QHY6

[simon84]

Well my new QHY6 arrived today, sorry about the weather.

First impressions it looks very well made and I'm looking forward to having a go with it.

I will be setting it up on my Equinox 80ED Apo first chance I get and probably have a go at M13 with it as thats in good spot for me at the moment. I've put it all together with the Atik manual filter wheel and the scope and it feels very solid.

As soon as I've got some hours under my belt with it I'll try and write some kind of review about it and get some of my first images up.

I know its not got an amazing spec but for me it offers an affordable entry into ccd imaging that will make a more than capable guide camera when I'm ready to make the jump up to a multi megapixel ccd.

Just hope I get that clear night soon.

[TheThing]

So you're to blame for the cloud! At least it gives you a chance to get it all set up and running with no pressure.

Looking forward to your first results Simon.

[Psychobilly]

Nice one Simon...

I'm suffering post purchase cloud at the moment as well so here's hoping the skies clear soon for both of us

The forecast has "slipped" again though...

Peter...

[Coco]

Yep... my 127 Trip has all but killed off the run of clear skies..

[simon84]

Nice scope you have there Coco, wouldnt mind one of those myself when I move up to the 5" Apo range. I was going to stick with the Equinox as I love the 80mm but I've heard some amazing things about the Meade.

[jgs001]

So you're all to blame ... I don't count my RSEQ1 as since getting it I've had 2 clear nights..

Nice one Simon... look forward to seeing your results... This is on the possible list for me (although unless I raid all the piggy banks in the house... I'm gonna have to just get my webcam modded).

[GuillermoBarrancos]

I am also very interested in the performance of the QHY6.

Here in Scandivia it's sold by astrocam.dk under the name Qcam6.

Sensor: SONY EXview ICX259AL mono

Effektive pixels: 752x582 = 440000 pixels

Pixel størrelse: 6,5um x 6,25um

Chip størrelse: 6,0mm x 4,96mm

Excellent anti-blooming karateristik

16bit A/D low noise konverter

Readout noise: 7 e-10 ved 600Kpixel/sek. udlæsning

Microlensing på chippen

ABG: -115db

Supporterer 2x2 binning

It has the same resolution as the Atik 16ic-s, but is about a third of the price! And above all it is USB 2.0 !

So I am very very interested to hear about the performance of this cam!

[simon84]

I'll hopefully have some kind of report tomorrow as I think I might get lucky tonight and have a clear spell.

[TheThing]

I might get lucky tonight and have a clear spell.

Boy, busy man! How do you fit it all in?!?

(I'll get my coat!)

[simon84]

The secret behind me is the wonderful wife I have by my side. She is a very supporting and understanding woman. Who, luckily for me, dosnt mind the odd look through the telescope now and again.

As for fitting it all in, I'm making the most of being out of work but as soon as my surgery is all done and I'm fully recovered I will go back to being a weekend astronomer.

[sgazer]

I'll hopefully have some kind of report tomorrow as I think I might get lucky tonight and have a clear spell.

Clear tonight...which country are you in?!!! Oh wait, it will be as the weather says cloudy, although now I've said that it won't be! It really depends on if I get my scope out or not.

Anyway, looking forward to your review.

[simon84]

I'm in the UK, you?

[sgazer]

ah yes, I noticed a gap in the south east. I'll keep my scope in doors anyway just in case it causes more cloud, good luck with the test.

Have you been imaging already with something else, or will this be your first go?

[simon84]

Alas I have not got out tonight. My wife and I are in the process of putting together our new marine fishtank and a tank became available tonight that I couldnt say not to so had to go out and pick that up instead.

I could be lucky tomorrow night and over the weekend going by the 7 day forecast but I wont hold my breath.

[Coco]

Alas I have not got out tonight. My wife and I are in the process of putting together our new marine fishtank and a tank became available tonight that I couldnt say not to so had to go out and pick that up instead.

I could be lucky tomorrow night and over the weekend going by the 7 day forecast but I wont hold my breath.

I used to keep a reef tank... its a lot more expensive than astronomy..

I had the pleasure of Julian Sprung in 1996 looking at my tank based on his plenum system, it truly works,,, no filter needed..

i stopped in 1999 when I had an electrical problem that wiped my tank out

never again....

Good luck with the Tank...

Guy

[simon84]

Cheers Guy,

I'm not sure about that system you've mentioned, I will look it up though, but our system is going to be based on live rock so again no mechanical filtration needed.

I'm so sorry to hear about 1999, that must have been devestating and it is something that concerns me. I will be taking some precautions, I have a few power packs for astro use but I also have an inverter which should allow me to keep the power heads, filter and skimmer running in the event of a power cut. All of the equipment I'm thinking of getting runs on very low power now so I'm hoping that will be enough to get me by.

As for the QHY6 it is proving more than a little tricky to connect to either my 32bit or 64bit systems at the moment.

I will be doing some more looking into it later so when I know whats going on I'll let you know.

[simon84]

I now have the QHY6 guiding and imaging on a 32bit XP laptop that I have.

I was able to get it working with the drivers and software that was supplied with the camera. I also have it working in Maxim DL 5 Pro using the Ascom driver.

It will only work on 32bit systems at present and only on USB2.

If anyone plans on getting one of these cameras it would be worth checking your USB ports.

To do this expand the USB controller ports in the Device Manager that can be accessed by pressing the Windows key and the Pause Break key and selecting Device Manager.

On one of the controllers it will either have "USB2", "enhanced" or both. If you have that you have USB2 ports.

Also watch out as I have a tower unit which has USB1.1 on the front and USB2 on the back.

As soon as I can get out there and take some images with the camera I will and then get them on here so we can see how the camera performs.

[GuillermoBarrancos]

I now have the QHY6 guiding and imaging on a 32bit XP laptop that I have.

I was able to get it working with the drivers and software that was supplied with the camera. I also have it working in Maxim DL 5 Pro using the Ascom driver.

It will only work on 32bit systems at present and only on USB2.

If anyone plans on getting one of these cameras it would be worth checking your USB ports.

To do this expand the USB controller ports in the Device Manager that can be accessed by pressing the Windows key and the Pause Break key and selecting Device Manager.

On one of the controllers it will either have "USB2", "enhanced" or both. If you have that you have USB2 ports.

Also watch out as I have a tower unit which has USB1.1 on the front and USB2 on the back.

As soon as I can get out there and take some images with the camera I will and then get them on here so we can see how the camera performs.

Most computers and laptops from the last 5 years or so are USB 2.0 tho.

And it doesn't matter if you have a 64bit Windows OS running like Windows Vista or Windows 7.

You can still run 32bit drivers and applications.

I run a 64bit OS since Windows Vista came out. And today I run Windows 7. Still most of my applications and drivers are 32-bit.

[simon84]

Most computers and laptops from the last 5 years or so are USB 2.0 tho.

And it doesn't matter if you have a 64bit Windows OS running like Windows Vista or Windows 7.

You can still run 32bit drivers and applications.

I run a 64bit OS since Windows Vista came out. And today I run Windows 7. Still most of my applications and drivers are 32-bit.

Just to confirm the QHY6 32bit drivers do not work on a 64bit system. I know, I've tried. I have confirmed this with QHY who "may" develop a 64bit driver for the QHY6 like they have done for other cameras in their range.

You are right in saying that almost everything 32bit will run on a 64bit system, this is just one of the odd things that dosn't so if you only have a 64bit system it really does matter as QHY do not support 64bit at this moment in time and it would a terrible waste of money buying a camera you cant use until they do support and in their words "its not something they are looking at right now".

I only mention the USB problem as the QHY website says that the camera has a USB2 interface but dosn't mention that it will not work with USB1.1 and like you say most, not all, computers have USB2 interfaces and some of them have both.

At the end of the day the more information we can find about something gives us a more informed decision when it comes to getting something for ourselves. Luckily for me I have several pc's running different setups so am able to give a bit more information than what is given with the product.

HTH.

[GuillermoBarrancos]

Just to confirm the QHY6 32bit drivers do not work on a 64bit system. I know, I've tried. I have confirmed this with QHY who "may" develop a 64bit driver for the QHY6 like they have done for other cameras in their range.

You are right in saying that almost everything 32bit will run on a 64bit system, this is just one of the odd things that dosn't so if you only have a 64bit system it really does matter as QHY do not support 64bit at this moment in time and it would a terrible waste of money buying a camera you cant use until they do support and in their words "its not something they are looking at right now".

I only mention the USB problem as the QHY website says that the camera has a USB2 interface but dosn't mention that it will not work with USB1.1 and like you say most, not all, computers have USB2 interfaces and some of them have both.

At the end of the day the more information we can find about something gives us a more informed decision when it comes to getting something for ourselves. Luckily for me I have several pc's running different setups so am able to give a bit more information than what is given with the product.

HTH.

Well that is very very weird.

Are you sure they are not talking about Linux or something?

Windows 64bit has a build in 32bit support. (even MacOSX has 32bit support on their latest Leopard and Snow Leopard OSX)

I know, as I am a System Engineer for a living and install 32bit and 64bit drivers alongside on a 64bit OS all the time.

So it really doesn't make any sense that their 32bit Windows driver can't be installed on a Windows Vista x64 or Windows 7 x64.

But either way. I would run the QHY6 against my MacBook Pro anyway. Wich is a 3-4 year old DualCore laptop that only runs 32bit Windows 7 in Bootcamp. So it wouldn't matter for me.

I am just pointing out that this is very strange and would be very poor coding on their part.

[simon84]

No, everything I have repeated from QHY is regarding Windows. Most of their Windows drivers were written under a Vista 32bit enviroment.

QHY from the look of things are going through their range of cameras and are re-writing their drivers to work on 32 and 64 bit systems, the QHY6 being a low end camera is low on their list of priorities.

I've been building PC systems for 17 years and have to admit that this is one of the first things I've seen that wont work on a 64bit system.

Luckily for me I have access to four different systems at home all running different version of Windows but for anyone that owns one system running a 64bit system they are going to be very frustrated when their new camera dosnt work and the only way to find that out is to buy one as no website selling the camera says 32bit only.

Hopefully QHY will get around to writing one that does work, I know I would like it as to be able to use a 24" touch screen PC to run my imaging setup will be great fun. Quite literally a point and shoot system.

Its as close to Star Trek as I can get.

[Euan]

Strange one this, but I'm sure they will bring out support eventually

I use Win7 64bit in work and I think it's the dog's but I wouldn't touch it for astro use yet, it's just not worth the aggro

You never know the next time you will want to mess about with some old bit of kit (webcams?) or older astro software, at least with XP you have a better chance of it working

[simon84]

I use Win7 64bit in work and I think it's the dog's but I wouldn't touch it for astro use yet, it's just not worth the aggro

Me too, I got my new PC on the day Windows 7 was released, 22nd Oct 09 if I remember rightly, and I love it.

Massivley more usable than Vista, I've managed to get everything working on here apart from the QHY6 drivers.

Maxim DL508, APT, AlsReticle, Stellarium, PHD etc etc. I've even been playing the first Unreal Tournament on here with no problems what so ever.

As soon as the QHY6 drivers do work on 64bit I'll be over the moon.

[GuillermoBarrancos]

I was mixing up things with hardware and software. I am working way too much with software these days and getting rusty on things.

32bit programs run on 64bit Windows, due to 32bit backwards compatibility libraries.

Hardware (wich the QHY6 is ofcourse) needs 64bit drivers to connect to a 64bit OS.

Either way. I saw your post at the QHY forums.

Awaiting registry approval and will post in your topic as support to speed things up a bit. ;)

[simon84]

Awaiting registry approval and will post in your topic as support to speed things up a bit.

Great stuff, hopefully with a number of people letting them know that a 64bit driver is required will spring them into action.

Thanks for confirming though that hardware on a 64bit system requires a 64bit driver. I was under the impression that it should work under 32bit compatibility so I have learnt something new today.

As soon as I here anything from QHY I will report back here.