CCD Repairs.... Anyone ?

[neilallison]

Hi Guys

Does anybody know of any places in Australia that are capable of repairing CCD cameras?
I have an Orion Starshoot Deep space imager Pro II Single shot colour which I think needs to be looked at. I'm getting unpredictable interference on images which I cannot track down.
After changing all the USB cables, I can only assume it has to be the camera.

[gbeal]

No, I don't sorry.
But have you tried the camera on a different computer?
Worth a try.
Gary.

[neilallison]

Hey Gary

Yeah, I've tried it on 3 computers now.

[MrB]

Are you using battery power or an AC plugpack?
If battery, is anything else sharing the battery?
If AC plugpack, have you tried a different power supply?

[neilallison]

Tried all that Simon :(

[Neil]

G'day mate, have you tried the original retailer from were you purchased the CCD from, if they don't do repairs they may be able to recommend a repairer.However I think expert knowledge in this field would not be cheap and may make any repair not economically viable, good luck, clear skies.:hi:

[neilallison]

It's all fixed !!:D

I contacted Orion who told me it couldn't be fixed (even without looking at it !!!).
The wouldn't supply me with a wiring diagram nor would they tell me who the manufacturer was so I could maybe get a wiring diagram from them.
Orion were less than helpful. Probably in the hope I'd buy a new camera from them. When I get another camera (or any other equipment for that matter), I will make sure that it's not Orion. Their customer service is disgusting.

Anyhoo, I digress.
I took the camera apart and found that one of the chips looked a little cooked. So I posted a message on the Orion DSI Yahoo group in the hope that somebody could tell me what type of chip it was and I got a result.
I managed to find one on eBay (US$20) and Theo from Gama Electronics (http://www.gamaelectronics.com.au) fitted it for me last night. The camera is now as good as new again (despite not being fixable according to Orion).

Theo, you are a legend. Love our work. :thanx:

[Hans Tucker]

Great outcome.

If it were me, I couldn't resist, I would send Orion a follow up e-mail saying you fixed the supposedly unfixable and thank them, in a sarcastic way, for their commitment to customer service.

[Hagar]

This is the sort of service I have had from Theo for many years. A true gentleman.

[Garbz]

I'd tell them the distributor for their competitors fixed the unfixable camera.

Gotta twist the knife a bit after stabbing them.

[Meru]

Incase you run out of options, give Clive (elken2004) a shout. He is very handy with fixing cameras :)

[pjphilli]

Hi Neil

I can imagine your frustration as I have had similar weird problems with
two of my imaging cameras which I was eventually able to fix.

One problem with imaging cameras is plug/socket arrangements are used
that a probably intended for semi permanent static connections. In the case of imaging cameras, the camera is on the scope and moves about which causes flexing of the input leads to the sockets. After a lot of use this movement can result in the plug/socket interface becoming "sloppy".

On one occasion with my QHY8 camera, I was given the tip to trim some of the plastic off the S-video type DC control input so that the plug could be shoved just 1mm further into the socket. This cured the problem.

On another camera which uses a common USB type B socket had similar intermittent problems. Again I found that the plug/socket interface had apparently become sloppy. I made a permanent fix to this by shimming
inside the socket to provide a firmer fit and then I araldited the plug (around the outside) into the socket.

Both cameras are now working fine (fingers crossed)!

It is often the case that simple things like plugs/sockets/cables/power supplies etc can give problems when the extremely complex internal device
electronics continue fault free.

Hope the above helps - anyway worth a try.

Cheers Peter