Camera is SBIG ST8300M, Computer running Windows 10. Running SysGen Pro 2.6.1.114. Has run successfully and effectively for several years.
But recently it disconnects when downloading images. While somewhat varied, the most common scenario is that it downloads one image successfully, and then when initiating the download of the second image, the camera disconnects (powers down!). I spent a lot of time ensuring it was not a directory naming issue (SGEN is sensitive to invalid names), etc. There is no problem running CDOps. The issue also occurs when saving faming/focusing images. Plenty of disk space. Even tried writing to a simple direct like C:\X, but it fails. But not always. I have had runs of perhaps ten successfully saved images in a row. Not using High-speed download.
I have tried to keep Version 2 up-to-date but didn’t want to spend the money for version 3 since I didn’t think it added anything.
Any thoughts on what could be the underlying issue?
I think I may have found the issue. It seems to fail in downloading when the cooler is at high power. I upgraded from a 3.3amp power supply to a 5amp power supply, and so far no failures.
But: new post on temperature, while cooling, frequently stopping, or reading NA even while cooling. Perhaps 5amp is still not enough?
You may also find that the ST8300M is sensitive to over voltage. The shutter (on some individual cameras) becomes unreliable at input voltages much over 12 volts. I encountered this several years ago when I tried to run the camera from a common 13.8 volt bench power supply. Running the camera from an isolated 12 volt supply cured the problem. This is a well-documented problem on the SBIG forum.
I have also experienced the same disconnect problem as you have when using an underrated power supply and with an adequate power supply but high resistance in the wiring connection to the camera.
My guess is the Cooler supply is different than the image downloading USB interface. Most likely the supply is from your USB port +5. Might try changing USB cables first and checking settings on your PC port. It does seem as if the supply is sagging down and causing the disconnect.
Thanx to all. I have upgraded power, cables and the original symptoms are clear now.
I am having trouble with the SGPro interfaces (there are two: one as part of the Sequence and one as a separate panel). While behavior is somewhat hard to describe, basically as the camera approaches the target temperature (e.g., -10°C, it will start reporting the temp as NA and the turn off the cooler. I have tried a variety of things e.g., slowing down target time and using very modest cooling targets. I am reasonable sure it is user error with the two interfaces, what they do and how they interact.
Any one know where I can get clear info on SGPro temoerature control with an STT-8300M?
This is VERY interesting. My imaging partner and I, who together have more than 30 years of CCD imaging experience (much of it with SBIG cameras), have a remote system in NM that is running an STT 8300 and we have also recently seen seemingly random drop outs of the cooler. The camera continues to work but the cooler seems to turn off (and does, because the background values also jump up). So far we have not noted exactly when or why this happens and we originally suspected the camera, power supply or the Ultimate Power Box that routes and controls the power but after reading that others have seen this, I am now beginning to wonder if this might be either something in an SGP update or maybe an SBIG driver update or some combination of the above. FYI, we are running this power supply at present so there should be plenty of power:
I run an SBIG STF-8050M (same drivers as the 8300) with the latest versions of SGP and the SBIG drivers. I have not noticed this problem but my hours of operation have been relatively short due to the weather. I have had several sessions with the camera cooler running for 4 - 5 hours recently and did not see any dropouts. The power supply is the SBIG 5 amp supply that came with the 8050.
The problem is pretty random and can be caused by power issues, of course. I have seen it on one of my systems in the past and that one was caused by the center split pin on the female power jack on the camera having gotten squeezed so it was not making good contact. Spreading it a bit fixed it. That is not the issue now, however, since we checked that.
Our current suspect (pun intended) is that whenever coincident demands (focuser, cooler, etc) push the voltage down a just a bit, the problem occurs. Our supply is voltage adjustable so we will have the techs at the remote site boost that from the present 12.4 to around 13 and see if that fixes the issue.
I spent a lot of time yesterday and suspect that the issue may relate to being “too aggressive” on the cool down.
If I only ask for about a 35degree cool down and set it to cool down in 5 minutes, it works “pretty well” I think. Sometimes it will go to NA, but usually a moment or two later returns. This was during the day with ambient temp around 21C, and I found that asking yo cool yo -10 seemed pretty reliable while -20 seemed flaky. Supposedly the camera can cool down 50C below ambient, but the camera is aging and perhaps coolant leaking?
Alan Creutz
Principal Partner
mergePoint Solutions acreutz@mergeps.com
858-688-2258
i think i am at around 13.1V measured at the power supply with a ~5 foot run to the camera. i’ve never had a cooler dropout with my STT-8300M. i’m pretty sure all the power rails in the camera are derived from the 12V input - i’ve had the thing apart and there are several regulators inside.
so maybe goosing the voltage a little bit will help you.
there’s no coolant in the camera; there is a loop for water cooling but you’d know if you had that hooked up. the coolers are solid state (and air-cooled) but i suppose they can degrade. seems like the internal regulators would probably degrade before the peltier coolers would.