first field use of STT8300M

On Saturday night I powered up my STT8300 pro package in the field for the first time. I bought it used, in Jan 2015 and tested it inside (win7 desktop) with no issues that I can remember. If I saw this I likely would have returned it to the seller. The camera has been sealed in the case for most of the last year, both in my basement and my pod, so it might have been exposed to 110F on sunny days last summer.

Fast forward to now, when i finally have some time and i try with the following changes:
1) New laptop (win10), installed latest firmware and drivers with 64 bit checker
2) AO8T installed to the existing self guiding filter wheel that was there before. Long story short I bought a used AO8 and ordered the T plate, and that plate took a while to arrive.

So last week i comnect everything, and saturday night (full moon, test runs only) I get the following horizontal bands during focusing with 1 sec exposures (see picture). I think I saved a 5 minute exposure and dark frame, and while the effect was not so pronounced, it was still there. I'll save the fits files if I can upload them if that helps.

I didn't take phone pics of the screen, but I tested again yesterday with "dark frame only" and got the same result. Then I thought the AO8 circuitry might affect things, so I disconnected it and got the same result. It shows up whether cooling is on or not. Also disconnected the filter wheel, same result.

What is the best way to diagnose further? I'm a newbie, maybe I changed one of the new STT options I'm not totally familiar with?

Also it's hard to see in the picture but when I look at it under the light it seems that the ao8t is not parallel with the filter wheel somehow. I posted "putting it together" pictures on cloudynights, here ( if you'd rather I reupload pics here instead of link to CN, let me know):

http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/527970-did-i-put-my-sbig-together-correctly/

There's really only one way it can go, with the curved part of the ao8t rear cover plate fitting into the recess of the self guiding filter wheel front cover plate, but maybe somehow I didn't square it up before tightening the screws?

Thanks

 

Pic of focusing. I found the same artifact with cooling on or off. I was getting -25C with little effort, should I have cooled the chip further?

 

I've heard back that I hooked things up correctly, but here is a pic if you aren't on CN or the SBIG yahoogroup.

 

Turns out I also checked the STT options for Window Heat and RBI preflash too.

When I disabled those options, I got very nice dark frames again with no banding at top and bottom.

Are these features not working for anyone else? Or is this how it's supposed to work (I can't see how though)? I haven't had time to play since my previous post (visiting sick relatives on the weekends) to verify if one particular STT option was the culprit. I simply plugged into my old Win8 desktop that I used to test in 2015 (I was mistaken when I thought it was my older Win7 machine above) and saw the same problem so it wasn't machine or windows-version-specific. Then I found the STT options, unchecked them, and voila.

Next time I check, I will see which one of those 2 options is the actual culprit. Is something wrong with my camera though? These might not be critical features, but I did pay a premium to get an STT camera to get them!

Thanks!

 

Does anyone have RBI pre-flash and Window Heat options working without the horizontal bands seen above??

 

Great news. Let me know if you want me to test before release.

 

Any updates?

 

Tried 2.62 last night and get similar pattern with preflash on. preflash off looks fine.

 

Was the RBI preflash issue on the STT ever resolved?

 

I haven't heard anything. My 2nd child was born this summer, so I haven't used my observatory or my stt camera much yet.