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Help needed - connection trouble. EQMOD, BYE, Stellarium

metronome

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metronome

metronome

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Hi all!

I have recently bought a NEQ6 Pro SynScan, which I intend to control with EQMOD from my laptop. At the beginning everything seemed to work fine, but no. First of all, here's my setup:

Hardware: Laptop running Win7 -> 15m USB active repeater cable -> 4-port powered USB hub -> Prolific USB-Serial-converter -> SynScan PC direct port

Also, a Canon 1100D is connected to the hub, but nothing else at the moment.

Software: EQMOD, StellariumScope, Stellarium, BYE for camera control (latest versions of everything).

The problem is that EQMOD/StellariumScope reports a lost connection to the mount after some initial slewing. EQMOD itself doesn't give me any error messages though. After some testing I realized that slewing/other commands actually worked flawlessly as long as I didn't fire up BYE. When I activate LiveView to help me center the alignment star, the mount stops responding to any commands (it keeps tracking though). The only solution is to pull the USB cable from the laptop and put it back again (and of course restart all the software).

I have been trying to remove all "unnecessary" cabling to isolate the problem, but no matter how I connect it the problem won't go away. Not even if I connect the USB-Serial converter and camera to two different ports in the laptop (without the hub, which was my primary suspect). I know PC Direct isn't the best option available, but since everything seems to work smoothly when the camera/BYE is out of the picture, I intend to give it a few more go's.

Worth mentioning is that I work with computers for a living, so I've been through ALOT of bits and pieces already when it comes to COM-port settings and other hardware related things.

So, have anybody here experienced the same issue? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!

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Rustmonkey

Rustmonkey

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i have no computer background and have only just started my imaging journey.

I Use Carted de Ciel rather than Stellarium and it seems to connect very well. On the other hand...I have had issues with Stellarium. When connected, it does an initial slew then stops working altogether throwing up some error messages. I gave up on Stellarium.

try CdC and see if that works for you. Its not as pretty as Stellarium and can look like a steep learning curve but once you look at the toolboxes, its actually very intuitive.

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metronome

metronome

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i have no computer background and have only just started my imaging journey.

I Use Carted de Ciel rather than Stellarium and it seems to connect very well. On the other hand...I have had issues with Stellarium. When connected, it does an initial slew then stops working altogether throwing up some error messages. I gave up on Stellarium.

try CdC and see if that works for you. Its not as pretty as Stellarium and can look like a steep learning curve but once you look at the toolboxes, its actually very intuitive.

Yeah, I've tried it and I don't like the interface as much as Stellarium. But, I'd prefer a working sky chart more than a pretty one :)

Just curious, was it StellariumScope or Stellarium itself who threw the error messages? Can you remember any of them?

Thanks for your reply!

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Velvet

Velvet

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I use CdC too, only prob i had and am just sorting is duff EQDir connectors. Which took ages to find as I ended up with 2 duff ones.

How unlucky can you get. Well its probably just me that is jinxed LOL

Velvet

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metronome

metronome

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I ran some tests and measurements today and got some small but important clues. It seems like whenever EQMOD disconnects from the mount, there's an increase in "USB Transfer Errors/Sec" while monitoring the Windows performance counters. Worth noticing is that the error only occurs in the USB-serial connection and not the hub/camera. The only thing needed to restore law and order is to either disable/enable the Prolific driver or reconnect the USB cable.

It's not yet fully proven, but it seems like connecting the camera AFTER a connection with EQMOD/mount is established makes some difference. I managed to run slews and continous tracking for at least an hour before the camera battery ran out (I was running LiveView the entire time) and the same error occured again. Of course, when I manually tried to reproduce the exact same condition, nothing happened... :)

My conclusion is that something happens in the Prolific driver (or the unit itself) when the Canon driver either enables or disables the camera connection and causes it to freeze.

Dunno if this ever gonna be solved, maybe it's time to look for other hardware... Sigh.

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metronome

metronome

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Try switching the power off the hub. I find I don't need it powered up and it works fine with Stellarium. Not very scientific I know - but worth a shot I reckon :)

Sometimes the most unscientific solutions are the best :)

I have actually already tried it but it doesn't make any difference. Not quite sure, but it feels somewhat more stable with the power ON, rather than off.

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  • 5 months later...
edjrgibbs

edjrgibbs

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Hi metronome

Did you ever find a solution to this? I'm having similar problems with EQMOD, Stellarium and EQDirect module. Already tried another EQDirect module and thought the problem was sorted but its now come back.

Thanks

Ed

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Gomtuu

Gomtuu

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15m USB active repeater cable

I've used USB repeater cables for security webcams and as far as I know the signal is only reliable for about 5m, so I used multiple 5m repeater cables to avoid signal degradation.

It strikes me that if you get USB errors, this may be a possible reason?

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edjrgibbs

edjrgibbs

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So... after about 3 hours of messing around last night I think I've found the culprit. EQMOD would not work when both my mount and laptop were plugged in to my extension cable. No idea why, there were no blinking lights on the mount, no error's it just wouldn't connect. Now I've ordered another extension cable so with any luck I can power my laptop and mount and all will work well.

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  • 8 months later...
Thalestris24

Thalestris24

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I realise this is an old thread but came across it when searching for the same problem. My setup was working fine - then I moved it. Wouldn't slew in EQMOD even though it was fine before. It's always the obvious things isn't it... After reading the problems noted above I plugged my mount PSU into a different socket and hey presto! I have a brand new HEQ5 Syntrek which I've been busy setting up and playing with. It's so annoying when something goes wrong and it seems to have no obvious rhyme, reason or logic. I'm using a switch-mode psu for the mount. I guess it must give off a lot of noise to which either the mount or it's usb interface is particularly sensitive. Oh well. Thanks to SGL all sorted now, I hope :)

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