HDMI cable for STXL6303

Discussion in 'STX and STXL Series Cameras' started by Dave, Apr 20, 2019.

  1. Dave

    Dave Standard User

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    Somehow the terminal pins on one side of the HDMI cable going from the main camera remote guide head port to the FW8 filter wheel pulled off of the connector (see attached). Can I just replace the HDMI cable locally or
    do I need to get one with certain specs for this camera?
    Thanks
    Dave

    2019-04-19 22.52.13.jpg
     
  2. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    You can replace it with just about any good quality HDMI cable.
    Just remember that the camera needs to be powered off (unplugged from the +12V power supply) when disconnecting/reconnecting the remote guide head or any other accessories like the I2C cables.
     
  3. Dave

    Dave Standard User

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    Ok great. Thanks Colin. After the new cable is installed would you anticipate any operational problems since the cable separation occurred while the camera was powered on?
     
  4. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    Probably not, but unfortunately the only way to find out is to try it.

    Make sure it is a high quality cable. Some of the really cheap ones don't have a shield, and those don't work.
     
  5. Dave

    Dave Standard User

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    Ok sounds good. One last question is should I put the ferrite core from the old cable on the new cable or does it matter?
     
  6. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    I would recommend doing so. They are there to prevent any radio frequency interference from being emitted.
     
  7. Dave

    Dave Standard User

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    Ok well I guess this thread isn't quite done unfortunately. I connected a standard high speed 4k HDMI cable and now I get nothing on either the camera or the guider. Just a black screen. I have a flat panel cranked up all the way and still nothing. Tried just using the camera alone and not connecting the guider. It won't let me do that. I get "error 20032" or something like that. I updated drivers and firmware successfully. Everything seems to work in terms of camera and guider exposing and downloading and filter wheel works fine but no image appears. Perhaps I do need a cable from you guys or maybe something did happen when the HDMI inadvertently disconnected?
     
  8. Dave

    Dave Standard User

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    Forgot to mention. Both TSX and CCDops yielded the same result. Black screen for both main imager and guider with zero ADU registered
     
  9. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    It is possible that the camera or guider were damaged. It could be that the connector itself was damaged mechanically if your cable was "crunched" while plugged in. It's also possible that something shorted out when your connector came apart.

    Before jumping to conclusions, make sure that you have the software set to use the "external" guider. (Yes there is no internal guider on these cameras, but the software might not know that and try anyway... black images will result.)
     
  10. Dave

    Dave Standard User

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    Unfortunately it does look like I have that set. Both in TSX and CCDops the "external" option is being used. I have attached a few screenshots of the settings and black screens. The strange thing is that just now when I rebooted everything, the guider was working but imager not. You can see in one of those captures the guider is 100% saturated but imager is zero. It worked for several minutes until I tried rebooting again to see if the imager would work but now both are black again.?? SBIG1.jpg SBIG2.jpg SBIG3.jpg SBIG4.jpg
     
  11. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    Stick to CCDOPS because that is a known quantity for us.

    Rebooting should not affect which camera works. Are you getting good images or just 0 or 65535 images?
     
  12. Dave

    Dave Standard User

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    0 or 65535 only
     
  13. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    Okay let's go at this systematically.

    If the HDMI interface is shorted it can disable the main camera too. They use some of the same electronics.

    Unplug the HDMI cable. Does the main camera take images properly?
     
  14. Dave

    Dave Standard User

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    Unfortunately no. 0 ADU still
     
  15. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    That's not good. It sounds like the camera was damaged.

    One possibility is that the damage to the HDMI cable was caused by a cable snag while operating the camera. If that is the case, it may have mechanically or electrically damaged the camera. I'd recommend inspecting the HDMI port on the camera for signs of physical damage.

    Regardless, it's looking likely that you'll have to send the camera to Bill for service. Contact bill@sbig.com
     
  16. Dave

    Dave Standard User

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    Alright. Kinda figured that. I really appreciate your quick responses to this and the input from the other staff members. Support here is fantastic! Thanks Doug!
    Regards
    Dave
     

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