Super grainy Screen

[EBRND]

For some time I imaged using the ZWO ASI 482 MC Camera attached to the Celestron Nexstar 6.0 with ASCOM and SharpCap without any problem. Last night, when I turned the rig on, I got a black screen and, when the exposure was increased, I had a super grainy screen. I have already reinstalled both ASCOM and SharpCap and checked their parameters, as well as the scope's. Everything seems all right. Then I tested the setup using ASICAP, then the images were very good. I'd rather continue using SharpCap, so please help me.

Attached are the SharpCap logs of the night it was all right, the last night when I got the weird screen and today's in broad light, as well as the picture of the grainy screen. Please help me!

[EBRND]

For some time I imaged using the ZWO ASI 482 MC Camera attached to the Celestron Nexstar 6.0 withh ASCOM and SharpCap without any problem. Last night, when I turned the rig on, I got a black screen and, when the exposure was increased, I had a super grainy screen. I have already reinstalled both ASCOM and SharpCap and checked their parameters, as well as the scope's. Everything seems all right. Then I tested the setup using ASICAP, then the images were very good. I'd rather continue using SharpCap, so please help me.

Attached are the SharpCap logs of the night it was all right, the last night when I got the weird screen and today's in broad light, as well as the picture of the grainy screen. Please help me!

Hello Robin
Sorry
Thanks

Ed

[admin]

Hi,

I think this is all going to be related to camera settings - I can see from the screenshot that they are a bit odd, and I suspect that some of the other settings that aren't visible are also contributing. I would recommend opening the camera with the CTRL key pressed down to stop SharpCap from restoring the last used settings and put things back to default.

In more detail, the odd things I can see include:

* Gain set to 450 - that's high for a ZWO camera and will be contributing towards a noisy image
* Camera in RGB24 mode (not RAW8 or RAW16) - the RGB mode isn't much use except for using the camera as a webcam for non-astro imaging
* I suspect that the very grainy bright image is being caused by a display stretch being left turned on from a previous session, brightening the on-screen display and making the noise much more visible.

Hope this helps,

Robin

[EBRND]

Thanks a lot for your reply.
Actually, the screen appears to me all black and I increased the exposure and the gain trying to see any image, resulting in the grains. So, the problem is the lack of image. I sent you a log of the last day the system functioned and another one for the next session, when the problem begun. Would please see if there's any clue for this black screen?

Thanks again,
Ed

[turfpit]

Ed

I suggest you start off with a land based object and work from there (after resetting the camera controls as Robin suggested).

Dave

[EBRND]

Thanks for your time, Dave!
Before reachig out help from this forum I checked the parameters in ASCOM, in SharpCap and in the scope. They were all right, the same way I used them for a long time. I also reinstalled both SharpCap and ASCOM. Then I changed the usb cable, to no avail. I also reset the camera control as Robin suggested.NO success...

Finallyi, used ASICAP and tested both cables, and they worked very well. I had nice land images.

It's very frustrating! I want to contnue using the paid SharpCap Pro version. I'm very happy with it!

Cheers
Ed

[Menno555]

Hi Ed

Good to hear it works now
I have the same camera and, like Robin also said, the Gain is very sensitive with this camera. With my ASI071MC Pro I can set it to max when for example plate solving without any problems.
With my ASI482MC that's almost impossible: it's way to bright and/or grainy. So when this happens again, first try to lower the Gain value.

Menno

[EBRND]

Hi Menno

Those extreme settings were a reflection of my desperation.

It didn’t work at all in SharpCap! It worked fine in ASICAP. Not even after nearly wearing out the Ctrl key trying to start with the last known good settings, as suggested by Robin.

BUT — and this is a HUGE but — while hopelessly tinkering with SharpCap once more, I found a button in the site’s footer labeled "Reset Settings."
I clicked it, and a new menu appeared with two seemingly helpful options: "Reset all SharpCap saved settings" and "Delete all capture profiles." I selected both, restarted the laptop, and to my immense delight — voilà! It worked!

Phew, I was this close to tossing the whole rig straight into the trash — and keeping only the USB cable to hang myself with it.

I’m going to post a new topic on the SharpCap forum called “SOLVED – Black Screen on SharpCap and Knocked Out Camera” to help anyone else who’s feeling as lost as I was.

Thanks, Robin and Dave — I really appreciate your suggestions.

And Menno, I also appreciate your attention!

Cheers