Need Help - Unable to get an image off my ZWO ASI1600 Pro

[drpepper143]

So i've had a new ZWO ASI1600 Pro on my scopes now for about a month, and I have been regularly heading to work with less than 4 hours of sleep, since I've been up imaging all night but have full hard disk drives. The camera is connected directly to the computer, and the EFW via the onboard USB hub. a separate USB cable extension connects the computer to mount (EQMod) and the computer to the guide camera (ZWO Asi120 mini, running thru PHD2).  Images are captured with SGP, but for alignment purposes I prefer to use ASICAP as it's slightly more responsive than SGP's "frame and focus" mode.

Things have been purring on smoothly, up to 2 hours ago. I was adding images to my stock of the Eastern Veil Nebula, in narrowband, and halfway through the sequence, something just goes wrong and SGP stops saving images. Since then, i've only gotten nothing but pure black pixels out of the camera, in both SGP and ASICAP. I've rebooted, swopped cables, switched everything off and on again, but i still get nothing. In ASICAP, I get a black image regardless of the settings. In SGP, the "Frame and focus" method gets stuck in "downloading".

Funny thing is that i'm still able to connect to the camera to change its settings, turn on the cooler. and the EFW works as i can hear it move when a new filter is selected. Even if i remove all other connections and just connect the camera to the computer, i get the same black screen. So the only thing that is not happening for me now, is getting an image that's not perfectly black. It's doubly frustrating typing this when there's a perfectly clear sky outside and a sliver of a waxing crescent.

 

any help much appreciated

 

 

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Have you tried other software e.g. Sharpcap\ASICap to see if you can get any image off the camera ?  Is the EFW jammed ?   Also have a look at the sensor & make sure all is ok.

[Yawning Angel]

I've found the asi1600 will hang on downloading if 2 different bits of software are connecting to it at the same time.

Try these steps:

• Ensure that PHD2 hasn't picked the 1600 for guiding, as it doesn't clearly distinguish between cameras from the same manufacturer (click the railway junction icon, next to the camera in the connect screen)
• Close ASICap
• Disconnect the 1600 from the link icon in SGP. GIve it a sec then hit the link icon in SGP again to reconnect. All should be well

 

[drpepper143]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies so far.

 

Firstly, during the restarts I've closed all other software and just run ASICAP. Nothing but blackness. So this is with PHD2 shut down. Same result if I run SGP alone. Can't seem to get any image off the camera

EFW looks ok; all of my slots are used and so if it were jammed it would be jammed on one filter which would still have some light passing through, but I'm getting complete blackness

At the moment I'm trying to avoid taking off the camera to check the sensor as I have yet to take flats for some of my recent images. But if I did, what should I look out for?

[Adam J]

38 minutes ago, drpepper143 said:

Hi guys, thanks for the replies so far.

 

Firstly, during the restarts I've closed all other software and just run ASICAP. Nothing but blackness. So this is with PHD2 shut down. Same result if I run SGP alone. Can't seem to get any image off the camera

EFW looks ok; all of my slots are used and so if it were jammed it would be jammed on one filter which would still have some light passing through, but I'm getting complete blackness

At the moment I'm trying to avoid taking off the camera to check the sensor as I have yet to take flats for some of my recent images. But if I did, what should I look out for?

If its back its not likely to be the sensor. I would say that the camera most likely has a fault of some sort by the sounds of it. 

[symmetal]

Have you tried reinstalling the Zwo drivers (native and Ascom).

Alan

[drpepper143]

Some good news. Everything just works now. And I have no idea what made it work or didn't work; all the settings are the same. Perhaps the universe was just telling me to get some sleep.... 

[Adam J]

19 minutes ago, drpepper143 said:

Some good news. Everything just works now. And I have no idea what made it work or didn't work; all the settings are the same. Perhaps the universe was just telling me to get some sleep.... 

something dried out most likely.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

or iffy cables, I need to clean \ re-seat all mine, to ensure consistent connectivity....

 

[symmetal]

Glad it's working again. It's worth considering spraying all the USB contacts in ACF-50, to avoid damp causing future problems. This previous thread gives some information you may find useful.

Alan