Upgrading QHY 174 GPS Camera Firmware

SteveInNZ
Posts: 83
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:56 pm

Re: Upgrading QHY 174 GPS Camera Firmware

#11

Post by SteveInNZ »

Hi Ken,

Yes please. I need to duplicate that part.

Steve.
procyon12
Posts: 253
Joined: Tue Jan 14, 2020 11:32 am

Re: Upgrading QHY 174 GPS Camera Firmware

#12

Post by procyon12 »

Hi,

Maybe I got it wrong at first what you want. Here is the layout (at your own risk :-) ).
Not tested, but k/f and g could be power and a,b,c,e communication.
Pay attention to the correct direction of connection of the small adapter to the cable according to the second picture.

Christian
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SteveInNZ
Posts: 83
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:56 pm

Re: Upgrading QHY 174 GPS Camera Firmware

#13

Post by SteveInNZ »

That's excellent Christian.
Thank you.

Steve.
Jean-Francois
Posts: 360
Joined: Sun Oct 13, 2019 10:52 am
Location: Germany

Re: Upgrading QHY 174 GPS Camera Firmware

#14

Post by Jean-Francois »

Hello,

For information ... yesterday and today (29. + 30.8.) some presentations about the QHY-174-GPS camera are "visible" in the ESOP online meeting.

Concerning the firmware update ... I performed it on my camera.
Yes ... it is a little bit tricky ... but possible without to be an expert in electronic.
At the end, I had a bad surprise when I start the camera with SharpCap ... it was not running.
Then I read the description document again and I really restart my computer before using the camera with SharpCap ... and then it was running correctly.

Concerning the description document ... may be some additional description about the correct orientation of the connector could help.
The connection to the GPS board is not easy ... the board connectors are at the limit of the camera housing.

Regards,
Jean-Francois
procyon12
Posts: 253
Joined: Tue Jan 14, 2020 11:32 am

Re: Upgrading QHY 174 GPS Camera Firmware

#15

Post by procyon12 »

Congrats,

Jean-Francois!

Yes, at ESOP39 (https://esop39.iota-es.de/) I've held a lecture about the FW upgrade. It will be available at the conference site soon.
... the board connectors are at the limit of the camera housing.
Yes ... That's why I sanded off two pins with a file (red arrows in pic).

Christian
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Jean-Francois
Posts: 360
Joined: Sun Oct 13, 2019 10:52 am
Location: Germany

Re: Upgrading QHY 174 GPS Camera Firmware

#16

Post by Jean-Francois »

Hello Christian,

I install the new firmware some weeks ago (on 27.7.) ... thanks, that you have new images with some details ... it could help other users, if you insert the new information in the document.

I perform the installation in 2 steps.
I do first only a mechanical check ... I open the camera to look how to perform the exchange. Then I remount the camera.
Some week later I decide to do the upgrade of the firmware.
Also I download the Intel software (I had first some difficulties to register ... the website gave me each time an error).
After some days I was registered and I performed the download and installation of the software.

I think that a workshop somewhere could be a good possibility to performed the upgrade of the firmware.
It is not a "must" to do it. I think that all the necessary information are already available in SharpCap.
May be for some occultation with small earth path from an observation point in the Alp mountains could be not precise without the altitude information.

At the end the most important parameter is the time. The position and altitude are less important ... while they are continuously moving.
I perform some analysis with Excel (like you show in ESOP presentation). Some people could be surprised to see that the telescope is moving during the observation ... 10, 20 .. 50 meters is possible. Also for the correct earth (fix) location, it is better to have the coordinate read from another source (GoogleEarth ?)

Regards,
Jean-Francois
procyon12
Posts: 253
Joined: Tue Jan 14, 2020 11:32 am

Re: Upgrading QHY 174 GPS Camera Firmware

#17

Post by procyon12 »

Hello Jean-Francois,

from "The Complete Guide to Observing Lunar, Grazing and Asteroid Occultations" p. 144 (http://www.poyntsource.com/IOTAmanual/I ... _pages.pdf) the required precision is below.
So it is always good to have a second source, especially if you are working with a mobile station.

Christian
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Jean-Francois
Posts: 360
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Location: Germany

Re: Upgrading QHY 174 GPS Camera Firmware

#18

Post by Jean-Francois »

Hello Christian,

Thank you for the information and the source detail ... ~ 380 pages ... easy, I will read it this weekend ;)

I compare the GPS position from my (old) RCX400 and the QHY-174 GPS camera to GoogleEarth coordinates.
The RCX400 GPS has a difference of ~ 18 arcsec to GoogleEarth (note that the mainboard card of my RCX is broken and no repair possible ... or has somebody a RCX400 mainboard card available ? or at least some electrical plane of the card for potential repair with an electrician ?)
The QHY-174 GPS camera has 0.2 and 0.7 arcsec difference to GoogleEart.
For the altitude ... 672 m, 677 m and 674 m (for RCX, QHY and GoogleEarth), please note that GoogleEarth gives the altitude of the road.
My telescope is placed over the garage ... around 3 meter above the road
I'm very surprised that these QHY-GPS and GoogleEarth single measurements are so good together.

Concerning the QHY-GPS coordinates ... with the new camera firmware, more data is saved in the GPS log file.
So it is possible to perform some statistic of the GPS data (as you show in your presentation) from the duration of an occultation (during post processing of the data).

I will check the coordinates/altitude with the geodesic website for my location.


Do you know if the presentations of the ESOP web video conference are online ?


Regards,
Jean-Francois
procyon12
Posts: 253
Joined: Tue Jan 14, 2020 11:32 am

Re: Upgrading QHY 174 GPS Camera Firmware

#19

Post by procyon12 »

Hello Jean-Francois,

Yes, with the FW upgrade we have some additional possibilities.
Do you know if the presentations of the ESOP web video conference are online ?
Unfortunately they are not online so far. But I think they will come soon. I attach a screenshot of a page from my presentation.

BTW: Interesting work you do regarding scripting the calibration process.

Christian
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Jean-Francois
Posts: 360
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Location: Germany

Re: Upgrading QHY 174 GPS Camera Firmware

#20

Post by Jean-Francois »

Hello Christian,

OK for the ESOP conferences ... I can wait.

Concerning my work regarding the scripting of the LED calibration ... I *try* to do the job.
I need to learn IronPython with the C-libraries limitation ... and the Python-namespaces is still not clear for me.
I receive today the book "IronPython in Action" (edition Manning), I wish that some problems can be solved by following the book.
The other point is to combine all that with SharpCap intern functions.

I have the ideas ... the problem is to write the code in IronPython ... combining mathematical solving libraries with .NET window and SharpCap.
As soon as I will have a working script, I will upload it in the forum section of the QHY-camera (I hope that it will be in only some weeks, not months).

Regards,
Jean-Francois
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