QuickRemote: A USB interface to remotely control your Canon EOS DSLR
With the QuickRemote interface you can remotely control the shutter for long exposures (more than 30 seconds), capture image sequences, better focus, etc. With QuickRemote a single USB link is necessary between the computer and the camera. An amplified USB cable can also be used for longer distances (more than 10 meters).
QuickRemote also contains an 8 bit port (DB9 connector) that is programmable for future extensions such as autoguidaging, focusing, etc. QuickRemote runs with compatible software such as Iris V5.0 and up to control Canon EOS DSLRs (300D, 350D, 20D, 20Da, etc.).
Download the driver for the QuickRemote interface (Windows). Installation: unzip the file, then connect the QuickRemote interface to the USB port of your computer. When Windows detects the new equipment and asks for its driver, point to the folder where the driver was unzipped.
Price
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Operating Principal
Your DSLR commes with a USB cable. This cable is used by the USB link to the computer in order to implement the F1 and F2 functions:
- F1 - triggers exposures with a maximum duration of 30s
- F2 - downloads images from the CompactFlash card to the computer disk
But 30s is not enough for astronomical images. We have used another solution recommended by CANON to work around this limit. This solution consists in using another plug on the DSLR, the mini-jack plug, that can be used to make exposures with unlimited duration. To do this, CANON say you have to put the DSLR in Manual mode, set the exposure to BULB and put a switch on the mini-jack plug. When the switch is closed (= contact between the 2 wires of the mini-jack plug), the DSLR triggers an exposure until the switch is open.
Please note that this mini-jack plug can only be used to control the beginning and the end of an exposure. To download an image to the computer, you need to use the USB cable mentioned above.
How to make a computer-controlled switch?
We created an electronic device, we called it QuickRemote, that contains a switch and a microprocessor processing the controls sent by the computer to a USB cable in order to open and close the switch.
As a result, Quickremote can be used to work around the limitation of the F1 function of the USB link. Quickremote cannot however carry out function F2 and you still have to use the USB link between the DSLR and the computer.
Design