Hi, I have an ST8300 that, though it is 6 years old, was finally taken out and used for the first time this past week. I own two ST8300's, and this one showed streaking across all the frames. It looks like a glass window that someone tried to clean - leaving streaks. My other 8300 does not exhibit this effect at all, and has been operating fine for 6 years. I tried uploading a FITS frame, but the upload errors out. Can someone suggest (1) what the problem might be and (2) hopefully offer a solution? Thanks! Frank
Crop the image, as there is a size limit, then upload the cropped image, and then maybe the SBIG/MaxIm crew can take a look. Did you try it on the workbench? Did you download the latest www.sbig.com driver checker, and check the drivers, and check the firmware ? Was the camera cooled down when you got the streaks? Does the chip look clean (e.g. take a light exposure of several seconds and have a look at the chip through the nosepiece.) ?
Hi Colin, thank you for your reply. I am not quite sure how to crop a FITS file - I have MaximDL and CCDStack but can find no crop tools in either. Yes I have the latest driver checker and drivers. The camera was cooled to -15c. I did not physically look at the surface of the chip - that is something I can do. This camera was running in tandem with my other ST8300, which exhibits none of the streaking this particular ST8300 does. Would be happy to upload a file once I figure out how to crop the FITS file. Thanks! Frank
In MaxIm, on the menu bar, Edit, and scroll down to Crop. It's that easy. Reason am asking about what the chip looks like is that it could be the dessicant needs to be baked (dried out) - 6 years is a long time. Or it could be anything else.
Hi Frank, You can email the fits image to me and I can take a look at it via email. My email is below. I can also use Teamviewer to work with you on your computer to help solve issues. Let us know Thanks Tim
Hi Colin, LOL I looked at the Edit Menu bar and for some reason did not see the Crop function. Even though this camera is 6 years old, it has never been in service. Last week was the first time it was used. I used to have an ST4000, and would occasionally have to bake its dessicant, but the pattern on the 8300 image does not look at all like I would get when the 4000 frosted up. Plus, I could flat out the frost on the 4000; the streaks on the 8300 do not flat out. Anyway, here is a cropped image. Frank
Hi Tim, Thank you for your reply. I am out the rest of the afternoon running a solar program at a local school. Will touch base tomorrow. Frank
Hi Frank, I see a small amount of horizontal lines in the image, is this what you were referring to? It would be good to talk by phone so we can run though a list of questions. Call me later today if you have time.
Thanks for calling Frank. I think you were getting a lot of noise on your AC power line from that RV park. The camera looks great after testing with your home AC power. Call me if you have any issues but I think the issue is solved. Cheers Tim
