After 6 weeks of overcast weather, I got to imaging once more with my ST10 ccd. After capturing 16 (10 min) subs, the 17th. sub. turned out like this: https://www.flickr.com/photos/32733026@N08/32915191071/in/dateposted-public/ and from this one on, the following images looked like this: https://www.flickr.com/photos/32733026@N08/32196128544/in/dateposted-public/ This is something which never happened before. Any idea what might be wrong. Thanks, Leonard
Looks like some kind of electrical interference. Could be an issue with the power source - are you using the brick that came with the camera? Are you using through-the-mount wiring? Did you change anything related to wiring or power in your setup?
Thanks Doug, I was using the brick power supply and all the wiring used previously. As I said earlier, the first 16 subs captured, were fine, then the next image was like the first image I included in my message and the next 4 or 5 subs were like the 2nd. image included in my message. I did not change anything in my set up. The only thing I could mention is that I had not used the setup for 6 weeks due to overcast weather. Is there any way to check the output power of the power supply box by a competent technician. I know one in whom I have full trust. Thanks Leonard
There's a diagram for the power connections in the manual. Try taking some dark frames to see if the problem is still present. Either something external was causing it or something inside the camera failed...
Thanks Doug, I took some darks already, problem still there. As I requested in my previous message, . Is there any way to check the output power of the power supply box by a competent technician. I know one in whom I have full trust. I am asking this just to eliminate the power supply box before going to the camera, i.e. if the power supply box is not the cause.
Thanks Doug, But what do you mean by that, please. What if I look at the diagram. What should I do after looking at the diag. I did not really quite understood you.
Leonard, You'll need to have a technical person connect a Voltmeter (or better yet, an Oscilloscope) to the correct pins on the power connector, and make sure that it is supplying the correct voltage, without significant ripple (little bumps in the output). e.g. Pin 5 is the Ground (0 volt) connection, hooked to the Black or Ground lead of the meter. Hooking the red or + lead of the meter to Pin 1 should show +5.00 V (give or take about .2 V). To Pin 2, you should get +12V To Pin 4, you should get -12V. Then, put a load on the power supply - e.g. a 100 ohm resistor rated for 10-20 watts, across the + and DC GND, while having the voltmeter or oscilloscope connected. Be very careful to get the right pins - as they are hard to read the numbering. Good luck. The other thing to check is whether you have any radio-frequency interference affecting the equipment. e.g. you made sure there were no cellphones, bluetooth headsets, cordless telephones, radio transmitters, wifi antennas nearby.
Thank you, Colin - I know the right person who could do this for me. Regarding radio transmitters, in reality my next door neighbour has an amateur radio transmitter, however during this same night when this issue occurred, I was imaging simultaneously with my STL 11K in my other dome only a few meters away. I would reckon that this issue should have occurred with the images of this camera as well had the cause been from the radio transmitter.
Your neighbour could probably help solve the problem - most hams (amateur radio operators) are good with electronics. You might have to buy him a beer!
Hi Colin, The power box has been checked and there is nothing wrong with it according to the technician who checked it as you suggested. In the meantime, Martin Artem from the Sbig group suggested that I use the debug log appl. and take a few images to create a log file. I did this and the file looks as here under, however, I am not sure what could be derived from this log, i.e. what conclusion relating to this issue: Log file created : Fri Mar 03 22:11:38 2017 ======================================================= Computer : DESKTOP-OKPH5HT Processor type : 586 Number of processors : 4 Operating system : Microsoft (build 9200), 64-bit System directory : C:\WINDOWS\system32 Windows directory : C:\WINDOWS User : Leonard ======================================================= Driver Name Version Date Current ======================================================= sbigudrv.dll 4.97 Build 2 01-16-17 Yes sbigu64.sys 2.41.0.1338 01-27-15 Yes sbigucam.hex 2.42 01-27-15 Yes sbiglcam.hex 2.20 01-27-15 Yes sbigfcam.hex 2.25 01-27-15 Yes sbigfga.bin 2004.11.10 01-27-15 Yes =======================================================
You didn't enable anything so it didn't record anything. It's not a useful suggestion for this. The camera is taking pictures reliably. It's just not producing good quality pictures.
Hello Doug I emailed Bill but till now have not had any response. If you can help I would be very grateful. Thanks, Leonard
Leonard, I don't see an email from you in my inbox. Send me another, bill@sbig.com. Do you have a Remote Guide Head attached? I suspect it will have to come in. -Bill
Hi Bill, Thanks for your response. If you check the first message in this thread, you will know what my problem is. No, I don't have a remote guide head attached. I had my power adapter box checked but there seems to be nothing wrong with it, however my technician pointed out that there could still be some interference from such an adapter even if it shows to be 99% OK. That 1% could still produce an interference, if something is wrong with that 1%. If you follow the thread you will get an idea of the problem. Hope to hear from you. Thanks, Leonard
