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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Cooler and thermal shock

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Replied by Tunafish on topic Cooler and thermal shock

One way to work around this (at least for the cool down, I haven't tried to create a sequence queue for warm up) is to create a capture sequence queue that steps down through the temperatures and then does a capture at that temperature. So, for going from 20C to -10C I have a saved capture sequence queue with 7 individual sequences with a 5 minute single capture in each. First is a capture at 20C with force temperature selection at 20C. Then one at 15C etc.. down to -10C last capture only needs to be short like 1 sec. I just saved the sequence queue to a file and load it at the start of a session an reuse it. You can delete off the front or back of the queue if you want to change the range, say go 15C to -5C instead.

This way the camera is stepped down 5 degrees at a time and sits at each temperature for 5 minutes taking an image. I tag the images with a file name like 'Cool-down' so I can delete them later.

 
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2 years 10 months ago #71585

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Replied by Jack on topic Cooler and thermal shock

On my ASI533MC if I watch the power consumption in the Indi control tab for the ASI533MC I see that the camera's firmware ramps the cooling power up as it cools down.

So going from 20C to -15C the power is applied gradually - no thermal shock I would think. Now going the other way MAY be problematic, as you say there is only the OFF button.
From watching that power consumption data I see no firmware control for ramping the sensor back up to ambient. Other than the suggestion to take throw away shots at sequentially
warming temperatures, I don't see a way to have the indi-asi driver control this - perhaps ZWO could change their SDK.

Having said all that after using my ASI533MC for about six months now, almost every night (Colorado), I've seen no image problems. This might be a non-issue.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Rafa Barberá
Last edit: 2 years 10 months ago by Jack.
2 years 10 months ago #71588

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Ok it's implemented. You need latest INDI + KStars.
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2 years 10 months ago #71593

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This is wonderful workaround. Now, I feel stupid. It's so direct. So simple. Thank you very much for the tip!
Last edit: 2 years 10 months ago by Rafa Barberá.
2 years 10 months ago #71594

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Same camera, and same experience: Cool down is with a ramp. But warmup is "free fall" I think that I will give a try to the method proposed by tunafish
2 years 10 months ago #71595

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Oh man, this is progressing really fast!. Thank you very much Jasem. Currenly I'm in the middle of a capture session, but tomorrow I'll try to compile the current code on the RP4 to see how it is implemented. Once again: thanks!
2 years 10 months ago #71596

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Replied by nou on topic Cooler and thermal shock

Is this even issue in the first place? From these topics I don't have that impression.
bbs.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/d/12096-asiair
bbs.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/d/10447-asi-1600mm-pro-cooler
2 years 10 months ago #71611

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I never used it myself. It's now disabled by default, so if someone wants to turn it on, they can do that.
2 years 10 months ago #71612

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Hi Jasem,

Sorry for the delay but compiling INDI+KStars on a raspberry is not very fast. Unfortunately as soon as the ZWO driver load it crashes. Is it posible to run the debugger on the raspberry? Thanks
2 years 10 months ago #71616

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Replied by Jack on topic Cooler and thermal shock

I can confirm this crash

I see in the log file the following:

[2021-05-25T10:08:46.061 MDT INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.ekos] - Ekos received a new device:  "ZWO CCD ASI533MC Pro"
[2021-05-25T10:08:46.525 MDT INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - ZWO CCD ASI533MC Pro :  "[INFO] Setting intital bandwidth to AUTO on connection. "
[2021-05-25T10:08:46.533 MDT INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - ZWO CCD ASI533MC Pro :  "[INFO] CCD is online. Retrieving basic data. "
[2021-05-25T10:08:46.595 MDT INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.ekos] - "ZWO CCD ASI533MC Pro is online."
[2021-05-25T10:08:46.605 MDT CRIT ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - INDI driver  "indi_asi_ccd"  crashed!
[2021-05-25T10:08:46.697 MDT INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.align] - "Warning! The calculated field of view is out of bounds. Ensure the telescope focal length and camera pixel size are correct."
[2021-05-25T10:08:46.697 MDT INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.align] - "Warning! The calculated field of view is out of bounds. Ensure the telescope focal length and camera pixel size are correct."
[2021-05-25T10:08:46.793 MDT INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.align] - "World Coordinate System (WCS) is enabled. CCD rotation must be set either manually in the CCD driver or by solving an image before proceeding to capture any further images, otherwise the WCS information may be invalid."
[2021-05-25T10:08:46.831 MDT INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.ekos] - "ZWO CCD ASI533MC Pro is offline."
[2021-05-25T10:08:46.897 MDT INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - "Reconnecting to PHD2 Host: localhost, on port 4400. . ."

Nothing has changed so telescope focal length is correct and pixel size should be correct unless it is getting mangle somewhere else.
 
2 years 10 months ago #71621

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Replied by Jack on topic Cooler and thermal shock

Rebuilt indi-core and indi-3rdparty installed and it no longer crashes -- Thanks.
2 years 10 months ago #71630

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Same here, after sync and rebuild the three repos it's working as expected. At least for cooling. I've tried with a ramp of 5 d/C and it has been controlling the temperature:

2021-05-26T13:11:41: [INFO] Setting temperature to 0.00 C.
2021-05-26T13:10:36: [INFO] Setting temperature to 4.30 C. 
2021-05-26T13:09:31: [INFO] Setting temperature to 8.70 C. 
2021-05-26T13:08:26: [INFO] Setting temperature to 12.80 C. 
2021-05-26T13:07:26: [INFO] Setting temperature to 15.10 C. 

So far so good. The problem arises when you turn off the cooling. The ramp is not used, the camera switches off the cooling power completly and start to warmup inertially... then around 1 minute on the process, the ramp code kick off again and sets the current temperature minus the slope and turn on the cooler, so here we go down again 

Regards
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Last edit: 2 years 10 months ago by Rafa Barberá.
2 years 10 months ago #71645

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