Bad Start

[smithn00]

When I open SC for the first time, it asks me to select a camera. I do and then I select a profile.
The result is either a blank screen and the frame count is frozen at 0..Or the screen is filled
with vertical lines which go away when I deselect the camera. The frame count freezes at 1.

My camera is a QHY 174 GPS.
Has anyone seen this before?

[admin]

Hi,

has the camera previously worked properly for you and now stopped? I guess so from the fact that you mention having a saved profile...

I think the steps I would take in this situation would be to determine if I can make the camera work at all - if you can find a working configuration then it's just a matter of gradually getting closer to your normal setup and finding the change that breaks things.

If possible, try the camera on a different PC, using a different USB cable, ideally with a fresh install of SharpCap and the QHY drivers on the other PC - If that works then hardware problems on the camer would be unlikely to be the problem. On the other hand if you see the same on a second PC with a fresh software install and different cable, the one thing left in common - the camera - becomes suspect. In that situation I would try alternative software too (Firecapture? Some application from QHY themselves)?

cheers,

Robin

[smithn00]

Yes, I have used this camera for a few years. I have just started seeing this type problem in the past month.
I have my DOB in an observatory with a warm room. The USB cable is about 15' long. Could that be an issue?

[Jean-Francois]

Hello Smithn00,

Sometimes it happens too (with same camera) on my desktop computer.
It seems to be a wrong connection or the intern camera firmware is not properly working.
It works after unplugging the USB/power and restarting the camera connection.
Sometimes it is necessary to change the USB connector.

Note, I never had the same problem with my EAGLE or my laptop.

Regards,
Jean-Francois

[admin]

Hi,

a 15' USB cable is certainly pushing your luck (assuming that it is just a plain cable, not a fancy one with a hub circuitry in the middle to repeat the signal). My experience is that USB2 connections become unreliable for cameras somewhere between 4 and 4.5m in cable length. For USB 3, the problems start sooner - somewhere between 3 and 3.5m length for a single cable. To go longer than that, a hub (ideally powered) half way helps so that no single cable run exceeds the 3m length or so.

cheers,

Robin

[procyon12]

Hi all,

I have been aware of the phenomenon described by Smithnn00 for many years. I believe it is this (?):

Clipboard01_3.png

I would agree with Jean-Francois as to the cause. What he recommends helps, simply disconnect the cam, close SC, disconnect and reconnect the USB connection, restart SC, startthe QHY ... normally the problem only occurs once during a session. I have therefore spared myself the trouble of looking for causes.

Regarding the cable length, I have a 5m USB3 cable that works with the QHY174 without any problems (no hub or similar).

Cheers

Christian

[admin]

Hi Christian,

I don't quite know what data is coming into the image there, but I strongly suspect that the camera is reading out data that didn't originate from the image sensor - perhaps mistakenly reading other areas of the onboard memory and sending it over USB. Of course all of these cameras basically have a processor of sorts running inside controlling the sensor and USB data connection. Just like any other computer, that processor can crash due to software bugs or hardware glitches, and an unplug from USB and 12V to reset the power is the only way to 'turn it off and back on again'.

cheers,

Robin