Any particular brand of USB cables recommended for SBIG cameras?

Discussion in 'CCDOPS and SBIG Universal Driver (Retired)' started by JoshuaHufford, Jun 15, 2015.

  1. JoshuaHufford

    JoshuaHufford Cyanogen Customer

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    I'd like to buy some high quality USB cables to replace some older ones for my setup. I know some have heavier gauge wire than others. Any particular brand or company to order from that you have found to be good?
     
    JoshuaHufford, Jun 15, 2015
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  2. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    We buy them in bulk from a supplier that doesn't sell retail.

    For the ST-I we recommend using a cable with larger gauge. The cable is fairly long, and that camera is powered through the USB interface so voltage drop is a bad thing.

    For other models you should be able to use any decent quality cable. Do not buy cheap cables because they often have poor impedance matching.
     
    Doug, Jun 15, 2015
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  3. JoshuaHufford

    JoshuaHufford Cyanogen Customer

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    JoshuaHufford, Jun 27, 2015
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  4. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    Gauge is good, but wrong connector for ST-I.
     
    Doug, Jun 27, 2015
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  5. JoshuaHufford

    JoshuaHufford Cyanogen Customer

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    Thanks, I realize that. Was just asking about the brand and wire gauge.
     
    JoshuaHufford, Jun 27, 2015
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  6. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    I can't recommend a specific brand as we haven't tested all of them. As long as it's a quality cable and has the larger gauge wires, you should be fine.
     
    Doug, Jun 28, 2015
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  7. JoshuaHufford

    JoshuaHufford Cyanogen Customer

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    Thanks Doug.
     
    JoshuaHufford, Jun 28, 2015
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  8. Joseph Zeglinski

    Joseph Zeglinski Standard User

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    Hi Doug,

    I would add that it would also be wise to buy a cable with Gold Plated plugs at each end, rather than tin - these are harder to find, but worth the extra data quality reassurance.

    One thing I have been looking for - a supplier of highly flexible USB cable to handle cold temperature extremes in winter. Cable bundles act like a garden hose, when bunched together, and they are all frozen, especially if routed inside a mount axis. Makes the cable on the scope very difficult to move under such conditions. USB cables of the same (TOTAL) guage, made with MORE strands and each with a smaller guage would improve flexibility quite a bit, but the PVC cable cladding is the other half of the problem. Rubber coated, high number of finer individual stranded wires making up the USB cable, would be ideal for our hobby - if we could find a source.

    Any leads on this, Doug?

    Joe Z.
     
    Joseph Zeglinski, Jun 30, 2015
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  9. Albert J. Seargeant

    Albert J. Seargeant Cyanogen Customer

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    Albert J. Seargeant, Feb 17, 2016
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  10. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    A few astronomy friends highly recommend the L-Com USB cables - some with retaining mechanisms etc. Personally, I check the wire gauge and look for a larger diameter cable, as its usually indicative of better shielding. The best bet is to buy an extra and chop it open, check the shielding braid and foil and wire gauges and twist, as there is a lot of under-sized, under-performing, and frankly fraudulent knock-off cables out there. People underestimate how important cable quality is to get best USB performance. I see a lot of people buying CAT6 Ethernet cable and paying a premium, but skimping on USB, which runs at comparable speed (1Gb/s vs 480Mb/s, about 2:1). Also, use a tool like UIView to ensure you aren't mixing device speeds on the same bus.
    More info here: http://www.l-com.com/usb?cmp=topmenu
    These ones below have 20AWG power leads in them and met USB2.0 Mb/s:
    http://www.l-com.com/usb-premium-usb-cable-type-a-b-connectors-revision-20-compliant-light-gray
     
    Colin Haig, Feb 19, 2016
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  11. Albert J. Seargeant

    Albert J. Seargeant Cyanogen Customer

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    Well, the Corning fiber optic cable that I recommended may not be the universal answer. It worked fine with my STXL but when I tried ti use it with an ST-10, the drivers never would load.

    Jim Seargeant
     
    Albert J. Seargeant, Mar 28, 2016
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  12. Joseph Zeglinski

    Joseph Zeglinski Standard User

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    Colin,

    Can you provide a link to "UIView"? Is this a hardware line checking tool and/or software? Or is it software similar to Microsoft's (tutorial exercise) - USBVIEW (and its derivatives like USBTreeView, USBDView, etc.) ?
    Checking Google, I only see unrelated Apple IOS software. Hope there is something for Windows PC's.

    Joe
     
    Joseph Zeglinski, Jun 25, 2016
    #12
  13. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    Colin Haig, Jun 25, 2016
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