3.15 with ghy5p-ii, unusable camera performance

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shaunfletcher
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Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2018 1:02 am

3.15 with ghy5p-ii, unusable camera performance

#1

Post by shaunfletcher »

Hi,

I have used sharpcap for a long time, but had just carried on using 3.0 as it worked well for where I was at..

Windows 10, QHY5p-IIc, USB 2.0.

I decided to install the latest Sharpcap 3.15 pro for the new features (I have a lot of people here in NZ who are keen on the feature guiding especially, and I want to try this), but when I connect the camera (of course using the native driver) I get a stated 1.5 fps at best regardless of the ROI used, the camera image flashes on and off, and settings seem to have little or no effect. I've installed the latest driver from QHY just in case but I think this is not connected.

3.0 still works perfectly on the same setup, giving maybe 10fps at full res and up to 100+fps at small ROIs.

For now I am just using 3.0 but would like to get this going, so any suggestions?
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Re: 3.15 with ghy5p-ii, unusable camera performance

#2

Post by admin »

Hi,

I don't have a QHY5P-ii to test with, but I do test with a QHY5L-ii and that worked OK the last time I tried it. There is a new option in 3.1 to force cameras into still mode, but that should be off by default and therefore not an issue.

The only instant thing I can think of is to copy the QHYCCD.dll from the SharpCap 3.0 install folder into the SharpCap 3.1 install folder - overwrite the version in the 3.1 folder. The possible outcomes of this are

1) Windows notices and tries to repair the install of 3.1 and puts back the newer version of this file when you run SharpCap 3.1 (watch the file size after you have run SharpCap to check it doesn't go back to the original size)
2) QHY cameras stop working entirely with the 3.0 version copied over (too incompatible with the code in SharpCap 3.1)
3) The camera still works with the issues you are seeing (this would hint that the problems are caused by changes in the SharpCap code, not the QHY code)
4) The camera works properly (this would indicate that changes in the QHY code have caused the problem).

It would be interesting to hear the outcome of this experiment - outcomes 3 or 4 are most interesting as they would tell us something about where any fix needs to happen.

cheers,

Robin
shaunfletcher
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2018 1:02 am

Re: 3.15 with ghy5p-ii, unusable camera performance

#3

Post by shaunfletcher »

Hi, sorry for the long delay.. what little time I've had has been fully utilised imaging Mars with 3.0!

So I have experimented further, including testing on a new very high performance laptop to eliminate any issues there..

Installing 3.1 and 3.0 on the new laptop with latest driver from qhy in place. both resulted in the camera being unusable. very slow framerates then dropping to 0 and stopping altogether.

I then copied the qhyccd.dll from the 3.0 folder on my old laptop to both the folders on my new laptop and bingo, both copies worked for testing, with at least useable framerates.

This DLL, the only one I have that works, is dated 05/09/2017 7:43am but they dont seem to include actual version information on the file which is a bit annoying!

Making this probably 'not your problem' is that this same pattern is repeated in another rival capture program tested for comparison.. it didnt work after installing, I replaced the DLL, and it now works. Sounds like a problem with my camera and newer DLLs, a QHY problem maybe with the exact (possibly early, I bought it in late 2015) model of camera not being compatible with their newer DLLs? Ill be taking it up with them and my vendor to be sure!

The newer DLLs than that just dont seem to work with my camera at all.
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Re: 3.15 with ghy5p-ii, unusable camera performance

#4

Post by admin »

Well I'm glad that you have found at least a temporary solution.

As you have worked out, I am stuck because if I don't update the QHY dll then SharpCap will not work with the latest cameras and if I do then problems like this crop up. Posting on the QHY forums (I think they still exist) would probably be a good starting point to try to get a fix for this.

cheers,

Robin
shaunfletcher
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Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2018 1:02 am

Re: 3.15 with ghy5p-ii, unusable camera performance

#5

Post by shaunfletcher »

Its appreciated that you try hard to get things sorted!

Ill give QHY a try.. Ill also try to get a newer camera to try out. Eventually I may just replace it, its been a good tool but I would like a USB 3 unit anyway!
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