SBIG encourages and supports third party developers. We try to make it easy for you to support our products. This page contains links to all of SBIG's Software Development Tools and Documentation. These tools allow you to develop custom software for SBIG's Parallel Port, USB and Ethernet based cameras under Microsoft Windows, Macintosh OSX and Linux.
If you have any questions or problems please Send us Email.
| Section |
Description |
| I | Documentation |
| II | Microsoft
Windows Development Tools Every tool you need for Windows based development. |
| III | Macintosh
OSX Development Tools Yes it's true. SBIG cameras work with Mac OSX! |
| IV | Linux
Development Tools Linux based developers come here. |
| V | Supplemental
Software Various multi-platform supplemental software can be found here. |
| VI | Page
Revision History Lists the history of changes made to this web page and the links within. |
This sections contains links to the various documents for SBIG Software Developers.
| Link/Version |
Description |
| Click
Here Version 4.66 |
SBIG Universal Driver Documentation This PDF file describes the SBIG Universal Driver Library for communicating with Paralell Port, USB and Ethernet based cameras under Microsoft Windows, Macintosh OSX and Linux. |
| Click Here
Sep. 9, 2003 |
Installing USB Drivers on Windows This PDF file describes the procedure to install the USB and Parallel port drivers on Windows based systems. With Windows it's critical that drivers get installed correctly BEFORE you attach the camera for the first time. Please follow these instructions to the letter prior to attaching your camera to your computer. |
| Click Here
Dec. 1, 2004 |
SBIG Image Format This PDF Application Note describes the SBIG Type 3 image format. This is the image format used by CCDOps to read and write images. The format includes a 2048 byte text-based header followed by the image data. Both uncompressed and compressed (delta-compression) formats are described. |
| Click Here
Version 1.0 Mar. 19, 2003 |
SBIG FITS Standard Extensions This PDF Application Note describes the SBIG FITS Extensions. The purpose of these extensions is to get better inter-operability between the major Astronomical Imaging Software packages. It describes a set of FITS keywords. This was published as a proposal and aggreed to by SBIG (CCDOps), Software Bisque (CCDSoft) and Cyanogen (MaximDl). If you have any comments on this Standard or wish to propse changes please Send us Email |
| Click Here
Version 1.3 May 12, 2010 |
Class Library Documentation This PDF Application Note describes the SBIG Class Library that contains the CSBIGImg and CSBIGCam classes for acquisition of images with SBIG Cameras. |
| Click Here 5th Draft Jan. 20, 2000 |
STV Serial Command Protocol This PDF Application Note describes the communications prototcol used in controlling STV cameras over the serial port. The remote control of an STV is unlike every other SBIG camera in that you simulate keypresses and monitor text messages displayed on the camera's Vacuum Flourescent Display (VFD). This is how our STV Remote software works. Note that the STV is not supported by the SBIG Universal Driver Library which only supports USB and Parallel Ports based cameras. |
| Click Here Oct. 6, 1999 |
Additions to the SBIG File Format for STV
Images This PDF Application Note describes changes made to the SBIG Image file format to acommodate STV images. This is necessary due to the fact the the SBIG Image file format specifies exposures in units of 100ths of a second whereas the STV supports millisecond exposures. |
| Click
Here Mar. 10, 2003 |
STV Track Log Format This PDF Application Note describes the format of data sent out the STV's serial port while the STV is tracking. This includes the time, integrated star brightness and centroid position. |
| Click Here
Dec. 15, 1993 |
ST-6 Universal CPU Command Protocol This old PDF Application Note describes the communications prototcol used in controlling the serial port based ST-6, ST-5 and ST-4X cameras. Note that the these cameras are not supported by the SBIG Universal Driver Library which only supports USB and Parallel Ports based cameras. |
| Click Here
Mar. 19, 1994 |
ST-4 Serial Command Protocol This old PDF Application Note describes the communications prototcol used in controlling ST-4 cameras over the serial port. Note that the ST-4 is not supported by the SBIG Universal Driver Library which only supports USB and Parallel Ports based cameras. |
| Click Here
May 6, 1990 |
ST-4 Image File Format This old PDF Application Note describes the format for ST-4 images created with SBIG's CCD software. Note this is different than the SBIG Type 3 Image file format discussed above. |
| Click Here
Undated |
Hardware Interface to CFW-8 This PDF Application Note describes how the hardware interface to the CFW-8 for anyone desiring to use it with non-SBIG hardware or for developers who want to make hardware that emulates the CFW-8. |
| Click Here
Jan. 19, 1996 |
Software Interface to the CFW-6A and CFW-8 This old PDF Application Note describes how to support SBIG's motorized CFW-6A and CFW-8 filter wheels in software. This was written prior to adding a CFW API to the SBIG Universal Driver Library. New development should use the CFW API as described in the Universal Driver documentation listed above. |
This sections contains links to the various development tools for Windows based developers.
| Link |
Description |
| Click Here
Version 4.65 Build 3 |
Windows Development Kit This ZIP archive contains the documentation, header and library files needed for developing Windows based Visual C/C++ and Visual BASIC programs. This does not include the SBIG Driver Checker that can be downloaded below. |
| Click Here | SBIG Driver Checker/Installer This ZIP archive contains SetupDriverChecker.exe, a GUI program that checks the installed versions of the various SBIG drivers and installs the latest versions. You can distribute this installer with your Windows based programs. |
| Click
Here Latest Version |
CCDOps Software This ZIP archive contains an installer for our CCDOps software. This supports every camera and every accessory that SBIG has ever made except the now obsolete ST-4. We list this here as a reference for times when you wonder "Is there a bug in the SBIG Driver?" or "Is something wrong with my camera?". Run CCDOps and see if your problem persists. That will tell you whether the problem lies in your program or in our drivers. |
| Click
Here Version 1.0 |
Bulk SBIG-to-FITS Converter This Application allows you to bulk copy a group of SBIG format images to FITS format. These FITS images are created in compliance with the SBIG FITS Standard Extension described Here. |
| Click
Here Version 1.3 May 12, 2010 |
Project for CSBIGImg/CSBIGCam Classes This ZIP archive contains a sample Visual C++ 6.0 project that builds a test application around the CSBIGImg and CSBIGCam classes discussed in the Supplemental Software section below. |
| Click Here | Sample Visual C++ Program This ZIP archive contains a sample Visual C 6.0 project that allows to to establish a link and download images from parallel port and USB based cameras. |
| Click Here | Sample Visual BASIC Program for ST-5C/ST-237 This ZIP archive contains a sample Visual BASIC 6 project that allows to to establish a link and download images from ST-5C/ST-237 cameras. |
| Click Here | Sample Visual BASIC Program for ST-7 This ZIP archive contains a sample Visual BASIC 6 project that allows to to establish a link and download images from parallel port or USB based ST-7 cameras. |
| Click Here | Sample Visual BASIC Program for ST-3200 This ZIP archive contains a sample Visual BASIC 6 project that allows to to establish a link and download images from the USB based ST-3200 cameraa. |
| Click
Here Version 1.40 |
Ethernet Camera Server This ZIP archive contains EthSrvWin.exe, a command line program that allows you to serve Parallel Port and USB based camears over Ethernet. This allows you to have a remote computer in the Observatory (the server) and a computer in the House connected via Ethernet and with that you can image with the camera in the Observatory from within the House. This is intended for LAN use not for serving a camera over the Internet. |
| Click
Here Version 2.04 Build 6 |
Ethernet Camera Simulator This ZIP archive contains EthSim2.exe, a Windows GUI program that simulates various model cameras over Ethernet. This is handy when developing software for cameras that you don't actually have. |
| Click Here
Version 1.02 |
Driver Journal Receiver This ZIP archive contains SBIGUDVRJournalRx.exe, a GUI program that receives and displays a list of the calls made to the Universal Driver Library. By enabling journaling in the driver and running this program you can view a log of all calls made to the driver. This is handy for debugging software. |
| Click Here | Windows 95/98/Me LPT Port Discovery Tool This ZIP archive contains GetPortD.exe, a Windows 95/98/Me command line program that can be used to find out the IO addresses of the LPT ports. |
| Click
Here Version 1.1.1 |
Windows 95/98/Me Clock Restore Tool This ZIP archive contains SETCLOCK.EXE, a Windows 95/98/Me program that can be used to resynchronize the system clock to the CMOS clock after reading out parallel port based camera images which causes loss of synchronization. |
This sections contains links to the various development tools for Macintosh OSX based developers.
| Link |
Description |
| Click
Here Version 4.66 May 10, 2010 |
Macintosh OSX Development Kit, Universal Binary This disk image archive contains the documentation, header and library files needed for developing Mac OSX based programs. Requires OSX Version 10.5 or later. |
| Click
Here Version 4.66 May 10, 2010 |
SBIG OSX Driver Installer, Universal Binary This disk image archive contains an installer that will install the SBIG USB drivers and Universal Driver Library Framework. You can distribute this with your software packages. Requires OSX Version 10.5 or later. |
| Click
Here Version 1.06 |
CCDOps Lite for OSX, Universal Binary This disk image archive contains CCDOps Lite for Mac OSX. This can be used to test your driver installation and camera for proper operation. Requires OSX Version 10.5 or later. |
This sections contains links to the various development tools for Linux based developers.
| Link |
Description |
| Click Here Version 4.60 December 1, 2008 |
Linux Development Kit for Kernel 2.6 This tar archive contains the documentation, header and library files needed for developing Linux based programs for Kernels 2.6 and later. It supports USB and Ethernet based cameras but does not support Parallel Port based cameras. |
| Click Here Version 4.43 September 6, 2005 |
Linux Development Kit for Parallel Cameras and Kernel 2.4 This tar archive contains the documentation, header and library files needed for developing Linux based programs for Parallel Port based cameras under Kernel version 2.4.xx |
| Click Here Jan Soldan's Web Page |
Jan Soldan's Java Software for Linux This link takes you to Jan Soldan's SBIG Linux Support page where Java Applications can be found. Jan is the Linux Guru when it comes to SBIG Cameras. |
| Click Here Version 1.0 |
CCDOpsLite for Linux This tar archive contains a sample Qt 3.3 project that allows you to connect to and acquire images from our USB based cameras. This is provided as a starting point for some adventurous folks to run with. |
| Click Here April 30, 2005 |
USB Kernel 2.4 Driver Source This tar archive contains the source code and make file for the USB kernel 2.4 driver. If you have problems running the precompiled driver in the Linux Dev Kit try building and running this. |
| Click Here April 30, 2005 |
LPT Kernel 2.4 Driver Source This tar archive contains the source code and make file for the LPT kernel 2.4 driver. If you have problems running the precompiled driver in the Linux Dev Kit try building and running this. |
This sections contains links to the various supplemental software.
| Link |
Description |
| Click Here
Version 1.0 |
CFW-10 Developers Kit This ZIP archive contains everything you need for supporting the 10-position CFW-10 Color Filter Wheel. The CFW-10 can be connected to our USB cameras and controlled through the Universal Driver Library or can be connected to an RS-232 port and controlled byt it. This Dev Kit includes all the Documentation, an ActiveX control and sample Visual C++ and Visual Basic projects. In addition for non-Windows users source code for a C++ class are included. | Click Here
Version 1.3 May 12, 2010 |
C++ Camera and Image Class Library This ZIP archive contains C++ source files that implement basic CSBIGCam and CSBIGImg classes. These files are not specific to any Operating System and are offered as a starting point for C++ developers. See the Documentation and Windows Sample code above as well. |
| Click Here
October 12, 2005 |
Sample LabView VIs Hernán E. Grecco <hgrecco@df.uba.ar> from Laboratorio de Electrónica Cuántica has supplied a sample set of LabView VIs for use with SBIG Cameras. Please send any comments directly to him. |
This lists the revisons made to this web page and the links within.
| Date |
Revision |
| ... | Removed Older Revision History Removed revision history comments prior to 2008. |
| January 15, 2008 | Updated EthSim2 to Version 2.03 Fixed a bug in the Ethernet Based Camera Simulator that would cause partial frames in binned modes to be misaligned. |
| April 22, 2008 | Updated EthSrv to Version 1.40 Fixed a bug in the Ethernet Based Camera Server that would not allow you to link to an ST-402 when using the Alternate USB Driver. Also added support for the CC_QUERY_ETHERNET command. |
| December 1, 2008 | Updated WinDevKit, LinuxDevKit Updated the Windows and Linux Development kits to Version 4.60 Build 9. |
| January 5, 2010 | Updated WinDevKit and Driver Docs Updated the Windows Development kit and Documentation to Version 4.65 Build 3. |
| February 25, 2010 | Updated EthSim2 Updated the EthSim2 Ethernet Camera SImulator to version 2.04 Build 3 that supports the STX, ST-8300 and ST-8300C cameras. |
| May 10, 2010 | Updated Universal Driver Documentation Updated the Universal Driver Documentation to version 4.66 which brings the Windows and OSX into parity. |
| May 12, 2010 | Updated Mac OSX Software Updated the Mac OSX CCDOps Lite to Version 1.06 with support for the STX and ST-8300 cameras and the Drivers to Version 4.66 which brings it to parity with Windows. |
| May 12, 2010 | Updated SBIG Camera and Image Class Software and Documentation Updated the SBIG Camera and Image software to bring it up to date with all the current production hardware including the STX and ST-8300 cameras and the FW5-STX and FW5/8-8300 Color Filer Wheels. |