SGP Settings for Atik 16200

Sequence Generator
1

I received the new Atik 16200 about 6 weeks ago and I have set up in SGP. However, there are a few settings that I am not sure about and thought I would ask here to see if anyone else has the same or similar camera that could help me out.

The first setting I am not sure about are the “Gain (Value and e-/ADU)”. The camera specs indicate a Gain Factor: 0.6e-/ ADU. So I took 0.6 as the 1x1 Gain value to use in SGP. The specs don’t specify what this values is for the different Binning modes. Do I just use 0.6 for all the binning modes or do I divide 0.6 by the binning mode, i.e. 0.6/2 for 2x2, 0.6/3 for 3x3, etc?

The next setting that I am not sure about is the “Use High Speed Download”. I also see in the Camera’s ASCOM settings when you add the Camera to SGP there is an option to use “High Priority Download”. I am not sure exactly what these options do and if one or both options should be checked.

Finally, when I installed the Atik Core Software, it also installs the Atik 16200 Column Repair Tool. There are no instructions that I could find for this tool, so I assumed you just identify what column is bright and enter that column number in the Bad Columns Box and then click on Set Columns. I have specified the bright column that I have on my sensor, and it did remove the bad column from the image I took in the Repair Tool. However, when I go into SGP and take a Bias image I still see the bright column even thought I selected “Column Correction” in the Camera ASCOM settings. Does anyone know if the column correction works with SGP? I know that Darks should remove this column as well, but it would be nice if it didn’t show up at all.

Many thanks for the help.

Andrew J

2

I have the Moravian version of the camera.
The gain is non-adjustable so the gain will remain constant across binning
levels. I believe the adjustable gain idea is mostly for CMOS cameras.
I have “Use high speed download” enabled in the control panel. I don’t
actually know if it makes a difference for frame and focus images, but SGP
always downloads actual event images in the low speed download mode
regardless of if this option is enabled or not.

I do not know anything about the Atik column repair tool, but in my
Moravian camera there are 2-3 bad columns that disappear with cooling. Are
you sure you need the Atik repair tool at all?

3

Hi Joel.

Thank you for sharing your settings that you use for the 16200 sensor. I will do the same thing and use the 0.6 gain for all binning modes and turn on the High Speed download.

Unfortunately I still see 1 bright column in my -15C cooled Bias. I guess I will just rely on Darks or Cosmetic Correction in PI to remove it. I was just curious if anyone else had any luck getting the output from the column repair tool to work with SGP. I doubt it would as the correction would have to be stored in the camera in order for SGP to use it. I suspect it is just a utility that only works with the Atik Artemis imaging software that comes with the camera.

Thanks Again.

Andrew J