Hello
I have upgraded to the the last version of SGP-3 (3.2.0.660) in order to use it with my QSI-640 CCD camera (driver 7.4.1824.0).
When trying to choose the Camera I can see that there are two different QSI CCD CAMERA options that seems to be the same thing (at least the name is the same)
Do you know why are there these two options?
Should I choose one over the other, or is it the same thing?
When trying to choose the QSI INTERNAL FLTER WHEEL the same thing happens, there are two identical options
Im not really sure. You’ll need to contact QHY and ask them why their driver software registers 2 cameras with the same name. SGPro just takes what is registered with ASCOM and dumps it to the drop down menu list.
My CCD is a QSI, not a QHY, and I am NOT using ASCOM to connect it to SGP, I am using the default options to choose a camera that appear when you install SGP.
When I bought SGP3 there were only one QSI Camera to choose. The 2 QSI camera options with the same name, appeared with the upgrades of SGP.
Hi Joel, it doesn´t matter, thank you for your answer, in fact I think I know what is happening because of your help:
As Joel told me, I have been able to change the name of the QSI driver in the ASCOM profile settings. The name I have used is “QSI CCD CAMERA ASCOM”, and now this is what I see in SGP:
So, it appears to me that SGP camera chooser is letting me to choose between the default QSI Camera that comes with the program, and the ASCOM driver.
Sorry if you know this already, but Camera makers usually provide a “native” driver and an Ascom driver. For the most part SGP only uses the ascom driver for all cameras. From the looks of your drop down camera menu in SGP, the QSI Ascom driver allows the use of two QSI cameras at the same time. In other words, both of those entries in the drop down menu are actually the same QSI ascom driver.
So in reality if your camera is connected to your computer and the drivers are installed you should be able to use either drop down entry to run the camera. Also, if you click on the ascom settings icon in sgp (the wrench icon) your camera should be shown in the settings.
So a better way to name those entries would be “QSICamera1” and “QSICamera2” because both are ascom related.
I hope this makes sense as I’m typing from my phone.
In fact, I can see a lot of cameras to choose from the SGP Camera menu that I have never installed and of course I have not installed their ASCOM drivers or others; for example I can see FLI, SBIG, ZWO camera, etc., so I keep on thinking that only the second QSI CCD Camera is the ASCOM driver, and the first is the native from SGP that have always worked for me.
In fact, if I try to connect my QSI to SGP with the second QSI option (what I have called ASCOM driver), it doesn’t allow me to connect the internal filter wheel (and I have the ASCOM driver installed for the filter wheel, I can see it).
This problem can be caused because I am using a very old QSI core driver (V.7.4.1824.0) but it is well known that posterior core drivers developed directly by ATIK, presented a lot of problems, and as all my setup works flawlessly with the old QSI drivers I am not going to change, but insist, I really think the first line that appears to choose QSI, is not an ASCOM driver.
But, perhaps I am wrong, sure you know more than me about SGP, but from my experience I think I am right, anyway I appreciate your help.
To be sure about what I am saying, I would have to uninstall completely my QSI drivers and observe if the QSI CCD camera still appear in the SGP Camera menu (I think so, but I don’t want to uninstall my camera because it works very well and I don’t want to temp luck).
Hello
First of all I want to say that I have been able to know what is happening because of your help, so thank you very much, I really appreciate your answers.
At the end I was right. I have done a really risky operation (it will have consequences in the future), I have borrowed my wife’s computer!!!
I have installed ASCOM Platform 6.5 and SGP3, but not the QSI drivers, and this is the result:
As you can see, there is a native QSI CCD Camera in SGP3 as I thought (in fact that is the option that works for me).
After that I have installed the last QSI core driver, and this is what happen:
As you can see, it installs 2 additional ASCOM drivers for QSI cameras, so now there arte 3 options to choose.
And finaly I have removed the last QSI core driver and installed the 7.4.1824.0 driver and this is the result:
It istalls an ASCOM QSI Camera driver whose name is identical to the native QSI CCD option that comes by defaukt in SGP 3
If anyone in interests in this, I must add, that for me the only version that works, is the old QSI core driver developed by QSI (not by ATIK) V.7.4.1824.0
Hello
It the end I have also been able to use the QSI ASCOM drivers V.1.0.0.3 developed by Atik, but not the newest one.
I finish here playing with my equipment at home, I am going to start to take astrophotos after one year and a half break.
Happy New Year
Just to add a little more to the discussion. You cannot have two copies of the same ASCOM driver running at the same time. So most camera vendors install two versions of their drivers. It is actually the same driver – they just give them different names. This allows you to have two cameras of the same type running simultaneously.
On my development system, I have several vendor’s software installed:
As you can see, QSI installs “QSI Camera” and “QSI Camera 2”. Similarly, ASI, QHY and Diffraction Ltd install two versions of their drivers, as well. Interestingly, Moravian (Gx) does not.
I have been using a QSI683 with SGPro for many years without any issues. The currently installed QSI driver package is named QSIInstaller-2020.07.30.exe and is dated 12/11/2020. I downloaded this directly from the QSI web site:
Hello Charlie.
Yes, it’s clear. You can see in one of my posts that I installed the last core driver (that effectively it is 2020.07.30.exe) and it installed two ASCOM drivers, so at that moment I had 3 different options to connect my camera (see one of my pictures above)
But as I have already said, for some unknown reason to me, this last driver don’t work for me. I even tried to connect the camera to ASCOM directly without success.
I have not idea if it is a problem related to the firmware of my camera or other different thing, but the case is that only V.1.0.0.3 (from ATIK) and V.7.4.1824.0 (the ancient QSI driver) work for me.
I think during the years others have reported problems with the QSI drivers. It seems that the new versiones developed by ATIK don’t work for everybody and I don’t know the reason.
And I remember there was the V.1.0.0.4 of the drivers that supposely was only to work with the version of SGP that was given with a QSI camera.
I have not idea what has happened with this version of the drivers, you can not find it in the ATIK web.
Can you tell me what version of SGP are you using?
I must add that I have also been using QSI CCD cameras since a long time ago.
My first QSI was the QSI583ws. Some years ago I sold it in order to buy a QSI640ws, and I think it was one of the first ever built by QSI with the KAI-4022 (if not the first).
When I started using it, I had problems, several columns defects that in the end were only firmware problems, not physical problems with the sensor.
Kevin Nelson worked through this and implement a new firmware version for my QSI640 that solved all the problems, and it has been working flawlessly since then.
By the way, the original V.7.4.1824.0 drivers install an application to update the firmware of the camera (QSI camera updater), and you can find how to proceed in the old QSI User Guide V2.0, but when I have installed the ATIK developed driver for QSI V.1.0.0.3, it doesn’t install any app to update the firmware; in fact it doesn’t appear how to proceed to do it in the newer QSI 600 User Guide V.4 they have in their web (this manual only mentions the yellow flashing light that is switched on when you are upgrading your firmware).
I am running the latest beta SGPro (32bit). If you are unable to connect to your camera using the ASCOM diagnostic tool try completely uninstalling all things QSI and reinstall 2020.07.30. If you still can’t connect with the ASCOM diagnostic, this may be a USB issue, a power supply issue, or even the camera itself.
Yesterday I borrowed my wife’s computer and I installed there all the things from start, and as I have already said, V.7.4.1824.0 and V.1.0.0.3 QSI drivers works without problem, it is only the last driver 2020.07.30 what doesn’t work.
So I disagree with you, because I strongly doubt there is any problem with my USB, my power connection, or with my QSI640. As I told before I am not the only one with problems using ATIK-QSI drivers and I strongly suspect it has to be with the version of the camera firmware (although I can’t be 100% sure), and as my camera works wonderfully, I am not going to update the firmware (anyway, there are no new firmware versions at ATIK web to my knowledge, and above all, since I upgraded to the firmware Kevin Nelson provided directly to me I didn’t upgraded it never more).
I started this topic because I only wanted to know what the different options that appear in the SGP camera chooser were, and now it’s clear to me that one of them is the native SGP option an the others are ASCOM drivers.
Yesterday night I was using all my setup with the V.1.0.0.3 drivers without any problem, and today I have returned to my beloved and trusty original QSI driver V.7.4.1824.0 because it installs the application to upgrade the firmware (although I doubt I will need it someday) and it has been working flawlessly during all these years (sure I would not have problems using V.1.0.0.3, but I don’t need it).
You can see there ere a lot of people having problems with QSI drivers developed by ATIK. But to me what it is interesting there, is the post number 10, because he talks about the possibility of firmware related problems depending on the version of the drivers, the same that I believe.
The thing is, in the old QSI web you could find the last firmware available, but in the newer ATIK page you can’t. WHY???
I am only worried because in the future, when using another software, perhaps I will need new drivers that are not compatible with my firmware. Who knows?
