Fast download is active @ 1x1 in 2.4 beta 2

Hi,

I don’t know how to submit a bug report. Is there an specific section for submitting 2.4 beta bug reports?

Yesterday installed the latest beta v2.4.0.2618 after updating PHD2 from 2.3 to 2.4 everything run smooth. However I found some strange bloom-like artifacts around bright stars. I thought that my camera has fried, however I took a couple if images with Maxim and everything looked fine.

AFAIK fast download is only active for frame and focus and not for capturing, but AFAICT fast download was active in capture mode.

Long story short, after unchecking the fast download option from the camera tab the artifact disappeared.

Cheers,

Jose

This is not a bug in SGPro. We force the speed back to normal prior to all sequence images.

image.speed = Image.ImageDownloadSpeed.NORMAL;

If this is an issue for your camera, it is likely an issue in the ASCOM driver.

Ken,

I’ve been shooting with SGP for 11 months or so and this issue is new, the problem showed up right after upgrading to 2.4, I have images of the same sequence with 2.3 and 2.4 and the issue is evident right after the upgrade.

CS,

Jose

What brand and model is your camera?

Peter

I’m not sure we’ll be able to help you here. I have reviewed the area of code affected by fast download and it is identical in 2.3 and 2.4. I also reviewed the logic manually and verified that ASCOM cameras always reset the image speed prior to taking sequence and AF images. There are no alternate paths. Are you using an ASCOM camera?

Peter,

I am using an ATIK 460EX connected as ASCOM camera.

Cheers,

Jose

Ken,

Yes, I am using an ASCOM camera (Atik 460EX).

It is not a big issue, actually the difference in downloading time @ 2x2 (focusing) is marginal, so I can uncheck the high speed option and move on. When I saw the issue I was sure that the camera sensor or electronics were the one to blame, since I haven’t changed anything but the issue disappeared as soon as I uncheck the fast download option. It is likely that this problem is specific to my Camera/Ascom driver.

CS,

Jose

Jose,

Keep in mind that I’m not saying I’m right… just that I have no idea where from where your issue is originating. Since I have no idea how to address your issue, all I can offer is better logging to ensure that normal speed is set properly prior to your sequence images. Hoping you can try to duplicate in the next beta so we can be sure…

Ken

I’ve put some extra logging in the Atik ASCOM driver and I can see the commands to set FastReadout to true before the frame and focus exposures and to false before a sequence exposure. I can also see that there’s a difference in the download speed.
The released version of the driver doesn’t log FastReadout but it does set the property in the same way.