Help!

[CKP]

Hi,

I've bought a mount and a camera for EAA...

The mount seems great (not yet had it under the stars) I can even control it using stellarium, thanks to youtube!

The camera on the other hand, I can't get my head round.

Its a zwo asi178 mc. I've downloaded everything on the disc to get it to work on my laptop and with sharpcap. 

It shows up on the cameras tab as 3 different cameras. 

The first one Asi178mc camera (ZWO design) starts, but I get this message

I don't know how to run it without DirectShow???

If I press yes to continue with DirectShow, it starts to preview with a blank screen. I've tried playing with the exposure, gain, adding a Barlow and shortening the trusses on the telescope. It is just a blank screen.

The ones labelled asi camera 1 & 2 won't work. How do I get this camera to work? 

[Cosmic Geoff]

Did you get the camera new or used? I understand this is an older model of camera.

Looks like a driver problem to me. I suggest you download the latest driver from the ZWO website.

I got this sort of message with a Celestron camera (which however worked) but not with my ZWO cameras, only one of which seems to have come with a disc.

[StevieDvd]

I have the ASI178MM and the latest ZWO drivers which loads as the screen below shows. I use it for luna/solar and it's a current model, I bought it July 2021

Is it a true ZWO or one of the ones purported to be ZWO but branded differently?

[CKP]

31 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

Did you get the camera new or used? I understand this is an older model of camera.

Looks like a driver problem to me. I suggest you download the latest driver from the ZWO website.

I got this sort of message with a Celestron camera (which however worked) but not with my ZWO cameras, only one of which seems to have come with a disc.

I bought it used from a well known telescope shop. I didn't realise it was an older model, especially the price I paid! I've downloaded the latest driver from zwo website but its still the same.

[CKP]

16 minutes ago, StevieDvd said:

I have the ASI178MM and the latest ZWO drivers which loads as the screen below shows. I use it for luna/solar and it's a current model, I bought it July 2021

Is it a true ZWO or one of the ones purported to be ZWO but branded differently?

It's branded as a zwo.  If yours is a current model and is showing up on the list like this, I guess mine is an older model that don't want to work  😆 

 

[StevieDvd]

16 minutes ago, CKP said:

I bought it used from a well known telescope shop. I didn't realise it was an older model, especially the price I paid! I've downloaded the latest driver from zwo website but its still the same.

I'd call it a current model as it's available at most Astro sellers, such as FLO.

To eliminate it from a SharpCap issue try downloading ASIStudio and running ASICap to see if it's recognised. I'm a bit suspicious that it is showing up as a DirectShow camera on SharpCap.

Edit

I just looked at the ZWO download site. Have you loaded the DirectShow driver instead of the standard drivers for any special reason?

Edited July 29, 2022 by StevieDvd
Added note about drivers

[CKP]

7 minutes ago, StevieDvd said:

I'd call it a current model as it's available at most Astro sellers, such as FLO.

To eliminate it from a SharpCap issue try downloading ASIStudio and running ASICap to see if it's recognised. I'm a bit suspicious that it is showing up as a DirectShow camera on SharpCap.

Thanks. I will download asistudio, but what is asicap? As you can tell I'm new to this and their isn't much info online about what I'm experiencing.

[Cosmic Geoff]

25 minutes ago, CKP said:

but what is asicap

It is ASI's own rather basic capture program. It should be downloadable from their website. As StevieDVD says, it should help you tell if you have a genuine ASI camera or some sort of clone.

If these cameras cost loadsamoney, I would not be amazed if fakes exist.

Edited July 29, 2022 by Cosmic Geoff

[StevieDvd]

No problem we were all in your position at one time.

The ZWO download page is here

 

Drivers

Not sure if the DirectShow needs the base download (it does say MUST in caps) - I've not used the DirectShow - thought that was for older/web cameras.

ASISTUDIO is getting quite good now, it has several programs from a single front panel like this:

 

I've used ASICap for solar/lunar and it's definetly getting better.

For EAA you may want to try ASILive which does live stacking of images (as to some other programs including SharpCap).

Whether anyone would suggest using DirectShow nowadays I can't say, I'm prepared to be corrected though if it's useful now.

Steve

 

[CKP]

Thanks for your help, I now have a live view on the screen. It was the asi cameras directshow driver. It also works on asistudio too. That will be something else to play with!

Just one more thing, I had the round lens on this time and the view was blurry, I'm not going to use it as an allsky cam  but if I was how would I make it less blurry?

[Cosmic Geoff]

3 minutes ago, CKP said:

Thanks for your help, I now have a live view on the screen. It was the asi cameras directshow driver. It also works on asistudio too. That will be something else to play with!

Just one more thing, I had the round lens on this time and the view was blurry, I'm not going to use it as an allsky cam  but if I was how would I make it less blurry?

Rotate the allsky lens to screw it in or out. I found its main use was for testing the colour balance indoors without a scope. Some of these cameras require a UV/IR cut filter.

[bilbo]

The only driver you need is the first one that says "MUST" The direct show & ascom drivers only clutter things up.

Steve

[CKP]

13 hours ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

Rotate the allsky lens to screw it in or out. I found its main use was for testing the colour balance indoors without a scope. Some of these cameras require a UV/IR cut filter.

Thanks. It's always good to know the little things.

Edit - I've just tried it and it works. It's a great image/video, I can't wait to try it on the night sky. 

Edited July 30, 2022 by CKP

[StevieDvd]

13 hours ago, CKP said:

Thanks. It's always good to know the little things.

Edit - I've just tried it and it works. It's a great image/video, I can't wait to try it on the night sky. 

I trust you are rotating the outer (focus) ring and not unscrewing the lens itself 😆

There are also better Allsky lenses available from ZWO and others such as FLO, I've been looking  to build a unit for a while but it's on the end of a big todo list.

[CKP]

1 hour ago, StevieDvd said:

I trust you are rotating the outer (focus) ring and not unscrewing the lens itself 😆

There are also better Allsky lenses available from ZWO and others such as FLO, I've been looking  to build a unit for a while but it's on the end of a big todo list.

Yeah I definitely turned the focuser 😆 

Yesterday was a long day. I drove a 150 mile round trip to collect the mount and camera, set up the mount, learnt how to control the mount using stellarium as well as on my phone and then how to get the camera to work. (It was my version of a mid life crisis as I turn 40 tomorrow). I like the simpler things in life 😆 

This morning however, I simply turned the focuser and all became clear! I didn't buy the camera to do the allsky but it's always an option.

[StevieDvd]

15 minutes ago, CKP said:

Yeah I definitely turned the focuser 😆 

Yesterday was a long day. I drove a 150 mile round trip to collect the mount and camera, set up the mount, learnt how to control the mount using stellarium as well as on my phone and then how to get the camera to work. (It was my version of a mid life crisis as I turn 40 tomorrow). I like the simpler things in life 😆 

This morning however, I simply turned the focuser and all became clear! I didn't buy the camera to do the allsky but it's always an option.

Update your profile and add the mount, scope, camera etc to your footer. It helps others to see what you are using when you post questions or show pictures taken.

And BTW -  Welcome to SGL and happy birthday wishes for tomorrow.

Steve