Hello, We purchased one of the last STX-16803 cameras this past fall. When I went to power up the camera this afternoon it would not connect to the computer. When I looked at the camera body the green light was blinking, the green light on the power supply was also blinking. Would the power supply still be under warranty? Best, Lou
Yes Lou. 2 year warranty. Here's a troubleshooting suggestion: Camera ---- DC extension cord --- DC output cord from power supply ---- power supply ---- AC wall cord Blinking likely means it is shutting down due to an overload/short circuit.. Two things to check: 1 - Turn off the AC (unplug the AC wall cord). Disconnect the DC extension cord from the camera itself. The other end will still be attached to the power supply output. Plug in the AC. If the supply blinks, there is a short in the DC extension cable between the camera and the power supply, or in the power supply itself. We can arrange to replace either part. 2 - Turn off the AC. (unplug the AC wall cord). Disconnect the USB cable from the camera, then try powering up. Plug in the AC. If the supply does NOT misbehave, then there is a short between something in the DC extension cord and the metal shield on the 6-pin DIN plug. The camera case is NOT at 0VDC ground; it is AC coupled to ground. If neither of these gives you insight, then we'll have to take further steps, likely on Monday. Copying @Bill in case he has suggestions.
Hi Colin, I plugged in the power supply with no extension cable attached and got a solid green on the power supply. Attached the extension cable to the power supply got another solid green on the power supply. With the power supply connected to the camera everything is blinking again. I did remove the USB cable but everything was still blinking. Best, Lou
OK, next diagnostic step would be: Turn off AC (unplug the AC wall cord). Wait 30 seconds. Disconnect anything plugged into the AUX / I2C ports on the camera. (eg Filter Wheel). Disconnect anything plugged into the Remote Guide Head port on the camera. Disconnect anything plugged into Ethernet, Guide port, etc. Turn on the AC. See if you get steady green light. If you do, then there is a fault in an accessory. If you don't then there's a fault with the camera. Power OFF and wait a bit before you start to re-attach these accessory items. They should not be hot-plugged or can damage the camera. Let me know, then I'll refer you to Bill our repair wizard.
One other idea - unmount the camera from the telescope, and test it with the power supply/DC extension, no other connections. There could be a ground fault in your observatory; electrical problem where some voltage is showing up on the telescope itself.
Just thought of one more thing... any chance you are using this on an OLD (like 1990's vintage) Meade LX200 ? Those scopes mechanical parts aren't at 0VDC, they float above it, and you end up with DC currents that are problematic. They have a Bar Graph display of power consumption, and it works by measuring current between the metalwork and the input power.
We did finally figure out what was going on. The power that comes in to our observatory is pretty hot at about 127VAC but we have everything connected to an APC Smart UPS. The UPS was dropping the voltage to about 113VAC, for some reason the power supply, even though it rated for 110VAC, did not like this lower voltage. We purchased a new power supply and it's working just fine.
