Moravian Instruments G2 Series Mark II Manual de usuario
G2 Series Mark II
Cooled CCD Cameras
User’s Guide
Version 1.1
Modified on July 27th, 2018
All information furnished by Moravian Instruments is believed to be
accurate. Moravian Instruments reserves the right to change any
information contained herein without notice.
G2 cameras are not authorized for and should not be used within Life
Support Systems without the specific written consent of the Moravian
Instruments. Product warranty is limited to repair or replacement of
defective components and does not cover injury or property or other
consequential damages.
Copyright © 2000-2018, Moravian Instruments
Moravian Instruments
Masarykova 1148
763 02 Zlín
Czech Republic
phone: +420 577 107 171
web: http://www.gxccd.com/
e-mail: info@gxccd.com
Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................. 5
G2 Camera Overview .................................................................................... 8
CCD Detectors and Camera Electronics ...................................................... 12
CCD sensor .............................................................................................. 15
Model G2-0400 ................................................................................... 16
Model G2-1600 ................................................................................... 16
Model G2-3200 ................................................................................... 16
Model G2-8300 ................................................................................... 16
Model G2-2000 ................................................................................... 17
Model G2-4000 ................................................................................... 17
Camera Electronics .................................................................................. 17
Model G2-0400 ................................................................................... 18
Model G2-1600 ................................................................................... 19
Model G2-3200 ................................................................................... 19
Model G2-8300 ................................................................................... 19
Model G2-2000 ................................................................................... 19
Model G2-4000 ................................................................................... 19
Cooling and power supply ........................................................................... 21
Power supply ........................................................................................... 22
Mechanical Specifications ........................................................................... 24
Camera with Internal Filter Wheel .......................................................... 25
Camera with “XS” External Filter Wheel ................................................. 27
Camera without filter wheel ................................................................... 28
Optional accessories ................................................................................... 30
Telescope adapters ................................................................................. 30
Off-Axis Guider Adapter (OAG) ............................................................... 30
Attaching camera head to telescope mount ........................................... 31
Camera head color variants .................................................................... 32
Gx Camera Ethernet Adapter .................................................................. 33
Adjusting of the telescope adapter ............................................................. 34
Camera Maintenance .................................................................................. 37
Desiccant exchange ................................................................................. 37
Exchanging the silica-gel...................................................................... 38
Changing Filters ....................................................................................... 39
Opening the camera head ................................................................... 39
Changing the Whole Filter Wheel ........................................................... 40
Changing the Telescope Adapter ............................................................ 41
Power Supply Fuse .................................................................................. 42
5
Introduction
Thank you for choosing the Moravian Instruments camera. The cooled G2
series Mark II CCD cameras were developed for imaging under extremely
low-light conditions in astronomy, microscopy and similar areas.
Design of this series inherits from earlier G2 Mark I cameras but brings
some significant enhancements. G2 cameras employ precise electronics
providing uniform frames and extremely low read noise limited only by
CCD detector itself.
Modular mechanical construction allows various camera variants to be
combined with rich set of accessories, including telescope adapters, off-
axis guider adapters, internal or external filter wheels, Ethernet adapters,
guiding cameras etc.
Rich software and driver support allows usage of G2 camera without
necessity to invest into any 3rd party software package thanks to included
free SIPS software package. However, ASCOM (for Windows) and INDI (for
Linux) drivers, shipped with the camera, provide the way to integrate G2
camera with vast variety of camera control programs.
The G2 cameras are designed to work in cooperation with a host Personal
Computer (PC). As opposite to digital still cameras, which are operated
independently on the computer, the scientific slow-scan, cooled cameras
usually require computer for operation control, image download,
processing and storage etc. To operate the camera, you need a computer
which:
1. Is compatible with a PC standard and runs modern 32 or 64-bit
Windows operating system.
2. Is compatible with a PC standard and runs 32 or 64-bit Linux
operating system.
Drivers for 32-bit and 64-bit Linux systems are provided, but the
SIPS camera control and image processing software, supplied
with the camera, requires Windows operating system.
6
3. Support for x64 based Apple Macintosh computers is also
included.
Only certain software packages are currently supported on Mac.
G2 cameras require at last one free USB 2.0 port to communicate with a
host PC.
A simple and cheap device called “USB hub” can expand number of
available USB port. Typical USB hub occupies one computer USB port
and offers four or seven additional USB ports. Make sure the USB hub
is USB 2.0 high-speed compatible.
Alternatively, it is possible to use the “Gx Camera Ethernet Adapter”
device. This device can connect up to four Gx cameras of any type (not only
G2, but also G0, G1, G3 and G4) and offers 1 Gbps and 10/100 Mbps
Ethernet interface for direct connection to the host PC. Because the PC
then uses TCP/IP protocol to communicate with the cameras, it is possible
to insert WiFi adapter or other networking device to the communication
path.
Please note while the USB standard allows usage of cable no longer
than approx. 5 meters, the TCP/IP communication protocol used to
connect the camera over the Ethernet adapter is routable, so the
distance between camera setup and the host PC is virtually unlimited.
The G2 cameras need an external power supply to operate. It is not
possible to run the camera from the power lines provided by the USB
cable, which is common for webcams or very simple imagers. G2 cameras
integrate highly efficient CCD chip cooling, shutter and possibly filter
wheel, so their power requirements significantly exceed USB line power
capabilities. On the other side separate power source eliminates problems
with voltage drop on long USB cables or with drawing of laptop batteries
etc.
Also note the camera must be connected to some optical system (e.g. the
telescope) to capture images. The camera is designed for long exposures,
necessary to acquire the light from faint objects. If you plan to use the
7
camera with the telescope, make sure the whole telescope/mount setup is
capable to track the target object smoothly during long exposures.
8
G2 Camera Overview
G2 camera head is designed to be easily used with a set of accessories to
fulfil various observing needs. Camera head itself is manufactured in two
different variants:
Camera with Internal filter wheel.
Camera with control port for External filter wheel. This model
allows attachment of several variants of external filter wheels
with various number of filter positions and sizes.
Figure 1: G2 Camera Mark II without filter wheel (left), with Internal filter wheel
(middle) and with attached External filter wheel (right)
G2 camera model with Internal filter wheel accepts two sizes of filters:
Filter wheel with 5 positions for unmounted D31 mm filters or
filters in 1.25” threaded cells.
Filter wheel with 6 positions for unmounted D26 mm (or 1”)
filters.
There are two sizes of the External filter wheels, each capable to accept
two sizes of filters, available for the G2 cameras:
Extra small “XS” size wheel for 8 unmounted filters D31 mm or
filters in 1.25” threaded cells.
9
Extra small “XS” size wheel for 7 unmounted filters D36 mm.
Small “S” size wheel for 12 unmounted filters D31 mm or filters in
1.25” threaded cells.
Small “S” size wheel for 10 unmounted filters D36 mm.
Because G2 series of cameras can work with various sensors, not all
filter wheel/filter variants can be used with every detector. For
instance, G2-8300 camera works with CCD measuring 22.7 mm
diagonally. Depending on the used optics f/ratio, 1” or even 1.25”
filters can cause more or less significant vignetting when combined
with such sensor.
Please note the camera head is designed to either accept Internal filter
wheel or to be able to connect to the External filter wheel, but not both. If
the Internal filter wheel variant is used, External filter wheel cannot be
attached.
10
Figure 2: Schematic diagram of G2 camera system components
Este manual sirve para los siguientes modelos
6
Tabla de contenidos
Otros manuales de Cámara de seguridad de Moravian Instruments
Moravian Instruments
Moravian Instruments G3 Mark II Series Manual de usuario
Moravian Instruments
Moravian Instruments G4-9000 Manual de usuario
Moravian Instruments
Moravian Instruments G2-0402 Manual de usuario
Moravian Instruments
Moravian Instruments G3-6300 Manual de usuario
Moravian Instruments
Moravian Instruments G4-9000 Manual de usuario
Moravian Instruments
Moravian Instruments G0 Manual de usuario
Moravian Instruments
Moravian Instruments G3-16200 Manual de usuario
Moravian Instruments
Moravian Instruments G0 Manual de usuario
