Hello,
I am having trouble connecting a QHY 183mm and filterwheel to SGP. Is this normal? The error says can`t connect to the camera.
Thanks,
James
Not normal. Please include logs so we can look.
Jared
1 Like
I have a 183M / CFW3 and they connect fine with the latest ASCOM driver. You are not giving us much to go on - I had to do some experimentation with the FW, as there are two distinct modes/drivers: one that connects via the camera and the other, where it has its own USB connection. The separate USB connection uses the RS232 driver.
Hi Buzz,
I have been busy with other things and just shelved fixing the issue till now. I will try to connect to SGP again and send the log file for the incident(s). I have the color camera and the mono with the QHY filter wheel. Neither is working now. At one point both were working, then just the color camera, now that I am back on the problem, both are not working. Once I figure out how to use drop box and access the file info, I will send the link.
Thanks,
James
Hi Buzz, here is the file log for the QHY183C not connecting. Thanks in advance for any help.
James
James - to be honest I am not sufficiently familiar with the log files to ‘read’ them like the developers.
I think it helps to back up a bit.
Firstly, when I first installed the drivers at the time I bought my QHY cameras, they would only connect if I had a USB3 connection. If I used USB2, I could not ‘see’ them. I strongly recommend download the latest drivers from the QHY website (I think they were updated last month). I can connect with USB2/3 now. I use USB2, as I do not need the speed and my Paramount has USB2 connections on its dovetail plate.
Next - try loading the ASCOM tools. You could use the conformance checker. It will tell you if your camera/driver has some form of issue. If that connects OK, then we can try something else.
To test the camera, I think QHY distribute their own application - try that first before coming back to SGP and going for it.
One thing I have noted is that when I have two QHY cameras physically connected, I repeatedly have to select the imaging camera from the list - it sometimes tries to connect to the guiding camera (178) instead. It does not seem to remember the QHY camera I have selected. (Neither does PHD2, so I suspect it is an ASCOM thing)
1 Like
Thank you Buzz,
Most of what you have suggested I have already tried a couple of times, though I was not sure I did the ASCOM driver checker correctly. I will attempt everything you suggested again, in case I missed something. I only use USB 3.
When I first got the cameras, I had to try them a couple of times to get SGP to recognize them, and after I checked the drop down menu and clicked the correct camera they both connected and the filterwheel worked, with the four pin connected to the camera. They also connected to the QHY software and to Sharp Cap, as well. Now, they only work in Sharp Cap and the QHY EZ camera software. I have deleted the drivers several times and re loaded them with the same result.
Jared sent a note on how to ask for help and that is why I sent the link to the file logs. I was hoping he would chime in, as well. I guess i will look at the log a bit closer to see if there is something I can notice something that can help me. I wish I could remember the date when the cameras worked on SGP, but I think it was longer than two weeks ago. I could look at a camera connecting properly and compare the logs with mine.
I will try your suggestions again, but even if they work, I will not know the reason why they work now. This will keep me on edge every time I use them, because if they stop work I will not know how to fix the problem. The worst thing in our hobby is inconsistency with equipment or software.
If I can`t get them to work I will try Cloudy Nights to see if anyone there has experienced the same issues.
Thanks again Buzz.
James, if you want me to try anything out, or compare screen-shots, just let me know. You could try USB2 and see if that works. I seem to recall that both SharpCap and QHY software do not use the ASCOM driver. I did see a forum entry somewhere about different apps not releasing the connection. I’ll experiment with the one in my obsy today and see if I can find a way to make it fall over.
I checked my driver, it was 200626 (26th June '20) - I also did some reading around, including using the QHY update checker and their website. It seems that they altered how the qhyccd.dll file is installed. They recommend updating this file in the various applications and removing it from windows/system32 and syswow64, if it persists in these original install locations.
hope this helps
Thank you Buzz,
I will try that today, and see if it works.
James
Buzz and Jared, I fixed the connection problem. It was completely my fault.
Thank you, to both of you for your patience and effort.
James
What was it? We have all done these things…
…lol I did not have the Ascom driver set up. I had been using a SBIG camera for years and never had to go into settings for it to be recognized, so I never looked with the QHY cameras.
there are a few other gotchas around QHY too - if you have two QHY cameras (guider and imager), it can sometimes flip what loads what - so you should select and connect the imager first in SGP and then the guider in PHD2. If you then let SGP load up PHD2 in future, it should work. If you load up PHD2 first, I have had it choose the imager and ignore the guider camera.
The other thing is the offset and gain settings - if you update the driver at all, you lose them all. They have improved the editor in the last few iterations.