Hi My SBIG8300m has always had amp noise on subs that are taken care of in processing but has now developed a "northern light" effect. if you toggle the 4 images you can see the effect on the left . Anyone seen the problem and maybe understand what causes it ??
Hi My SBIG8300m has always had amp noise on subs that are taken care of in processing but has now developed a "northern light" effect. if you toggle the 2 images you can see the effect. Anyone seen the problem and maybe understand what causes it ?
Do you get this effect in darks or bias frames? Can you post a FITS of one of the problem images? Are you using the original power supply that came with the camera? Tell us a bit about the environment - eg specifics like operating system version, are you running latest SBIG Driver Checker, driver version (screen shot), camera firmware version, which program did you use to capture and version, etc.
Hi The images in my post demonstrate the noise from sub to sub (only included 4) , I you cycle through them it just looks like Aurora on the left hand edge.. I use windows 7 , and would need to check the driver version and camera firmware I use CCD soft version 5 , it came with the camera. The issue has started to develop recently , I'm using the original power supply connecting the camera to a small passive hub and then down to a dedicate Intel cube PC using Win7. I will get the additional info asap. Regards Trevor
I saw the effect in your images. There's also a few hot pixels that blink in and out and a nice cosmic ray hit in the bottom of the second image. It would be good to do a test with the camera covered, on the workbench (kitchen table). That way you can eliminate sky effects. One other idea - since this came on recently, any chance that you havent baked the dessicant in a while? It could be moisture fogging/frosting the window. Remember to remove the o-ring before baking the dessicant plug. P.S. I'm just another customer like you, thought I might be able to help while you wait for the Diffraction people to get back to work tomorrow.
I'm with Colin: Bias frames from a covered camera will help identify whether these are real or some kind of scattered light Could possibly be frost - you should bake the desiccant; it needs doing periodically anyway. (If you see them while imaging, try setting the cooler to +2C and see if they go away.) It's not "amp glow" because that would always be in the same place. So I've renamed the thread.
Doug ,Colin thanks for your advice I will pull together the Info Colin suggested I have for the post . It's not frost Doug , These flare ups are intermittent between 6 min subs , one may have them others not . If it were scattered light I have to wonder why it should be so localized to the Amp hot spot area and not more wide spread across the sensor. I will go get some test shots with the cover on and report asap Thanks again Trevor
The amp glow area is the upper left corner, not the whole left side. The readout amplifier is right in the corner of the chip.
Hi Ok done a driver check and firmware check apparently this camera has no firmware updates, drivers are the latest . Inspecting Bios frames and can only see one of 40 that has an area that is similar to the effect I have described Darks look ok . I will re do the Bios frames to see if the problem is present with the covers on , if I can recreated the problem I will upload an image. Thanks Trevor
You have an old driver, and probably an old version of the SBIG Driver Checker. Suggest you download it from: ftp://ftp.sbig.com/pub/SetupDriverChecker64.exe It should be showing you: and the firmware tab should look like this (you have uploaded 2 images of the same thing):
Hi Colin Thanks for the link , I have downloaded and updated the driver and checked the Firmware tab (Firmware looks like it's not updatable) So to review , I will be trying to recreate on the bench the effect described with covers on to better understand where the issue is coming from , Drivers now up to date, No Firmware to update, no descant to worry about. Will be trying the camera with the new drivers asap Thank you for you ongoing help.. Trevor
Hi Colin, Managed to capture the "norther light" effect left side , Bios frames attached , if you cycle through them you should see the problem. Guess it might need a service/repair ?? Regards Trev
Yeah, 113 is particularly bad. Can you post a FITS of that one? Maybe Bill Lynch can have a look at it. Suggest you email him, point him to this thread, and see what he says.
Hi Bill Just sending you an SOS via email , the model is the ST8300M , The firmware tab of the driver check is saying the firmware is not updatable Trev
ok, that makes sense, that model doesn't have updateable firmware. It does have a desiccant packet inside the ccd chamber but that's irrelevant. I seem to recall seeing the brighter left edge in some of the earlier ST-8300's. How old is the camera?
Hi FIT as requested , email sent to Bill Trev Hi Bill The camera is over 5 years I think , I have the serial number incase the build date is encoded in it. I have had the camera from new. What options have I , return for repair , parts service ?? Sr:8311081175 I can see your comment about early ST's . just for clarity , if you slide show the JPG on my earlier post you can see the "hot spots" coming and going. the effect is difficult to clear with DARKS and BIOS as it seems to vary in location Regards Trev
