Various issues with QHY183C

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MarMax
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2021 11:43 pm

Re: Various issues with QHY183C

#11

Post by MarMax »

I do not have anything new to report other than clouds. But I will try setting USB Traffic to 5 and see what happens. It's amazing how much of this you have covered in the manual and I appreciate your superb support even though I'm asking a question that you already answered in the manual.

Not an exact quote but the essence of USB Traffic from the QHY section:
USB Traffic set to low [like zero (0)] may cause dropped frames, a collapse in frame rate or even no frames at all

I will also look for the previous SharpCap log files and see if there is anything to report.
MarMax
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2021 11:43 pm

Re: Various issues with QHY183C

#12

Post by MarMax »

I have used the QHY183C twice now since it gave me fits with white balance (R-G-B). The first night everything was just dandy with nothing unusual going on. The second night (last night), starting with the same kit and same settings as the prior night, the camera started doing it's thing with really strange color balance.

This time I just hunkered down and tried an new approach. While the live stacking histogram was showing the wildly different R, G and B channels, like no B (off the chart to the left), G barely in on the left and R way past the white line, I just went to the Camera Controls > Image Controls and started counteracting what I saw in the live stack histogram.

Since B was off the chart left I just raised the White Bal(B) until the graph looked better. I did the same by reducing the White Bal(R). This initially fixed the live stack histogram so I could use some of the auto calibration buttons and then make final manual adjustments. Then as stacking continued the color balance again started going off track. So I went back to Camera Controls > Image Controls and applied more adjustments. I had to do this three times until things settled down.

I was targeting NGC 7635 (Bubble Nebula) which has as nice star field all around. When things finally settled down I ended up with the Camera Controls > Image Controls settings of White Bal(R) = 127, White Bal(G) = 100 and White Bal(B) = 127. I was using a Gain of 11 and Offset of 30 and using Hyperstar so my subs were 4 seconds.

Because I had success in wrestling with the camera and winning I did not think to start the log. But at least I'm comfortable with a method to deal with the 183 when it goes wild.
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admin
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Re: Various issues with QHY183C

#13

Post by admin »

Hi,

that's very interesting... do you happen to recall what the colour balance controls were *before* you started making the adjustments?

The initial values have either come from the last time you used the camera (if you have the option to automatically restore camera settings turned on), or from the QHY SDK defaults.

Unfortunately, unlike other brands, the QHY colour balance controls have ranges and default values that vary from model to model, so SharpCap cannot enforce a default 'no adjustment' balance when starting the camera :(

cheers,

Robin
MarMax
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2021 11:43 pm

Re: Various issues with QHY183C

#14

Post by MarMax »

Robin,

I've posted this reply up in the CN forum as well. I was offered the option of sending the camera to China for evaluation. Since it works in its own quirky way I've opted to not be without it for months while I await some evaluation. After three additional nights with the QHY183C I've found that the initial settings of White Bal(Red) = 127, White Bal(G) = 100 and White Bal(B) = 127 don't really matter. You can pretty much start with anything but you'll need to take the wild ride until it settles down.

To describe the camera behavior, it seems to start off in what I'll call "wild" mode where the color balance just goes crazy and I end up moving things (R-G-B) all around until it settles down. After about an hour the camera settles in and I can go to the White Bal(Red) = 127, White Bal(G) = 100 and White Bal(B) = 127 settings.

Strange indeed, my ASI533MC and Neptune-CII do not do this. They work fine out of the gate. Would I purchase another QHY product, not likely.
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Re: Various issues with QHY183C

#15

Post by admin »

Hi,

good to hear that you have a sort of workaround that lets you use the camera (even if it is not at all ideal :( ). Hope that you get some clear skies to work with!

cheers,

Robin
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