Hardware/Software Issue on STT 8300M Guiding Image

[Jerry Yesavage]

I have posted this over at Diffraction Unlimited but I am not fully sure it is hardware: It is a guiding problem. I plan to rerun the ACP calibration script tonight, but not sure if that would help. Pending any other ideas, including any bench testing I could do myself, camera has to go in and I am dead in the water for at least a week. My best guess at this point is the guider chip has gone bad. I changed out the HDMI cable. I would like to check everything possible to make sure it is not a software problem. What I see in Maxim is: Camera 2 Information:Could not acquire target.Could not find target star.Guide star not found. This is not surprising because when I try to take a guider image it shows an even field of grey. I get the same if I shoot using the SBIG software. Yesterday if I tried to expose in the guider and at times I seemed to see the stars at night and it might try to guide for a couple cycles then I would just see a blank. I will try to run the ACP calibration script again… I think this will get all the software settings straight. If it does not run and again I get the blank image, I am left with the bad chip. I can take the camera off the scope and do bench testing and look at the screw in the shutter. I have to take if off to send it anyhow. Yesterday at times I heard the guider shutter click, but then it went silent on me. A mystery.. of course when the sky is clear and the moon is new. JYShutter screw image included for any SBIG mavens out there.