hitec Astro serial to us by for eq6 pro synscan.

[bluemaxroe]

Hi all,

wanted to get some collective knowledge.    I have recently had success controlling my mount from my Pc using the hitec Astro serial to sub cable.

however.   I have a small observatory just big enough for an ed80 an me.    And the cable is not long enough to route down the mount, across under the floor and up into the PC.......not nearly long enough by even my imaginary standards!   

So, to my question.   Has anyone come across a UK based reputable supplier of reasonably priced, robust serial to USB cables that work with eq6 pro's and are...let's say 5m long.

 

thanks for any input.    I have tried a sub extension and it doesn't seem to work.

 

Andy.

[bottletopburly]

 You've just need a 5m active USB cable but you will need a powered USB hub at mount or it will not work , have a look through my posts I had same problem few weeks back I now use a star tech 7 port usb2 hub and into that I plug everything in cameras , game controller , Eqdirect cable , only thing I would say is if your camera is a newer usb3 type then you would need usb3 hub and cable compliant types

[richyrich_one]

As already said, active USB extension. It will work just fine without the powered hub.

 

[daz]

Andy

 

PM me your address - I have active USB lead I can send you

[bottletopburly]

Try an active cable if it works then bobs your uncle, for me I didn't ,may be my setup , having a powered USB hub as it happens worked out better ,meant less cables from mount to shed for me.?

[michael8554]

Two things to consider:

1) Will there be enough volts/current to power your kit?

2) Are you exceeding the theoretical 5M limit for USB? 

A 5M Active cable sets you up for adding up to another 5M of ordinary cable.

They often have the same chips as a hub, encapsulated at the end of the cable.

So if your kit's power requirements are low, a 5M Active cable should suffice.

But if not, a 5M ordinary cable, and a Powered hub at the end, will be needed.

An Active cable attached to a Powered Hub is two hubs together, this may actually degrade your USB data rather than improve it  - but USB is soooo random.

Michael