Anyone use a PL-130 Camera?

[MikeP]

I can't get my PL-130 to work with PHD. The camera connects but when I click on the looping icon, the preview screen turns white after an interval equal to the chosen exposure time.

I've tried several exposure times, telescope covered / uncovered, carefully racked the focusser in and out to the maximum extent but the screen stays white. My laptop runs Windows XP SP3 and I've tried PHD 1.8.2 and 1.9. The DLLs supplied with the camera are all loaded (it won't connect if they are not).

Royholl has provided some suggestions but none of them have resolved the problem - sorry Roy. I've posted on the PHD Yahoo group, but thought I'd try here too.

The camera could be faulty but before I go down that path, does anyone have any idea what may be wrong?

Mike

[DIYASTRO]

Mike,

have you tryed to run the pl-130 in etamcap? The program that come with the camera and part of the software?

Also was the camera usb pluged in before software load?

You could try and load it as WMD camera and see if that works.

You also have to have the ascom platform software to use the PHD.

I would be tempted to remove software and reload it only connecting camera when prompted.

Sorry, you have perhaps tryed all of this but just a thought.

[MikeP]

Thanks for the suggestions DIY.

When I run etAMCAP the camera differentiates between light and dark, so I think it is at least functioning to some degree, but I haven't tried to focus on anything. In PHD when I try to use it as a WDM camera (through the scope), I get a black screen with a kind of histogram of white lines - focussing doesn't seem to have any effect.

I have ASCOM loaded and in use with EQMOD and also for the GPUSB interface to my ST-4 port. The EQDIRCheck and GPUSBCheck programs both run correctly.

The software load was performed exactly as instructed. However, using my powered USB hub, I found that every time I used a different hub port, Windows needed to reload the drivers.

Nothing shows up in Device Manager unless the camera is plugged in, so I don't know how to remove the software - there is nothing in Add/Remove programs nor on Start / All Programs.

Does anything in the above give any clues?

Mike

[ngc2403]

is it focused?

i think you should focus it up on a day time object in a small scope.

you will find focus further out than for the stars so close to the maxium out travel of the focuser or just passed it for some telescopes.

if it you can't tell when it is focused or the picture is bad then look at sending it back

[MikeP]

Thanks for the suggestions DIY and NGC, bit by pure luck, it looks like I have a solution.

Since PHD would not work, I tried Maxim. Since it was a quick experiment to see if the camera would connect and display something, I did not pay a lot of attention to settings, so when the focus loop was started, Maxim wanted to take a dark frame.

More out of hope than expectation, I went back to PHD, took a dark and then clicked on the looping icon - bingo, didn't get the white screen. It still needs to be tested properly but I'm confident that it will work.

A dark frame for autoguiding sounds a bit bizarre to me but if that's what it takes to make it work...

Mike