Device Property window opens, adjust as needed.

9. To Adjust Device Settings, select the Settings tab again in the CCD Control window.

10. Click on Options>Camera Settings>Video Capture Pin.

11. The Device Settings window open and you can then adjust the number of frames per second, the video format, and the video resolution to name a few.

12. Have fun!

Driving down the long road toward your modest home, your wondering what sort of concoction you should make for you and your peeps. It was an exhausting day on the job and you barely notice the UPS truck driving in the opposite direction. Pulling up the driveway, you spy a shipping box placed on the tweed mat in front of your faded green front door. It’s the new 1394 FireWire CCD camera from AstronomyCameras.com!

You eagerly rifle through the nondescript shipping material and extract a little white cube looking box with those glorious letters, DMK! Further searching for prizes, you reveal the the power supply some call “the mainy” and the Firewire Cable that will soon electrify your nightly stargazing.

Then, you open the power supply unit and…eek! “Why would they send so many plugs when I only have one camera?”

In order to keep costs as low as possible, AstronomyCameras.com and TheImagingSource ships the identical power supply units (PSU) with all of its products.

Option 1: If you have purchased a PSU for either the Y-Cable or the PCI FireWire card, use the RED tipped adapter.

Option 2: For those of you that only purchased a Y-Cable and plan to use your telescope battery, the camera is CENTER-POLE POSITIVE.

Astrophotography, using CCD cameras, has taken giant strides in the last few years. Today, amateurs astrophotographers can capture images of Saturn and Jupiter that rival those produced by leading Earth-based observatories fifteen years ago.

This is possible thanks to the general availability of affordable astronomy cameras that are capable of capturing thousands of frames per minute; replacing the single frame systems that were used in the eighties for astrophotography.

Often at The Imaging Source, we receive telephone calls from people looking to get started in astrophotography. They want to know how they can use to their advantage these affordable astronomy cameras for their hobby.

To address this growing proportion of our customer base, we have collected a number of links to tutorials and articles, written for those just starting out:

• Planetary Imaging and Image Processing
• Introduction to Digital Astrophotography
• Quick Start Guide to Beginner Digital Astrophotography
• Astrophotography for Beginners
• Astrophotography Basics
• Getting Started in Astrophotography
• Getting Started - A Beginners Guide to Astrophotography
• Wikipedia - Astrophotography

Furthermore, the following books are also worth reading:

• Photography with your Telescope, Edmund Scientific
• Astrophotography: An Introduction, H. J. P. Arnold
• Astrophotography for the Amateur, Michael Covington

The Imaging Source 1394 FireWire cameras are stable, high speed CCD imagers that come with the robust IC Capture software free of charge. They can be connected with either a 6pin-to-6pin or a 6pin-to-4pin FireWire cable shown on this blog and additionally on the AstronomyCameras.com website. The difference is only in the source of power for the camera. If your computer (desktop or laptop) has a 6pin FireWire port (shown here), the camera draws power from the computer.

If only a 4pin port (shown here) exists on your computer, power must be supplied by using a Y-cable and an additional power supply unit (PSU) available on AstronomyCameras.com.

Additionally, if you are using a laptop, you can purchase a FireWire PCI card, power the card, and again draw the power from the computer. Both methods will allow your model of The Imaging Source camera to work at peak efficiency!

Note: Except for Macs, most US laptops are not outfitted with 6pin 1394 ports due to the power draw. Most likely you will have to either power the camera with the Y-cable or power the PCI card.