Staff Assigned: Bill Lynch FW8300 strange behaviour

Discussion in 'Filter Wheels' started by Stephan Linhart, Oct 31, 2019.

  1. Stephan Linhart

    Stephan Linhart Standard User

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    Dear all,

    I have a very strange issue with my FW8300 and STF-8300.
    It is kind of erratic and I will try to explain:

    When first connection after the unit has been powered down the FW works as expected.
    After several filter changes it starts to show the strange behavior.
    It will choose a wrong filter, but software shows the filter I selected. Then If I want to select the next filter position (eg 2 to 3) it moves half way and then back to the original filter. Sometimes stopping in between two filter
    After selecting another filter that forces the wheel to make the farthest spin, it suddenly gets the right filter again.
    The odd behavior starts again soon.

    A sequence that currently surely failes: LUM for centering, green for focusing, the OIII for imaging. In this case the Filter will actually be Ha. Software shows I am using OIII.

    I´m using SGPro and have not had this issue before.
    The wheel is correctly configured in SGPRO, as far as I see.
    All 8 Filters are loaded and named correctly.

    I opened the FW, the optical sensor is clean as well the whole wheel.

    Hope somebody could give me a hint.

    Thanks and best regards,

    Stephan
     
  2. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    What version of SGP are you running?
    Do you have the current SBIG Driver Checker, firmware and driver versions for the camera?
    Have you tried exercising the FW with CCDOPS ? That would eliminate hardware/driver issues.
     
  3. Stephan Linhart

    Stephan Linhart Standard User

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    Hi Colin,

    thanks for your prompt reply.
    I installed the latest drivers and Firmware after having this issue. I'm using the latest release of SGPro (not the beta).
    I can try using CCDOPS later, if this could be actually an issue, but I doubt it, especially as there is this issue of moving the wheel half forward's and then back to the original Position. But you never now :D

    Stephan
     
  4. Stephan Linhart

    Stephan Linhart Standard User

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    Just installed and opened CCDOPS. Saw this calibrate feature and clicked on it.
    Somehow this seems to have solved the issue. Hope it stays like this.

    Thank you Colin for your prompt help and good advice!

    Best repgards,

    Stephan
     
  5. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    Hi Stephan, I suspect you have a hardware failure and that it will need to go in to @Bill for repair.
    If you use CCDOps, under the Filter Menu is CFW Exerciser.
    It will move the filter wheel around through multiple positions and if it works, then we know its a SGP problem.
    If it fails, then we will know what is wrong, and determine that it needs to go to Bill.
    It will take about 5 to 10 minutes for a decent test.
    cfwexerciser.png
     
  6. Stephan Linhart

    Stephan Linhart Standard User

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    Hey Colin,

    maybe my message was not clear. It seems the issue was solved by this calibration feature. I run also the FW exercise and it went ok. SGPro is working too.

    I will let you know if the issue reoccur.

    Best regards,

    Stephan
     
  7. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    Marked as resolved. Let us know if the problem recurs.
     
  8. Stephan Linhart

    Stephan Linhart Standard User

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    Hi Doug,

    unfortunately the problem reoccurs. With SGpro and CCDOPS.
    The system works for a short while after cutting power. Then after some time the erratic behavior comes back.

    It seems I need further help.

    Thanks,

    Stephan
     
  9. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    Perhaps @Bill or @Tim can suggest what to look at. Otherwise it may have to go in for service.
     
  10. Bill

    Bill SBIG Service and Repairs Staff Member

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    Stephan,

    Send me an email, bill@sbig.com, and I will give you the information for sending it in.

    -Bill
     

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