I just purchased a new SBIG STF-8300m camera. I have the latest camera driver installed. I am using the latest Images Plus camera control software and have also tried the previous version to capture images. I am running the camera on a regulated 13.8 VDC 20 amp power supply. The computer is located just below the mount and I am using a 10 foot USB cable that runs directly from the camera into the computer's USB port (no hub). I have tried several USB cables also. The problem I am having is, I can expose an image and when the image finishes exposing, the screen say "downloading image" but the image never shows up. Some times I can get one or two images to download and show up but then it quits working again. The only way to make it work again is to remove power from the camera and then power it back up and connect to it again using Images Plus. Then I might get another image or two before it quits. I was using another brand of camera for two years with no problems at all using the same computer and power supply. I know a lot of you have this camera and I was wondering if anyone else has experienced anything like this or do you have any suggestions on what might be causing it. The only thing I haven't done yet is update the firmware. Thanks! John
I checked the computer's power management settings and I already had the USB ports and the PCI devices set to not suspend. The STF-8300m was plugged in to one of the two USB ports that were on a PCIe card that I recently installed. I moved the USB camera cable from the PCIe card to a USB port built on the motherboard just to see what would happen. Then I took several two and three minute test exposures and the images downloaded perfectly. There must be something about the PCIe card that the STF-8300 camera or Images Plus didn't like. I'm pretty sure that the problem is fixed but I plan on taking some images on this weekend just to make sure. I will post the results here.
John, good your camera works, but please do not experiment with firmware changes, you have the right one in your camera. Also, power management should not suspend the USB ports, of course. Which Windows version do you use ? You could test your camera with CCDOPS as recommended by Tim above. Jan
