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QHY8L with Nebulosity corrupt image

kylerosenbluth

By kylerosenbluth
in Discussions - Cameras

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kylerosenbluth

kylerosenbluth

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Hi guys,

I'm new to this forum and was looking for some help with my new QHY8L and Nebulosity 3.2 for Mac.

I went out tonight take some photos, hooked up the camera fine, and saw this as a preview image of one second when focused on a star. post-36068-0-49958500-1394767530_thumb.p

Nothing I tried fixed this image, and being a complete beginner with CCD's, I have no idea if it is a problem with the camera, the software, or both!

I'd love some advice on this if anybody knows what's going on.

Thanks so much!

- Kyle

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Mav359

Mav359

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I can't say Ive seen this with mine.

Can you connect the camera to another PC/Mac if it works then you most likely have a driver issue, if you get the same issue it might point to a camera problem. 

Are all the lights on on the DC201 power box? again if they aren't that could suggest power issues, make sure all those connections are tight.

The only other thing that it could be (that i can think of) is the USB cable/connection, are you using a HUB to connect to the Mac? if so try connecting directly & you can try a different USB cable.

Has it ever worked?

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GuillermoBarrancos

GuillermoBarrancos

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The USB hub is a good one.

Devices that draw a lot of power via USB need to be either connected via a "Powered" USB hub or directly connected to the PC / Laptop.

Especially when you have a lot of other (Power hungry) Devices connected to the same unpowered USB hub, can cause issues.

So if you currently use an USB hub, it's Worth trying to connect the camera directly, without the hub and see if it helps.

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r3i

r3i

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It looks like the CCD is not being cooled.  The temperature readout on your screenshot shows 100.1deg C.  Check the temperature setpoint in Nebulosity (it is located in Edit - Preferences from the menu on Windows, not sure where the Mac version will be).

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GuillermoBarrancos

GuillermoBarrancos

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It looks like the CCD is not being cooled.  The temperature readout on your screenshot shows 100.1deg C.  Check the temperature setpoint in Nebulosity (it is located in Edit - Preferences from the menu on Windows, not sure where the Mac version will be).

Good Catch in the screenshot! Didn't see that one. :lipsrsealed:

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kylerosenbluth

kylerosenbluth

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Thanks guys for the responses!

Ok, so the USB was hooked up directly to the laptop, there was no hub.

And as for the temperature, it is only showing that because I took the screenshot after I disconnected the camera. When it was plugged in, it was reading -7 Celsius. Any other ideas? Thanks so much for the help!

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kylerosenbluth

kylerosenbluth

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Guillermo, I had not seen that before and it seems immensely helpful. I must have been using a different manual. Thanks!

Also, now that I am thinking about it, the issue could have been with the power source. I had my telescope, laptop, and camera all plugged into one outlet with a splitter.

Mav359 said that all the lights on the DC201 have to be on, and I don't think they all were. Only 2, the +5v and the TEC light. Would that explain the issue?

Thanks for all the help guys, I can't wait to actually get this thing working!

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GuillermoBarrancos

GuillermoBarrancos

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Hi,

Yes the standard manual is just for the camera.

A user (Thomas Fowler) has rewritten the entire guide for the QHY8L with a lot of extra support, including various Astro software. :)

Here is the official link, that includes the download link, so you can print it out if you whish to:

http://qhyccd.com/en/top/manual/qhy8l-1/

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kylerosenbluth

kylerosenbluth

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Cloudy skies last night, but I did manage to plug it in indoors, follow the steps you sent, and make sure that all the lights on the DC201 turned on and things seemed to be working well. Will try tonight. If everything goes well, I'm going for Markarian's Chain!

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r3i

r3i

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Cloudy skies last night, but I did manage to plug it in indoors, follow the steps you sent, and make sure that all the lights on the DC201 turned on and things seemed to be working well. Will try tonight. If everything goes well, I'm going for Markarian's Chain!

You should be able to get an image indoors if you set a short enough shutter speed and point the camera at something sufficiently dull. It doesn't need to be in focus, you should be able to confirm or not that the camera is operating OK. 

When you are imaging for real, a commonly used setpoint for the temperature is -20.

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kylerosenbluth

kylerosenbluth

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You should be able to get an image indoors if you set a short enough shutter speed and point the camera at something sufficiently dull. It doesn't need to be in focus, you should be able to confirm or not that the camera is operating OK. 

When you are imaging for real, a commonly used setpoint for the temperature is -20.

I tried taking some images indoors with a really short exposure time (.05 seconds). All I get, and I assume this is because of the camera focused at infinity, is a blurred gradient with some blue. I think it seems correct, assuming that it is completely out of focus. It definitely isn't the corrupt data that I had in my first screenshot.

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r3i

r3i

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I tried taking some images indoors with a really short exposure time (.05 seconds). All I get, and I assume this is because of the camera focused at infinity, is a blurred gradient with some blue. I think it seems correct, assuming that it is completely out of focus. It definitely isn't the corrupt data that I had in my first screenshot.

Assuming that whatever you were pointing at was blue, then that sounds promising.

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kylerosenbluth

kylerosenbluth

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Assuming that whatever you were pointing at was blue, then that sounds promising.

Ok good, I think I'm good to go then!

When you are imaging for real, a commonly used setpoint for the temperature is -20.

Can you explain why -20? Wouldn't it be best to cool it to the max? I thought the cooler the better for a CCD.

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r3i

r3i

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Can you explain why -20? Wouldn't it be best to cool it to the max? I thought the cooler the better for a CCD.

It allows you to get some consistency in your setpoint temperature throughout the year.  The max delta T is approximately -40, so whilst you could go really cold in the winter, you couldn't achieve the same level at other times of the year.

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kylerosenbluth

kylerosenbluth

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Hey guys,

Thanks to all of your help, I was able to take the camera out on Saturday night and get some photos of M101.

Unfortunately, I had to deal with the full moon, which made processing extra difficult, but the wizards at reddit's astrophotography subreddit helped me out and we were able to come up with this: xrXqxFt.jpgThanks for all the help, and I look forward to taking some more shots when the full moon isn't out!

Best,

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