Hello all, Maxim DL and my STX-16803 are not playing nicely together and I’m getting cross with the both of them – very cross indeed. All joking aside, lately the STX-16803 seems to be acting possessed - maybe it’s the proximity to October 31st. There seem to be a few reoccurring errors. Last week, while replying to a different post, Colin suggested I update Maxim DL and my drivers. I updated to Maxim version 6.20, and I also updated my drivers and firmware (see below). Unfortunately, the problems still persist, as noted below. Error retrieving image array size This message frequently pops up as a result of the STX aborting a continuous capture series, consisting of 100 pixel sub-frames. While these images are being captured in Maxim, I use SKYX to nudge my mount and center a star. Error Opening Filter Wheel / Error (1001) initializing filter wheel When this error occurs, it does so shortly after I connect or reconnect to the camera in MaximDL, and immediately after I press the “start” button in order to take a photo. When this happens I just hit the start button again, refusing to be deterred, and for whatever reason it works the second time and a photo is captured. This is one of those issues that seems to fix itself, although I'm not sure why it happens to begin with. Also, note that in addition to using the locking thumbscrews I also use a plastic cable strap to secure the FW7 cable. Cannot continue autofocusing… This issue always stumps me, since the observatory window clearly reports the equipment in question (the focuser and rotator) as present and connected. This occurs often, and is the most disruptive since I have to disconnect and reconnect the camera to resolve the issue. And even then, I usually have to power cycle the outlet (I remotely turn the outlet off and back on again) to get all the hardware recognized once again. When this occurs, I usually check the hardware connection in another piece of software to verify that the hardware in question is actively connected and didn't somehow get disconnected. And just to be 100% sure, I replaced my existing six-month-old, 15’ Tether Tools USB 2.0 cable with a brand new 15’ Tether Tools USB 2.0 cable. This dedicated cable runs through my MX+ mount and connects directly to the STX. Unfortunately, I am still seeing these hardware disconnection messages. Please let me know what you think, and thank you for your time.
There's a lot going on here, so we need to break it down, and troubleshoot piece-by-piece. What operating system are you running? Windows 7 64bit Pro? Windows 10 64bit feature update 1903 ? Would you mind providing the Serial Number of the Camera, and the Serial Number of the Filter Wheel? Ok, thanks for updating. That eliminates a few possibilities. I'm not clear on WHAT is causing the STX to abort a continuous capture? a) a hardware failure/error message b) you press the button to abort Is the failure occuring when you are using TSX to nudge/centre a star? e.g. if you don't move the scope, no failure occurs? Have you just power-cycled the camera? One possibility: if you are powering off/on, that you need to wait about 30 seconds for the power supply capacitors to discharge, and then wait for the camera to finish booting up and homing the filter wheel. This sounds like a classic Windows power management problem - Windows may power down devices, and that can cause this behaviour. You need to disable Windows Power Management - USB Selective Suspend. Do this in Windows power plans, and then in the device manager, do this on all the devices in the tree, by connection. For example, all the USB hubs, USB root hubs, PCIe devices, USB to Serial adapters (COMx: ports) will have a power management option to [] Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power If windows powers down a hub or serial device, you will get a connection error, even though the device will still be listed. If you are on Windows 10, make sure the operating hours are set properly for your observing time, so that Windows doesnt try to run updates at the atime.. William Bristow recently discovered a problem with the Windows Customer Experience Program causing USB device disruption. What software is that? (Am just curious). Have you used USBView to determine if the camera is truly on its own USB port into the computer, or if it is sharing the bus with low-speed devices like the focuser? When the camera goes to move all that data, it is very demanding of the USB bus - maxing out what USB2.0 can deliver. One more suggestion: Make sure you have the threading options turned on for Camera 1, 2, and Filter Wheel(s). Let me know how it goes. We could set up a remote session and I could poke around some evening if you wish.
Nick: Thanks for the offer. I will definitely take you up on that. Nick: I also have a couple new issues. First, I had to uninstall Maxim 6.20, and reinstall 6.18, since 6.20 just kept freezing. I thought it best (for the moment) to stick with 6.18, although I left the recently-updated SBIG drivers as is. Second, and most pressing, my STX AO-X is acting up, reporting "CCD Camera Error (######) Share Error. This one is actually a showstopper since I am now unable to guide. Hopefully there's a quick fix for this issue. Note that I am able to calibrate – I just can't guide. Given the name of the error, I tried using the AO-X with the STX connected in Maxim only (I disconnected the CCD from TSX and FocusMax) but that didn't fix the issue. To date I have received three different share error messages. I tried looking them up online to no avail: CCD Camera Error (-1455554538) Share Error CCD Camera Error (-1364328426) Share Error CCD Camera Error (371523606) Share Error Regarding the AO-X share error, one thing I haven't done yet is to test my two different USB setups, as mentioned above, to see if that makes a difference. Thanks!
Going backward is rarely helpful . MaxIm 6.20 is a better release than 6.18, and I thought you were interested in solving your issues. Did you try any of the advice provided? It doesn't sound like it. What are you doing? Only one program at time can control the CCD hardware. Normally people run the camera, guider, AO-X from MaxIm, and use TSX for planetarium and mount control. To solve this, I really think you should have followed the earlier advice, run 6.20, enable threading, and figure out the root cause of the problems, which I am pretty sure is usb communication related.
