Orion star shoot autoguider problem

[Andywilliams]

Greetings all,

i have now gotten to the hair pulling stage but I'm sure there's an easy fix for this!

I bought an Orion star shoot autoguider. I have downloaded all of the most recent drivers and PHD program.

i am running windows 7 on my laptop.

i have connected the autoguider to my laptop with the supplied cable.

as soon as I select the starshoot on the PHD dropdown menu it shows a camera connection failed message immediately.

somehow my computer is not recognising the auto guide camera.

does anyone know the magic fix for this please? 

Cheers and clear skies,

Andy 

[Cornelius Varley]

Does the camera work with other software such as Sharpcap or Firecapture. ?

[Davey-T]

Does the camera show up in device manager ?

Try older drivers, the latest ones were designed for Win10 which Orion made a pigs ear of supporting when it first appeared.

As above try other software, you can do this indoors without a lens connected.

Dave

[Andywilliams]

Thanks guys,

no it doesn't show up in device manager......I will download an older driver and if that doesn't work I will try the other software suggestions ??

[Oddsocks]

1 hour ago, Andywilliams said:

no it doesn't show up in device manager......I will download an older driver and if that doesn't work I will try the other software suggestions

Andy,

If it doesn't show in Device Manager, even as an "Unknown Device" with an exclamation mark against it, then it is not a driver problem at this point but a hardware issue.

Try a different USB cable, are you plugging into a USB2 or a USB3 port? it shouldn't really make any difference but early USB3 hardware had problems with some USB2 devices.

Can you try with different laptop/PC, no need to install the software first, just plug it in and check in device manager, it should be seen as an Unknown Device, in fact as soon as you plug it in on any Windows machine the Windows pop-up "installing device" should appear followed by "Unable to find device driver", or similar.

These cameras were quite power hungry and it may be that your laptop is shutting down the USB port to protect itself if the power draw is marginally above what it considers allowable, if you have, or can borrow temporarily a powered USB hub, try connecting the camera to the powered hub rather than direct to the laptop and see if it then appears in device manager with or without the "Unknown Device" descriptor.

But definitely try a different USB cable first....

[Andywilliams]

Ok thanks Oddsocks......this is the bit where I show my technical ignorance!

the pic is how I set it up given the supplied cable......I suspect it's all wrong as, if I'm not mistaken, this cable is not USB ?

cheers,

Andy

[Andywilliams]

My computer comes with USB 2 and a USB 3port.....which one should I choose? ....a USB 2? 

[Davey-T]

37 minutes ago, Andywilliams said:

Ok thanks Oddsocks......this is the bit where I show my technical ignorance!

the pic is how I set it up given the supplied cable......I suspect it's all wrong as, if I'm not mistaken, this cable is not USB ?

cheers,

Andy

That's the mount cable you need the USB  cable from the other socket to your laptop USB2 socket

Dave

[Davey-T]

Like this then the red LED should light.

Dave

[Andywilliams]

Thanks Dave,

I guess I got confused because no other cable was supplied (secondhand purchase).

I will have a ferret through my cables box.....or off to the computer shop !

what a newbie I am ?

Cheers,

Andy 

[Andywilliams]

Brilliant.....thanks ?

Then all I have to do is work out how to guide my star adventurer in RA......it's all a big learning curve ......but fun though 

thanks again ?

[Davey-T]

It may be the same as on old printer cable if you've got one lying around.

Dave

[Andywilliams]

I do...And it is......and it works ?

A happy camper here ! ??

cheers and thanks !!