Hello,
I have an ATR533m camera and I have the following issues when I am using SharpCap:
- Is not possible to control very accurate the sensor temperature. When I ask to go to -10 temperature reported by SharpCAp stays on -7-8. With other cameras I don't have such issue. NINA report and control, very well this parameter.
- I have no option for GAIN, but Analogue GAIN, which range from 0 to 40k. In NINA GAIN is from 100 to 15k, which is accurate according to Touptek datasheet.
I am using SharpCap to collect star spectrum and NINA for plate solve, so I really need SharpCap to work very well with Touptek camera.
Best regards
Razvan
TOUPTEK ATR533M
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Re: TOUPTEK ATR533M
Hi,
the temperature is handled entirely by the camera and the ToupTek SDK itself - SharpCap just sends a message to the camera saying 'target -10C' and then lets the camera get on with it. What might be worth checking is whether the cooler power (displayed in the status bar at the bottom) is at 100% when the temperature is at -7 to -8C - that would imply that the cooling is working at full power but is unable to get below -8 or so. That could be different in SharpCap because - by default - SharpCap will keep the camera taking frames continuously, while Nina only takes frames on request. Keeping the camera working means more heat is generated by the electronics, which fights against the cooling. This can be particularly an issue when the environmental temperature is hot. Try setting a longer exposure (maybe 4s) to reduce the power usage of the electronics, or put SharpCap into 'Still Mode' to only take images on request to see if the camera will then get to a cooler temperature.
On the gain side, SharpCap merges the conversion gain (LCG/HCG changeover) into the normal gain control - this gives the gain control in SharpCap an increased range. For the IMX533, 100 gain in SharpCap means LCG, 100 gain at the camera - this continues up to gain 299 in SharpCap (299, LCG at the camera). SharpCap then switches the camera to HCG when you set the gain to 300 or above on the slider, but 300 gain in SharpCap is 100 gain, HCG at the camera (the HCG changeover on this model provides 3x boost in brightness).
Merging the LCG/HCG into the normal gain ensures that users get the optimum settings for a particular brightness rather than for instance setting LCG and gain 600 (when HCG and gain 200 would give better results and the same brightness). It avoids people having to learn what LCG and HCG mean and which one they should use when.
cheers,
Robin
the temperature is handled entirely by the camera and the ToupTek SDK itself - SharpCap just sends a message to the camera saying 'target -10C' and then lets the camera get on with it. What might be worth checking is whether the cooler power (displayed in the status bar at the bottom) is at 100% when the temperature is at -7 to -8C - that would imply that the cooling is working at full power but is unable to get below -8 or so. That could be different in SharpCap because - by default - SharpCap will keep the camera taking frames continuously, while Nina only takes frames on request. Keeping the camera working means more heat is generated by the electronics, which fights against the cooling. This can be particularly an issue when the environmental temperature is hot. Try setting a longer exposure (maybe 4s) to reduce the power usage of the electronics, or put SharpCap into 'Still Mode' to only take images on request to see if the camera will then get to a cooler temperature.
On the gain side, SharpCap merges the conversion gain (LCG/HCG changeover) into the normal gain control - this gives the gain control in SharpCap an increased range. For the IMX533, 100 gain in SharpCap means LCG, 100 gain at the camera - this continues up to gain 299 in SharpCap (299, LCG at the camera). SharpCap then switches the camera to HCG when you set the gain to 300 or above on the slider, but 300 gain in SharpCap is 100 gain, HCG at the camera (the HCG changeover on this model provides 3x boost in brightness).
Merging the LCG/HCG into the normal gain ensures that users get the optimum settings for a particular brightness rather than for instance setting LCG and gain 600 (when HCG and gain 200 would give better results and the same brightness). It avoids people having to learn what LCG and HCG mean and which one they should use when.
cheers,
Robin