I have an STF-8300M (sn 83F010711) that appears to have some issues. It is mounted in a laboratory imaging system as shown in the attached pics (Alplegen Omega Lum G - Gel Imaging System, manf Sep-2012). For trouble shooting I have connected a separate laptop running the CCDOps app. The images it returns appear to be "all black" / blank. Previously, any light in the imaging chamber would be registered (eg leaving the chamber door slightly open). Perhaps this is a stuck shutter mechanism? I am also wondering if there is an issue with the TE cooler (see below). Some notes: I checked that the filter wheel/filters were not blocking the imaging path. The USB communication with the camera seems fine. The SBIGDriverChecker64 app reads the camera drivers and f/w versions. I have subsequently updated both to be "current". No change in my issue(s) though. CCDOps running on a separate laptop communicates with the camera ok. When explicitly opening a camera connection I hear many clicks - the same as when powering up with corresponding blinking red led on the camera. CCDOps displays the camera info ok - pic attached. The displayed CCD temp in CCDOps is always just above the 25 degC ambient and does not change when TE cooling is enabled and setpoint is 0 degC. When exiting, the CCDOps app gives a warning that the cooling is enabled and when selecting the "warmup and wait" option it ramps the reported power from 100% to 0% and then closes. That ramping takes 2-3 secs. Pic is attached. The CCD temp is always reported as just above ambient though. I should have checked if the 12v power supply current (or voltage) changed when enabling/disabling the cooling. I will do that when I am next on site. I am located in New Zealand and, given our remoteness, I am keen to do whatever trouble-shooting is feasible on this end before resorting to shipping the camera for evaluation. I have access to all sorts of tools and test gear. Can you recommend any next steps? Thanks heaps, Andrew
Hi Doug, sorry it has taken me a while to get back to the camera location. Attached are two FITS captures with CCDOPS. They zipped from 16MB to just a few KB. I hope there is something in there that is useful. Thanks again for this. Cheers, Andrew
There is no sensor data in those images. It appears the camera has failed. I'm sure we can repair it; if you would like to proceed with that, let us know and @Tim will provide RMA instructions.
Ok. Do you think that could be related to my other issue - that the TE cooler is not cooling? When I took those FITS captures I also checked the 12v supply when toggling cooler on/off and the current did not change. Thanks Andrew
Sure, it could indicate an internal power supply failure in the camera. If returned for service our team will most likely replace the main circuit card. Even though the camera is obsolete we have a good supply of spare boards.