Specifications

Section 1 - Introduction
Page 15
camera and power back up again. The Remote Guiding Head contains a shutter and TE cooler. It
is therefore capable of taking dark frames without manual intervention by the user. The 1.25”
nosepiece is screwed into female t-threads on the face plate of the head. The nosepiece may be
removed and the head attached to an optical system using t-threads instead. An optional T-to-C
adapter is also available that allows the use of c-thread lenses or a C-to-Camera lens adapter such
as the CLA5 for attaching 35mm camera lenses.
1.1.11. Connecting water hoses
Research Series cameras are equipped with a heat exchanger inside the back cover that allows
water circulation if conditions require additional cooling of the CCD. The cameras may be
operated with or without water circulation. No special steps are
necessary to use water circulation other than connection of a water
supply. The camera comes with two water hose fittings (pictured in
the inset at left) that snap on and off of the water inlet and outlet
fixtures on the bottom of the camera. These fittings accept a hose
with an inside diameter of 1/8
th
inch (0.125”/3.2mm). Very little
pressure is needed. Only enough
pressure to maintain a constant
flow is required to get maximum
benefit from the water
circulation. Also, it is not necessary to cool the water below
ambient temperature with ice or refrigeration. Water at
ambient temperature is an effective heat conductor and a
constant flow of water will carry away enough heat from the
heat exchanger that further cooling of the water supply will
result in little gain. In fact, cooling the water supply too much may cool the camera well below the
dew point so that moisture forms on the inside surface of the case or the outside surface of the CCD
chamber window. If you do not have a way to supply water to the camera, the 12VDC water
pump and tubing shown above right is an optional accessory available from SBIG.
1.1.12. Extending the USB cable
The camera is supplied a standard 15’ (~4.6 meter) USB cable. If you wish to operate the camera
remotely, there are several ways to extend this distance between your computer and the camera:
Active USB Extension Cable. These accessories are commonly available at computer stores and
Radio Shack. They are 15 foot extension cables that get their power from the USB output port of
your computer. These are good if your computer is located no more then about 30 feet (~9 meters)
from the camera.
Powered USB extenders. Powered extenders such as the Icron Ranger (www.icron.com
) are also
commonly available in computer stores and by mail order over the Internet. These extenders
require power at one end of the cable (either end) and will let you operate the camera (or any USB
device) up to 100 meters from the computer.
Ethernet (LAN). SBIG provides server software that allows our USB cameras to be connected to a
computer near the camera and operated remotely over a local network (wired or wireless) by
another computer on the local network.