Another help with Maxim + QHY5 L II Mono

[Gerhard]

Hi all!

I'm embarking on the autoguiding path...

Obviously not everything is going smoothly...

So, I have the new QHY5LII Mono for guiding on a Celestron 8x50 finder scope.

I had already tried capturing images with maxim, from my main scope with the reflex on it. That seemed to work alright.

I installed the ASCOM platform, the drivers from the qhyccd.com site (system & ASCOM), and also EZPlanetary.

Maxim connects to the cam alright, but all I can get from the camera is noise, black images, or white overexposed images.

I tried all USB gates, reinstalled a few times the drivers...

I tried to capture images in the Guide tab, in the Expose tab...

I tried with PHD2 as well, but no luck there either: only overexposed white images, or, when decreasing exposure time, gray to black images, but no details of what I'm pointing at at all...

Also, strangely, my reflex shows only noise....

Meanwhile, I've seen all kinds of flashing patterns from the red LED on the QHY5... from fixed to slow flashing, to intermittent, to very fast flashes...

 

I'm sure I'm doing something very basic wrong....

Any ideas?

I tried looking at previous threads on this, but had no luck trying what was written there...

 

Thanks!

 

Gerhard

[Gerhard]

some additional info:

Maxim does not balk when I disconnect the USB cable from the QHY5 when it is still connected in Maxim, as it does when I disconnect my DSLR... so it seems it's not communicating perfectly... I must have installed the drivers 5 times by now......

moreover, in EZPlanetary, the image I see (see before: from totally black to totally white, depending on the gain and exposure time I set) changes when I pass my hand in front of the finder scope (with the QHY5 attached.

so the camera DOES send a signal to the pc... only not the real image, apparently.....

[geordie85]

This may sound stupid but are you sure your guide scope is in focus for your guide camera?

[Gerhard]

That was actually what I was hoping to find out today: if the combination of QHY5 and finder scope would be able to reach focus. 

I actually almost had it fixed, when using EZPlanetary, lowering the gain and exposure almost to zero: I finally saw some shapes and shadows moving when I had the scope, by chance, in my hand instead of on the mount. 

So I used those settings, put the scope on the mount again, adjusted focus so some far away trees were in focus  and was moving the mount a little to center on an even further away object, when my laptop stopped recognising the QHY5! 

I tried rebooting, reinstalling the drivers AGAIN, but no joy..... 

It works on the desktop I have, but my laptop refuses..... 

I got fed up, and have now put away everything... 

And tomorrow it's totally overcast here so the transit will be invisible... 

Grrr

[Gerhard]

Had some help of a friend this evening. Turns out it was the usb cable in the end.... ?

He also helped me with some of the guide settings in maxim, so that is a good thing coming out of this! ?