Lodestar Problem

[Physopto]

Hi Ain Soph Aur,

 Here are the pics of the bit I made for the Loadstar to remove any stress on the mini USB socket.

Derek

[HiloDon]

Just an update.

I received my repaired X2c this past week. Thanks to Terry at SX for the repair and picking up the shipping costs.

Anyone looking to buy a new Lodestar should check with the seller to ensure getting one with the latest fix for the USB Jack. I would also recommend rigging up a strain relief for the USB cable. Based on the helpful suggestions from others, here's what I ended up with on my two Lodestars.

image.jpg

image.jpg

Don

Just a follow up. I found that this mod has another advantage. If your cable gets caught on something as the scope is slewing the USB cable will pull out of the connection at the pigtail. I've been using in on a Hyperstar setup, so it offers some peace of mind as a safety system. Can't imagine what would happen connected directly to the Lodestar and pulled at an angle.

Don

[nytecam]

Just a follow up. I found that this mod has another advantage. If your cable gets caught on something as the scope is slewing the USB cable will pull out of the connection at the pigtail. I've been using in on a Hyperstar setup, so it offers some peace of mind as a safety system. Can't imagine what would happen connected directly to the Lodestar and pulled at an angle.

Don

Well said Don - that expensive SCT corrector plate is gold-dust and needs to be treated so as accidents can happen for the unwary !

Nytecam

[Hibou]

Just to reassure people. Here's a photo of a current Lodestar X2 direct from SX this month, showing that the USB socket all-metal surround (dark) is 4-point soldered to the board, with the connectors passed through and soldered. The socket itself passes through the camera back-plate, so is held firmly. I can't imagine anything more solid. Still Don's idea for an intermediate connector which also avoids snagging problems is a good one. The same applies to all trailing cables.

[HiloDon]

Just to reassure people. Here's a photo of a current Lodestar X2 direct from SX this month, showing that the USB socket all-metal surround (dark) is 4-point soldered to the board, with the connectors passed through and soldered. The socket itself passes through the camera back-plate, so is held firmly. I can't imagine anything more solid. Still Don's idea for an intermediate connector which also avoids snagging problems is a good one. The same applies to all trailing cables.

The early production run of Lodestar X2 and X2c had a face soldered USB Jack and could fail in normal use. Hibou's photo shows the upgraded design that should solve the problem, but without a serial number break, you won't know what you have unless you open up the camera. It's easy to do by removing the two end screws, but I'm not sure how that affects warranty. The serial number break would be helpful to LS owners.

Don

[Hibou]

Well... before opening it and voiding the warranty, you might ask "what will you do if you find it's an older design" :-) I have shipped quite a few of the older models and not had a complaint, but then my customers are probably not assembling it every night in the dark :-) If it is the older design, it may already be out of warranty, and anyway you can hardly ship it back if it's not broken.

Don's original suggestion is the best. Just strap the cable to the body with an electrical tie and use an extension. If you want a neat job, get this 90-degree cable and hook it up to a 5-20m active USB extension. Then you can sit inside in the warm and power/control your camera outside :-)

[Hibou]

Searching through my archives :-) I found a photo of an early Lodestar X2 USB socket dating from August 2014 (#336), which appears to be the same as the current design. So I doubt now whether there ever was a change to the X2 design as Don suggests. Maybe he was just unlucky with a dry solder joint. 

      

[HiloDon]

Hibou,

Your picture doesn't show whether there are prongs that go through the board and then soldered. You may have to look at the other side of the board. As far as just being unlucky, you might want to read this thread.

http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/502389-loadstar-2/

Terry at SX also indicated that there was a change made to the X2 to correct this problem and would be used to repair mine. Here's his response to me.

Hi Don,

Sorry about the connector problem. The first X2 units used an SMT connector

that tended to break away from the board, due to the brittle lead-free

solder. We are now using a 'through hole' version that has a much stronger

board attachment. All repairs are being changed to this type when received.

Regards,

Terry

Hope this convinces you.

Don

Just want to add that Terry and SX stood behind their product and repaired the failed unit at no charge to me. Thanks, Terry.

[Hibou]

Your picture doesn't show whether there are prongs that go through the board and then soldered. You may have to look at the other side of the board. As far as just being unlucky, you might want to read this thread.

http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/502389-loadstar-2/

You're right Don, my old photo doesn't show whether the prongs go through the board, and the guider socket covers the other side. It just looks the same on the top side. As for being unlucky with a dry solder joint, I was only repeating what you wrote :-) I guess the first ones were sent to dealers, since in August 2014 yours was number 006 and mine direct from SX was already 336. Perhaps the problem was caught after the first couple of hundred, and in any case current SX2's are OK. The new one in my first photo was 1291.

Thanks for the link to the other forum. Seems like the problem and solution was already discussed there a few months ago. Even if the original problem is fixed, people would do well to follow your advice of strapping the cable to the body and just unplugging the extension cable.