Ultrastar Mono Issue

[HiloDon]

Hi All,

Just received a new Ultrastar mono camera and had first light last night.  I plan on using it mainly with a narrow band Ha filter.  My first object was Eta Carinae and I immediately noticed some black horizontal smearing from some of the bright stars.  I was using my C6 with Hyperstar.  I have never seen this with my Lodestars or color Ultrastar.  Later I went to M16 and saw the same thing.  I have an email in to Terry at SX, but I thought some of you may have seen the same thing with yours.  Here's a capture demonstrating the problem.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Don

[aparker]

Don,

 

Are you using the Ultrastar with SLL v3?  Are you binning?  I've noticed this black horizontal streaking when using the Ultrastar with 2x2 binning (now possible in SLL v3).  I used the Ultrastar for months in earlier versions of SLL (unbinned of course) and never saw the black streaks, so I don't think it has anything to do with the physical camera.

Alex

[HiloDon]

Thanks, Alex.  I doubled check and binning is set to 1x1.  Terry sent a note back indicating that the A-D converter is being overloaded by the signal.  He said I should turn the anti blooming down a bit.  There is a control inside the camera.

I've got a note into Paul as well asking about the DPR.  I had issues with it with the color Ultrastar and NB Ha filter.  I didn't think to shut it off last night.

Don

[Paul81]

Hi Don,

Unsure, do you have any raw FITS files you can send me? I can then take a closer look at what might be going on.

Cheers

Paul

[Astrojedi]

Don,

I had the same issue with the Ultrastar Mono I had ordered for our club. It is a problem with an incorrect anti blooming setting in the camera. Terry advised me to open the camera and tweak it. But I was not comfortable doing that so I returned the camera. The second camera shipped in lieu had the same issue. Returned that one as well. Seems like a bad batch of cameras.

Hiten

 

[HiloDon]

Thanks, Hiten.

I already contacted High Point to tell them I want a new cam, because I feel the same way as you.  I'll contact them on Tuesday to let them know your experience.  Did you finally get one that didn't have the problem?

Don

[aparker]

Interesting about the anti-blooming.  Totally makes sense in the context of 2x2 binning (where I saw it) since that will result in cranking up the individual pixel values 4X on bright stars.  What did Terry say about the adjustment - is it a physical thing in the camera like a teeny dial potentiometer?  Or is it something that can be controlled through software?  I'm not sure that it bugs me - but it certainly would if it happened with unbinned exposures.  Did you try shortening the exposure time to see if that would eliminate it?

[Astrojedi]

Don,

No. Decided to go with an Infinity mono for the club.

Alex,

It is a physical (very tiny) dial on the circuit board of the camera. Although I am very comfortable tinkering with electronics I am also aware how easy it is to break these. My concern was/is if due to my error I broke something how would it impact the warranty. Much easier to just return.

Hiten

[HiloDon]

Alex,

I think I got the streaks at 30 seconds as well.  I didn't test anything shorter than that.  Have you run yours at 45s?  My impression was that you usually stack short exposures of 10 to 15s.  Maybe all the Ultrastar monos do this at longer exposures.

I agree with Hiten.  I would be uncomfortable going inside the camera and adjusting things.  Here's a pic that Terry sent me showing the AB adjustment.

Don

[stash_old]

You must not do the change yourself - I am a great believer in "you made it , it doesn't work , you fix it" - I am partly dismayed at the way this UK company is behaving. The customer always comes first and there should have been no quibble just a "we will send you another straight away - sir". Sorry but the "here's how to fix it" approach is a sign of a lazy company - How about doing some QA testing or changing your QA as it clearly isn't working as 2 people (at least) have had the same problem.   Sorry for the rant but this kind of attitude by a UK(or any other country) company does make my blood boil.     Starlight Express these gentleman are advertising your product (I presume for free) by using them and Starlight should recognise this else they will be history - Sort it Starlight Xpress Ltd  - I will now climb back under my rock - thank you.

[aparker]

Don, Hiten,

Thanks for the detail on the AB - I think I'd be leery of messing with that tiny dial too - not sure my eyes/hands are up to that sort of thing anymore.

I've used my Ultrastar unbinned for exposures ranging from 5 to 60 seconds.  Never saw the black streaks until I tried to use it binned 2x2.  I'll play with some varying binned exposure lengths the next time the work and weather gods align for me...

 

[Astrojedi]

To be clear and fair to SX I have always received exceptional service from Terry. In this instance Terry suggested the DIY approach to avoid the long lead times associated with shipping the camera to UK and back to US. He never denied me the option of not shipping the camera to him or returning the camera. Also note this is not really a repair but rather a change in settings. I was just not comfortable doing it.

Clear skies...

[claws]

Well, this is some bad news indeed. I have an UltraStar mono on order from Starizona. I'll call them tomorrow and see if I can cancel the order.  I was really looking forward to doing Ha captures with this camera as well as using it for non Ha work with my C6 and HyperStar. I'm tempted to keep my order active and take a chance that my camera won't have the star streaking issue, but after reading that two recent purchases of the US mono have this problem, I'll try to cancel and wait for SX to fix the problem.

 

Kim

[ddjls]

  Can anyone provide the serial number(s) for the cameras they had this experience with?  I recently acquired a pre-owned Ultrastar color with a serial number below 050 that has the problem.  I have also used the exact same camera that has a serial number above 140 that does not have the problem.  Was wondering if earlier cameras exhibited the problem more so than  newer ones.  And, what was the final outcome with either tweaking the AB potentiometer yourself or having  SX repair or replace the camera. 

[Skipper Billy]

What's the problem ???