Getting started

• Which version of FreeTure is installed ?

freeture -v or freeture --version

• How to get help informations ?

freeture

• How to list available devices ?

Use the option -l or --listdevices

On linux :

On Windows :

Note that for usb cameras on windows, videoInput [VI] sdk is used. However it is limited. Parameters like exposure and gain cannot be controlled.

• How to list available format on a specific device ?

Example : freeture -d 0 --listformats

• Which mode to use ?

Four modes are available with FreeTure. The third mode is the main one.

1. MODE 1 : Check configuration file parameters
2. MODE 2 : Run continuous acquisition
3. MODE 3 : Run meteor detection
4. MODE 4 : Run single capture

• Which mode with which options ?

MODE 1 : Check configuration file

freeture -m 1 -c path_of_configuration_file

MODE 2 : Run continuous acquisition

This mode can be used to run a continuous capture on a camera. Available options in this mode:

1. -d Identification number (default value is 0) of the device to use (use freeture -l to list cameras)

2. Use --display to display the grabbed frame. (Can slow down the acquisition frequency...)

3. -g or --gain to set the gain.

4. -e or --exposure to set the exposure time (microseconds unit).

5. -f can be used to set the index of the acquisition format. To see available format index for a device, use --listformats with -d

Example : freeture -m 2 -d 1 -e 100 -g 300 --display

The ESCAPE key can be pressed to stop acquisition.

MODE 3 : Run meteor detection process / stacking process

This mode runs the meteor detection process and/or the stack process. It depends of the parameters setted in the configuration file. The -c option need to be used if the configuration file is not in the default location (/usr/share/freeture/configuration.cfg). The -t option can be used to define an execution time (in seconds) of freeture in mode 3. If it is not defined, freeture runs indefinitely. The other options have no effects on this third mode.

freeture -m 3 -t 3600 -c /home/fripon/configuration.cfg

The ESCAPE key can be pressed to stop freeture.

MODE 4 : Single capture

This mode can be used to run a single capture on a camera.

Available options:

1. -d specifies the device to use. (Default value is 0). Freeture can be executed with option -l to see the available id values.

2. -f can be used to set the index of the acquisition format. To see available format index for a device, use --listformats with -d

3. --bmp, --fits are used to save the single acquisition. If -p or --savepath is not used, the single acquisition is saved in the current location.

4. --display can be set to true in order to display the grabbed frame.

5. -g or --gain set the gain.

6. -e or --exposure set the exposure time (microseconds unit).

7. If --fits option is used, -s and -n options can also be used. -s is used to send by mail the fits file (-c option must be defined because -s option use the mail configuration defined in the file). -n option can be used to give a name to the fits file.

Examples:

Acquisition on the first available device in MONO8 which correspond to the index 0 among pixel formats, displaying the grabbed frame:

freeture -m 4 -f 0 -g 400 -e 100 --display

Acquisition on the second available device in MONO12 (index 1), displaying the grabbed frame and saving it in .fits at /home/fripon/cap/:

freeture -m 4 -g 400 -e 100 --display -f 1 -d 1 --fits -p /home/fripon/cap/

Acquisition on the first device recording a fits, sending it by mail with a custom name :

freeture -m 4 -g 400 -e 100 --display --fits -s -n capture