New 383L+ Has a Verticle line in the darks

[Mosc_007]

I just purchased a New Atik 383L+ Color CCD

First thing I did was to test the Dark frames. To my surprise their is a Vertical line the full height of the sensor.

Is this normal for this Camera to have these sorts problems ?

I have resized the image so it's a bit blurry but the line is clearly visible. I have also adjusted contrast and brightness to highlight it.


Charles

[MikeM]

Having a single bad column as yours is not unusual in lots of chips. When imaging it would appear as a dark column, and the "darks" should remove it. Also if you dither your images it would minimize the effect. Having said that you may want to contact Atik support and speak to them about it.

[Mosc_007]

Thanks for the reply.

I have Emailed Atik and will wait for a reply.

I know CCD sensors are not perfect but this one seems bad.


Charles

[Mosc_007]

Well, Now this if Great.

The Bright Line was only the start of the problems.

I went out tonight and tried imaging with the Camera. Using a Meade SC8

It had almost no Sensitivity. I wanted to start with the Horsehead Nebula. I know were it is because I have done it with a DSLR before. No mater how long I set the Exposure all I could get was a few stars. No Nebula at all.

I decided to go to the Orion Nebula as this is a very bright Nebula and easy to Image. I have done it with a DSLR with only 30 Sec subs and had a Great Nebula Shot after stacking.

With the Atik 383L+ I couldn't get more than the 4 four stars in the Trapezium. And even with a 120 Second exposure I only had the slightest hint of the Nebula.

After trying for some time Artemis lost connection with the Camera. I unplugged and replugged the USB. Nothing. Windows didn't see the Camera being plugged in. I removed Power for some time. Re-applied. Same thing. No Response from the Camera.

This Camera is now DEAD !


Charles Yendle

[Vikrant Kumar Agnihotri]

you may check CCD operating voltage..if it is less than +12 V.. it may happen..

[Mosc_007]

you may check CCD operating voltage..if it is less than +12 V.. it may happen..

Before I took it out for the night I did check the operating voltage to see how it reacts. I read the messages about the 383L Voltage problems. It seems they have fixed it with the 383L+

I tested it on a Lab power supply and it worked perfectly down to 10.5 volts when some noise started to appear.

This just died in the middle of a capture. It imaged then started to download the image. It never ended. The Camera diss-connected from the PC. Now it never gets recognised when I plug it back in. It is Dead as it gets.


Charles