zwo camera

[daz01968]

i have a zwo camera but i just cant get a picture when i connect to my scope, its just a black screen, what am i doing wrong

[Sunshine]

I am new to imaging but I can say that adjusting the "gain" or "exposure" sliders while in live view made my image go from dark to seeing the object finally, be sure your tracking is accurate and target is centered visually before inserting camera.

Most cameras have small chips making target acquisition tricky, that is what I can contribute with my limited experience as I have experienced the same issue, I couldn't even see the sun on the screen until I played with my exposure slider and it was dead center the whole time.

[Demonperformer]

If it is a completely black screen then it sounds like there is a problem with the connection.

During daylight, open your favourite imaging program and plug in the camera. 'Connect' the camera in the software and use an exposure time of about a second. Cover the end of the camera - screen should go dark - then move your hand away so light is hitting the chip - screen should go white. If this does not happen, then no signal is getting from the camera to the software.

If that is the case, try a different usb socket on your laptop (even if it is usb2, this test should still work). If it still doesn't work, try uninstalling and reinstalling the camera drivers. If that still doesn't work, come back to us. It can be worth adding the software (eg APT, Sharpcap, etc) as a tag as the answer could be software specific, and the tag would probably grab the attention of the people who wrote those programs.

If the first test gives you the expected results, then signal is getting through and it becomes a matter of adjusting the settings to get an image at night.

HTH

[geordie85]

What scope are you using? Which zwo camera do you have? Were you focused? If you are too far out of focus you'll just see a black image.

Also as stated above, connect it during the day to make sure the camera and laptop are working and receiving signal.

[Knighty2112]

Make sure the USB connector supplied with the camera is pushed in fully into the camera. With my ZWO ASI 120 mc camera you can plug the camera in and think the connector is fully located, but it needs an extra push in to get the final few mm of connection to work correctly and get a picture.

[newbie alert]

What capture softwarecare you using? Have you installed the drivers? Also you will need to adjust the gain and exposure to give you an image rather than a blank screen