bug tra sharpcap 4.0 e 4.1

[CORBYMC]

I have previous version 4.0 of sharpcap pro and my cam is a QHY MINICAM5F M that have a built in filter wheel with nine positions

I have downloaded and intalled last version 4.1

But the built in filter wheel that is regularly show in 4.0 version, is not show in 4.1 version (see the attached file)

There are any others settings that I have to do or is a bug?

Massimo

[Menno555]

Hello Massimo and welcome

Could you check in the SharpCap Settings under the Hardware tab if the Filter Wheel is enabled? If it's set to None there, it will not show up in the sidebar.

Menno

[admin]

Hi,

OK, thanks for the report. Some QHY filter wheels are a bit special, as they are accessed via the camera rather than via a separate ASCOM driver. SharpCap should support these filter wheels, and there is no need to select them in the Hardware settings, since they *should* be auto detected.

I have one here (not built in to the camera, but plugs into the back of certain QHY cameras) - I will test to see if it is working correctly with the latest versions of SharpCap and report back on what I find.

thanks,

Robin

[admin]

Hi,

just an update - I have tested the setup that I have - QHY174MGPS + QHY-CFW-2S. In this setup, the filter wheel plugs into the back of the QHY camera, which I believe is electronically and software equivalent to your camera, except that in your camera the filter wheel is physically built into the camera.

Anyway, testing with the latest release 4.1.12516 (64 bit), the filter wheel is correctly detected by SharpCap and I can use the control in SharpCap to switch filters.

Screenshot 2024-08-22 135404.png (8.96 KiB) Viewed 2577 times

There are a couple of things to be aware of :

* While the camera may work without 12V power connected, the filter wheel does require 12V power - it will not be detected by SharpCap if there is no 12V supply.

* You must let the filter wheel finish the calibration spin that happens when power is applied *before* trying to open the camera in SharpCap - without waiting, the filter wheel may not be detected.

If you are still stuck, check the log in SharpCap for this line:

Code: Select all

Info    14:01:44.117944 #1  CONTROL_CFWPORT implemented : True    

That indicates that the QHY SDK is reporting the filter wheel port on the camera to SharpCap, so that is one half of it showing up. There is also a second check to see if the filter wheel is reported as plugged in. By default that isn't in the log, but if you turn on the option for 'Camera Hardware Communication' in the SharpCap logging settings and then open the camera, then you should see much more recorded in the log, including a message about 'IsFilterWheelPluggedIn', which reveals if the SDK is reporting the filter wheel as present to SharpCap.

Hope this helps,

Robin

[CORBYMC]

Hi Robin
I have attempted to regulate settings as you suggested but without results
Also I have tested a totally new installation of 4.1 version n a PC where sharpcap it was never installed and results are the same: no filter wheel

This is the log of this new installation version is 4.1.12529 64bit

Info 19:53:01.831331 #1 CONTROL_CFWPORT implemented : False in void SharpCap.Cameras.QHY.QHYSDK+Camera.DumpControlAvailability()

If need I have found also this line:
Info 19:53:01.835616 #1 CONTROL_CFWSLOTSNUM implemented : False in void SharpCap.Cameras.QHY.QHYSDK+Camera.DumpControlAvailability()

In this new pc I have tested also 32 bit version with the same negative result I don't report the 32 bit log because is the same of 64 bit.
pc where sharpcap was never installed.

And this is the log result of Sharpcap 4.0.9571 where the incorporated filter wheel is perfectly show. A new installation in the same

Info 20:24:50.381781 #1 CONTROL_CFWPORT implemented : True in void SharpCap.Cameras.QHY.QHYSDK+Camera.DumpControlAvailability()

Info 20:24:50.409773 #1 CONTROL_CFWSLOTSNUM implemented : True in void SharpCap.Cameras.QHY.QHYSDK+Camera.DumpControlAvailability()

Please help me....

Massimo

[admin]

Hi,

thanks for checking. I think the most likely cause is that the QHY SDK has somehow introduced a bug relating to the filter wheel on your camera between the (older) version used in SharpCap 4.0 and the newest version in SharpCap 4.1.

You can test this by replacing the qhyccd.dll in the SharpCap 4.1 folder with the older version installed with SharpCap 4.0 (as long as both are the same in terms of both 64 bit or both 32 bit). Then run SharpCap 4.1 using the .exe in the install folder (*do not* use the normal shortcut - that will cause Windows to 'repair' the installation and put the newer qhyccd.dll back.) With a little luck SharpCap will work with the older SDK and if it does, it may detect and work with the filter wheel too. If that happens then we have confirmed a bug in the SDK that QHY will need to fix.

Another approach you could try is to look at older versions of SharpCap 4.1 from our downloads page - if you search the text on that page, you will find a number of them list 'updated QHY SDK' among the changes. You could try installing and testing the versions *before* each 'SDK update' version - if you find a version that works (and a slightly newer one that doesn't ) let me know - that will let us work out when the SDK became broken, which might help QHY find the issue.

cheers,

Robin

[CORBYMC]

Dear Robin
Yes, the problem is due to QHY SDH
The latest 4.1 version of Sharpcap that run correctly is the 4.1.11062.0

Now I have substitute in the version .12529 the qhy dll with the dll present in .11062 version and it work well

Please verify the problem with QHY analysts

Regards

Massimo

[CORBYMC]

I have tested also versions 11069 11529 11974 12151 and all this version don't work with the SDK present in the installation file

Massimo

[admin]

Hi,

thanks for reporting back, and good to hear that you have a workaround for now by using the older SDK DLL.

I have reported this issue to QHY - hopefully they will be able to track down the change that caused the problem and fix it in a new SDK update.

thanks,

Robin

[admin]

Hi,

please contact me via e-mail (use the 'Contact Us' link at the bottom of the page). I have an updated from QHY that they would like you to test to see if it resolves the problem.

thanks,

Robin