EQMOD freezing

[MikeP]

I've used SkyMap Pro 11 / EQMOD / ASCOM to control my EQ6 Pro since Xmas 2007 and never had problems.

Tonight was the first time I have used the mount since last winter and part way through a slew it stopped and became unresponsive. The Rumblepad joystick had no effect, using the mouse in SkyMap or the EQMOD interface had no effect either.

I was able to use SkyMap's disconnect to shut down EQMOD and to successfully connect again. I parked, disconnected, shut down the mount, manually moved it to its proper park position and then started again.

This time all seemed well, so after a bit of slewing and aligning, I tried using WCS-DSI to polar align. It conked out when I attempted to slew from my chosen star in the east to a chosen one in the north.

I'm using a new laptop and a new USB hub. Also for the first time everything is being run from batteries - but big leisure batteries, fully charged and showing 12+ volts throughout. No problems with loose leads and the little red led on the EQ6 was steady and bright.

The version of EQMOD was 1.17f. There seem to be quite a few new parameters added since my last version. Are there any slew limits that may have come into play or anything else I may have overlooked?

Mike

[blinky]

There are slew limits but I think these are disabled by default, also they usually park the scope and dont just stop it.

Are you using a power supply for your USB hub? All the issues with EQMod freezing etc I usually find are related to the USB hub not having enough power.

[SteveL]

I agree, it sounds like a USB issue to me.

[steppenwolf]

I found that the slew limits were set enabled by default but this could be a 'comms' issue. However, if the mount just stopped mid slew I would have thought that the data package giving the number of motor pulses to slew by would have arrived thus taking the USB port out of the equation as it had already done its job?

Having said that, if it all worked before, you are satisfied with the mount PSU BUT you have changed the USB port hub then this needs to be explored further. I would do a dummy run (daytime would be fine) with the mount connected directly to the PC's USB port. If that fails as well then the problem is elsewhere but it would be a good start point.

[MikeP]

I am using a powered hub. It is rated at 5V and max of 3000mA - it took me a while to find a 12V to 5V supply for it but I'm assuming it is OK because the Rumblepad receiver and the DSI II were also plugged in and working happily.

I've labelled the sockets on the hub so each is assigned a device. I plug the lead to the hub into the same socket on the PC - hopefully that means each device will always be assigned to the same port each time.

Forgot to mention it before but I was also using a new active USB extension lead.

I'll try experimenting as you suggest.

Mike

[Parallax]

Just a thought, but are you sure that you powered the hub? I say this because a couple of nights back, whilst I was packing up, I noticed that I hadn't switched the hub power on. All 4 devices had apparently been working OK and I must have just been lucky.

Hope you sort it soon.

Steve

[SteveL]

...I noticed that I hadn't switched the hub power on...

Been there, done that, nearly threw the Lodestar into the next county, switched to DSI which also failed... only then, after 90 minutes, did i spot the power lead and the USB hub not actually attached to each other... grr!!

[barkis]

Is one USB to Serial converter capable of supplying all the needs drawn from a powered hub, fed by an extended Active USB extension.?

Mount, Filter Wheel, GPS, Etc. Etc.

Thanks.

Ron.

[MikeP]

are you sure that you powered the hub

You are right, it is easy to get it wrong but my hub has blue leds that show USB connections and a single red one to indicate power. While putting everything away I remember seeing the red light even though the laptop was switched off.

Is one USB to Serial converter capable of supplying all the needs drawn from a powered hub, fed by an extended Active USB extension

The USB to Serial converter is just one connection between the hub and the mount so I assume as long as it gets its max of 500mA it is happy. The adapter I use converts from 12V to 5V and produces a max of 3000mA - I only had the USB<>Serial, DSI and Rumblepad receiver plugged in.

I have no idea how active USB leads work, so it could be the culprit. Traffic is normally "single threaded" but one failure occurred when I slewed while the DSI was active but it had failed earlier while just the mount was connected.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try again tonight.

Mike

[MikeP]

Complete about turn tonight - no problems whatsoever.

Connected everything exactly as previous night. Carried out same steps in the same order - not a hiccup. Don't understand it but I'm not complaining.

Just Maxim and my Atik HR to get working alongside everything else and I'm in business. Even PHD calibrated and guided tonight.

Mike

[blinky]

Good news Mike!!