QHY 294c Pro and profile - some problems

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sharpcapt
Posts: 35
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2020 11:39 am

QHY 294c Pro and profile - some problems

#1

Post by sharpcapt »

Hi
I had some problems on Friday night with 'QHY 294c Pro' loading 47M profile or even loading camera and SharpCap would create error and shutdown.
I could not send error logs, as I had this PC disconnected from internet - long story.

Today I installed latest version 64bit and it seems to be OK - not errors - maybe that is fixed - yes I have latest QHY .dll

Just one hour ago, I was doing 11M mode Darks again - just to check the error part with exactly same cables etc. - did not happen - good! :D

After the 11M mode Darks, I went to do the 47M and loaded its profile and I get the error that could not load profile together with the 8bit warning.
But this camera - at least mine (!) - can only be used at 47M if you set it to RGB24 and not RAW 16bit!

Even if I re-save it, same happens.

I do not understand where I am going wrong here - I am confused. :?

So, last night I had to test shoot in 11M mode on a 72ED - which would be spot on on 47M (i.e. 2.31µm pixel size).

I am just testing to re-learn setup and everything else after being off astro imaging for quite a while.

Any ideas? :idea:
I am no expert, just ask if you need more info and I will try to remember.

I will also try Plate Solving...

Thanks
M

PS
As I was there, I finally had the chance to try PHD2 with SharpCap Dithering - I believe I never done it with this camera etc. I always done it in Backyard EOS with my Canon.
Pretty pleased it does work, even though I do not know why I had problems with PHD2 3-4 times saying something about Time Out etc. and telling me if I was sure all OK to change the timeout in settings - but it is not there, unless it is called something else!
Star signal was good at around 34 - full green
sharpcapt
Posts: 35
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2020 11:39 am

Re: QHY 294c Pro and profile - some problems

#2

Post by sharpcapt »

I emailed Robin all LOG files 5-6 Aug 2022 to see.

It seems working fine now after I installed 64bit and latest one - I had previous version of SharpCap.

It seems it has fixed the initial disconnections.

I still have the pop-up telling me it cannot load camera profile.

I even re-saved it, same thing.

I just noticed it is doing it with either 11M or 47M (with added the bit thing!)

Thanks
M
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Re: QHY 294c Pro and profile - some problems

#3

Post by admin »

Hi,

thanks for sending the logs - the error you are seeing is telling you that one of the settings in the profile couldn't be applied properly. In your case this seems to be the resolution setting. This may be a case of SharpCap doing the settings in slightly the wrong order (for instance if you want to set 8336x5648 resolution, you need to set 47 megapixel mode first). I will have a look and see if I can work out what the order should be.

All that being said, the 47 megapixel mode on the colour camera is a bit pointless. SharpCap cannot handle that mode itself in RAW, since the bayer pattern is odd -

Code: Select all

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RRGGRRGG
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That means that standard algorithms cannot debayer the RAW image to a colour picture, so custom code would be needed. It looks like QHY have written something custom to get RGB24 working, but from my point of view it's just too specific to this one model of camera to justify the effort. Note that the 47 megapixel mode on the mono version is perfectly usable, since there is no debayering to worry about.

cheers,

Robin
sharpcapt
Posts: 35
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2020 11:39 am

Re: QHY 294c Pro and profile - some problems

#4

Post by sharpcapt »

Hello
Thanks for your reply.

I forgot to reply to you at the time.

My astronomy has always been kind of intermittent - I get interrupted so often and I may leave things half-way and to think I am not even that kind of person, but it seems life gets too much in the middle !!!

Yes, the 47M is kind of pointless and to think I ONLY bought it for that reason - pfff - but RGB24 seems OK, although I have not used it much ... yet.

Regards
Mauro
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