help needed with phd issues, please help!

[spacetrace]

hello, i really hope you can help.

last week i guided sucessfully for the first time using a qhy5 with phd. i used ascom eqmod to control the scpe, but guiding is through the guide port ffom the camera to the mount.

when setting up i noticed that i hve to have phd running before i connect to ascom scope through cdc otherwise the status bar at the bottom of phd does not display. by connecting phd first then this issue is resolvdd. however, when i tried to start guiding yesterday i continued to get messages with fatal error 22, something about not recognising the command, sometimes this wouldappear half way through calibration. so this tells me that everything is connected ok because i can see an image through phd, lock onto a star and star to calibrate. tonight ive set up again, ensuring that all cables are fine and no snagging etc but i then got the message that device is not functioning correctly. ive gone into ascom settings and turned off pulse guiding options so that ohd has full control and should not conflict.

has anyone any ideas or suggestions? has anyone had similar issues. oh ive madevsurevall the drivers are upto date. im using cdc to slew and sync.

[spacetrace]

appologies for the spelling!

[dishmop]

This post here http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=94000 suggests it might be the USB cable?

[spacetrace]

thank you. it does seem to be the same problem. will soon test it out! i hope so, as that can easily be solved.

[Anweniel]

Probably a silly question Trace but have you checked the connectors are free from dirt and dust? May save you a few pennies replacing cables if its just a case of connector dirt.

[spacetrace]

Hello, I checked everything and it seemed to work fine after a restart. After a night of perfect running, it started happening again. I have found out that it is the USB port on the laptop. It seems that the USB port keeps switching itself on and off. I had read that USB ports can have power save mode set, so I went into the device manager to check this out and it is not switched on, so I am still not sure. I have since switched laptops and the problem has not occured again. So for now the problem is solved but I need to solve the prblem with the laptop

[Anweniel]

I can't say with your exact setup Tracey. If you have narrowed it down to the USB port, is it a case of maybe one laptop has USB and the other USB 2.0? Perhaps a different Operating system? Not sure if it should make a difference but worth checking what the difference is if its running on one ok and not the other.