QHY Driver

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vichman
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Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2018 7:05 am

QHY Driver

#1

Post by vichman »

Hi Robin,

whenever I install a new version of QHY's All-In-On-Driver, it asks me whether I have SharpCap installed.
If I ticked the respective box it apparently installs the latest QHY driver into the SharpCap folder.

I wonder, do I actually have to do that? Doesn't SharpCap come with the latest updates to QHY's driver/DLL/SDK?
Will there be conflicts?
What is the recommended procedure? Shall I let QHY do the updates, or shall I rather ignore that tickbox?

Thanks in advance,
Stefan
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admin
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Re: QHY Driver

#2

Post by admin »

Hi Stefan,

My advice is to ignore that box – don't tick it.

As far as I'm aware, what will happen if you tick that box is that the qhy installer will try to update the qhy SDK in the SharpCap folder. That might be helpful if you have an old version of SharpCap, but if you have the latest version of SharpCap you've almost certainly got the latest QHY SDK anyway ( I usually update within a week or two of the new version being available).

Cheers, Robin
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vichman
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Re: QHY Driver

#3

Post by vichman »

Thanks, will do.

Stefan
aklatt
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri May 14, 2021 12:41 am

Re: QHY Driver

#4

Post by aklatt »

Hello,
If I might add an inquiry to this?

I am having problems with the driver specific to the QHY Filter wheel 3. I kept getting a message that the filterwheel is not attached. I have the latest all-in-one and the latest sharcap versions loaded. (The 183 cameras work fine).

I reloaded the drivers from the QHY-Ascom folder, and now they appear in the Sharpcap Filterwheel drop down menu.
Three are listed: QHY FW, QHY FW2, and a QHY FWrs232.

I tried the first and second one, but I get a driver error message when I click on Apply.
The rs232 one simply hangs all when I click on Apply.

I am sure I am doing something wrong with driver placement, but I just am not experienced enough to figure it out.

Thoughts would be appreciated.
Thank you
Arthur
aklatt
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Joined: Fri May 14, 2021 12:41 am

Re: QHY Driver

#5

Post by aklatt »

An update on my first enquiry.

I was able to get the filter wheel running in Sharpcap on a Mac running Windows with Bootcamp. I realized some folders were in Program Files while others were in Program Files (x86). Once I ensured all were in the right place in Program Files (x86), all was well. :D

On the other hand, I am not able to get the filter wheel to work if I am running Sharpcap on Parallels. I tried replicating the placement of files based on my success with Bootcamp, but I keep receiving an error message that states there is no Port identifiable for the filter wheel.
[
The error message
The error message
Sharpcap.png (31.67 KiB) Viewed 1892 times
I am perplexed as Parallels asks if I want the USB to be routed to Windows or Mac, and of course, I choose Windows, so that is normally not an issue.
I am not sure how to proceed from here.

Thank you for your time and advice.

Arthur
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Re: QHY Driver

#6

Post by admin »

Hi,

when I plug in my QHY filter wheel over USB I see this in Windows Device Manager
Capture.JPG
Capture.JPG (15.56 KiB) Viewed 1872 times
If you need the drivers for that device then I think you can download them here : https://www.silabs.com/developers/usb-t ... cp-drivers - try the 'Universal Windows Driver'. Hopefully if this installs then the serial port should show up once you connect the USB device to your Windows machine in parallels (Note - I've never used parallels, but I would expect that to happen based on VMWare Workstation behaving that way).

Another option if you have certain QHY cameras is a direct connection to the RJ11 port on the wheel from the round 4 pin plug on the back of the camera. My QHY174 has this connector, but my newer QHY294 does not. Note that if you choose this approach then there is no need to use the ASCOM driver - SharpCap should detect the wheel when you connect the camera.

cheers,

Robin
aklatt
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Re: QHY Driver

#7

Post by aklatt »

Hi Robin,

Thank you for this response. You are a very busy man with all these responses. I appreciate your time.

Oddly, I do use the RJ 11 and 4 pin connector. Not sure why it does not work.

I loaded the driver for the COM and tried using the filter wheel via USB instead of the 4-pin connector. Interestingly, it is the only port that shows up in the device manager.
I wonder if another USB slot should appear and if this is the problem.

There is one driver listed under astroimaging equipment and I imagine this is correct, but I'm not sure.

When I run Sharpcap I go into setting and choose Com 3 which shows up as per the port driver, when I click Apply, the program crashes and I get the crash report window. Sad.

Cheers
Arthur
Attachments
Only this USB
Only this USB
Port.png (12.48 KiB) Viewed 1852 times
Imager
Imager
Astroimaging.png (9.53 KiB) Viewed 1852 times
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Re: QHY Driver

#8

Post by admin »

Hi,

so my understanding is that if you are using the 4 pin round socket to RJ11 cable then you should not select the QHY filter wheel in the Hardware settings - basically leave that as None, open the camera and SharpCap should automatically find the filter wheel.

If you use the USB cable then the ASCOM driver selected in the hardware settings is the way to go.

As far as I can see the drivers look OK.

If I were you I would try going back to the 4pin/RJ11 cable and set the filter wheel to None in the settings and see what happens - if you get an error report then please share a screenshot showing the details.


thanks,

Robin
aklatt
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Re: QHY Driver

#9

Post by aklatt »

Hello Robin,

Sadly, switching the settings to None leaves me with the same error message; that is, the filterwheel is not found. I am starting to think it is a Parallels issue given that it all works fine in Bootcamp. Hmmm.

Running it via the USB I also receive an error message but this one is a Driver Error message. The only Ascom driver that lists is the one for Nebulosity, so I used that, and I also tried None. All to no avail.

I am not sure where to go from here.

I appreciate your continued thoughts and input on this.

Arthur
Attachments
Driver options.png
Driver options.png (23.52 KiB) Viewed 1831 times
Filterwheel not found
Filterwheel not found
No Filterwheel.png (18.15 KiB) Viewed 1831 times
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Re: QHY Driver

#10

Post by admin »

Hi,

that message in yellow isn't so much an error as a warning - it's saying that you must let the wheel complete it's initial calibration spin before opening the camera in SharpCap - if you let it complete the spin then SharpCap should pick it up automatically. If the spin has not completed then SharpCap will not be able to see the wheel.

Note that my QHY camera must be connected to 12V power before the connected filter wheel works

Once you have 12V power and the wheel has done its initialization, open the camera in SharpCap and hopefully you should see the wheel in amongst the controls
Capture.JPG
Capture.JPG (16.59 KiB) Viewed 1816 times
This was with my QHY174GPS and CFW2-S

Robin
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