I checked old frames captured last year and I'm pretty sure this is a regression.

My notes say I wasn't able to build the INDI Atik driver on my i386 controller PC three months ago. So I kept the cloudmakers 1.31 install, which doesn't show this issue.

-Eric

I look into the code and found that indi is not faulty but Atik API is since it provides a function which returns sensor size.

So I tried to install old firmware (actual API version is 118). With firmware 109, 115 and 118, my sensor size is 1391x1039

I also checked Atik website which provide a more recent driver (version 127) but after compiling the driver, Indi is telling me that the version is still 118 and wrong size remains.



You think I should to report the bug to Atik via their forum? Or to Vince directly with a private message ?

Sébastien.

Please email Atik directly about this to make sure they get it.

Hi Jasem,

I reported the issue by mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

I tried to capture a frame with ArtemisCapture software under Windows and encountered the same issue. The size problem with my Atik 314E seems to be global.

Wait and see

I got an answer from Atik. The support is fast. Here is what they wrote :
Conclusion, everything's fine. Something was wrong with the driver provided by Cloudmaker. I had to throw my master frame to the trash and create new ones.

So the sensor dimensions are actually odd? Well, that was quite important to note. Thanks!

-Eric

Exactly. I don't know what kind of chip is inside the camera. This is an old camera and it's hard to find documentation about it on Internet.
I think that some columns and lines are used for preprocessing.
This old frame with 1 more pixel in width and height is showing a dark line to the left :


Atik 314E equals 1391x1039 ...

Just for reference in this thread, determining gain, readout noise, and dark current for the 314E.
www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/user-r...14e-ccd-camera-r2331
I have been using the camera for a few years and it was already second-hand (more?) when I bought it. I have more and more noise in flats and more and more hot pixels in darks.

-Eric

I presume mine was a new one. I got it for a good price 4 years ago but I use it not often.

This message is out of the topic and maybe I should open a new one. You're story about ageing of your sensor and my recent reading are maybe connected.
Atik advise us to warm up the sensor before power off the camera. Indi detects there is no sensor, and conclued there is no cooler. No possibility for us to switch the cooler off properly.

In AtikCamera.dll Guide you can read :

Because the subject was intriguing, I took the opportunity last night to rebuild my dark/flat library (after a full refresh of my fixed brand new observatory), and I also took bias. For a blurry reason, I never captured bias data on this camera, and I was really surprised to find a mean ADU of 210 on them today. The DMK I was using previously had nearly zero bias, and probably I assumed it would be the case for the Atik also, or there was another reason, I don't remember. But now I find that bias is the main source of noise in my low-SNR frames. Has it grown with time I have no idea. Embarrassing

This is also the case for mine. Mean ADU of one frame in kstars viewer is 215 ADU


The master bias is showing a mean of 3.24e-03 in PixInsight which after some math equal to 212 ADU


The most important is not the mean of the bias but the average deviation. In my case the bias is 0.32% of the max ADU with an average deviation of 0.006%
A big average means that you crop the full range ADU of your camera but if the deviation is near to zero, you can live without the use of the bias in you processing.

Unfortunately, in the case of Atik 314E we need both of them. I don't know what is the delta temperature reached by the cooler but what I'm sure is that night temperature in winter and summer is not the same in France. I have to use at least 2 set of master bias. I think I will perform in the near futur some experiment in my fridge and my freezer just to know the effect on the mean value of the bias.