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Langenbrettach/Germany, February 8th 2004

Matthias Bopp

Controlling the Mintron Camera remotely

Table of content

Table of content.......................................................................................................................... 1

General information on the Mintron camera and its use............................................................ 2

Specification of the Mintron camera...................................................................................... 2

The special CCD chip of the Mintron camera........................................................................ 3

The Mintron used with a NexStar N11GPS and a Hyperstar lens assembly (at f/2.1) .......... 4

Changing the green LED of the Mintron video camera to a dimmed red LED ..................... 5

Operating instructions for the Mintron camera ...................................................................... 6

The Mintron OSD command structure................................................................................. 10

Adding a RS232 interface to the Mintron camera.................................................................... 11

Concept of the RS232 interface ........................................................................................... 11

Remote connector for the RS232 interface .......................................................................... 11

Schematic of the RS232 interface module ........................................................................... 11

Layout and assembly plan of the RS232 interface module.................................................. 12

How to assemble the module into the Mintron camera........................................................ 13

Schematic of an extended the RS232 module...................................................................... 15

Simple RS232 cable for the Mintron video camera ............................................................. 16

Advanced cabling for the Mintron video camera................................................................. 16

Software to control the Mintron camera remotely ................................................................... 17

Interface protocol ................................................................................................................. 17

List of commands for use with the Mintron camera ............................................................ 17

Using the Software “Hyper Terminal” from Windows........................................................ 18

Using the Software “StellaCam

Control”........................................................................ 21

Using the Software “StellaCam

Buttons” ....................................................................... 21

Using the Software “Radio Remote Control” ...................................................................... 22

Using a radio link to control the Mintron camera ................................................................ 22

Source code for the ATMEL controller ............................................................................... 22

Conclusion and acknowledgement........................................................................................... 22

Summary of content (22 pages)

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Langenbrettach/Germany, February 8th 2004 Matthias Bopp Controlling the Mintron Camera remotely Table of content Table of content.......................................................................................................................... 1 General information on the Mintron camera and its use............................................................ 2 Specification of the Mintron camera ......................................................................................
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General information on the Mintron camera and its use Specification of the Mintron camera The Mintron camera MTV-12V1-EX uses a Sony exview HAD ½” CCD-chip ICX249AL. The letter “E” identifies the EIA version used in the US with a frame rate of 60Hz (see mid column), the letter “C” identifies the PAL version for Europe using a frame rate of 50Hz (see right column). The PAL version features a number of 752(H) x 582(V) effective pixels with a pixel size of 8.6um (H) x 8.3um (V).
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The special CCD chip of the Mintron camera The Mintron camera MTV-12V1-EX uses a Sony "EX-View" HAD ½” CCD-chip ICX249AL. "EX-View" is a sensitivity-enhancement technology developed by SONY to improve light sensitivity of its CCD by a factor of two for visible light and a factor of four for near-infrared wavelengths. The P/N junction of each photodiode in the CCD matrix is specially fabricated to have a much better photon-to-electron conversion efficiency.
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The Mintron used with a NexStar N11GPS and a Hyperstar lens assembly (at f/2.1) One of the most amazing results using the Mintron at the N11GPS can be achieved when using this camera in conjunction with the Hyperstar lens assembly. This wide-field setup is especially suited for a remote observing setup. You can find an article on how to build the necessary adapter on my homepage.
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Changing the green LED of the Mintron video camera to a dimmed red LED I really like the Mintron video camera for deep-sky observations in conjunction with my N11GPS and the Hyperstar lens assembly very much. However I found the very bright green LED on the back, indicating that the camera is powered and thus active, very annoying.
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Operating instructions for the Mintron camera There are 5 push buttons on the back of the camera. Pressing the middle button (2 seconds) activates the on-screen menu. Select the individual functions via the UP and DOWN arrows. De-activate any function or change a parameter via the LEFT and RIGHT arrows. Dots after a selection (e.g. AGC…) indicate that there is an extended menu; this is activated via the middle button. RETURN takes one to the previous menu. 1.
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3.2 ALC The Electronic Light Control is off. When using an auto iris lens, the basic brightness can be set manually. In addition, the following shutter speeds can be set manually: 1/50s (OFF) – 1/120s – 1/180s – 1/ 250s – 1/350s – m1/500s – 1/750s – 1/1.000s – 1/1.500s – 1/2.000s – 1/3.000s –1/4.000s – 1/6.000s – 1/ 8.000 – 1/12.000s Note: For automatic brightness control in the ALC function, an auto iris lens with a voltagecontrolled aperture (DC) is necessary. 4.
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5. AGC - Automatic Gain Control 5.1 AGC OFF Automatic Gain Control is off. 5.2 AGC ON Automatic Gain Control is on. LEVEL enables one to select the maximum value of 0-18dB. 5.3 AGC MANU Automatic Gain Control of 0 - 18dB can be set via LEVEL. 6. W/B SELECT – White Balance (no function on S/W types 13V0, 13V1 and 12V1) The camera has 3 possible white-balance functions. 6.1 ATW - Automatic White Balance Automatic white balance. 6.2 MANU... PRESET OFF Manual white-balance setting. RED : red BLUE : blue 6.
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6.4 AWC Individually calibrated White Balance. Pressing the middle button calibrates the White Balance. At this point the camera should be aimed at a white surface, e.g. a wall. White Balance The camera has a single-frame White-Balance. This rapid White Balance in 6ms is effective in preventing color distortions during the setting. A range of 2200 – 15000oK ensures natural color reproduction, from candlelight to bright daylight. 7. SYNC Camera synchronization is internal. This menu item has no function. 8.
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The Mintron OSD command structure 10/22
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Adding a RS232 interface to the Mintron camera Concept of the RS232 interface The basic concept of the RS232 control interface is to mimic the buttons remotely. Besides this there are 3 additional general purpose control outputs P1.0 to P1.2 available. Remote connector for the RS232 interface I replaced the connector on the rear of the Mintron, which is normally used as an S-Video output, by a 6 pin Mini.-DIN connector and use it also for the remote control operation.
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Layout and assembly plan of the RS232 interface module The first 2 pictures show the layout of the single sided PCB as well as the assembly plan. The layout data will be posted on my webpage as a binary file for easy reproduction. The picture below shows how the connectors are wired to the 5 buttons on the rear panel of the Mintron camera (K4) and to the RS232 interface (K3). Connector K5 is wired to Pins 1 and 6 of K3 and will be plugged into the free jack of the horizontal main PCB in the Mintron camera.
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How to assemble the module into the Mintron camera Rear view of the Mintron camera This shows the new remote control connector from the rear Here the S-Video connector is already replaced by the new 6 pin remote control connector Side view of the Mintron camera while open.
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New PCB with ATMEL controller assembled The white circles identify the pins of the buttons which are tied to ground. The black circles identify the signal pins, which are pulled to ground while the respective button is pressed. The control outputs at Connector K4 of the new PCB with the ATMEL controller are connected by wires one of the black marked points of each button.
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Schematic of an extended the RS232 module This extended module provides a open collector output signal which can be tied to an external voltage which can exceed the supply voltage of the AT89C4051 controller. Port pins P1.2 to P1.7 provide internal pull-up resistors tied to the supply voltage of the IC (AT89C4051). P1.0 and P1.1 require external pull-ups (you can see the 2k7Ohm pull up resistors). The hand written additional parts are needed to use the general purpose I/O-ports P1.0 and P1.
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Simple RS232 cable for the Mintron video camera The easiest way to connect the Mintron video camera to the RS232 port of your PC is to use the following cable. You only need to connect 2 wires plus the shielding of the cable as shown in the diagram. You do not need to connect the other Pins unless you need them. Advanced cabling for the Mintron video camera This diagram shows an advanced wiring for the Mintron camera like I use it presently.
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Software to control the Mintron camera remotely Interface protocol The RS232 parameters to be used are: 9600bd, 8 bit, no parity, 1 start-bit, 1 stop-bit, LSB first. The interface is only unidirectional (only commands are sent to the camera). No information is sent from the camera back to the PC. Therefore only the TXD-line is used (besides Ground) as was explained in the previous section on how to build the cable.
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Using the Software “Hyper Terminal” from Windows Windows Hyper Terminal is a standard tool of Windows 98/NT/2000. In principle you may also use any other terminal program which is able to send characters via the COM port to the camera. In order to setup Windows Hyper Terminal to control the camera, please follow the instructions below: 1. Start Windows Hyper Terminal. 2. Setup a new connection and choose a name for it like MTV-12V1.
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3. Choose ‘connect using COM1’. If you are using another COM port please chose the number of the port where the camera is connected. 4. Setup the serial parameters as shown in the image. After Hyper Terminal starts up you may minimize the window.
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If the Hyper Terminal window is active, and the camera is well connected to the COM port, you are able to control the camera by using the number block of your PC keyboard just like the buttons on the back of the camera. Please see the table of commands in the previous chapter. If you close Hyper Terminal click ‘YES - Save session’. To restart Hyper Terminal with this setup you will only need to click on the icon MTV-12V1.
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Using the Software “StellaCam TM Control” It looks like this controller uses the same command set and interface protocol as the Stellacam Camera. Therefore the Stellacam TM Control software may be used. Of course I cannot guarantee that this holds true especially for future releases of the Stellacam TM software.
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Using the Software “Radio Remote Control” This is a flexible shell from which you can call programs to control your camera or initiate commands directly. There are only 2 files needed: RaRemCtrl.exe and RaRemCtrl.ini. The .ini file is a plain ASCII file which allows to configure the buttons shown in the example above. This program can be downloaded from my webpage free of charge. Using a radio link to control the Mintron camera Of course the RS232 cable can also be replaced by a wireless link.