Back in 2006 I sent in my ST7XE to SBIG for conversion to ST2000XCM (SN: 206051353). I've been using this camera through May of 2020. I sold my camera last week and the gentleman that received the camera is telling me the wrong guide chip is in the camera. I paid for a full conversion back in 2006 which should have included the guide chip. The gent is telling me the chip in my camera is a '211' chip and not the '237' chip. Anyone have experience or knowledge with this setup?? I never used the guide chip because I used a separate camera/scope to do guiding. Is there anyway possible SBIG used the wrong chip or is it possible the gent I am dealing with is incorrect? I'm honestly suspicious about his discussion we are having and obviously I am not happy with what is going on. Thanks Russ
The original ST-7 guide sensor was a 211. The original ST-2000xm cameras manufactured prior to summer 2003 would have had the 211; later, SBIG changed over to the TC237 as the new standard around August 2003. So later model 2000's would have that. If you kept a copy of the paperwork from the upgrade, you could provide that to him. We don't have that on file anymore. The TC211 is 192 x 164 vs the TC237 is 657 x 495 pixels. He could launch the current version of CCDOps ( a free download from our site) and then look at the camera parameters. Or take an image using the guide sensor with CCDOps and it would tell him pretty fast. You could also look to see if you have an autoguider image saved, and could forward that t0 him. Sounds like he wants a "rebate".
You can see the guide chip from the front of the camera, and you can see the difference in size. Perhaps you could request he snap a picture of the chips from the front of the camera?
It sounds like SBIG did not replace the guide chip during the conversion process to the ST2000XCM. Definitely not happy about that and will now cancel my plans on purchasing an SBIG camera now. Granted that was back in 2006 but if SBIG was going to do this on a customer owned camera then I no longer trust their ethics and business practices. Disappointed. I believe my purchaser maybe correct regarding the chip and he has owned and worked on 6 ST2000XCM's in the past.
Your comment is a bit concerning. There is nothing we stated that indicates you didn't get what you paid for. It seems that you don't know what you just sold the guy. To be clear: a) We do not have records of SBIG upgrades from 14 years ago, from the original company. Santa Barbara Instrument Group ceased existing in 2009 when it was acquired by Applegen Inc., and the brand was acquired by Diffraction Limited in 2014. b) We do not know what is in your camera; we can only tell you that there were 2 possible chips, and how someone can check. We wish you well, and hope you can figure out your problem. We've done what we can to help.
I was simply pointing out that my camera was shipped to SBIG for a conversion to ST2000XCM. The gentlemen I am working with, very experienced user, has now just stated again he has verified the guide chip in the camera is a 211. How can that be if you are stating all chips used in the ST2000XCM (in 2006) was the 237 chip??? Obviously something was not done back in 2006 during the conversion process. I would like to know why I paid for a total conversion and that was not done. Now the next question, can a 237 chip be put into the camera and what would the cost be.
It was your responsibility to know what you sold the gentleman, not ours. You misinterpreted the statement. Factory new ST2000 series cameras after about summer 2003 had the TC237. Conversions could be done either way - leaving the existing guide sensor or upgrading the guide sensor may have been an option. Perhaps you could find the invoice and documentation from fourteen years ago and review it to refresh your recollection. If there was an issue at the time, it would have been appropriate to take it up with SBIG then. We cannot do anything about it. The TC237 sensor has not been manufactured in perhaps a decade. I would suggest the gentleman consider a new SBIG StarChaser SC-2 off-axis guiding camera. https://diffractionlimited.com/product/sbig-starchaser/
If you give me your name and a rough estimate of the time frame, I can look it up in my log book. A conversion from ST-7 to ST-2000 did not necessarily include the Guide Chip upgrade as that was a separate upgrade. -Bill
Thank you very much Bill. I do not remember the timeframe but I usually keep all my paperwork so when I get home today, I will look for it and see if I have the original receipt and/or documentation.
A name and rough time frame should be sufficient for me to look it up. A serial number wouldn't hurt. -Bill
Russ, I found it in the log book. May of 2006. 202oCM upgrade, no guider upgrade, also got the Back Plate and Handles. -Bill
