Stellarmate issue? frustrated...

[Scorpia (Peter)]

Hi All,

firstly, newbie here trying to get my first rig going.

ive been struggling with getting my system running and getting it to be reliable.

i currently have a qhy294c (purchased from here) and im having issues getting it to take images reliably,

I currently use stellarmate on a raspberry pi 4 powered by a mains adaptor.
connected via ethernet to stop wifi issues.
I have a EQ6 mount which seems to be working ok.
GPS connected to get location, seems to work ok.
ASI120MM guide scope
QHY294c was connected to a 12v 1 amp power supply, but I have upgraded to
a 12v 4.5A main power supply as part of my troubleshooting.
Also have an ASI EAF which im yet to get going.

Im currently struggling to get reliable pictures from the QHY camera, one time ill turn it on and it will go an image and solve almost straigtht away,
then try again and it might just hang,
next time it might just give me a black screen.

i cant seem to get a reliable response from the camera.

What im wondering is if this might be a stellarmate issue (just upgraded to 1.7.5) or if it is possible a raspberry pi issue or possibly a camera issue,

Im currently at a little bit of a loss to work out what to try next,

Im happy to try things if anyone has a suggestion, My next option i think is to get a PC connected and see if i can get reliable images to it , im thinking installing nina as i hear lots about it.

anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks

Peter

[Scorpia (Peter)]

ok, after a bit more playing it seems that i might have several issues,

1, i was able to swap my qhy 294c to a asi174c and was able to get consistent plate solving and was able to get the polar align routine to complete. ( i was way off to start with ). so thats a good step forward and im wondering if it have an issue with the qhy camera.

2, once i tried to setup a routine for takign pictures the software seemed to crash and reset, (which ive seen before) so i think theres an issue with the current version of stellarmate.

does anyone have any idea's on how to test the qhy camera ?

[PaulSthcoast (Paul)]

Hi Peter.

There are a few ways you could test the operation of your QHY camera.

If you have a PC running Windows you could download a program called Astrophotography Tools.

It has native QHY drivers, and will enable you to test
your camera.

N.I.N.A also is another open source automated program.

You will need to download and install the ASCOM platform and drivers.

QHY also has its own imaging software, EZCAP.

Firecapture is another.

Links below

https://astrophotography.app/downloads.php

https://nighttime-imaging.eu/download/

https://nighttime-imaging.eu/docs/ma...driver_update/

https://www.ascom-standards.org/Downloads/Index.htm

https://www.qhyccd.com/download/

http://www.firecapture.de/

The Qhy 294mc has a short back focus.

https://www.bintel.com.au/product/qh...r-cmos-camera/

Also when setting up your profile in Stellamate
dont forget to enter your scopes correct focal length.

Hope that might help ?

Good luck.

Paul.

[Sunfish (Ray)]

Have you tried the Indi forum for discussions about problems with Stellarmate and PI?

I know there have been a few discussions.

https://www.indilib.org/forum/genera...tart=444#90350

I use kstars / ecos in Ubuntu on a Pine 64 clone and an old Ubuntu PC and there are some very finicky software issues in all of these. Sometimes a bit slow to respond but there should be working drivers for most cameras .

The camera should be the least of your problems but I know that if you ask the camera to show a high resolution preview then you can get a blank and need to set previews to a lower resolution with some cameras and only check the final images from the drive separately.

[PRejto (Peter)]

How long is your camera power wiring and have you measured voltage at the camera under load and cooling? Some cameras are very sensitive to voltage drops which can occur with insufficient wiring regardless of the power supply amperage. A bad solder joint on a connector can be enough to cause a significant voltage drop.

Good luck
Peter

[Scorpia (Peter)]

Thanks for pointing me to the indilib forum, it has this thread which seems to be the exact issue im having.
https://www.indilib.org/forum/stella...hy-driver.html

Ill look into that more

I have also got a mini pc up and going and will try and connect it via nina as an alternative option.

As for the voltage possibility, I have multiple power pack, all with about 1- 1.5m cables (standard length) ill double check the voltage is correct, but as these are mains powered plug packs i expect they should be ok.

Thanks for the direction, now to spend some time on it this arvo.

[Scorpia (Peter)]

I just wanted to say that this issue is a stellarmate 1.7.5 issue, I have been working with jasem from stellarmate to try and work out the cause, I was able to get a decent night in last night after rolling back to 1.7.4.

it feels good to have everything work as it should.