Abnormal "extra bloom" in ST10-XME

Dear Attila,

found this thread here 3 years later...I actually faced the same problem like you. I own a ST-10XME since 2008 and reentered the astrophotography hobby after 15 years pause and this camera is still simply great. I use it with a AO-8, SBIG Remote Guide Head and CFW-10 filter wheel on a 126mm Quadruplett Refractor these days.
But now to the problem, I faced the same issue like you yesterday night.
My Setup last night was the equipment above plus a ZWO EAF Focuser at the refractor. The wiring was as follows:
- One power supplied USB hub with 4 USB ports with switchable power supply per port, so each port can be "switched" on separately, USB hub itself connected to a 5m USB extension cable which was connected to my laptop. The USB hubs power supply via it's 5V/3A power supply.
- ZWO EAF Focuser in USB hub port 1
- SBIG ST-10 in USB hub port 2
Issues besides the stripes in the exposures: SBIG ST-10 LED blinking irregulary, small dropouts/freezes in the camera control software.
Probable solution of the issue: Power supply issue from USB port. I realized that the power supply of the 2nd USB port where the ST-10 was connected was turned off. A daylight test today is already some kind of proof: With the same setup the control software showed small outage and freezes. After turning the USB port 2 to "on" this problem disappeard, so it seems USB connection was not sufficiently supplied with power, the 5m USB extension cable between laptop and USB hub might have added to the problem. Will test tonight if sky is clear and upate here. Below you can find an image that shows the problem and an image of my "image train".
@SBIG staff: The camera is still great and simply works. Kudos and please continue the good work. I might buy a newer model somewhere in future.

Best regards,
Juergen

 

Hi Colin and Doug,

the fits file is attached to my posting above. I strongly believe this was a shutter issue. Last night I somehow verified my assumptions by repeating the same setup as mention in posting above with the difference that I switched "on" the power for the USB port where the ST10 was attached --> All worked perfectly fine and the "stripes" are gone. For sure this is not a scientific proof but at least some indication my assumption was going in the right direction. The blooming is still there but this is expected as camera has no ABG and can be clearly differentiated from the stripes. To me these stripes look like if the shutter was not closed during readout and pixels still got exposed by starlight.
@Colin: I will use the camera with a designated USB port on my laptop which is not part of a Hub, thanks for your hint, this is very valuable, also the background info is very helpful. Also I found some other posting of you where you recommended spare parts like a power supply from Meanwell, this is really so helpful.
@Doug: Would be great if you could have a look at the fits file, I attach it here again, file name "M42-00110.fit".
One more remark to my camera in general: I bought it in 2008, it has a Class 1 chip and still works smoothly .

Best regards,
Juergen

 

Hi Doug, yes, blooms should not jiggle, this would be a fundamental issue of the CCD chip or maybe another proof of Heisenberg's uncertainty relation ? Seeing is the reason for the jiggling, I agree, this brings me even more to the conviction it was a shutter issue.