Moving from DSLR to dedicated astro-camera woes ...

[AstroRookie]

I finally had the chance to test my secondhand purchased astrocamera, a Touptek ATR3CMOS26000KPA. I purchased it in august, but as I got scammed: the seller had 2 identical camera's - I found that out on his astrobin profile - one which had a scratch on the protection glass and an other which wasn't damaged; he advertised on https://www.te-les-koop.nl/ with pictures of the intact one and once I transferred the money he sent me the broken one ... To cut a long story short, I had to send it back to the manufacturer for repair.

My setup (the relevant parts for my problems):

• Telescope: Orion8 astrograph
• Coma corrector: Baader MPCC Mark III
• PC: mele quiter 3
• Mount: EQ6R pro
• Switch: PPB Micro switch - with next to the camera, 2 dew heaters, pc and mount connected
• Software: Nina

All this worked fine with my dslr Canon 6D, but with the Touptek I experienced following problems:

1. When I tried to connect the camera with nina, I got 2 messages one that said it correctly connected, immediately followed with an error message that nina was "not able to pull", the result was that the cooler part could not be enabled in nina. I immediately thought about a power problem, and turned off the dew heaters, but same result.  Then I plugged the camera in the different usb ports. When plugged in to the usb on the back next to the power port it connected ok with the cooler options enabled. But as soon that I tried to start the cooling error message and the camera disconnected. I also tried to connect it to the adjustable power port set to 12V, but same problem. Then I used the camera's power adapter and it connected ok and I could start cooling ...
2. No way to get focus; with the focus tube completely extended the bright stars just show me the spider vanes and the secondary mirror holder. So I suspect I need some extension between the coma corrector and the camera but I haven't got a clue which size - the camera's back focus is according to the spec's 17,5mm

All comments and advice greatly appreciated!

AstroRookie

 

 

Edited December 2, 2023 by AstroRookie

[bottletopburly]

Have you installed the touptek drivers for your camera ? 

you need 55mm backfocus between camera sensor and cc shoulder to achieve focus

 

 

[david_taurus83]

With regards to the camera, you say you struggled to connect it at first but eventually you used the cameras power adapter and it connected fine. Do you mean a 12v power supply that came with the camera? If so, it sounds like there is an issue with your power supply that you use to power everything else. What are you using?

[AstroRookie]

1 hour ago, bottletopburly said:

Have you installed the touptek drivers for your camera ? 

you need 55mm backfocus between camera sensor and cc shoulder to achieve focus

 

 

- Driver: Nina comes with native support for this camera, so I don't think it's a driver issue.

- As for the cc, I'll a extension - thanks for the info

[AstroRookie]

36 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

With regards to the camera, you say you struggled to connect it at first but eventually you used the cameras power adapter and it connected fine. Do you mean a 12v power supply that came with the camera? If so, it sounds like there is an issue with your power supply that you use to power everything else. What are you using?

Yes, with the camera's power supply it connects ok. The switch I'm using is the pegasus pocket powerbox micro

[david_taurus83]

Yes but what are you using to power the Pegasus unit?

[AstroRookie]

18 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

Yes but what are you using to power the Pegasus unit?

A 10A 220v to 12V power supply

[david_taurus83]

Have you checked it with a multi meter to see if it is delivering 12v at the end of the individual cables powering all your gear? 12v is very susceptible to voltage drop the longer the length of cable used. That's why 13.8v is best to supply.

[AstroRookie]

27 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

Have you checked it with a multi meter to see if it is delivering 12v at the end of the individual cables powering all your gear? 12v is very susceptible to voltage drop the longer the length of cable used. That's why 13.8v is best to supply.

ok, will check it - thanks for the info