Hi,

Just saw the the request to test QHY cooling. I updated all the indi bits and ran a test using my QHY163m - log attached.

Regards,

jmh

Hello,
from the log file, I would say, the result (the temperature regulation) was o.k. I am a bit surprised, how the power changed from time to time by a very large amount, the fluctuation is much smaller with my camera:

[2020-01-03T12:07:17.152 CST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - QHY CCD QHY163M-7fe6e24 : "[DEBUG] CCD T.: -20 (C) Power: 51 (20.00%) "

[2020-01-03T12:07:23.156 CST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - QHY CCD QHY163M-7fe6e24 : "[DEBUG] CCD T.: -20 (C) Power: 51 (20.00%) "

[2020-01-03T12:07:24.158 CST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - QHY CCD QHY163M-7fe6e24 : "[DEBUG] CCD T.: -20 (C) Power: 205 (80.39%) " < -- 20% -> 80% -> 21 % strange.

[2020-01-03T12:07:26.160 CST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - QHY CCD QHY163M-7fe6e24 : "[DEBUG] CCD T.: -20 (C) Power: 55 (21.57%) "

[2020-01-03T12:07:30.162 CST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - QHY CCD QHY163M-7fe6e24 : "[DEBUG] CCD T.: -20 (C) Power: 57 (22.35%) "

But in the end the temperature seems pretty stable.

Regards

Dirk

I had noticed the odd temperature changes too - I poked around in the INDI qhy driver code but I find it difficult to understand where temperature control is exercised (is it in QHYCCD::updateTemperature()?). The last time I did any serious coding was before object oriented became a thing...

I wonder is there is temperature control within the QHY driver and potentially within the INDI driver too? That might explain the strange fluctuations.

Regards,

jmh

Basically, the Indi driver requests a temperature or a PWM value and the Qhy part tries to deliver... .
So Indi requests -20 and basically your camera firmware decides to go from 21% to 80%.
My older Qhy8l is much more subtle and would go from 21 to maybe 24%.
But one step later, yours is down to 23 again...
Yours could be faster to reach a new temperature target .....

Regards

Dirk

I thought it might be interesting to try my QHY9S camera as I had problems with earlier driver versions. The behaviour is better in the sense that cools the camera more slowly than before, but there are still some instabilities that hang the camera. I attached logs - take a look and let me know what you think.

Regards,

jmh

Can you point me to the instabilities, this looks rather similar to my qhy8l ...

Regards

Dirk

Ok, here's where I am right now. I found a 1.3.0 image and made a fresh drive with it. Installed it, but with out any updates it would not recognize my miniCAM5. After running the update app it now recognizes my camera but has the same issues as 1.4.6. It will work in manual but AUTO sets the power to 1.18% and nothing ever happens from here. Can't set a target temperature so the camera is useless under StellarMate. Trying to work out something with my laptop so I can at least image if we ever get some clear weather. Camera works fine under ASCOM. Any help to fix StellarMate would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Mike

This is a QHYSDK issue. INDI driver on StellarMate simply asks the driver to sets the temperature. If you can turn on debug logging (check my signature for how), then attach the log here, then we can ask QHY to look into it.

Thanks Jasem. The log file attached to message #47570 was done following your directions. Will it work for troubleshooting?

Regards,
Mike

Ok we need to send a very concise report to QHY.

Problem: Describe the issue exactly.
Expected Result: what is the expected behavior.
Log: Attach log with the issue.

Hello,

Same problem as yours.

Lastly, I observe problems on the regulation of the temperature of my QHY183M.

The behavior is random, the automatic regulation works, the next day not.
Ditto with manual control, it works for two or three inputs, after the command does not seem to reach the camera.

I would post the logs for the next test.

Laptop or PI, with two QHY cameras (183M and 5LII-M).

Hi,

there is indeed some testing required -- by QHY. I'ts an issue of their SDK.

With the latest sources (QHY SDK 6.0.5) and my QHY163M the regulation stops after a while and the PWM value get stuck.

I rebuilt the driver with SDK 6.0.1. (had to comment out a new feature). Now it works, but its unstable: the PWM value jumps between a few percent and 90%. Because at least the 163's have a lot of power supply induced noise that's no solution.

I'll test which version is stable and send a report.

Update:
SDK 5.1.0 which can be found in the indi source package 1.8.0 seems to be the last version with stable temperature control.


Regards Stefan