Possible damage to ZWO 385MC

[George Gearless]

So I dropped my ZWO 385MC camera the other day. It wasn't from a great height. Something like 30-40 cm onto a tiled surface. But it was enough to make me worry.

I set up last night and pointed the scope roughly at Polaris. My finderscope/guider (50mm  with a ZWO 120mm mono camera) easily picked up Polaris and quite a few other stars. But my main scope (Evostar 80ED with said ASI 385MC) showed only a black nothing. I was barely able to get Venus showing.

I've desperately gone through all the settings that I can think of to see if I've messed something up somewhere. But so far I haven't found anything out of order (but I'm willing to entertain the idea that I've missed something). I also tried running them both through Sharpcap, and I need many times more exposure to get a light picture on my 385 than on my 120.

So, in order to determine if the camera is damaged, I was wondering if there are any progams out there that can run a sort of self-test?

I realize the camera is not exactly high end. But to me it's not actualy pocket change either. I'm not about to replace it before I've searched all avenues for a remedy. Any suggestions as to what might be done? Or do I just have to bite the bullet and consider it broken beond repair?

[Dr_Ju_ju]

First off, don't panic....  next thing, do you have another computer that you can plug it into ? also with a different USB3 cable ?  if so, install the latest ZWO drivers (v3.0.0.7) & ASIStudio, all available from https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/software-drivers then do some simple testing there.... 

[George Gearless]

1 hour ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

First off, don't panic....  next thing, do you have another computer that you can plug it into ? also with a different USB3 cable ?  if so, install the latest ZWO drivers (v3.0.0.7) & ASIStudio, all available from https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/software-drivers then do some simple testing there.... 

Probably good advice about not panicking :). 

I do believe I have the latest drivers, but I've downloaded the package once again just to be sure. Next, I'm going to fiddle around with ASIStudio Software (which I did not even know existed) to see if I can determine anything out of the ordinary. 

Thanks Doc.

[George Gearless]

Ok, I'm afraid this is not good news (for me).

I usualy use Stellarmate. So I was 'hoping' that going through that might cause some problem. So I hooked the cameras (in turn) directly into Sharpcap on my 32bit tablet/laptop, and pointed the scope at a far away flagpole.

I set the 120mini at exp 0,0350ms. Set the gain for auto and noted it settled at 17. Pretty clear photo and reasonably lightened.

Then I put in the 385MC and set the same values as for the 120mm. It was very underexposed. I set the gain for auto, and it jumped up to 145 in order to get a reasonably lighted picture. Reversely I locked the gain at 17 but then had to raise the exp time to something like 0,3ms before getting a decent picture again.

Beond acknowledging that the camera is damaged, I realy can't think of anything else to try.

 

 

[pete_l]

On 27/03/2020 at 10:22, George Gearless said:

Any suggestions as to what might be done?

Check your home contents insurance. See what is covered under breakages.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Also how brave are you ??   As it looks to be close to working, I'd be stripping the camera down & checking all the connections etc. granted there probably not that many, but I'm pat special attention to the imaging chip assembly....

[George Gearless]

Just now, Dr_Ju_ju said:

Also how brave are you ??   As it looks to be close to working, I'd be stripping the camera down & checking all the connections etc. granted there probably not that many, but I'm pat special attention to the imaging chip assembly....

Well, the alternative is buying a new one. And given the new purchase price of £333 at FLO, I suspect sending it off somewhere for repair, is not a financialy sound solution either.

But, do you think that a lose connection somewhere would cause this behavior?

[George Gearless]

16 minutes ago, pete_l said:

Check your home contents insurance. See what is covered under breakages.

I did think of that. Unfortunately it'll cost me more to submit a claim than a new camera will cost :(.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

A loose\iffy connection, may well be the cause of your problems.