Orion 52173 - page 4

pointing at an object at least a couple of

hundred feet away. Insert an eyepiece

and focus as you normally would.

To obtain ﬁrst images with the SSUE, fol-

low these step-by-step instructions:

Plug the camera into your com-1.

puter’s USB port.

Double click the Orion AmCap icon 2.

now installed on your computer’s

desktop.

Orion AmCap will automatically 3.

connect directly to your camera

with a Live Video Window. Your

Live Video Window will only show

light and dark before the camera is

coupled to your telescope.

When the camera is connected 4.

to the computer, the Live Video

Window (and subsequent images

captured with the camera) will dis-

play at 352x288 resolution. The

native resolution of the camera sen-

sor is 320x240 and can be set from

the options menu. Higher resolu-

tions are available but pixels will be

interpolated from the native 320x240

resolution and the larger image will

not be as sharp as in 320x240 resolution. The higher resolution makes for

better group live viewing and as a focusing aid. To change to full resolu-

tion mode, select Video Capture Pin from Options menu, select 1280x960

under the Output Size heading, then click OK (Figure 5). The Live Video

Window will now display at full resolution, and will occupy most of the

computer monitor’s screen. Any images captured with the camera will now

also be at full resolution. To move the Live Video Window out of the way,

click on the top bar of the window and drag it to the desired location on

the computer screen.

To connect the camera to the telescope, simply replace the telescope’s 5.

1.25" eyepiece with the camera. Make sure the securing thumbscrew on

the focuser drawtube is tightened after the camera is inserted.

You will now need to refocus the camera for the centered object. Focusing 6.

will be the hardest thing to learn in the initial stages. If you are starting out

in daylight, as is recommended, you may need to turn the exposure and/

or brightness control of the camera down before attempting to focus. This

is done by selecting Video Capture Filter in the Options menu and moving

the exposure or brightness slider (Figure 6). If the daytime image bright-

ness is still too bright to produce an acceptable image on your computer

screen, you may need to stop-down the aperture of your telescope.

Look at the 7. Live Video Window on the computer screen and adjust the

focus knob accordingly to determine best image focus.

Note: The camera’s ﬁeld of view is fairly small. It is approximately equivalent to

the ﬁeld of view through the telescope when looking through a typical (i.e. not

wide-ﬁeld) 3.8mm Ultrascopic eyepiece and 2x Barlow.

Image orientation can be changed by rotating the camera within the 8.

focuser drawtube. Simply loosen the thumbscrew on the drawtube and

rotate the camera until the desired image orientation is achieved. Retighten

the thumbscrew on the focuser drawtube when done. You may need to

slightly refocus (using the telescope’s focus knob) if the focuser drawtube

has moved a bit inward or outward when the camera was rotated.

Select 9. Capture File from the File menu and name your ﬁle including the

AVI extension name. IE mymovie.avi. Click Open.

Enter the amount of disk space to allocate as a buffer for this data. 10.

Movie ﬁles need a large amount of disk space. Enter a value such as 50

Megabytes or higher. Press ok. The size of the captured data may be

much higher than this value depending upon number and size of frames

captured.

Select 11. Set Frame Rate under the Capture menu. Check the box Use

Frame Rate and type 15. Press ok.

Select 12. Set Time Limit under the Capture menu. Check the box Use

Time Limit and type 20. Press ok.

Select 13. Start Capture under the Capture menu.

Press ok when you are ready to capture Images. 14.

An AVI movie sequence of 300 frames (15 frames per second x 20 seconds)

will now be recorded.

The total number of captured frames is displayed on the bottom bar. If frames

are being dropped this will be displayed and the frame rate or resolution

should be set to a lower value to prevent this.

You have now taken your ﬁrst images with the SSUE! This simple method

of imaging is exactly how the camera is used to capture terrestrial subjects

during daylight hours. Close-up images of birds and other wildlife or faraway

vistas can all be obtained in this way with the SSUE. Solar images can also be

taken during the day with an optional full-aperture solar ﬁlter over the front of

the telescope.

Figure 5. Changing resolution via

options->Video Capture Pin.

Figure 6. Changing exposure via

options->Video Capture Filter.