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INDI Library v2.0.6 is Released (02 Feb 2024)

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

General Camera compatibility question

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Hi,

Not sure if I'm asking in the right place, but I'm sure someone will tell me :)

I'm building my rig at the moment and I'm choosing cameras. I have purchased a zoo asi294 mini for guiding and am now tossing up between a ZWO or Altair for imaging. The compatibility page lists nothing for Altair - yet I know there is a driver.
A couple of questions

Is/are the Altair driver(s) stable ?
Does anyone else run this combination of cameras ?

Any guidance will be gratefully received.

cas
4 years 11 months ago #37528

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I've got an Altair GPCAM and while it's fine with Windows it doesn't work with INDI and Altair don't seem to care. No one else can help because the core driver is only available as a binary.

AIUI there are drivers for the later Altair cameras but given what I've seen with my GPCAM I wouldn't have much confidence that if there's a problem there will be any support.

I've put them in the people not to buy from if it uses electricity category.
4 years 11 months ago #37530

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Hi Chris, thanks for the heads-up. That's really disappointing to hear. That leaves me with the ZWO as my most affordable option. Problem is I have a vague memory of there being issues if you attempted to run two ZWO cameras in the same rig. Maybe that problem has gone away now. Hopefully someone can chime in and confirm the situation.

I was wondering why they don't advertise that they have INDI support on the specific camera page.
Again, thanks for the heads-up.

cas
4 years 11 months ago #37532

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I use an ASI 294 as guide cam and a 294MC-Pro as main cam. Works reliably for almost 1 year now. There was a minor issue with disappearing pixels when switching binning modes but that was taken care of and had nothing to do with using 2 ASI cams at the same time. I did not experience any icing issues either.

I can only reiterate what Chris has said already. Support is extremely important. I started out with a QHY-5 but IMO QHY's so-called "support" is subpar, to put it mildly. I decided to never again purchase hardware from people who leave you out in the rain when problems occur. Or from people who publish new drivers that kill your cam's features.
Last edit: 4 years 11 months ago by Alfred.
4 years 11 months ago #37533

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Guten aben Herrhausen. Thanks, that's very helpful,

Regards,

cas
4 years 11 months ago #37534

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Altair and Toupcam cameras are supported and reported to work OK. Ron, what issues are you having with GPCAM?
4 years 11 months ago #37542

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I was saying that my Altair GPCAM MT9M034M doesn't work with INDI on a RasbPi. It behaves as if there is no camera connected, showing a couple of message boxes saying this.

One possibility is that the USB ID is not one that's supported, lsusb shows Device 008: ID:16d0:0b2a MCS.
The 99-altaircam.rules file has this vendor id but someone on the Altair forum says that the id isn't implemented in the binary file.

The 99-toupcam.rules file does not have this id. Apparently some of the same cameras have the USB ID 0547:b121 and these work.

There's been no meaningful response from Altair, this is what makes me cautious about getting anything that relies on their support.
4 years 11 months ago #37549

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I'd just like to thank people for their replies thus far and of course Jasem for all the work he does on this whole project.

But ( you knew this was coming, didn't you ?) :)

Would it be possible to update the compatibility listings ? On this occasion it's about Altair devices but doubtless the issue exists for other devices too. It may just be too much overhead - too labour intensive - too hard to keep up with ?

Just asking the question.

Regards,

cas
4 years 11 months ago #37553

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