New Equipment Set-up Help and Troubleshooting

I recently recieved my SBIG CCD package and had some questions (below) regarding the set-up of my camera, filter wheel and autoguider.

1. I have the FW8-8300 filter wheel and the documentation I have only provides set-up information for the FW5-8300. In step 3 of the filter wheel set-up guide, it says "The FW5-8300 uses the same electronics and commands as the CFW9 filter wheel". Which option in CCDOPS Should i use for my FW8-8300? I want to make sure I'm using the correct software configuration for my hardware.

2. When trying to change the filter names in the filter set-up dialog box, I entered the name of the filters I was using for each filter position as instructed in the documentation, but upon closing the dialog box, the names were not saved. Is there a way to fix this?

3. Is there documentation about how to set up the STi as an off-axis guide camera? I'm looking for cable diagrams and things of that nature.Do I still need to use the USB cable or do I only need to connect the 'phone jack' cable between the autoguider and the body of my STF-8300?

4. Lastly, I'm running CCDOPS on a windows 8 laptop with a high resolution screen and the icon bar is too small to be readable/usable. Is there a way to change this?

Thanks in advance for the help

 

Hi Mark,

If you want to call me I can help you via phone and teamviewer if needed.

Regards
Tim

 

Thanks Tim, if possible I'd prefer to have a written copy. I like having written copies of the instructions for my records in case any of these things pop up again in the future.

thanks
mark

 

Hi Tim,

Just wanted to ping you again to see if you had a chance to work on any of the above questions.

thanks
mark

 

hi Doug,

Some of the questions I asked should have really been addressed in the standard documentation sent with the items I purchased. would you be able to help me with those (copied below)?

1. I have the FW8-8300 filter wheel and the documentation I have only provides set-up information for the FW5-8300. In step 3 of the filter wheel set-up guide, it says "The FW5-8300 uses the same electronics and commands as the CFW9 filter wheel". Which option in CCDOPS Should i use for my FW8-8300? I want to make sure I'm using the correct software configuration for my hardware.

3. Is there documentation about how to set up the STi as an off-axis guide camera? I'm looking for cable diagrams and things of that nature.Do I still need to use the USB cable or do I only need to connect the 'phone jack' cable between the autoguider and the body of my STF-8300?

 

Thank you, Doug. The manual you linked (and the one I referred to in my question) only mentions CFW9 for the FW5 hardware, though you're indicating it can be used for the FW8 as well, which is what i wanted to know. It may avoid confusion if the manual explicitly stated to use CFW9 for the FW8 as well. Or if the software was updated to include the standard products currently offered by SBIG

 

Does that mean CCDOPS is no longer supported or maintained by SBIG? CCDOPS certainly doesn't seem like it was designed to simply check the equipment was functioning.