ZWO ASI120MM-S Camera Quick Guide

Quick guide from the manual

This guide provides a brief summary of the installation procedure for ZWO ASI cameras to help you get started. It covers driver installation, telescope connection, and troubleshooting common technical issues. For more complete instructions, please refer to the full user manual available on the ZWO website.

Driver and software installation

To set up your camera on a Windows computer, follow these steps:

• Download and install the ASI Cameras driver from the official ZWO website.
• Plug in the camera. Open the Device Manager on your computer and verify that the camera is listed under the Imaging devices category.
• Download and install the ASICAP image or video capture software.
• Launch ASICAP, select your camera model, and click the Connect icon to view the preview video. Note that without a lens or telescope, you will only see brightness in the preview.

Connecting the camera to the telescope

Many ZWO cameras include an all-sky lens. Follow these steps to attach the camera to a telescope:

1. Remove the lens and the CS adapter from the camera.
2. Screw the 1.25-inch nose-piece onto the camera.
3. Focus your telescope using a standard eyepiece.
4. Replace the eyepiece with the camera.
5. Plug in the USB 2.0/3.0 cable to connect the camera to your PC.
6. Adjust the telescope focus until the preview image on your PC is sharp.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues, try the following solutions:

• Preview image is white: The camera is overexposed. Reduce the exposure and/or gain settings in the software.
• Preview screen is black and FPS is 0: Reduce the USB Traffic setting in the software. Try connecting the camera directly to the PC without using a USB hub or extender.
• FPS drops during recording: This is often due to slow hard drive speeds. Use an SSD and record in RAW format instead of RGB24.
• Camera won't run on a laptop: Disable the power-saving mode for the USB port in your laptop's power settings.
• Error Code 10: Try a different USB port or computer. If the issue persists, update the camera firmware using the firmware tool available on the ZWO website.
• Unknown device in Device Manager: The driver may not be installed correctly. Close anti-virus software and reinstall the driver. If that fails, update the driver manually by pointing to the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files (x86)\ZWO Design\ZWO_USB_Cameras_driver).