Use our videos to Get Started – old
Old video page that uses local mp4 files rather than Vimeo.
We’ve made it easy to learn RSpec. The is software easy-to-use. And there’s a complete set of short tutorial videos that walk you step-by-step through the getting started. Use our contact form (link) to ask us questions.
Not sure where to start? Don’t miss our short Getting Started manual which will point you to the specific videos you need, walking you step-by-step through processing your first spectra with RSpec:
We recommend our free Hands-on Workshop
Tom conducted this hour-long, hands-on workshop to almost 100 attendees at a joint SAS/AAVSO Symposium.
Now you can experience the workshop yourself. See this YouTube video: link.
We suggest that you follow along on your own computer. Download the sample data files from this link. If you don’t already have a copy of the software, you can install a trial version from this link.
Let us know about your experience. Were you able to follow along? Can you suggest some improvements for our next workshop?
There are three ways to watch our videos:
- Watch our videos from our site with the links below.
- If you’re outside the US, you may want to watch our videos on YouTube: link. (Possibly smoother international playback as well as optional captions in other languages.)
- Or, in the RSpec program itself, you can watch the videos from the Help, Video Library menu option.
Tutorial videos
1. Getting Started. link
Note: if you’re new to spectroscopy, be sure to download our “Getting Started” manual: link
2. Capturing a Spectrum profile. link
2.1 Cropping Large Images. link
2.2 Raw DSLR Images. link
2.3 Using an astronomical video camera link
3. Calibrating your Spectrum. link
3.1 How to find the Balmer lines. link
4. Customizing the Profile Graph. link
5. Saving, Exporting, and Printing. link
6. Image Averaging (Stacking) link
7. Using the Focusing Tool. link
8. Translating RSpec into a new Language. link
9. How RSpec uses your chip’s multiple cores. link
10. Adjusting Image Quality with the Histogram stretch. link
11. Previewing images and combining into a Video. link
12. Update 1 – Binning, FWHM. link
13. Update 2 – Enhanced background removal, 2nd Y-axis for Reference, Horizontal Align/Calibrate. link
14. Update 3 – Element Library, Manual dispersion entry, French/German support. link
15. Adjustment for Instrument Response (part of Update 3) link
16. Update 4 – Live Library Preview. link
17. Update 5 – Live Spectrum Synthesis. link
18. Normalizing for enhanced synthesized spectra. link
19. Update 6 – Slant, FWHM, Frame Rate Enhancements, Element Library. link
20. Non-linear Calibration – using more than one point to calibrate in Angstroms. link
22. Update 8 – Enhancements to the Appearance screen, Most Recently Used file selection, full 32-bit FITS processing. link
23. Non-linear, One-Point Calibration – (part of Update 8 ) link
24. One-point, Linear Calibration Revisited – This video doesn’t show any new features, but shows how to calibrate an unknown object in day-to-day operation. link
25. Update 9 – Zooming, negative flux, Dynamic scaling of Reference profile. link
26. Update 10 – Vertical call-out lines, equivalent width, enhancements to delete points. link
27. Update 10b – Pixel map, Color-fill of profile. link
28. Update 11 – Smooth dispersion setting. link
29. Calibrating a spectrum captured on a slit spectrometer. link
30. Update 12 – Real-time flux calibration, discontinuous background removal, etc. link
31. Update 13 – 3D Inspector for spectra, read 1D FITS files and their headers, drag & drop files to open, poster: link
32. Update 14 – Rotate via dragline, image cropping: link
Update 15 for RSpec Version 1.9.0.30
33. Images are displayed in a larger format and processing speed improved. link
34. Enhanced video camera processing for more speed, flexibility, and control. link
35. Other features: faster histogram stretch, Raw header display, 1D FITS export, crop to visible profile, splicing profiles, etc. link
Update 16 – RSpec Version 1.9.0.40
36. Element Library font sizes, improved non-linear calibration, Y-axis label: link
37. Viewing the RGB color channels to determine exposure levels: link
38. RGB color channels in a video stream: link