Having Problems: Starlight Xpress 674

[Starlight 1]

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NO  Quote it just pop up.

 

Did you have the Qhy5l camera running , I would think 2 camera running on one USB lead  will make computer run hard, over camera and mount on 1 lead.

[Peje]

All of my kit, bar the SX 674 & filter wheel, have individual USB leads running back to the PC. I have a spare USB lead in my loom for the filter wheel so I may use that in future but for now I will only change one thing at a time.

My tests last night ran for 14 hours with no failures so for now I am going to assume the length of USB leads are not the issue. Terry gave me a new suggestion for something to try:

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It might not be the power supply that is inadequate – it might actually be the common mode ground currents that your mount introduces into the USB cable shield. Ground currents can be a big problem when you have several devices on one power supply. Noise signals from the mount motors etc. can use the USB cable as a convenient path and induce noise into the USB interface. As a check, can you run the camera or mount from a separate supply?

This is my next test, the only issue is that I believe this test will require the mount to be guiding, rather than tracking, so that current spikes are generated by direction changes. I hate debugging problems under a clear sky

[Starlight 1]

1 hour ago, Peje said:

As a check, can you run the camera or mount from a separate supply

I allway done it this way.  So can you fire the camera up from the computer usb  now without pulling it out .

[Peje]

UPDATE: After plenty of support from Starlight Xpress this looks to be caused by powering the CCD & mount off a single DC PSU. The mount motors seem to have been putting noise into the grounds which cause communication issues for the camera over USB.

I powered the camera last night using a seperate PSU and it ran for 13 hours without error while capturing lots of data for me

Now for the joy of figuring out how one processes narrowband data.... first world problems!

Thanks everyone for your input.

[Peje]

So the problem is back, no kit or cabling changes from when it ran for 12 hours last Thursday with zero issues.

Typically conditions are great tonight, I think I'm left with no other option but to call it quits and move to a different camera.