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Re: 6120 Amp Glow

 

Thanks, William. I don't have Google Drive set up like that yet but will.
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Good info in the cooling.
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I have a 683WS with mechanical shutter and 6120WSG with mechanical shutter. And the dew cap is tight on the TMB130, plus observatory is in the dark.
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I want to get this system done in time for Orion and other gems this year. I'm having major surgery later this year and will not be able to actually go to the observatory once that happens until March or so. I've been working towards this point for 12 years, so a little anxious.
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I still need to figure out Voyager...
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Kevin
Re: 6120 Amp Glow

 

Zack, when I go into TSX like just now tonight, this is what I've been seeing.
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Ambient is 20.55¡ãC in the observatory.? This is the camera status that is displayed after about 3 minutes and taking the image. Camera shows -24.2¡ãC.
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Here is the image @
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I haven't figured out how to read the EXIF or header info yet.
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Thanks.
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Kevin
Re: 6120 Amp Glow

 

Kevin,?

As stated before, the stretched view of the image in TSX is not to be judged, as it will look bad.?
You need to properly look at the file to make a judgment about the sensor.?


In Pixinsight when you first open it, it will be unstretched. You can perform an autostetch with the little nuke icon, or CTRL+A. I recommend watching videos on pixinsight to learn more about it.

In the ASCOM settings prior to connecting to your camera, you can set the fan speed to OFF, QUIET or Full. Given your ambient temp, set it to full for now. Ensure that "optimization" is set to "image quality". Now connect to the camera and make the set point to something achievable like -5c to -10c and start cooling.?
William gave a good diagnostic on it -? Make sure that the fans are indeed both running when you set the cooling.?
Re: 6120 Amp Glow

 

On Thu, Aug 22, 2024 at 01:43 AM, Paul Homer wrote:
I am not seeing the edge glow that I normally see in a dark. (I use a QSI 583 and 683) and this makes me suspicious that it has been altered.
Hi Paul.
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Just a FYI, the QSI 6120 has a Sony sensor and doesn't have the same edge glow and bias pattern that the Kodak KAF8300 shows.
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Will.
Re: 6120 Amp Glow

 

OK, please help me learn.
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I've been shooting film and digital for years but this is a whole new game for me. I never got serious with my used ST2000XM years ago. I was in South Carolina and was still shooting gas hypered film. OK, I'm old...
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When I took this dark, I used the "take photo" option in TSX. It showed up in TSX FITS viewer as a pile of crap, so to speak. Small and looked like an old failing CRT with a bad signal. So that has been my reference in my communications here.
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I just opened it up in Pixinsight out of curiosity, and it's completely black with the exception of about 40 pixels scattered about. Is that what you are seeing as well?
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Next, what is the proper cooling to set? Should it be maxed out?
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I can give the camera time to cool properly and take another dark from the office here. We can see if it's cooling.
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All info and advice welcome. I don't know crap about this.
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Thanks.
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Kevin
Re: 6120 Amp Glow

 

Kevin.
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For the temperature of the camera at exposure time the dark frame looks ok to me.
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A couple of points, the fan control in the QSI driver setup has user options, set to "Quiet" mode the cooling of the camera will not reach max delta C, which for the 6120 is a maximum of -40c below ambient at 100% cooling.
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Under extreme ambient temperatures you'll need to set the fan speed to Full Speed, and of course, check that the fan control is not currently set to "Off" which would severely impede cooling.
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The small Sunon Maglev fans in the 600 series cameras are known to wear out and fail but are readily obtainable, inexpensive and easy to replace by the owner.
Check that the fans are both spinning, spiders and other bugs are quite happy to set home in the fan openings and stop the fans rotating.
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At your observatory ambient of 30c the maximum that the camera would reach is -10c in ideal conditions, and setting -10c would be difficult to maintain anyway as the cooler system has no headroom for regulation and under these ambient temperature conditions I would recommend setting only -5c.
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Like SBIG, QSI did offer a liquid cooling kit to bolt onto the back of the camera to help cooling under high ambient conditions and that would add another -7c to -10c of delta C.
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If your 6120 doesn't have the optional physical shutter and only the on-sensor electronic shutter (QSI cameras with Sony sensors could be ordered with or without a physical shutter) then you'll need to ensure that no light can enter the camera when taking darks.
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Finally,
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When sharing files on GoogleDrive you can change the share permissions for the file, for a public share you need to set the option under "General access" to "Anyone with the link".
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HTH
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William.
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Re: 6120 Amp Glow

 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Kevin,

I am not seeing the edge glow that I normally see in a dark. (I use a QSI 583 and 683) and this makes me suspicious that it has been altered.

Also, the temperature of the CCD is recorded as 13.5 and the set temperature as -40 both of these are not realistic, -40 is too low and 13.5 is too high - it appears something may be wrong with the cooling.

Paul




On 22 Aug 2024, at 9:44:48 am, Kevin Cummins <kahuna@...> wrote:

It was 26¡ãC outside and over 30¡ãC in the dome, so cooling was working. Why isn't it dark?
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Thanks.
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Kevin
Re: 6120 Amp Glow

 

If your ambient temp is 30c, that means you would only be able to get to a set point of -10c reliably, just something to note.
Again, your FITS header is reporting that the CCD temp is +13.5. That is not an air temp, so that is not an indication that the cooling was necessarily working.?

I would try to take darks again with a set point of -10c and confirm that your cooling is properly working in your capture software.
Re: 6120 Amp Glow

 

It was 26¡ãC outside and over 30¡ãC in the dome, so cooling was working. Why isn't it dark?
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Thanks.
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Kevin
Re: 6120 Amp Glow

 

In the future, you just need to adjust sharing settings so that "anyone with link" can download/edit your file on google drive.
Google drive will also send out emails that you approve request to allow people to download your file.?

Looks like you have your set point to -40 c which is unlikely achievable and will lead to your camera being at 100% and unable to maintain a consistent temp. You need to make your set point to what ever is ~40c below ambient. So in your case, you need enter the send point to -18c, not -40c.?
Your FITS header is reporting that the CCD temp is +13.5c so you might have not engaged the cooling to begin with.?
Re: 6120 Amp Glow

 

I tried to find a site, Will, but had no luck at the time.
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Try this:
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It expires in 6 days.
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Thanks,
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Kevin
Re: 6120 Amp Glow

 

Hi Kevin.
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You need to post a link to your dark frame that is publicly shareable.
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The link you provided is a private link that requires the user to log-in to an existing GoogleDrive account, or register for one.
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Will.
Re: 6120 Amp Glow

 

OK, took two darks tonight, both at -40¡ãC below ambient, which was about -18¡ãC.? Here is one of them.
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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kITuSPlYdL3CQFl2a5WzTWhX123O6Vyh/view?usp=drive_link
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Something looks very wrong, or is it me?
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Thoughts?
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Kev
Re: Vertical band on image

 

Hi Nicola.
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The bright bands on either side of the frame are normal for a KAF 8300 sensor in the QSI683, with the brightest band always on the left side, but they will calibrate out perfectly when you subtract a master bias frame from your master dark, master flat and the lights before calibrating the lights with the now bias-subtracted master dark and master flat.
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If you are not using a master bias frame this is possibly the reason that you can't remove that glow from the left side, if you are using a master bias as described above then possibly your calibration sequence is not correct.
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In the screen shot below are a master bias frame from a QSI683 on the left, 600 seconds master dark in the middle and a PixelMath subtraction (Master Dark - Master Bias) on the right. You can see that when the master bias is subtracted from the master dark that the bright bands on either side of the frame are removed.
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In theory, the bias component is included with the dark frame and should be removed from the light when the two are subtracted but my experience with this camera is that the edge glow is not linear and does not scale with the dark frame.
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Try creating a master bias at bin 2x2 and subtract the master bias from your master dark, master flat and the lights before going on to calibrate the bias subtracted lights with the bias subtracted dark and bias subtracted flat.
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The other thing I noticed in your image are the vertical column defects, these should have calibrated out of the frame when you subtracted the master dark but are still visible so is the image you posted a raw frame straight from the camera, in which case the edge glow at the left and right side are normal, or is the image dark subtracted, in which case the calibration process is not working or the calibration frames are incompatible.
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Check also that the camera cooling is working effectively, partial bright column defects like those in your image are a characteristic of a KAF8300 sensor that is not cooled.
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HTH.
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WIll.
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Re: New QSI driver- released 8/5/24

 

Hello Barry,
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We (QSI/Atik) had to change to supporting just the ASCOM driver to make support more manageable as there were so many different astro programs out there. I can certainly talk with our software team about the possibilities for a 64 bit X2 driver. The QSI Cameras ASCOM plugin does now work in the 64 bit TSX.
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I hope this helps
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Thanks
Vince
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Thank you for your consideration Vince. I will share with you that there has been a lot of ¡°noise¡± on this issue in the many forums I participate in. The ASCOM driver has limitations, such as the one I described in my earlier post.?

A 64 bit X2 driver would go a long way for you guys as you continue with the QSI brand.?

Barry
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Re: New QSI driver- released 8/5/24

 

Hello Nicola,
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I am sorry to say we haven't been able to support the 500 series camera for several years now, but they are such a well made camera that they go on for years!? Sadly they don't share the same electronics used in the 600 series. We will, of course, always help where possible.
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Vince
Re: New QSI driver- released 8/5/24

 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Hi Vince,

this message is a bit provocative. On the face of it, it looks as though you only support Windows now, while my old 500-series camera worked perfectly well under macOS running TheSkyX. I¡¯ve now moved it another scope where it¡¯s running under KStars/Ekos running on a Raspberry Pi.

I looked at your website and in fact you do offer a bit more than just ASCOM: you offer an API and a shared library under Linux. But it¡¯s not said if the LINUX code runs only on x86 processors or if it also runs on ARM processors (such as the Raspberry-Pi)

And although KStars/Ekos runs on macOS as well as Linux, there¡¯s no mention of macOS at all on your website.

This is a pity and will oblige me to find a different camera vendor when it¡¯s time to replace the old QSI.

Cheers,
Richard

BTW, you should remove the subtitle on the web page for Drivers and Software. It currently says ¡°Comprehensive Software Support¡± which it clearly isn¡¯t, since there¡¯s no support for a widely used platform (macOS)


On 15 Aug 2024, at 11:35, QSI Imaging via groups.io <contact@...> wrote:

Hello Barry,
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We (QSI/Atik) had to change to supporting just the ASCOM driver to make support more manageable as there were so many different astro programs out there. I can certainly talk with our software team about the possibilities for a 64 bit X2 driver. The QSI Cameras ASCOM plugin does now work in the 64 bit TSX.
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I hope this helps
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Thanks
Vince
Re: Vertical band on image

 

Paul,

I do have the dark frame with the same band, taken at the same temp and same binning. But still, it?doesn't get rid of that and I don't understand why

Nicola

Il giorno gio 15 ago 2024 alle ore 09:15 Paul Homer via <phomer60=[email protected]> ha scritto:
Nicola,

It looks like you have an issue with your master dark frame.

The master dark should be produced from individual darks at the same temperature and exposure time as well as gain, binning etc, as the light.

Paul




On 15 Aug 2024, at 9:47:33 am, Pico de Paperis <omega.centauri@...> wrote:

Hi Paul,

unfortunately calibrating the frame does not help, the band is still there.

Nicola

Il giorno mer 14 ago 2024 alle ore 23:46 Paul Homer via??<phomer60=[email protected]> ha scritto:
Nicola,

Take darks and this will be removed.

Due to other limitations of 2x2, I think you would be better off binning 1x1.

Paul




On 15 Aug 2024, at 3:18:24 am, Pico de Paperis <omega.centauri@...> wrote:

Dear All,

I own a QSI683wsg with astrodon filters on a GSO RC10 Truss.
Recently, imaging in bin2 I am getting a vertical bright band on the left of the image which obliges me to crop it to work on the image. This band is not present when imaging in bin1.

I attach a highly?stretched raw image to show you the result.

Any ideas about its origin and how to fix it? Should I just live with it and cropping or stop using bin 2 at all?

Thanks for your help
Nicola
Sky Monsters -?

<test.jpg>





--?
Nicola
Sky Monsters -?




--
Nicola
Sky Monsters -

Re: New QSI driver- released 8/5/24

 

Hi Vince,

does it mean that if the camera will eventually fail I can simply throw it in the trash bin with no chance of repair?

Nicola

Il giorno gio 15 ago 2024 alle ore 11:25 QSI Imaging via <contact=[email protected]> ha scritto:

Hello Nicola,
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The 600 series firmware files are not usable with the 500 series cameras. Sadly a lot of the 500 series information was lost when the original QSI was put up for sale along with some of firmware files and uploaders.
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Vince



--
Nicola
Sky Monsters -

Re: New QSI driver- released 8/5/24

 

Hello Barry,
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We (QSI/Atik) had to change to supporting just the ASCOM driver to make support more manageable as there were so many different astro programs out there. I can certainly talk with our software team about the possibilities for a 64 bit X2 driver. The QSI Cameras ASCOM plugin does now work in the 64 bit TSX.
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I hope this helps
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Thanks
Vince
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