How do I find the factory set offset in ZWO cameras

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GaryS
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How do I find the factory set offset in ZWO cameras

#1

Post by GaryS »

Hi:
Probably a boring question but perhaps easy to answer.

I have ASI 178MM and ASI 294 MC cameras. I was told that the 'Brightness' setting in SC is essentially displaying the offset (distance in adu to the right of the left side of the histogram) that ZWO has pre-set for their cameras and that this offset is what should be used for making both lights and calibration frames for those lights.

I believe I read in this SC forum somewhere that when the camera is connected to and selected in SC, the pre-set offset number is what the Brightness setting displays when you first connect the camera in SC. At some point a year ago, I manually set the Brightness to 10 and have not changed it since. Each time I open SC and connect a camera, the Brightness displays 10.

So, my question is: how do I get SC to display the 'Offset' that ZWO had factory-set? I assume that changing the Brightness changes the actual offset that the camera uses and that the 'pre-set' number is not a 'fixed' offset amount.

Thanks for any help anyone can offer in this - cheers
Gary
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Menno555
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Re: How do I find the factory set offset in ZWO cameras

#2

Post by Menno555 »

Hi

SharpCap indeed remembers the latest settings of the camera.
As far as I know you can "reset" that if you go to C:\Users\*username*\AppData\Roaming\SharpCap\CaptureProfiles\ in Windows Explorer and delete the INI file with your camera name in it. Next time in SharpCap when you connect, SharpCap will use the initial Zwo settings.

Menno
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turfpit
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Re: How do I find the factory set offset in ZWO cameras

#3

Post by turfpit »

Gary

Holding down the <CONTROL> key while connecting the camera will get you back to the Sharpcap default camera settings.

Dave
GaryS
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Re: How do I find the factory set offset in ZWO cameras

#4

Post by GaryS »

Thank you very much Menno Dave!
Gary
GaryS
Posts: 175
Joined: Sun Mar 31, 2019 5:18 pm
Location: Boston, USA/Jackson Hole, USA

Re: How do I find the factory set offset in ZWO cameras

#5

Post by GaryS »

Hi Guys
I’ve tried both approaches and neither seems to work. See below and let me know if I misunderstood your instructions.

Menno: following your suggestion, I ran into a wall when there was no ‘AppData’ in the pathway to select after selecting my ‘username’. There was a ‘Roaming’ folder displayed after selecting my username but under that was only a folder ‘Intel’.

Dave: when I held down Ctrl while clicking on my specific camera in the drop down under ‘cameras’, SC opened with whatever Brightness setting I had entered previously. I had the camera plugged into the computer before I tried this.
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turfpit
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Re: How do I find the factory set offset in ZWO cameras

#6

Post by turfpit »

Gary

'Appdata' is a hidden folder. In File Manager, select 'View' tab and check 'Hidden Items'. This is for Windows 10.

Try setting the Brightness to something else - say the maximum setting. Then close the camera via a the menu. Close & Restart SharpCap. Hold down <CONTROL> and reconnect the camera, see what happens. You may have already been at the default setting for Brightness.

Dave
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Menno555
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Re: How do I find the factory set offset in ZWO cameras

#7

Post by Menno555 »

Gary

Just thought of this now: you can also enter the default settings yourself for the 294MC camera, I had that one myself.
There are 2 defaults though: in the Zwo SDK it is brightness/offset is 30 en default gain is 120. But in the ASCOM the brightness/offset is 8. And that last one worked best for me.

Menno
GaryS
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Re: How do I find the factory set offset in ZWO cameras

#8

Post by GaryS »

Hi Menno
I am trying to find what ZWO sets as the offset. I do know that I can set it with the slider in SC but have been trying to find the preset offset that the camera comes with natively.

I don’t know what ‘SDK’ is from your note, but those two numbers you mention are what I’ve found elsewhere anecdotally - 30 for offset and 120 for unity gain. I was hoping to verify this from within SC as it ‘reads’ my camera data as it opens the camera.
Thank you for your help.
Gary
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Menno555
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Re: How do I find the factory set offset in ZWO cameras

#9

Post by Menno555 »

Hi Gary

SC doesn't read the camera but reads data from files. The Zwo SDK is like a database with all kind of settings, values and so on released by Zwo itself.
SC has that incorporated in the program and thus knows these values.

Menno
GaryS
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Re: How do I find the factory set offset in ZWO cameras

#10

Post by GaryS »

Great...can you direct me to where I can find and read those files?
Gary
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