I added 100uF capacitor next to the pin 9 of DD8, going between the pin 16 and 12 track and GND. Image 1 shows the location of the capacitor.
Interestingly adding a capacitor next to pin 16 on the top of R16 to GND did not have any effect. In this position it is even closer to pin 16 as in the example above. Image 2 shows the location of the capacitor.
Also it should be noted that the quality of the power supply plays an important role. I tried several and some had vertical stripes which were not visible with other power supplies.
Finally, image 3 shows noise for 0ms exposure of the improved Cam86. It was kept in the fridge for few minutes to cool down but not for too long as I didn't want to have condensation on it. My guess is that the sensor was at 10-15 degrees C. Also the sensor was not in complete darkness (light leaking from the left hand side on the image).
Hi Luka, has the latest PCB been corrected for this issue?
Thx,
Luca
Sorry for the slow reply. Haven't check the IIS forums for a while, usually I on it several times every day but other things got in the way
No, the PCB is still the same. The Ukrainian PCB has the same issue, although I the effect may be smaller there.
I have tried using other capacitors but the lines did not improve much. Patrice (from French forums) used a larger tantalum capacitor (on Ukrainian PCB) and that helped. However, the capacitor is only rated for 6.3V which is way too close to 6V for my comfort. With the tantalum capacitors I like to have at least double-the-voltage derating.
Having said that, I have found out that the vertical stripes are not an issue, the bias files correct for them 100%. Also the image corners usually get cropped anyway.
Hello everyone.
I have been following this thread, as well as the others of astroclub.kiev.ua and cloudynights related to the CAM8X project. I thank you for the great job you have done.
The doubt that I have, after reading them in both places and for the modifications that have been introduced in this time, is to know which is the most recent version. I believe that the most current version of the project is your IIS PCB. So I would be very grateful if you could tell me where I can look the latest CAM86 project files.
PM Luka but I’m not sure what the files are up to atm. I had to stop the project due to hospitalisation and on going issues. Also the group would want you to actively assist on development not just grab the latest files.
I hope to rejoin devolpment but could be up to 6 months before I can. Also I think Luka is quite busy atm
There are two versions of the PCB, ours and the original Ukrainian. Our version:
1. has improved TEC power
2. has an issue with capacitors being too far from one of the components (DD8) resulting in vertical lines on the left side of the image.
This is not really a problem as bias files completely remove the vertical lines from the final image.
Also the vertical lines can be overcome by using larger capacitors and some "creative" soldering.
(Note that the Ukrainian version also has vertical lines but less intense)
There are two versions of the PCB, ours and the original Ukrainian. Our version:
1. has improved TEC power
2. has an issue with capacitors being too far from one of the components (DD8) resulting in vertical lines on the left side of the image.
This is not really a problem as bias files completely remove the vertical lines from the final image.
Also the vertical lines can be overcome by using larger capacitors and some "creative" soldering.
(Note that the Ukrainian version also has vertical lines but less intense)
With his explanation now I have it more clear. I will send you a PM, thanks so much!!
I just completed the IIS CAM86 thanks to Luka's files. I have all the tensions right, flashed the eprom etc but the test image without sensor looks a bit weird
I double-checker all the soldering, they look fine. Any suggestion? Maybe a defective Vertical Driver?
would it be possible to have a 64-bit driver for Cam86? I would like to try my Cam86 with N.I.N.A. (https://nighttime-imaging.eu/), but the recommended 64-bit version of it only accepts 64-bit drivers...
The DLL with the basic camera functions is written in Delphi. I only have a really old version of the compiler which can only compile 32-bit. I am scared even to look how much a new version of Delphi costs.
So I may need to rewrite the DLL which is a big job.
Alternatively I could try using the 32-bit DLL from a 64-bit application but that requires writing a wrapper DLL as in Windows it is not possible to run 32-bit DLL from 64-bit application. Again more work.
did you try FPC? (https://wiki.freepascal.org/Main_Page)
It seems it supports some Delphi, but I am not sure if it would work for the low level library of Cam86. I will give it a try, although I am not at all an expert in programming!
Apologies, I thought that I already replied on the progress of the 64-bit driver. Mixed news, it is working but not well.
Embarcadero, the current owners of Delphi (after Borland) have a free version of Delphi for hobbyists. That includes a 64-bit version.
With it I managed to import and recompile both projects (FTDI driver + camera driver) but nothing worked. Our code was written before Delphi was migrated to unicode. I had to manually change every string and all string functions and eventually I managed to talk to the camera.
Unfortunately the new driver keeps crashing and debugging a DLL called from a DLL (which is called and calling another DLL) is not that trivial. And things being written in two different programming languages (c# and Delphi) does not help either.
I have not given up but finding where the problem is may take a while. It probably is something simple... but I still have to find it
By the way, the main DLL went from 300kB to 1.6MB in size, simply by recompiling it with the new Delphi compiler
I am not sure if there will be more issues once it is working properly.
The 2nd version of the power supply is finished. It also provides 8V to power the Cam86 to reduce the heat generated from the regulators on it.
See screenshots of the TEC power before and after the smoothing (the purple line in the 2nd image, ignore the other two).
However, this was tested with the camera opened and on the bench. The cold finger was not touching the back of the sensor. We are currently redesigning the housing to fit the new power supply only then we can do the proper tests with the assembled camera and take the bias images.
In other words without the power supply being attached to the camera I cannot be 100% sure that it will eliminate the noise. But this is probably as good as it will get.
I have attached images of the schematics and the finished PCB. Very crowded. The dimensions are 40x20mm and it is designed to fit in our slightly larger case. The barrel DC power connector is waterproof.
I can share the designs but as I said I am still not 100% convinced it will work perfectly.
I'm new the forum -- I hope it's not tool late to join the discussion and build a Cam86?? I've got the sensor and many other parts and I'm keen to build the camera. Having spent many years as a software engineer I hope I can add some value to the firmware and software utilities.
I've spent a couple of week reading over the various fora covering Cam86 -- the resulting knowledge bank is a credit to the community.
Now my key questions?
Where is the best place to find Gerber files (or better still , the underlying CAD files) so I can order the PCBs?
I'm new the forum -- I hope it's not tool late to join the discussion and build a Cam86?? I've got the sensor and many other parts and I'm keen to build the camera. Having spent many years as a software engineer I hope I can add some value to the firmware and software utilities.
I've spent a couple of week reading over the various fora covering Cam86 -- the resulting knowledge bank is a credit to the community.
Now my key questions?
Where is the best place to find Gerber files (or better still , the underlying CAD files) so I can order the PCBs?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Congratulation for producing a fantastic thread!
Hi Steven,
welcome to the adventure, help you will find to help you in the event of a difficult moment, I am Patrice from the French forum but as you can see, I am listening to other forums as well .
For Gerber, it depends on the model you want to build, there is the original one available here or the IIS version available at the start of this discussion.
Luka did a great job on the Firmware and it is compatible with the 2 versions they are available here.
Avoid taking the kit on EBay, a French member had problems with it, without having yet found the source ...