Telescope Reviews: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP

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WillCarney
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 10/08/09

Loc: Bloomington, ILL

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: mmalik]
#5428909 - 09/19/12 09:37 AM

Quote:

Quote:

I reinstall ASCOM then the camera driver and it works fine

You must be using serial guiding? I think ST-4 is much simpler.

The SSAG plugs into the USB. Uses ST-4 to connect to Atlas.
Last night it screwed up again. Had to unintall ASCOM and reinstall. Uninstalled PHD then it worked fine "On-camera" after it's reinstall.

Despite using ST-4 if ASCOM is FUBAR it won't work. At least on my setup.

I was getting the "can't find camera" error. Which meant the drivers were FUBAR.
William

Edited by WillCarney (09/19/12 09:39 AM)

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rmollise
Postmaster

Reged: 07/06/07

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: jerryyyyy]
#5428970 - 09/19/12 10:24 AM

It's not clear to me exactly where your problem lies...

If the camera is not recognized by Windows and a driver properly installed, you can forget missing with PHD, it will never work.

If this is your problem, the first thing to do is delete the present drivers. Download the drivers for your OS from Orion, and install, paying particular attention to any documentation for the camera that says anything about _when_ you should plug in the camera during the process.

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WillCarney
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 10/08/09

Loc: Bloomington, ILL

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: rmollise]
#5429039 - 09/19/12 11:09 AM

For some reason on my computer it's always been a problem with ASCOM. Most of the time I uninstall it and reinstall it and the problem goes away for awhile.

Like last night. The computer recognized the camera but PHD would NOT connect till I reinstalled ASCOM. Did not matter if I used "on camera" or "ASCOM" in the PHD menu. It still would not connect till ASCOM was reinstalled. This has happened at least ten or twelve times now and it's ALWAYS the ASCOM gone FUBAR.

Other laptops may vary but mine screws up ASCOM routinely and reinstalling it almost always fixes the problem.

William

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rmollise
Postmaster

Reged: 07/06/07

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: WillCarney]
#5429183 - 09/19/12 12:54 PM

If you have to use ASCOM, it's because PHD is not supporting the camera, I suppose. If the computer recognizes the camera, next step is to get with Craig on the Yahoogroup.

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jerryyyyy
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 10/06/11

Loc: Stanford, California

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: rmollise]
#5429330 - 09/19/12 02:22 PM

From the Yahoo Group:

No tricks with the install. But when I connect to my camera, I have to choose the Ascom v5 driver, not the 3MP driver. Apparently, the driver is outdated and Orion hasn't updated it yet.

Everything else worked out of the box.

MarkS

On 18 September 2012 23:00, jerryyyyyyyyyy wrote:

Thanks, let me post this over there. No tricks with the install?

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mmalik
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 01/13/12

Loc: USA

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: jerryyyyy]
#5429544 - 09/19/12 04:46 PM

Quote:

Not sure if it's the same.

Thanks for posting the question; yes it is the same camera we are talking about (the 3MP one). Appreciate your efforts; I have actually returned it, will be getting Lodemaster most likely. I am quite familiar with the setup; just that camera wouldn't work with my ST-4 setup (i.e., without installing ASCOM). It is likely folks are using ASCOM and it may be working for them, but I don't use ASCOM, that may be the only difference I could think of. In short, ST-4 connectivity via PHD does NOT work as of now with 3MP SSAG and I have let an engineer (John) know about it at Orion and he understood the problem; but as always he never got back to me even after he said he would.

My suggestion, if you intend to use 3MP SSAG for PHD ST-4 ONLY guiding, this camera has issues...until they are fixed.

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mmalik
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 01/13/12

Loc: USA

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: rmollise]
#5429553 - 09/19/12 04:52 PM

Quote:

If you have to use ASCOM, it's because PHD is not supporting the camera, I suppose. If the computer recognizes the camera, next step is to get with Craig on the Yahoogroup.

I think you understand the problem; yes computer recognizes the camera; it is very likely PHD is not yet supporting 3MP SSAG (via ST-4). That may be the whole point; I used the latest version of PHD to no avail; Orion should have worked this out ahead of time; just don't want to go through the effort myself...just not worth it. Returning it for something better!

Edit: I think you were responding to the other post, but this is still relevant.

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mmalik
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 01/13/12

Loc: USA

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: mmalik]
#5450512 - 10/01/12 05:24 PM Attachment (11 downloads)

I eneded up returning SSAG 3MP due to reasons described above.

I just got Lodestar Autoguider... camera; here is 5sec shot via PHD with lens cap on. Are these dead pixels? I tried different caps with same result. Shouldn't new camera have zero dead pixels if that's what they are?

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rmollise
Postmaster

Reged: 07/06/07

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: mmalik]
#5450516 - 10/01/12 05:25 PM

Hot pixels, I'd say with probably a few dead ones here and there. And I would certainly expect a camera like this to have a few dead pixels.

Edited by rmollise (10/01/12 05:26 PM)

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mmalik
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 01/13/12

Loc: USA

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: rmollise]
#5450525 - 10/01/12 05:31 PM

Quote:

Hot pixels, I'd say with probably a few dead ones here and there. And I would certainly expect a camera like this to have a few dead pixels.

Thanks; is this acceptable quality for a new camera? In comparison SBIG's ST-i... advertises '0 column, cluster or dead pixels'?

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rmollise
Postmaster

Reged: 07/06/07

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: mmalik]
#5450575 - 10/01/12 05:58 PM

Is what? I only see what appears to be a dead pixel or two, but I can only guess. A bad pixel will always be in the same position. I don't see how a couple will make much difference. This is a guide camera, if you've got a dead pixel, just remember not to try to guide on it.

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mmalik
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 01/13/12

Loc: USA

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: rmollise]
#5450612 - 10/01/12 06:27 PM Attachment (10 downloads)

Here is a 5sec. dark I took via PHD; let me know your thoughts?

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Mkofski
professor emeritus

Reged: 07/19/11

Loc: Greenfield, Indiana, USA

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: mmalik]
#5450628 - 10/01/12 06:38 PM

This is with the Loadstar not the Orion autoguider? That seems to be a lot of hot pixels... I would count them and talk to their tech support. You may want to post the picture in one of the Astrophotography forums.

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mmalik
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 01/13/12

Loc: USA

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: Mkofski]
#5450697 - 10/01/12 07:33 PM

Quote:

This is with the Loadstar not the Orion autoguider?

Yes, this is with Lodestar Autoguider; I am thinking I'll do a dark frame at night (colder temp) just to make sure they are not hot pixels. I also don't like the harsh vertical lines of the dye cut. At this price, there should be some sense of quality.

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Mkofski
professor emeritus

Reged: 07/19/11

Loc: Greenfield, Indiana, USA

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: mmalik]
#5450717 - 10/01/12 07:41 PM

The pic you included in the earlier post is with the lens cap on? Don't see how they could be anything but hot pixels for that short of an exposure. You really should move this to a AP forum.

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mmalik
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 01/13/12

Loc: USA

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: Mkofski]
#5450736 - 10/01/12 07:51 PM

Quote:

The pic you included in the earlier post is with the lens cap on?

Yes, the first pic was with the lens cap on. Let me try a cold temp exposure and post results. Have also asked the same in AP forum. Thx

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Raginar
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 10/19/10

Loc: Rapid CIty, SD

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: mmalik]
#5450810 - 10/01/12 08:32 PM

Looks like my lodestar. You need to use darks with it; it's still the best guide camera on the market. Point it at a DSO and you'll get a good picture of it on your guide screen with 3 sec exposures..

Lodestars are notorious for their hot pixels; it's uncooled.

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rmollise
Postmaster

Reged: 07/06/07

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: Raginar]
#5450825 - 10/01/12 08:39 PM

There is no way you _won't_ have hot pixels like these with this uncooled camera.

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mmalik
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 01/13/12

Loc: USA

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: Raginar]
#5451025 - 10/01/12 10:41 PM Attachment (7 downloads)

Quote:

Lodestars are notorious for their hot pixels; it's uncooled.

Thanks for the info; see if you could post a dark frame from yours for comparison. Here is a 5sec dark I took with somewhat cold camera.

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EricRemy
member

Reged: 09/24/08

Loc: Quebec, Canada

Re: StarShoot Autoguider (SSAG) 3MP new

[Re: mmalik]
#5451448 - 10/02/12 07:56 AM

Found this neat little trick on the net for the unrecognizable camera issue. Apparantly, it would have something to do with static electricty on the main board. The trick is to shut down the laptop or desktop, remove the battery or power cord and press the power button for 30 secs.It supposedly discharges any static left in there. Every time I have the unknown hardware issue with appropriate driver installed, this neat little trick works.
It worked when my DSI was not recognised. Couldn't hurt to try it.

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