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Yet another DIY all sky camera thread

michaelmorris

By michaelmorris
in DIY Astronomer

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Gina

Gina

Posted
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Having wiped the water off the camera window, there is no sign of wet or even dampness inside behind the window so the sensor should be alright.  I think I'll gently warm the camera for a few hours and see if it works.

I've put it on the bed of my Titan 3D printer and running it at 45°C.  That should dry out any moisture in the camera.  Mini 3D printer is currently printing clock parts.

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JamesF

JamesF

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My recollection is that the housing for the camera unscrews, splitting near the front.  It's quite well disguised by the first shoulder of the case though.  That may be just the smaller models however.

James

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Gina

Gina

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Yes the ASI1600 unscrews there too.  OTOH the dry chamber with the sensor seems to be perfectly dry so no need to unscrew it.  The reason it didn't work may be just down to the USB connection.  I'm going to make sure it's dry though before connecting it to a computer for testing.

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Gina

Gina

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Possibly yes.  ATM it's on my printer bed set to 65°C - I'll increase the temperature to 90°C as the lens is looking just as bad as when I put it there!  I don't think a high temperature will hurt the lens.  I might increase it to 110°C in a while...

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Gina

Gina

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The front lens has now dried off inside but it's left a deposit!  The back part still seems to be full of water!!  The casing feels hot - probably 60-70°C with the bed at 110°C.  It looks like I shall have to strip this lens down if I am to recover it  :eek:  If I do manage to recover the lens but not the camera I might try the ASI178MM and stick an Ha filter in the light path and see what that does at night.  I think the ASI178MM is the same size as the ASI185MC I've been using so the thermal insulating casing could be reused.  Can't get ASC cooling down to the coldness ZWO get with their dual step cooling though.  OTOH this might just be a project that might rejuvenate my interest in astro imaging - which is in serious decline!

OMG!  Just noticed that a wire has come off the Peltier TEC I used for cooling the camera - it gets worse!!!  :eek: :BangHead:  Wonder if it's worth pressing on....

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Gina

Gina

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Just had a try at getting the lens apart - no joy!

Just had another thought - I do have the Fujinon zoom lens which is much lower quality and higher focal ratio. 

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Gina

Gina

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Found the ASI178MM and tried that and the ASA185MC in three different capture programs in my Win 7 laptop.  One program didn't work with either but the other two recognised the ASI178MM and covering the sensor the image went from light to dark.  With the ASI185MC I got an error from both programs.  I conclude that the ASI185MC is DUFF, dead, lying on the floor of its cage with its legs in the air.  It is a non-camera etc. etc. So I decided to take it apart and see if anything was to be seen.  Grabbed the reduced part of the body in pipe pliers and two screws in the M4 fixing holes, then applying a long tool undid the casing which split just behind the ledge.  There is corrosion on the sensor board so I guess that is where the trouble is/was. 

Once inside I decided to remove the sensor board and examine the interior.  There is NO thermal connection from the sensor to the case whatsoever so cooling the case only cools the air inside otherwise there is nothing to cool the image sensor.  Assuming other non-cooled ZWO cameras are the same I conclude that there must be a significant difference between the cooled and non-cooled ZWO cameras with the cooled models having a cold finger onto the back of the sensor.

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Gina

Gina

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Cleaned the board with acetone and removed all the corrosion, also found corrosion on the ribbon cable end and the connector which I also cleaned off but the camera still doesn't work and gives same error. :eek:

The sensor board does have a small rectangular window in the back that might take a cold finger.  No good if the camera is dead though!

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Gina

Gina

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I'm not sure what's going on in the lens but when I look through it I see what looks like a sort of crystalline structure.  I put the lens on the ASI178MM camera and can see light and dark but it won't focus and also shows this effect.  I think the lens is kaput! :eek:

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Gina

Gina

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Tried the ZWO supplied very wide angle lens 2.5mm f1.2 but it would only cover half the sky or less.  The call it a 170° lens but that is probably diagonal.

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Supplied with a 2.5mm accessory 'all sky lens' for a nearly 170° view of the sky!

 

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Gina

Gina

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I may be back in business - the lens has cleared ?  :hello2:  I had pretty much given up on it and just left it on the table.  I was comparing the height with the zoom lens when I thought I'd have another look through it and it looked clear.  So I put it on the ASI178MM camera and focused the view.  It looks alright!

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