1330 replies to this topic

[NightStorm]

That is interesting, particularly if the power supply that comes with the camera produces a lower than expected voltage.  Early on, when I was first investigating the banding issue Eddie (of RisingCAM) asked me to ensure that I was using their power supply because he had a couple of customers having failures when running it on some other P.S. or on a battery.

[JustVolkov]

That is interesting, particularly if the power supply that comes with the camera produces a lower than expected voltage.  Early on, when I was first investigating the banding issue Eddie (of RisingCAM) asked me to ensure that I was using their power supply because he had a couple of customers having failures when running it on some other P.S. or on a battery.

Not a single power supply supplied with the camera can ever be of better quality than a laboratory power supply, all Chinese power supplies that go to different devices always fall short of the voltage rating, I’m already silent about the quality of DC voltage. For many years I powered all my equipment from the stock computer unit, converting it to regulate current and voltage. Now I just have a factory version. And yes, at the peak, the camera can consume 2.7 A when it cools down, and the native power supply is designed for 3 A, the limit.

Edited by JustVolkov, 23 May 2023 - 10:35 AM.

[fmendes]

Not a single power supply supplied with the camera can ever be of better quality than a laboratory power supply, all Chinese power supplies that go to different devices always fall short of the voltage rating, I’m already silent about the quality of DC voltage. For many years I powered all my equipment from the stock computer unit, converting it to regulate current and voltage. Now I just have a factory version. And yes, at the peak, the camera can consume 2.7 A when it cools down, and the native power supply is designed for 3 A, the limit.

I've been a bit worried about my power source for a while. Do you think a switching power supply would be better than linear? That is, assuming the one I have is linear.

[JustVolkov]

I've been a bit worried about my power source for a while. Do you think a switching power supply would be better than linear? That is, assuming the one I have is linear.

In my opinion, the point is not in the quality of the received direct current, but in its power reserve. Native power supplies are made without such a power reserve. As a result, with any voltage drop in the network, a situation may arise when the camera's supply voltage becomes critically low, and in order to compensate for this, the current consumption must increase, but this cannot happen. My laboratory power supply is a 300 watt switching power supply with adjustable voltage and current. I set the current to a maximum of 10 A, and the voltage to 13.0 volts, and even if there is an unstable voltage in the network, this will not affect the operation of the camera and the mount.

[fmendes]

In my opinion, the point is not in the quality of the received direct current, but in its power reserve. Native power supplies are made without such a power reserve. As a result, with any voltage drop in the network, a situation may arise when the camera's supply voltage becomes critically low, and in order to compensate for this, the current consumption must increase, but this cannot happen. My laboratory power supply is a 300 watt switching power supply with adjustable voltage and current. I set the current to a maximum of 10 A, and the voltage to 13.0 volts, and even if there is an unstable voltage in the network, this will not affect the operation of the camera and the mount.

 

Mine is not a Risingcam, but an Ogma. Different brand, same hardware. Maybe different drivers. I was trying to connect it to my mini PC through USB 3 using a powered hub, it would connect and cool, but not complete exposures. Same thing using USB 3.0 cable straignt from the mini PC. It would work with a USB cable just fine.

 

Today I tested with a more powerful mini PC. USB 3.0 through the same powered hub, all worked 100%. Direct from the PC, also worked fine.

 

There's definetly something with the USB 2 x USB 3, but it is not the whole story.
 

[TareqPhoto]

Connection is always part of issues i read in years with setup, drivers too, so i always always always making sure i get the correct drivers no matter what, and i now have a good mini PC while i was using an old laptop with some issues and headaches but not anymore, and coming to cables, i am ready to buy 100 cables just to make sure it is working flawlessly, and at the end, if none of previous working at all then i know it is time for service or replacement, and all previous don't take me more than few days or a week maximum, just i am surprised if some didn't fix their units even after one month or two.

[fmendes]

Mine is an Ogma, not a Risingcam. Different driver although I believe the issue applies.

 

I took some darks and when I used them, realized something was wrong with callibration. Investigated and found that a few 60s and a few 120s darks had an error. The first several 60s and the last 120s several were good.

 

Good dark:

 

Bad dark:

 

To make matters worse, it is very difficult to see the difference in Pixinsight. In ASIStudio, the bad frames are easy to spot.

[JustVolkov]

For those with a camera in a new case and a new flange, RisingCam offers a $37 flange that reduces the effective length from 17.5mm to 12.5mm. Since they do not deliver to Ukraine yet, I will sharpen mine. https://www.aliexpre....6e741556VIohoE

Edited by JustVolkov, 04 June 2023 - 02:38 AM.

[JustVolkov]

Mine is an Ogma, not a Risingcam. Different driver although I believe the issue applies.

 

I took some darks and when I used them, realized something was wrong with callibration. Investigated and found that a few 60s and a few 120s darks had an error. The first several 60s and the last 120s several were good.

 

Good dark:

Good.jpg

 

Bad dark:

bad.jpg

 

To make matters worse, it is very difficult to see the difference in Pixinsight. In ASIStudio, the bad frames are easy to spot.

Thank you very much for this post and I really checked my darks at low gain, which I did on old drivers and unstable power, I also caught a couple of defective dark files.

[Cameron.tetford]

The replacement you recommended personally brought me even more problems. The camera began to simply disconnect arbitrarily from NINA, and very often, this was not the case before. Any adjustments to the USB limit do not fix this problem. For NINA to see the camera, only disconnecting it from the network helps, with single shots this happens more often, with burst shooting less often, but it was for this reason that I ruined the first light festival at the new observatory yesterday. All this is sad. Shooting flats is practically impossible, the camera went off all the time. This was not the case with older drivers. Perhaps a new computer is needed, but on this old one at first everything worked in high gain mode, and in low gain mode there were stripes, 10-15% of the total number of frames.

The new SDK seems to have fixed the issues I was having - I took 400 darks without a single bad frame with banding.

 

This was using a low power stick PC and USB limit of 2.

 

Haven't had any connection issues with it.

[JustVolkov]

The new SDK seems to have fixed the issues I was having - I took 400 darks without a single bad frame with banding.

 

This was using a low power stick PC and USB limit of 2.

 

Haven't had any connection issues with it.

I radically decided everything with a new camera power supply, just replaced it with a laboratory one, now everything flies on an old computer and usb 3.0 without a single frame of marriage in low and all the more high gain mode

[TareqPhoto]

I radically decided everything with a new camera power supply, just replaced it with a laboratory one, now everything flies on an old computer and usb 3.0 without a single frame of marriage in low and all the more high gain mode

Since i bought a new computer which is the mini PC and also bought the stock or available power adapter for my Pegasus Power Box Advanced and i have ZERO issues with connections, all working like a charm, be it QHY or ZWO or ToupTek or whatever, i also made sure to buy the best i can find of USB3.0 cables and good price of certain size, now all what i need is to add another Pegasus Power box and same power adapter to use all of my cameras if i have to, i never leave things for trial and errors or guessing and experimenting and surgery. 

[Herb_H]

Great Cluster M13 in Hercules from three weeks ago (5/18, moonless night)

 

Celestron 8SE SCT on Celestron AVX mount, Risingcam Sony IMX571 cooled camera.

 

54 min total exposure, natural color.

 

No guiding, no filters, no wifi, no gps, no apps, no gadgets, no darks, no flats, no bias, no cropping. Image minimally edited in Gimp.

 

At the University of California Steele/Burnand Desert Research Center, in Borrego Springs Ca.

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[Herb_H]

My setup from three weeks ago,

 

I use a very long 110ac power cord, but also have a Jackery 300 handy.

 

Usb3.0 and power cables out of the Risingcam box, RisingSky software out of their box, with their driver used exclusively.

 

Optical polar alignment using the Celestron polar align device for AVX.

 

No guiding, no filters, no wifi, no gps, no focuser, no apps, no useless gadgets, no darks, no flats, no bias.

 

Focused on a paper printed Bhatinov mask.

 

Images stored on a fast 1Tb usb3.0 SSD and stacked in DSS.

 

Seven year old orange tube with f/6.3 Celestron corrector. "Out of the Amazon box" with original red dot finder.

 

Scope last collimated on an optical bench at Celestron in Torrance three years ago. Never touched since then.

 

Picture taken in Borrego Springs Ca.

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Edited by Herb_H, 09 June 2023 - 04:33 PM.

[Herb_H]

Pinwheel Galaxy M101 from three weeks ago (5/18, moonless night)

 

Celestron 8SE SCT on Celestron AVX mount, Risingcam Sony IMX571 cooled camera.

 

54 min total exposure, natural color.

 

No guiding, no filters, no wifi, no gps, no apps, no gadgets, no darks, no flats, no bias, no cropping. Image minimally edited in Gimp.

 

At the University of California Steele/Burnand Desert Research Center, in Borrego Springs Ca.

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[Herb_H]

Trifid Nebula M20 from three weeks ago (5/18, moonless night)

 

Celestron 8SE SCT on Celestron AVX mount, Risingcam Sony IMX571 cooled camera.

 

65 min total exposure, natural color.

 

No guiding, no filters, no wifi, no gps, no apps, no gadgets, no darks, no flats, no bias, no cropping. Image minimally edited in Gimp.

 

At the University of California Steele/Burnand Desert Research Center, in Borrego Springs Ca.

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Edited by Herb_H, 09 June 2023 - 01:26 PM.

[Herb_H]

Whirlpool Galaxy M51 from three weeks ago (5/18, moonless night)

 

Celestron 8SE SCT on Celestron AVX mount, Risingcam Sony IMX571 cooled camera.

 

120 min total exposure, natural color.

 

No guiding, no filters, no wifi, no gps, no apps, no gadgets, no darks, no flats, no bias, no cropping. Image minimally edited in Gimp.

 

At the University of California Steele/Burnand Desert Research Center, in Borrego Springs Ca.

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[Herb_H]

Needle Galaxy NGC 4565 from three weeks ago (5/19, moonless night)

 

Celestron 8SE SCT on Celestron AVX mount, Risingcam Sony IMX571 cooled camera.

 

69 min total exposure, natural color.

 

No guiding, no filters, no wifi, no gps, no apps, no gadgets, no darks, no flats, no bias, no cropping. Image minimally edited in Gimp.

 

At the University of California Steele/Burnand Desert Research Center, in Borrego Springs Ca.

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[TareqPhoto]

"At the University of California Steele/Burnand Desert Research Center, in Borrego Springs Ca"

 

Which Bortle?

[tjay]

Great Cluster M13 in Hercules from three weeks ago (5/18, moonless night)

 

Celestron 8SE SCT on Celestron AVX mount, Risingcam Sony IMX571 cooled camera.

 

54 min total exposure, natural color.

 

No guiding, no filters, no wifi, no gps, no apps, no gadgets, no darks, no flats, no bias, no cropping. Image minimally edited in Gimp.

 

At the University of California Steele/Burnand Desert Research Center, in Borrego Springs Ca.

Thanks for sharing all the images Herb.  How long where the subs for each?  I limited myself to just using my little refractor, but your shots might give me enough courage to try using my SCT.  I love the image scale on the galaxies!

[Herb_H]

I tried 30sec subs and the results were mixed ... With 10sec subs the images are consistent and quite sharp, and in any case I have no storage issues.

 

Gain is usually around 200-400 in HCG (high gain) mode, and background (offset) is adjusted by suitably shifting the histogram.

 

I use the RisingSky software/drivers exclusively, and everything worked flawlessly for me from day one ...

 

Anza Borrego is around Bortle 3, maybe Bortle 2 after midnight if facing the right direction (South) :-)

Edited by Herb_H, 09 June 2023 - 04:36 PM.

[Herb_H]

On the other hand, with the SVbony SV503 80ED refractor I use 30sec subs exclusively, which work very well on the AVX mount due to the much shorter focal length :

 

https://www.cloudyni...80ed-f7/page-34

 

Those pictures are ALL with the RisingCam IMX571 Sony cooled camera.

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Edited by Herb_H, 09 June 2023 - 04:34 PM.

[Edward Nash]

Trying to get a handle on setting my OSC 571 Gain and mainly offset.

 

Using NINA 

Camera cooled

Taking 1s exposure

Gain 100 - Offset 1350

Histogram is just off the left.

If I set offset to 1300 then histogram sits off the left.

 

Am I doing it right?

 

 

 

 

[j21blackjack]

Trying to get a handle on setting my OSC 571 Gain and mainly offset.

Using NINA
Camera cooled
Taking 1s exposure
Gain 100 - Offset 1350
Histogram is just off the left.
If I set offset to 1300 then histogram sits off the left.

Am I doing it right?

offset.jpg

I have an OGMA ap26mc, so my numbers will be different, but here's the way I set mine up.

Your real goal with offset is to keep any pixels from being at 0. The min statistic tells you the minimum pixel value and the number of pixels at that value. Yours shows well over 1000 for the lowest pixel value, which I feel is way too high. Many of my 5 minute images come out with a mean value under 1000 on moonless nights. For my imx571 I'm using gain 110 to keep my minimum between 5 and 10 over the course of 10, 1s exposures just to make sure it stays above 0. Not saying your settings won't work, I just think you're a little high and might lose a little dynamic range.

Keep in mind, the graphical histogram doesn't matter, it's all in the numbers.

As for gain, I would run a sharpcap sensor analysis to get the most optimal setting. If your camera has manual hcg and lcg, then I would check where unity gain is for both settings, it's where e-/adu equals 1, and for mine in lcg mode it's around 175 gain, and I don't use hcg on it for now, but if I did I would just set it to 0.

Edited by j21blackjack, 12 June 2023 - 09:31 PM.

[Edward Nash]

I have an OGMA ap26mc, so my numbers will be different, but here's the way I set mine up.

Your real goal with offset is to keep any pixels from being at 0. The min statistic tells you the minimum pixel value and the number of pixels at that value. Yours shows well over 1000 for the lowest pixel value, which I feel is way too high. Many of my 5 minute images come out with a mean value under 1000 on moonless nights. For my imx571 I'm using gain 110 to keep my minimum between 5 and 10 over the course of 10, 1s exposures just to make sure it stays above 0. Not saying your settings won't work, I just think you're a little high and might lose a little dynamic range.

Keep in mind, the graphical histogram doesn't matter, it's all in the numbers.

As for gain, I would run a sharpcap sensor analysis to get the most optimal setting. If your camera has manual hcg and lcg, then I would check where unity gain is for both settings, it's where e-/adu equals 1, and for mine in lcg mode it's around 175 gain, and I don't use hcg on it for now, but if I did I would just set it to 0.

If I run Gain 100 - Offset 100 my min is 18.  

 

I have done a sensor analysis in sharpcap. See attached photo.  This is in HCG mode.

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