Hello! I am the technician for robotic and social-media controlled observatory at a university in Atlantic Canada. We have an SBIG STXL-11002M camera and FW8G-STXL filter wheel attached to our telescope. Caveat up front that I am both new in my role and very much still learning all of the associated hardware and software. Recently, when connecting to the STXL-11002 camera with MaximDL, I would get “Camera error (17)” which I understand to be a shutter error, per previous forums on this website. With a bit of unplugging cables and plugging them back in, I was able to take exposures successfully with MaximDL again. However, I noticed when the camera is turning on and the filter wheel is doing it’s normal “click, click, click” there is a low-toned, louder-than-the-fan, “whrrrrrr” noise accompanying it, which is normally not there. This ends after the “click, click, clicks” of the filter wheel start-up are complete. The fan spins and makes no more noise than usual, just normal fan-spinning noise. When I go to take an exposure and the filter wheel changes the filter, this low-toned “whrrrrr” picks up again as the filter switches. During an exposure without a filter change, there is no “whrrrr” noise. There is no “whrrrr” noise when the camera is idle, either. I could use some guidance on some troubleshooting tips. The camera is now able to take images again, though I am unsure for how long, or if it will work reliably as the filter wheel seems to be having an issue. Thank you for your time!
Going to update this, because it is likely a USER ERROR, but we'll see! Is the filter wheel supposed to generally make a "whrrrrrr"-ing noise as it switches filters? I guess I've just realized that I am not usually physically in the observatory when the camera starts or when it changes filters! It is a noise that is different from the standard fan noise. Perhaps there is no issue at all and I'm just not used to the sound of its normal operation. Or maybe something is actually intermittently wrong with the shutter, as MaximDL noted with its error!
Hi Tiffany - the filter wheel has a stepper motor that rotates the filters. Any chance you are at St. M?
I'm very delayed in my reply (sorry!) but after taking off the camera, taking the filter wheel apart just to look, putting it back on, reconnecting it, etc., there seems to be no other issue. That's good! All is working fine. You got it - I am there, having taken over from our retired director who you may know.
Hi Tiffany, glad its all behaving itself. If you need anything, we're here for you. A couple of us have known DJL for a very long time. I'll mark this as resolved.
