Starlight Xpress SXV-M8C - Manual (Page 29)

Handbook for the SXV-M8C Issue 1 Jan 2005
29
The high density parallel port socket provides both control and power for the add-on
autoguider, but also includes a pair of serial ports for use with other devices.
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Camera maintenance:
Very little maintenance is needed to keep the SXV-M8C in excellent operating order,
however two problems, which are common to all CCD equipment, might show up on
occasion. These are dust and condensation.
Removing Dust:
1) Dust can be deposited on either the optical window (not a big problem to cure), or
on the CCD faceplate (difficult to eliminate entirely). When small particles collect on
the window they may not be noticed at all on deep sky (small F ratio) images, as they
will be very much out of focus. However, if a powerful contrast boost of the image is
carried out, they may well begin to show as the shadow ‘Do-nuts’ mentioned earlier.
Images taken with a large F ratio optical system are more likely to be affected by such
dirt, owing to the smaller and sharper shadows that they cast. There is no great
difficulty in removing such particles on the outside surface by the careful use of a lens
cleaning cloth or ‘air duster’ and so you should have little trouble with this aspect of
maintenance. Dust on the CCD faceplate is a much greater nuisance, as it casts very
sharply defined and dark shadows and it entails dismantling the camera to get rid of
it! To clean the CCD you will need a good quality lens cloth (no silicone) or tissues
and some high-grade isopropyl alcohol. A very suitable cloth is the ‘Micro-Fibre’
type marketed by PENTAX etc., and suitable alcohol is available from Tandy (Radio
Shack) etc. as tape head cleaning fluid. A bright light and a strong watchmakers
eyeglass will also be found to be essential.
Procedure:
1) Disconnect the lead from the camera head and remove it from the telescope. Place
it on a table with the optical window facing downward.
2) Remove the two M3 screws from the camera back plate and ease the plate out of
the camera body. Unplug the power lead from the camera PCB.
3) Withdraw the body cylinder and unscrew the two long spacer pillars from the heat
sink plate assembly.