Resolved MaximDL Pro 6.29 STT 8300 & FW8G Can't create Bias and Dark frames

Hello, I have a brand new install on new PC. When I use CCDOPS I can get dark and Bias frames from my setup full frame, binned etc. When I use MaximDL Pro 6.29 I can only get them when I set the Camera Selection on the Exposure Tab to Camera 2 (although I do get small, guide chip sized, images). When I set it to Camera 1, I get full size, completely saturated images. I am sure I missed a setting somewhere but I can't figure it out.
Thanks for any help in advance!

 

Hi Chris.

Are you certain that the full frame image is really saturated?

MaxIm DL has always had a “quirk” that it displays an auto-stretched image after acquisition as fully white if all the image pixel values are in fact zero.

If you turn on the MaxIm DL feature to display image coordinates and pixel ADU values in the Status Bar at the bottom of the MaxIm DL desktop then as you move the mouse pointer over the image you can read the actual image pixel contents pixel-by-pixel.
(Top tool bar > View menu > Status Bar …click to enable)

Those old Kodak 8300 sensors were always so noisy that you should never see all zero pixel values in an image unless “Simple Auto-dark” was accidentally selected in the options tab of the Camera Control window and even then, “Simple Auto-dark” should not apply to bias and dark frames, only lights. For a sanity check verify that the camera shutter is closed for bias and darks by shining a flashlight down the OTA and with the luminance filter selected watch the shutter during a bias or dark exposure and confirm that the shutter remains closed.

If the pixel values are indeed all zero, not being an SBIG camera user myself, I have nothing to suggest specific to the SBIG STT8300 other than make sure you downloaded and installed the latest version of the SBIG camera driver checker/installer from the Legacy Products support webpage and not older incompatible drivers from the disk that was supplied with the camera.
If you did install older camera drivers from disk make sure to uninstall the old Driver Checker first before running the current installer.

Legacy Products drivers and manuals: https://diffractionlimited.com/legacy-product-support/
SBIG Camera Driver Checker download: https://cdn.diffractionlimited.com/down/pub/SetupDriverChecker64.exe

If your licence has not expired for updates then use the “Check for updates” function in MaxIm to get MaxIm DL 6.30 as it has some important bug fixes.
(Top tool bar > Help > “Check for Updates…”

If your drivers are up-to-date and the problem persists then zip up your complete MaxIm settings folder and a sample saturated full-frame image and attach both to your reply so that someone who knows these cameras may spot what is wrong.

The MaxIm settings folder is inside the MaxIm DL 6 folder, found in your user “Documents” folder, use the (mouse-right-click) “Send To” Windows menu function to send a zipped copy of the entire “Settings” folder to your desktop then upload that zipped settings folder to your reply by clicking the “Upload a File” button at the bottom of your reply window in this forum, do the same for a sample saturated image in .fits format.

I’m afraid that’s about the limit of my knowledge regarding SBIG products….

HTH

William.

 

First off thank you so much for your replies! Here are the screen shots and I will send you the fits as well...
This first screen shot if simply using the Exposure Tab to take a Bias frame from Camera 1.

The second one is simply just changing the selected Camera to Camera 2.


These are the setup pages:



Does this help? Again, I do get good Bias and Darks from the Main Chip using CCDOPS...
Thanks again!!!

 

THANK YOU! The firmware upgrade did the trick!!