Jump to content

Wireless USB Hub for Astro work??

oceanheadted

By oceanheadted
in Discussions - Cameras

Recommended Posts

oceanheadted

oceanheadted

Posted
Posted

All,

Just bought myself a QHY5 (thanks Ant) rather than go out an buy a laptop I was wondering if I could use a wireless USB hub to control my mount/cameras (from my home PC)

BELKIN Hub/Wireless USB Hub w/adaptor 4 port F5U302ea

4 Ports would cover 2 cameras, leaving one to control the mount (would need some sort of serial usb interface as it's a vixen skysensor) and one spare

Any thoughts/experience?:)

thanks

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 35
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Ford Prefect

Ford Prefect

Posted
Posted

The other thing to consider is wether you would get any power from the usb hub to allow the cameras to work. I use a wired usb hub and connect my meade DSI to it but it has to be powered to allow the DSI to work. Not sure about a qhy5, does it have a seperate power source to run the camera?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
arad85

arad85

Posted
Posted
Also the wireless data links max speed is lower than the USB2 one so theres more than likely going to be a bottleneck dependign on what your connecting...

Peter...

Are you sure about that :) The box uses WiMedia and not standard 802.11... From my brief read, it looks like it will do 480Mbits across the wireless too...
Link to comment
Share on other sites
arad85

arad85

Posted
Posted
The other thing to consider is wether you would get any power from the usb hub to allow the cameras to work. I use a wired usb hub and connect my meade DSI to it but it has to be powered to allow the DSI to work. Not sure about a qhy5, does it have a seperate power source to run the camera?
The spec on the datasheet says that it will supply 500mA on each of the 4 ports which is what the USB standard is, so it should be OK.

The price on ebay is really cheap though (seem to be £80-90 elsewhere)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Psychobilly

Psychobilly

Posted
Posted

hmmm cheaper than this....

I still prefer wires....

looking deeper into the Wimedia spec its fairly short range (as low as 3-4m) with data rate falling off quite quickly as range increases... more like a highspeed alternative to bluetooth...

Probably all right for a pier to obs computer connection without all the wires....

Link to comment
Share on other sites
oceanheadted

oceanheadted

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Good points. Thanks Peter and Jon

The QHY5 gets powered via USB. I'm assuming the wireless bit of the hub will have to be powered so it will be able to power the cameras. I'll find out the spec for the power supply on the hub though. My imaging camera is a DSLR so the power drain on that will be fairly low.

I imagine the big data push through will be when you are downloading from your imaging camera, though the QHY5 can take avi's I beleive so that could be shoving a lot of data through your connection. the advert on ebay promises up to 480Mbs which is approx 48 Mega Bytes so in ideal conditions; you're not going to be generating that much data I should guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
arad85

arad85

Posted
Posted
The QHY5 gets powered via USB. I'm assuming the wireless bit of the hub will have to be powered so it will be able to power the cameras. I'll find out the spec for the power supply on the hub though.
Hub — 15W (3A @ 5VDC from external power supply) Enough for it's internals and the 4x 500mA for each USB port if needed.

I think the bigger problem is likely to be: Operational Range : Up to 10m (30 ft.).

If throughput falls away quickly with distance, you won't get the signal you need. Why not just go for ethernet over the 240V mains cables since you will have power to power the hub...?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
oceanheadted

oceanheadted

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Hub — 15W (3A @ 5VDC from external power supply) Enough for it's internals and the 4x 500mA for each USB port if needed.

I think the bigger problem is likely to be: Operational Range : Up to 10m (30 ft.).

If throughput falls away quickly with distance, you won't get the signal you need. Why not just go for ethernet over the 240V mains cables since you will have power to power the hub...?

How do you interface ethernet to USB??:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.