Totally white images using 2600mc pro and ASI air plus.: Page 2

Totally white images using 2600mc pro and ASI air plus.

amv8vantage

I diverted my problems to a separate thread (similar issue with asi6200mm):

https://bbs.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/d/17233-asi6200mm-50-of-the-pixels-are-dead-or-stuck

I seems that half of the pixels are dead or at least download from the camera as dead + offset value. If you autostretch such an image it will most likely look very white. With a manual stretch you can avoid the peak of black (offset value) pixels and see the checkered patten over the stars.

Have you tried that? @GregEngland / @SoDakMike / @vschneck

Regards,
/Sven

hyiger

I'm having more issues with my ASI2600MC and the ASIAir Plus. I would start the autofocus routine and it would fail half-way through. If I switch to preview mode I get all white images and finally exposure failure messages. I have to power cycle the camera to reset it. I swapped it out for my ASI2600M using the same setup and exact same cables and no issues at all.

So I contact ZWO for an RMA to get it repaired and Simon (from ZWO) told me I have to test it with ASI Studio first? Really? Why? It's really not convenient for me to do this plus it's been raining constantly. Just want my camera repaired.

I don't think this is an issue as pointed out above me with half the pixels dead since this seems to be intermitent (however occuring frequently enough to make the camera unusable).

ZWO, if you reading this. Just give me an RMA before I take a hammer to this camera.

hyiger

w7ay

It's not related to filter swapping. It's a problem with the camera and ZWO making me jump through hoops before they give me a RMA for a warranty repair.

visonneau

GregEngland have you resolve your problem, White picture sometimes. I had the same problem, picture where correct and suddenly, after an Automatic focus, many White picture...

z5AJiVJ3

Hello. Thought I'd also chime in on this. I recently purchased the ASIAIR Plus (June '24) and the ASI2600MC (Dec. '24) and have had similar issues with the "all white" images (image max and min were the same number, so it was not an over-exposure problem). I have not had issues with image drop-out or failed plate-solves. The first few runs were flawless, but then just a few nights ago the issue began. When I first encountered the issue, I read the above discussion about power supplies and cables along with the nice High Point Scientific ZWO Camera Troubleshooting Guide blog post (https://www.highpointscientific.com/astronomy-hub/post/how-tos/troubleshooting-your-zwo-camera)

I am powering the camera through one of the 4 ASIAIR outputs. I could occasionally randomly remedy the problem by switching the power ports on the ASIAIR Plus. Sometimes the issue would come and go at random with the same exact configuration. For example, last night I had an imaging session with no issues (powered down upon completion), but then this morning when I went to take flats (after powering back on) I got the all white image again, with no change in the power supply or cable configurations.

After this I decided to experiment. I put the lens cap on so the images were expected to be black. I swapped out various 12V/5A power supplies to no avail. I did not try powering the camera directly (always powered through ASIAIR). I then changed to "video" mode on the ASIAIR and again had the all white screen. Being aware (from the aforementioned discussions) that the USB cable could also be the cause of the issue, I simply "wiggled it" while in video mode and the screen/video changed from the "all white" to "black", suggesting that simply wiggling the cable fixed the issue. I then proceeded to take my flats without issue.

My conclusion from all of this is that it is indeed a problem with the 6.5 foot red USB cable that came with the camera (similar to SoDakMike ). My guess is that the weight of the freely hanging cable causes the connection on the ASIAIR to be a bit "loose", hence why wiggling it would make a difference. Needless to say, I ordered a few cables (shorter) from Amazon. TBD....

Good luck everyone, and happy new year!
Mike

z5AJiVJ3

Update. Apparently the USB cable itself was not the issue. The next day I tried using the camera again (via the ASIAIR) and it gave the white screen after an exposure (and in video mode) yet again. Wiggling the cable, using different power supplies, and powering the camera directly through its port did not work.

I decided to do a "bench test" with just the camera (lens cap on), MacBook laptop (via ASIStudio, no drivers/ASCOM required since it is the Mac version), and a power supply (effectively cutting out the ASIAIR as a culprit). I tried two separate power supplies (one of which is a ZWO brand typical 12V/5A AC-DC converter) and three different USB cables (2 USB3 and 1 USB2) and in all cases I got the white screen with a 1-10s exposures and different gains (both in preview and in capture mode). The histogram showed the same "max", "min", and "avg" values (65535), along with "0" for the standard deviation in all cases tested, so there were was no actual image being recorded or transferred to the computer.

I submitted a help ticket through the ZWO technical support page illustrating the problem along with multiple images of my bench test setup and screen shots of the resultant images within the ASIStudio interface. I believe this is an actual camera issue. It may not be the cmos itself, but perhaps the processing electronics or the usb port. Hard to say. I hope they are able to resolve the issue and/or provide me with a new camera. I've only had it for just over two weeks...

Tech@ZWO

[unknown] Could you please also submit a bug report in ASIAIR app? thank you in advance.

rfbarwin

I've experienced the same problems as those experienced by z5AJiVJ3 last week.

Yesterday, the first night with a clear sky since I received the camera, my new 2600MC Pro (purchased December 2024) failed to complete an autofocus routine. The camera stopped sending images to my ASIAIR Plus as the routine was finding the focus point and the autofocus routine stopped running. Tonight, I began a Plan and after 8 1-minute subs, the camera began sending white images to the ASIAIR and my iPad. After about another 8 images I found some posts (the early ones in this thread) suggesting the USB cable could be at fault.

I then stopped the plan, turned off the ASIAIR, and installed a different 0.5m USB3 cable. I've restarted the Plan. After another 40 images, the problem hasn't resurfaced. But as I scrolled further through this thread I saw the 3 posts from the past 9 months. Another 500 1-minute subs are left to go to complete the plan tonight. If the problem reoccurs I'll submit a bug report with a log from the app.

Tech@ZWO

rfbarwin Thanks a lot, please also let me know the BT number after submission. we will look into this once we receive it.

rfbarwin

Thank you. The Plan ran the remaining 500+ subs overnight without producing any white images. I changed to a known good USB3 cable I've used for most of 2024 with my 294 MC Pro camera.

Tech@ZWO

rfbarwin Thank you for your upates.

« Previous Page