Orion G3 capture software?

[big bedroom]

Hi. I've recently bought one of these ccd cameras. The software that comes with it is ok but it keeps disconnecting the camera.

I use Sharpcap with my other camera but it doesn't like the G3!

Has anyone got one? What do you use?

[Scorpius]

I've been having the same problem and just sent Orion the following email:

​"The ASCOM driver you provide for the G3 Starshoot deep space camera will not work with the ASCOM platform on a 64 bit PC running Windows 8 even though the product literature says it will. Every time I try to connect the camera in ASCOM I get the following error message:

"This 32bit only driver won't work in a 64bit application even though it is correctly registered as a 32bit COM driver. Please contact the driver author and request an updated driver."

So I am contacting you via email to request an updated driver since the Tech support form on your website doesn't work either. Also, the Orion Camera Studio software you provide only works for a short time before disconnecting the camera and I'm becoming very discouraged that what was reported to be a good camera is practically unusable for me due to continuous software problems.

Why can't Orion develop software for its products that actually works with modern PC's instead of requiring customers to constantly search for answers to compatibility issues which are well documented on the web?

If I can't get this camera working consistently pretty soon - I'm sending it back for a full refund!"

If I receive an answer, I'll post it here...

[big bedroom]

Thanks, I hope they have an answer.

I'm running an old laptop on Vista. I've been impressed with the results of the camera but so far have only managed 20 subs!

[big bedroom]

Have you had a reply from Orion yet?

I've had the software working fine on the last two nights I've used it. Found that if the laptop is plugged in to the mains it works, and when I try using just the battery it disconnects the camera. It's ok at home but not great if I want to go to a dark site!

[Scorpius]

Never heard anything back from Orion but mine seems to be working better now as well. I think mine is an issue with the camera driver because when it crashes I usually get some sort of driver error message. So my solution has always been to uninstall the whole package (including the ASCOM driver) then re-install everything which usually gets it working for a little while until it decides to crash again. Anyway, last time it happened I did something a little different during the re-install and it worked flawlessly the rest of the night. Can't remember exactly what I did different but think it had to do with making sure the camera was not connected during the software re-install and then when the install procedure shows a checkbox to launch Orion Camera Studio, go ahead and let it launch and then while the program is still open, plug the camera into the USB port then go to camera control and click connect. Don't know why this should make a difference necessarily but maybe the camera studio app wants to see the camera right away after it's first installed?

If I have anymore issues will post them here or if it keeps working I'll assume what's listed above was the fix. Also, please let me know if you find out anything more about fixing these software crashes...

Regards,

Scorpius

[lensman57]

Have you had a reply from Orion yet?

I've had the software working fine on the last two nights I've used it. Found that if the laptop is plugged in to the mains it works, and when I try using just the battery it disconnects the camera. It's ok at home but not great if I want to go to a dark site!

This makes sense as the camera will probably take the power for the TEC from the laptop and I don't think that the 5V USB connection was designed to power a TEC on battery, unless the camera has a separate power point for the TEC in which case the mystery continues.

A.G

Try and install and run the software as administrator, I used to have a few problems with drivers of another make of camera if it was run under  " user ".

[Scorpius]

The Orion G3 Starshoot has a separate cord for the TEC with a 12v cigarette lighter plug for a rechargeable battery pack. I have been installing the Orion Camera Studio as an administrator but still had problems until my last time out when the camera and software both worked great. It's really quirky software though which doesn't seem to play well with Windows 8 (like a lot of other astronomy software I've tried). When it's working it seems to do an acceptable job but it invariably crashes when you're right in the middle of an imaging session for no apparent reason. Then it's uninstall, re-install, keep your fingers crossed, and just maybe it will let you reconnect to the camera but then again - maybe not - until you do it all over again. Very frustrating and I've even downloaded the free trial of Nebulosity and it does the same thing with that software.

Also forgot to mention in my previous reply to OP, the problem seems to be associated with Microsoft Visual C ++ 2013 Redistributable (x86) - 12.0.21005. Sometimes I've gotten by with just uninstalling that and then re-installing it through the software setup but then again - sometimes not. That's why I just go ahead and do a complete uninstall (ASCOM driver and all) so I don't waste anymore time than necessary reinstalling software in the field. I sure wish Orion would acknowledge their customers continue to have issues with this software and come up with a fix. It's amazing to me that a company would market a $400 camera (quite a good little camera too I might add) that ends up dead in the water due to unreliable software, drivers or whatever the problem may be.

If it keeps happening, I just might have to bite the bullet and purchase something like Maxim DL (or something a little less expensive) but then again, I couldn't be sure it would work with that either since Orion provides it's own ASCOM drivers. If I had to guess, I'll bet it's the ASCOM driver that's the root of the problem and probably only when running on Windows 8 but wouldn't you know - You have to have the ASCOM driver installed to run PHD and my PC is running Windows 8.1

Question to the OP - What OS are you running on your PC?

[Scorpius]

To the OP: Sorry, I missed that you're running Vista in your previous post so must not be specific to Windows 8. Still think it's the ASCOM driver though but wonder if Orion will ever come clean with a viable solution...

[big bedroom]

Yeah, it's Vista on an ancient old Toshiba U300 laptop. I've only used the software on its own, not in conjunction with PHD or anything else

For me the problem mainly happens when I run short loops to get focus. Once it starts running a sequence it seems fine.

[Bill Bones]

Hi All 

I had the same problem and have finally identified the problem and its now resolved.

It was the A to B USB cable I have obtained the following

Xxion Premiun

Fully Sheilded - Length 3 Metres 

SKU: XA-USB2-103

Has a label attached marked USB, TID 60000467

 

Bill