Best way to connect to the STi on a "longer" USB.

Discussion in 'STF Series CCD Cameras' started by JoshuaHufford, Feb 26, 2017.

  1. JoshuaHufford

    JoshuaHufford Cyanogen Customer

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    I recently switched from an Orion SSAG to an SBIG STi on my wide field setup. I need about 20ft. of USB to connect to the guide camera from the PC. I know spec says only use the supplied 15ft. cable but the only way I could do this would be to put my PC next to the pier and I really don't want to do this if at all possible. The camera will work at this length, but at times it doesn't want to connect. Sometimes unplugging and re-conecting will get it to work, tonight it wouldn't connect at first but I just let it sit idle for about 20 minutes, tried again, then it connected just fine and worked great for about 3 hours until clouds came in. Would putting in a powered hub at the pier help? If so what brand/model would you suggest? Or would an active USB cable be better? BTW the Orion camera never had a problem using the same cable, but I realize it didn't have the shutter and isn't the same camera.

    Thanks!
     
  2. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    I've used DLink USB2.0 powered hubs and Startech industrial powered hubs with success. Your mileage may vary.
     
  3. JoshuaHufford

    JoshuaHufford Cyanogen Customer

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    Something like this?

    https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817707163

    I'm trying it again today, I booted my observatory PC, tried to connect right away, it would not. I opened device manager and I see both of my cameras in the list, the ST-8300m and the STi, no problems there. I opened up CCDOps, it connects to the STi just fine, tried a few exposures, works great. Go back to MaximDL, and it won't connect. BTW the error I'm getting is "Camera 2 failed to open Conud not initialize CCD Camera (27)

    Why would CCDOps connect to the camera with no problems at all, but MaximDL can't?

    I'm running version 6.12 of MaximDL.
     
  4. JoshuaHufford

    JoshuaHufford Cyanogen Customer

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    OK Update. I opened the setup camera button for camera 2, just to make sure that the STi was indeed selected, it was, closed that, hit connect again and it connected just fine. Disconnected, and re-connected again just fine. Could opening the select camera box have something to do with being able to connect?
     
  5. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    The ST-I draws almost full power from the USB interface, so you need a good cable (large gauge power wires, e.g. the one supplied with the camera). In some cases a powered hub may be useful. Using an industrial-quality hub is a good idea because typical desktop units don't work in the cold.
     
  6. JoshuaHufford

    JoshuaHufford Cyanogen Customer

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    Thanks Doug. So would you say running a 15ft cable from the PC to the base of the pier into the powered hub, then a 5ft cable from the powered hub to the STi would help with this problem?
     
  7. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    Yes, that should work. The shorter cable from the hub to the camera will also help, because there will be less voltage drop.
     
  8. JoshuaHufford

    JoshuaHufford Cyanogen Customer

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    I just thought I would update this thread in case this info is useful. I bought a Startech hub but I've yet to connect it yet because I wanted to test something. Have had very few clear nights lately however 3 different times now after powering up my PC, opening Maxim, I click connect to my 2 cameras and camera 2 (STi) will not connect. However after I get the error message, if I open the "setup camera" window for camera 2, and the close it right away not changing any of the settings, click on connect, it connects perfectly. This has happened the last 3 nights I've imaged.
     
  9. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    Joshua, you might want to update to 6.13 and apply the 6.13.08 patch, as there were a few issues with flipping cameras and setup sequencing that got fixed.
     

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