Mallincam DS16c Camera Connect Error

I have two USB3 cameras that I wish to use with SGP – a QHY183c and Mallincam DS16c. The 183c is fine. But when I connect the DS16c I get an exception in Ascom and a traceback. Am using Ascom 6.4sp1, latest SGP release and latest Mallincam ascom driver. Afterwards, the DS16c seems to work… but with the endless clouds here about all I can do is run darks… The DS16c is NOT an analog video camera but is similar to the QHY with a USB3 connection. I have also contacted the vendor but no response. One side note – I can connect to this camera through Sharpcap and do not get this kind of error. The only apparent difference is that when connecting via Sharpcap the camera settings dialog is automatically opened – so there may be an invokation protocol difference between that and SGP. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks,
greg latiak

09:00:49.062 TargetInvocationException System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation. —> System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: InvalidArgument=Value of ‘0’ is not valid for ‘SelectedIndex’.
Parameter name: SelectedIndex
at System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox.set_SelectedIndex(Int32 value)
at ASCOM.Mallincam.SetupDialogForm.OnDeviceSelectedChanged()
at ASCOM.Mallincam.SetupDialogForm.OnCombox1Changed(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox.OnSelectedIndexChanged(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox.set_SelectedIndex(Int32 value)
at ASCOM.Mallincam.SetupDialogForm…ctor(String driverId, String camid, ToupCam cam, Boolean isconnected, Boolean hasres, Boolean hasrgb)
at ASCOM.Mallincam.Camera.SetupDialog()
— End of inner exception stack trace —
at System.RuntimeMethodHandle.InvokeMethod(Object target, Object[] arguments, Signature sig, Boolean constructor)
at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.UnsafeInvokeInternal(Object obj, Object[] parameters, Object[] arguments)
at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.Invoke(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture)
at System.Reflection.MethodBase.Invoke(Object obj, Object[] parameters)
at ASCOM.DriverAccess.MemberFactory.CallMember(Int32 memberCode, String memberName, Type[] parameterTypes, Object[] parms) in C:\ASCOM Build\Export\ASCOM.DriverAccess\MemberFactory.cs:line 412
09:00:49.071 SetupDialog Throwing Default DriverException: ‘CheckDotNetExceptions ASCOM.Mallincam.Camera SetupDialog System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: InvalidArgument=Value of ‘0’ is not valid for ‘SelectedIndex’.
Parameter name: SelectedIndex
at System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox.set_SelectedIndex(Int32 value)
at ASCOM.Mallincam.SetupDialogForm.OnDeviceSelectedChanged()
at ASCOM.Mallincam.SetupDialogForm.OnCombox1Changed(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox.OnSelectedIndexChanged(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox.set_SelectedIndex(Int32 value)
at ASCOM.Mallincam.SetupDialogForm…ctor(String driverId, String camid, ToupCam cam, Boolean isconnected, Boolean hasres, Boolean hasrgb)
at ASCOM.Mallincam.Camera.SetupDialog() (See Inner Exception for details)’

Can you post the SGP log? Info about where to find it can be found here:

Thanks,
Jared

Thanks, Jared.

gregsg_logfile_20181221090021.txt (234.9 KB)

Done.

Thank you.

g

Just a side commentary – I looked at the log before I sent it off to you and noticed that to my unfamiliar eye it looked like the driver was lying about the properties of the camera. The DS16c does not have cooling of any sort. I have been able to run a sensor profile using Sharpcap – which does run it through a range of exposures and gain settings.

Thanks for looking at this. Have a great Holiday.

greg

I’m not sure if the GetCoolerTemp is a red herring or if it’s what’s causing the error. Essentially we ask if the cooler is on and we get a valid response, generally signaling that the camera has a cooler. If not we’re expecting it to throw an error and it seems that’s not happening.

You mention a setting dialog coming up in Sharpcap. Are you using the ASCOM driver in Sharpcap as well? If not can you try it?

Thanks,
Jared

Jared,

Thanks. I am using the ascom driver but when the dust settles from the Christmas madness I will retest with the current version of Sharpcap and the current release of ascom. Its been a few months since I ran a sensor profile on the DS16c so maybe something funny has crept in. Will advise – probably not before Thursday.

Have a good holiday… clear skies!

greg

Jared,

I ran a quick test this morning using the Mallincam ascom driver and the latest Sharpcap (3.2.5892) and it works flawlessly. When connecting to the camera, a settings dialog comes up but I normally dismiss it as I use raw 16 bit. Ran a bunch of darks… no issues. Sees the TEC as having no power, TEC setting can be toggled but nothing happens.

Its funny with SGP, despite the settings issue, the camera seems to function – given the crappy weather here all I can do is run some darks.

greg

Not sure about the settings dialog. If it’s just the normal ASCOM settings dialog you should be able to access it in SGP by connecting the camera and then clicking the settings button next to the connect button. However that shouldn’t be needed.

Thanks,
Jared

Thanks, Jared.

The settings I use seem pretty stable. But its still rather disconcerting. I do recall back when I did OS and DBMS internals that sometimes funny things would happen… and we kept our sanity by looking away and thinking – that never happened. There are rumors that in a couple of days the sky should be clear overnight so I may actually get to play with this. Will let you know if anything else funny happens.

greg