CCDAutoPilot
Version 2.15 Beta Testing
Richard A. Bennion
04.12.2005

The following document chronicles several months of testing new features of CCDAutoPilot (Version 2.15b).

The following images detail the equipment used to obtain test images for analysis.

Imaging Platform:

Celestron C9.25 - 235mm Aperture, 2421mm FL
ST10XME - 6.8 Micron Pixels, 2184 x 1472 Pixel Array
CCD Sensor Field of View: 21.1' x 14.2'
Image Scale: .57 arc-second per pixel

Software Platform

Telescope Control: TheSky6 Version 6.0.0.33
Camera Control: CCDSoft5 Version 5.00.152
Focuser Control: FocusMax Version 3.2.6
Rotator Control: CCDAutoPilot Version 2.15b

Computing Platform

Dell Precision M50 Laptop
Windows XP Proffesional
2.4Ghz Pentium 4
1GB of RAM

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NOTE: All test images are un-binned and shown at 100% actual size.

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Test Image #1 - M51
Date Taken: 03.24.2005

Image Details:
.57 arc-second per pixel image scale
Seeing/Trans: Average/Average
24 x 300 second exposures

CCDAutoPilot Features Used:
SkyStar Focusing Routing
Periodic Focusing every 20 Minutes
Enhanced Dithering Algorithm @ 3.5 Pixels
Dark Frame Acquisition (20 Frames)
Automatic Dawn Sky Flat Acquisition @ 20,000 ADU (20 Frames)
Auto Park Routine

Analysis:
FWHM Range of Sub Exposures: 2.3" - 3.1"
Average FWHM of Registered and Combined FITS: 2.5"
Deconvolved FWHM: 1.3"
Hot and Cold Pixel Artifacts: 0
Cosmic Ray Hit Artifacts: 0

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Test Image #2 - M65
Date Taken: 03.29.2005

Image Details:
.57 arc-second per pixel image scale
Seeing/Trans: Below Average/Poor
24 x 300 second exposures

CCDAutoPilot Features Used:
SkyStar Focusing Routing
Periodic Focusing every 20 Minutes
Enhanced Dithering Algorithm @ 2.5 Pixels

Analysis:
FWHM Range of Sub Exposures: 2.5" - 3.2"
Average FWHM of Registered and Combined FITS: 2.7"
Deconvolved FWHM: 1.5"
Hot and Cold Pixel Artifacts: 0
Cosmic Ray Hit Artifacts: 0

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Test Image #3 - M66
Date Taken: 03.29.2005

Image Details:
.57 arc-second per pixel image scale
Seeing/Trans: Below Average/Poor
24 x 300 second exposures

CCDAutoPilot Features Used:
SkyStar Focusing Routing
Periodic Focusing every 20 Minutes
Enhanced Dithering Algorithm @ 2.5 Pixels

Analysis:
FWHM Range of Sub Exposures: 2.4" - 3.1"
Average FWHM of Registered and Combined FITS: 2.6"
Deconvolved FWHM: 1.3"
Hot and Cold Pixel Artifacts: 0
Cosmic Ray Hit Artifacts: 0

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Test Image #4 - NGC3628
Date Taken: 03.30.2005

Image Details:
.57 arc-second per pixel image scale
Seeing/Trans: Average/Average
48 x 300 second exposures

CCDAutoPilot Features Used:
Automatic Meridian Flip: Self-Guider
Rotator Control
SkyStar Focusing Routing
Periodic Focusing every 20 Minutes
Enhanced Dithering Algorithm @ 3.0 Pixels
Dark Frame Acquisition (20 Frames)
Automatic Dawn Sky Flat Acquisition @ 20,000 ADU (20 Frames)

Analysis:
FWHM Range of Sub Exposures: 2.1" - 2.7"
Average FWHM of Registered and Combined FITS: 2.3"
Deconvolved FWHM: 1.2"
Hot and Cold Pixel Artifacts: 0
Cosmic Ray Hit Artifacts: 0

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Test Image #5 - M99
Date Taken: 04.09.2005

Image Details:
.57 arc-second per pixel image scale
Seeing/Trans: Average/Above Average
36 x 300 second exposures

CCDAutoPilot Features Used:
Automatic Meridian Flip: Self-Guider
Rotator Control
SkyStar Focusing Routing
Periodic Focusing every 20 Minutes
Enhanced Dithering Algorithm @ 3.0 Pixels
Dark Frame Acquisition (20 Frames)
Automatic Dawn Sky Flat Acquisition @ 20,000 ADU (20 Frames)

Analysis:
FWHM Range of Sub Exposures: 2.3" - 3.1"
Average FWHM of Registered and Combined FITS: 2.5"
Deconvolved FWHM: 1.4"
Hot and Cold Pixel Artifacts: 0
Cosmic Ray Hit Artifacts: 0

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Test Image #6 - M64
Date Taken: 04.11.2005

Image Details:
.57 arc-second per pixel image scale
Seeing/Trans: Poor/Poor
48 x 300 second exposures

CCDAutoPilot Features Used:
Automatic Meridian Flip: Self-Guider
Rotator Control
SkyStar Focusing Routing
Periodic Focusing every 20 Minutes
Enhanced Dithering Algorithm @ 3.5 Pixels
Auto Exposure Start Feature @ .60 Pixels
Dark Frame Acquisition (20 Frames)
Automatic Dawn Sky Flat Acquisition @ 20,000 ADU (20 Frames)

Analysis:
FWHM Range of Sub Exposures: 2.9" - 4.1"
Average FWHM of Registered and Combined FITS: 3.1"
Deconvolved FWHM: 2.3"
Hot and Cold Pixel Artifacts: 0
Cosmic Ray Hit Artifacts: 0