Perhaps this problem has been dealt with on the forum, but I see no direct sign I have used this new STF-1603 for the first night and notice background and range differences from image to image (of the same starfield, same exposure etc..). This also applies to the background images. The photometry I derive is not affected greatly for most images but I notice a drop in signal as compared to my previous CCD camera (ST8-XME), which was used on the same telescope. The main working difference between the two cameras (STF and ST8) is the much faster read-out speed. Is it a software driver problem or a hardware problem with the shutter? Berto Monard / KKO
The intermittent bright band across the top isn't a symptom we've seen before with these cameras. Please check whether you have the latest firmware using SBIG Driver Checker.
I'll check at the soonest. Possibly I run a 32k driver on the system, which worked fine on the ST8, seems to work on the STF as it gets images but seemily does not work properly with the faster image download.
If you are running a very old driver it might be the cause of the problem. Please do update and let us know if that helps.
I just checked the updater. It says that the driver is the correct one for the device. I notice 2011 as the date for the installed SBIG USB-64 driver
Test records look okay. It was manufactured in March 2017 so it still under warranty. The "drop in signal" you mention almost certainly isn't real; it's just a matter of the gain/offset setting of the camera, which is optimized for dynamic range during production. You can't just go by ADU readings. The signal-to-noise performance of the camera should be similar to your old ST8. If you want us to have a look at it, you can arrange with Bill @ service to send it in.
I still wonder if there could be a shutter problem. There is a triple knock-click by powering the CCD, which I initially didn't think could be a problem. Perhaps the shutter control is not consistent looking at the background differences. Re warranty and sending the device, let me first see how next observations will go once the weather clears. It's quite a big operation to have this organised from here. Thanks for the assistance so far, I'll resume this ASAP. / Berto
That is not a shutter issue. The clicking sound is normal on startup; it's just the shutter finding its home position. It looks like it could be a readout clocking issue of some kind.
I have done tests making backgrounds using different parameter settings and it looks as the problem mainly occurs with medium resolution images (2x2 binned), they give about 50% of each of the two distinct background ranges. The problem is less so with low res images (3x3 binned) where 95% of images are similar, and the problems disappears with high resolution images. At least some positive. I could now decide to use the camera unbinned but that has its own drawbacks, I never had to use that with the ST7 and ST8 cameras. Would an upgrade to a later driver version possibly solve the problem, I have no idea.
