I am awaiting delivery of a new STT-8300M with self-guiding filter wheel - my first new camera in many years. I am still using an ST-10XME that I bought 10+ years ago. I am REALLY looking forward to not having to guide the camera through the filters... I'm looking at the camera connection options and I was looking for the spec. on the Ethernet NIC in the camera. Does anyone know if it is a 10BASE-T or a 100BASE-T? ... or faster? Is the camera's NIC set up as a device like a computer so that I would use a straight-through coming in via Ethernet from a consumer grade wireless access point? ... or is a crossover required? I was also wondering about the actual effective speed of the camera's USB 2 connection when reading out the camera data and passing it along to the computer on readout. It may be that the USB connection will be just as fast as the Ethernet connection and that the processing that is going on in the camera is the limiting factor in download speed - not Ethernet vs. USB 2. The ability to use 100 meter cable runs via Ethernet isn't a factor for me. I would just like to get the fastest connection/download speed that is possible. Any insight on these topics would be appreciated. Regards, Dean Jacobsen http://astrophoto.net
Per the manual http://www.sbig.com/site/assets/files/1402/stt_manual_080112b.pdf Appendix C, it supports 10/100 MBS Ethernet. USB 2.0 is faster than 100 MPBS Ethernet. (USB 2.0 max speed is 480MBPS; it's impossible to actually achieve 480 but we do get a good chunk of that.)
Ahhh... thanks. There it is in Appendix C. Good, if I "can get a good chunk" of that maximum USB 2 speed, then I really only need to consider which - USB or Ethernet - is more convenient for my setup. Dean J.
I just received my SBIG STT-8300M and have only been able to achieve a full frame download rate of about ~2 MB/s using the Ethernet connection. This means a full frame takes about 8-10s to download. Anyone having similar limitations on the Ethernet download rate?
Dear Mads, The Ethernet will lower than the USB2. Your download times with the Ethernet port are average speeds.
Could the download speed actually be throttled by the ADC conversion rate rather than the data transfer rate? Going as fast as possible may be counter productive because a lower conversion rate should reduce the read noise. If the Ethernet can keep up I think it would be more reliable than USB, you hear lots of horror stories about USB but generally TCP/IP over Ethernet just works. If it doesn't no networking works. Chris
Slower conversion would only reduce the read noise if the analog filters were also adjusted to reduce their bandwidth. This is not a trivial modification. 100 Base T Ethernet is not as fast as USB 2.0.
Looks like this thread has answered my questions... Any updates here or is the USB still preferred? I hate the USB connectors.... I still have intermittent problems with the plug and PRAY power connector. Seems USB connectors are always waiting to get loose.
