Sticking shutter

At times it appears my shutter on ST8300 is sticking partially open. Part of my image is black. Any thoughts on fixing this, do I have to send it in for a repair? May only happen when my scope is aimed at the zenuth?
Thanks
Mark

 

Mark,
you can fix it yourself using CCDOPS as follows:

1) Download and install the latest CCDOPS from http://www.sbig.com/support/software/

2) Add Advanced item in Menu:
- Menu -> Edit -> Preferences -> and press : Select the options you want for CCDOps
- Check the "Show Advanced Menu" checkbox, then Ok, Ok

2) Experiment with Motor Phase values:
- Menu -> Advanced -> Camera Configuration
- Select Motor Phase from Phase 0 to Phase 3. For each Phase x take an image and observe if shutter fully covers the CCD chip.
If not, select different Phase number and repeat it until your shutter fully covers your CCD.

Take Care,
Jan

 

Jan
Thanks for the information. I'll do this ASAP.
Mark

 

Jan, I have this problem from time to time in the winter, the colder the weather the more often it happens. Will the adjustments you talk about help with me also?

Thanks, Josh

 

I am also pursuing a possible low voltage issue in my power supply.
FYI
Mark

 

John,
You can adjust your shutter any time, you can't destroy anything. I do not know, if this is temperature dependent, so please try it and let us know by the time.
Thank you,
Jan

 

I just came in from a short session (clouds) and with using my AC power supply had no problems for ~10 photos. My new 35AH battery and maintainer must be the problem with low voltage.

Mark

 

Mark,
there were a lot of similar messages on SBIG's Yahoo user group, so please explore them.

If you have STT or STX/L camera, you can monitor the STXEV_LV_TE_OFF event, which signals that the TE cooler was turned off due to a low voltage.
You can set this monitoring like follows:
1) Run DriverChecker64 application.
2) Press "Debug Log" button.
3) Select the "Camera" checkbox in Configure Debug Logger dialog window.
4) Run your CCDOPS, Maxim DL or any other application which control SBIG cameras.
5) Later, you can open the log file in any text editor (Notepad) and search for "LV TE Off" string.

Thank you,
Jan

 

Thanks for the info Jan - I have an ST 8300M.
Mark

 

Hi Bill, that sounds great. I'm going to have a really busy day tomorrow but I'll see if I can find the time to call, if not tomorrow maybe the next day.