Firstly, when you plug in your Altair Camera with the supplied USB cable, you’ll notice the camera model number appear under the “Camera List” menu header on the top left in white text i.e. “AA183CPRO”. Remove the lens cap on the camera and point it at an evenly lit surface. Click on the camera name, (highlighted in the image below) and the right-hand preview pane will automatically start the camera running in video mode, displaying a blurry area. If you have the Meteor lens kit or some other optical device like a telescope or microscope attached, you may see an image, or just a big blurry field if it isn’t focused on anything. If the camera isn’t plugged in, “No Device” will appear instead of the camera name. Tip: Remember to remove the dust cap from the camera, and set exposure to 10ms (milliseconds) or more in average lighting. Remember to switch the microscope light on and ensure light reaches the camera. If the preview screen area remains black, read black preview screen article here to set optimum USB speed.

Using the left-hand sidebar menu in AltairCapture: Underneath the camera name, you’ll see a sidebar with options to control your camera settings. The idea of the sidebar is to allow many options to be available in a small space under an intuitive heading. It can be scrolled up and down. Right clicking on it will show various options such as floating and docking. Menus are compacted, and will open when the headers are clicked, revealing their contents. All menus will remain open until you click on the little upwards-pointing arrows in the top right of the menu title bar, upon which the menu will fold up again to save space. The camera sidebar is displayed by default. You can change this in the file menu running length-wise at the top of the interface. In the file menu, click “Options” > “Preferences” > “Misc.” for defaults, including language settings. To reset the menu to defaults on restarting the software, from the top file menu, choose “Window” > “Rest Window Layout”.

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