1 Colorado Space Grant Consortium Gateway To Space ASEN / ASTR 2500 Class #13 Gateway To Space ASEN / ASTR 2500 Class #13

2 -The following instructions will walk you through the steps needed to change the firmware on this camera to take picture every 20 seconds Canon A570 IS Mods:

3 -The CHDK code was originally written by Rick von Glahn from Edge of Space Sciences (EOSS) -These steps are performed with the camera modified to turn on and off with a external switch -The steps to modify the hardware of the camera are contained in a different presentation Canon A570 IS Mods:

4 -This mod uses CHDK to add autonomy to a digital camera without the use of a timing circuit or further modifications to the camera -CHDK is firmware enhancement -It only works with Canon digital cameras -Please see the following website for much more information Canon A570 IS Mods:

5 -Take your camera out of the box Canon A570 IS Mods:

6 -Insert the batteries Canon A570 IS Mods:

7 - Turn on camera by touching two wires together Canon A570 IS Mods:

8 - Set the date and time - Power off the camera by touching the two wires together again Canon A570 IS Mods:

9 -Insert SD card and close battery cover (not all SD cards support this mod) Canon A570 IS Mods:

10 -Set Camera to “AV” mode Canon A570 IS Mods:

11 -Turn on camera by touching two wires together Canon A570 IS Mods:

12 -Press the “MENU” button and format the card – Use the “Low Level Format” setting Canon A570 IS Mods: 1. 2.

13 Canon A570 IS Mods: -Press the “MENU” button and format the card – Use the “Low Level Format” setting 3. 4.

14 Canon A570 IS Mods: -Press the “MENU” button and format the card – Use the “Low Level Format” setting 5. 6.

15 -Power off camera and remove the SD Card Canon A570 IS Mods: 1. 2.

16 -Connect the SD card to your computer Canon A570 IS Mods: 1. 2.

17 -The files we are going to copy to the SD card contain a script (macro) that will take pictures about every 20 seconds after an initial boot up. Canon A570 IS Mods:

18 -Open the “cu_gateway_fall_2008.bas” file Canon A570 IS Mods: 1.

19 -Open the “cu_gateway_fall_2008.bas” file Canon A570 IS Mods: 2. 3.

20 -Open the “cu_gateway_fall_2008.bas” file Canon A570 IS Mods: 4. 5.

21 -Open the “cu_gateway_fall_2008.bas” file Canon A570 IS Mods: 6.

22 -Save the “cu_gateway_fall_2008.bas” file Canon A570 IS Mods:

23 -Copy the CHDK folder structure and files to the SD card Canon A570 IS Mods:

24 -Switch the play/record button on the camera to “play” Canon A570 IS Mods:

25 -Insert SD card and power the camera on. Canon A570 IS Mods:

26 -Press the “MENU” button and press the left on the circle button until the “play” symbol is highlighted Canon A570 IS Mods:

27 -Press up on the circle button and highlight “Firm Update” Canon A570 IS Mods: 1. 2.

28 -Select “OK” and press “SET” Canon A570 IS Mods: 1. 2.

29 -Camera should now be running the CHDK firmware. Canon A570 IS Mods:

30 -Press the shutter button to stop the script but leave the camera on Canon A570 IS Mods:

31 -Switch the play/record button on the camera to “record” Canon A570 IS Mods:

32 -You should see “Default Script” and “ ” in the bottom of the screen Canon A570 IS Mods:

33 -With “ ” showing, press the “MENU” button Canon A570 IS Mods:

34 - “ ” will be replaced by “ ” Canon A570 IS Mods:

35 - Use the control pad to move the cursor down to "Debug parameters" and click "SET" to select this option. Canon A570 IS Mods:

36 -Move the cursor down to "Make card bootable...“ -Press "SET" to select this option. Canon A570 IS Mods:

37 -Nothing should happen. This is OK -Power off camera. Canon A570 IS Mods:

38 -Remove the SD card and slide switch to “LOCKED” Canon A570 IS Mods: Even though the card is in the “LOCKED” position it will be able to be written to via the CHDK firmware.

39 -Power on the camera - “Default Script” and the “ ” should be visible -Press the shutter button to stop script Canon A570 IS Mods: -Insert locked SD card and make sure the camera is in “RECORD” mode

40 -With “ ” showing, click on the menu to get to the “ ” screen. Canon A570 IS Mods:

41 -Use the control pad to move the cursor down to "Scripting parameters" and push "SET" Canon A570 IS Mods:

42 -On the “Script” menu select "Load script from file..." Canon A570 IS Mods:

43 -On the "Select script file" screen, move the cursor to highlight "cu_gateway_fall_2008.bas>" and press "SET" Canon A570 IS Mods:

44 -When you return to the “Script” menu ensure that "Script Autostart" is checked (a dot in its selection field). Canon A570 IS Mods: -Also make sure the “Current script” is correct

45 -Now click "MENU” to save these changes to the configuration file Canon A570 IS Mods:

46 -Turn off camera -The next time the camera is turned on, it will run the script -It will go through a series of camera setting changes which will take about 60 seconds -Then the camera will begin to take pictures every 5 to 6 seconds until the card is full Canon A570 IS Mods:

47 -Sometimes the script doesn't execute properly the first time it runs. -If this happens, let it run it's course for around a minute or so then turn the camera off then on again and it should work fine -It should continue to work just fine on every subsequent power up Canon A570 IS Mods:

48 -Turn on the camera Canon A570 IS Mods:

49 -You can turn the camera off anytime. -If you wish to stop the script during execution just press the shutter release button and that will interrupt the execution of the script -In this way you can gain control of the camera without having to remove the card -This is handy if you want to review photos, or do something else without the script running. Canon A570 IS Mods:

50 -After the pushing the shutter, you must push the print button to have normal camera operation Canon A570 IS Mods:

51 -Remember, any setting you might make to the camera will be restored to factory default settings next time the script runs as that is the first action the script takes - Once you interrupt a script it must be re-run from the beginning you can not PAUSE a script and RESUME it Canon A570 IS Mods:

52 -You can modify your code without reloading the firmware -For example lets change the “sleep” value to 5000 Canon A570 IS Mods:

53 -Power off camera -Remove SD Card -Unlock SD Card -Open CHDK/Scripts/cu_gateway_fall_2008.bas -Scroll down to end of code and change sleep = Save Canon A570 IS Mods:

54 - Remove SD card and lock -Insert SD card into the camera and power on -Pictures should be taken every 8 to 10 seconds now -I would suggest a 20 second (sleep = 16000) for 135 minute flight time Canon A570 IS Mods:

55 -You can also “rem” out pieces of the set up or other functions but test first -Camera is working, it shall also be working at the end of the semester -Take good care of this camera -Thank you. Canon A570 IS Mods:

56 Questions?