Setting up the CCD camera for imaging involves linking the camera and computer and setting the temperature regulation.

Linking to the Camera

Select CCD Control from the MaxIm DL toolbar

Above:  The MaxIm DL toolbar, showing the CCD Control button.

Once the CCD Control window appears, select the Guide tab.  This is where you will select the CCD camera, color wheel, and autoguider settings, as well as set the temperature regulation.

Click on the Setup button under Main CCD Camera.  This will bring up the Camera Setup window.  Here you can select the model of camera you are using and other settings such as the type of connection.  In this example an SBIG ST-10XME will be setup.

Above:  Camera setup window.  Here the SBIG Universal driver is selected.  Connect to is set to USB and Guide Chip is set to Internal, indicating the use of a self-guiding CCD.

After closing the Main CCD Camera window, click the Setup button under Filter Wheel (if your camera has one).  Here you can select the filter wheel being used, and name any additional filters that have been added to the default filter set, such as a hydrogen-alpha filter.

Above:  Filter Wheel setup window.  SBIG Universal has been selected as the Filter or Controlling Camera Model.  The Model of the wheel itself, CFW8, was selected under the Model pulldown menu.  The default filters are Red, Green, Blue, and Clear.  An H-Alpha filter was added to the fifth filter position and the name was added to the list of filters.

Finally, if using an autoguider, you can select that with the Setup button under Autoguider.  You can setup either a separate guide camera, or in the case of the SBIG ST-10XME used here, you can set it up for the camera's self-guiding feature.

Above:  Autoguider setup window.  Here Camera Model was set to Same as main camera, indicating a self-guiding CCD.

Once finished with the camera setup, click the Connect button to link to the camera.  You should see "Cooler is off" in the Main CCD Camera window.  The current temperature setpoint is indicated (in the example below, it is -28.0 degrees).  The current temperature is not indicated yet.

Setting the Temperature

Click Cooler On and the current camera temperature will be indicated and should begin to drop toward the setpoint.  If you need to change the setpoint, click on Cooler and the following window will appear:

Enter the desired setpoint (for example, -20) and the camera will attempt to achieve that setpoint.  If, after a few minutes, the camera cooler is still working at 100%, but the desired setpoint has not been reached, enter a higher temperature.  If the setpoint has been reached but the cooler is working less than about 85%, set a lower temperature.  You want the cooler to be working at about 90% during your imaging session to give you the most effectiveness.

Next, Focusing the CCD Camera....

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