Modified (cooled) Canon 80D

[Courtjeffster]

Dear BYEOS,

I recently purchased a modified Canon EOS 80D camera from a company in South Korea [ http://www.centralds.net/cam/?p=10451 ].  This camera connects with the EOS Utility, which I then turn off, but still will not connect to BYEOS.  Do I need to make a settings change to allow connection?  The manual sent with the camera mentions that because the sensor is moved from the original location, the temp reported in BYEOS is not accurate.  They provided a digital thermometer to provide that info.

Thank you,

Courtjeffster

Jeff Wilner

jk13913@cox.net

801-814-5382

 

[astroman133]

The 80D is two generations newer than the 60Da. If you are using an old version of BYE then you need to upgrade BYE to the newest version, which was released after the 80D and supports that model.

[admin]

It's still an 80D from a PC connection point of view, the fact that it is cooled and modified makes no difference to connection.

The 80D has been supported for years now.  Do you get an error message in BYE?  If it connects with EOS Utility then it will connect with BYE as it uses the same SDK.

[Courtjeffster]

Just now, admin said:

It's still an 80D from a PC connection point of view, the fact that it is cooled and modified makes no difference to connection.

The 80D has been supported for years now.  Do you get an error message in BYE?  If it connects with EOS Utility then it will connect with BYE as it uses the same SDK.

Thank you Mr. Rochon - I'm attaching the log file of the connection problem.  The Help window pops up when I click Connect.

BYEOS LOG.docx

[admin]

This is not a log file, it a small sample. 

However, your issue is that you are NOT selecting the correct camera drivers in BYE; you chose Canon210 of the Camera drivers; you need to select the default option Canon, not Canon210 and not Canon215.

 

[Courtjeffster]

All I've been doing is clicking on the "Connect" button with my Canon 60Da and it connects quickly.  I do the same thing with this 80D and get the Log History I sent (resending after 2nd try).  I went into Advanced Settings and clicked on "Ask for camera drivers", but don't see choices other than for the old style Canon or newer (no Canon210 or 215??

07:35:12  Licensed to Courtjeffster
07:35:19  Attempting to connect camera...
07:35:19  Canon drivers 'Canon\' initialized.
07:35:19  DEVICEINFO DESCRIPTION IS Canon EOS 80D
07:35:19  DEVICEINFO NUMBER IS 3470492101.
07:35:19  YOUR *REAL* MODEL NUMBER IS 4294967294(FFFFFFFE)
07:35:19  Generic model 153 assumed!
07:35:58  Attempting to connect camera...
07:35:58  DEVICEINFO DESCRIPTION IS Canon EOS 80D
07:35:58  DEVICEINFO NUMBER IS 3470492101.
07:35:58  YOUR *REAL* MODEL NUMBER IS 4294967294(FFFFFFFE)
07:35:58  Generic model 153 assumed!

[Courtjeffster]

Oh, okay - Thanks Rick - sure do appreciate your help!   jeff

[Courtjeffster]

I d/l'd version 3.1 and all connected now - thanks again!!   jeff

[s3igell]

On 1/24/2019 at 6:54 AM, Courtjeffster said:

I recently purchased a modified Canon EOS 80D camera from a company in South Korea [ http://www.centralds.net/cam/?p=10451 ].  This camera connects with the EOS Utility, which I then turn off, but still will not connect to BYEOS.  Do I need to make a settings change to allow connection?  The manual sent waith the camera mentions that because the sensor is moved from the original location, the temp reported in BYEOS is not accurate.  They provided a digital thermometer to provide that info.

Any chance that you can share that Manual??  Or even the Snippet about the Temperature Sensor??

There's been a number of folks interested in CentralDS's Products and Processes - but CentralDS hasn't been to Clear on their Website.

[Courtjeffster]

2 minutes ago, s3igell said:

Any chance that you can share that Manual??  Or even the Snippet about the Temperature Sensor??

There's been a number of folks interested in CentralDS's Products and Processes - but CentralDS hasn't been to Clear on their Website.

The manual is about 10 pages and the English is somewhat unclear in places.  I exchanged several emails with them to attempt clarification.  Here's the website info on the modification of the Canon 80D:

http://www.centralds.net/cam/?p=10451

What I've learned since my purchase is that the Canon AC adapter still is required to power the camera.  Because the sensor was moved with the modification (to maintain proper focus distance), the temperature readout in BYEOS is not accurate.  CentralDS includes a thermometer device (much like what one would have in the kitchen using a digital meat thermometer probe).  But the audio cable to transmit the temperature reading to that device is only 4.5', so I went to Amazon for a 15' (2.5mm) male/female extension to allow putting the thermometer device alongside the laptop while imaging.  The pdf file of the manual is 10.9mb, so can't be copied here, but here's the weblink:

http://www.centralds.net/cam/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/astro-80d-manual-eng.pdf

Hope this helps,

jeff

 

[Courtjeffster]

Just wanted to share that I took the modified 80D out last night for a trial run.  It was on a Hyperstar on a Celestron 14" Edge SCT.  I normally run a Lodestar x2 guide camera in a ES 80mm triplet, but didn't do any guiding for this first trial.  The 80D performed flawlessly and although the cooler isn't really required yet, it functioned very well also.  BYEOS works so well and when I add PHD2, I'll be able to get multiple frames quickly now, without the heat buildup on the camera sensor.  As you can see in the upper left, the Orion Neb & Crab were shot at 40 sec, 1600 ISO; the Horsehead for 60 sec @ 1600 ISO.

[s3igell]

On 1/25/2019 at 11:54 AM, Courtjeffster said:

The manual is about 10 pages and the English is somewhat unclear in places.  I exchanged several emails with them to attempt clarification.  Here's the website info on the modification of the Canon 80D:

http://www.centralds.net/cam/?p=10451

What I've learned since my purchase is that the Canon AC adapter still is required to power the camera.  Because the sensor was moved with the modification (to maintain proper focus distance), the temperature readout in BYEOS is not accurate.  CentralDS includes a thermometer device (much like what one would have in the kitchen using a digital meat thermometer probe).  But the audio cable to transmit the temperature reading to that device is only 4.5', so I went to Amazon for a 15' (2.5mm) male/female extension to allow putting the thermometer device alongside the laptop while imaging.  The pdf file of the manual is 10.9mb, so can't be copied here, but here's the weblink:

http://www.centralds.net/cam/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/astro-80d-manual-eng.pdf

The Astro 80D pdf is quite interesting.  CentralDS has taken a very aggressive approach to re-engineering the Camera in order to add their TEC Cooling.  If done with Care and Quality, it should provide you with essentially a APS-C size Cooled OSC Full-Spectrum AP Camera equivalent to any of the high-end CMOS Astro Cameras.  But it does lose so many of the Features / Functionality of a DSLR (Lens Control, Shutter, Exposure Metering).

One of the only thing I didn't see referenced is how they addressed the temperature control of the AR Window (the Hoya Clear Filter) - will it have frosting issues when using a large amount of Cooling under high Humidity.

Another concern would be the language on page 7 that seems to indicate the TEC is "Uncontrolled".  The main purpose of adding Cooling to a Camera is to provide a Controlled Lowered Temperature Sensor, not just The Coldest Possible Sensor.  Hopefully there is some Temperature Control - whether ASCOM or Manual Hardware.

 

[Courtjeffster]

You're right about losing many of the Canon features, but I don't need the 80D for daytime endeavors, I'll use the 60Da for that (adding an IR/cut filter for daytime colors).  Their English is very limited (obvious from the manual), but they emailed me owning up to that because they started this very small company from a small astronomy club.  I'm not sure what type of shop they have, but it wouldn't surprise me if it were a garage.  I remember seeing in the manual that the cooler is not controllable, but maximum cooling is (I think) 25 degrees (F) below ambient.  The manual also mentioned something about dew prevention and recommends putting the camera in a plastic bag when bringing into a warm house from cold temps outside.  I'm not sure whether some temperature control could be employed, but think not.  I picked up an ATIK 490ex last year ($4300) and then forked out the $500 for MaximDL, but even with help couldn't produce a decent single light frame.  I don't have the patience to sit outside at the scope for hours trying to figure out complex software programs and gave up, getting this cooled 80D instead.  BYEOS + PHD is so much easier that now I can image instead of battling software programs.......I loaned the ATIK to a friend with more patience than I possess.  He'll probably figure it out in short order.  More single frames (90 sec @ ISO 800) from last night........