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Old 01-09-2020, 11:34 AM
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multiweb (Marc)
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Asi120mm usb2.0

Hi guys, a quick query for the multitude of ASI/ZWO camera owners out there. I got a second hand small 120MM last year that I use for the occasional moonage and planetary. I haven't used it much but this week-end I did a few hours of imaging. I have a Win7 laptop and I use the latest Fire capture. I have the camera on a USB2 dedicated line straight off the lappy - no hub. On a cropped window I get 55 fps which is good enough. I've had a few drops where the camera is lost. I just unplug it, wait for it to connect again, start the Fire capture and back it goes again. This happened constantly after may be 20 to 30 minutes of use. At this stage I don't know if it's the camera/driver or memory leak in the capture program (I haven't use any other) or other. As I said I have only used it a handful of time. Any pointer in the right direction would be much appreciated. TIA.
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Old 01-09-2020, 11:51 AM
RyanJones
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Hi Marc,

I have a 120mm that I use as a guide camera connected to an ASIair and I never have any connection or drop out issues. One thing to maybe consider is if the camera gets to hot using it in a video mode. They are quite a small package. I know they have a temp sensor in them. Have you tried looking at what temperature it’s getting to when it drops out ? It maybe shutting itself off after half an hour to protect itself ? Just a thought.

Cheers

Ryan
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Old 01-09-2020, 11:59 AM
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multiweb (Marc)
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Originally Posted by RyanJones View Post
Hi Marc,

I have a 120mm that I use as a guide camera connected to an ASIair and I never have any connection or drop out issues. One thing to maybe consider is if the camera gets to hot using it in a video mode. They are quite a small package. I know they have a temp sensor in them. Have you tried looking at what temperature it’s getting to when it drops out ? It maybe shutting itself off after half an hour to protect itself ? Just a thought.

Cheers

Ryan
Good point. I think I have the temperature logged in the SER files header. I'll look it up. I remember seeing ~20c which was just above ambient at the time and not excessive.
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Old 01-09-2020, 12:00 PM
Startrek (Martin)
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Marc
The older ( before 2018 ) ZWOASI120MM USB2 cameras have an inherent problem with the driver and ZWO advised that a patch was being developed to resolve intermittent connection failures ( don’t know if they ever resolved it )
I used mine as a guide camera for 3 months back in 2018 but gave up due to frustration. Went and bought the ZWOASI120MM - S USB3 camera from advice and it’s been working flawlessly ever since connected either with a 5m USB2 cable or a super duper expensive Startech 5m USB3 active cable
At the time, I did see a post on CN which raised the same issue with this model camera
Hope the above helps
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Old 01-09-2020, 12:07 PM
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Marc
The older ( before 2018 ) ZWOASI120MM USB2 cameras have an inherent problem with the driver and ZWO advised that a patch was being developed to resolve intermittent connection failures ( don’t know if they ever resolved it )
I used mine as a guide camera for 3 months back in 2018 but gave up due to frustration. Went and bought the ZWOASI120MM - S USB3 camera from advice and it’s been working flawlessly ever since connected either with a 5m USB2 cable or a super duper expensive Startech 5m USB3 active cable
At the time, I did see a post on CN which raised the same issue with this model camera
Hope the above helps
ah ok. Thanks for the feedback. I'll look into the drivers. Not a show stopper but annoying. I did test to use it as a guider in PHD last year. I gave up after 5min. I have two lodestars anyway. I don't know what I was thinking.
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Old 01-09-2020, 06:56 PM
Dennis
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Hi Marc

Check the USB Traffic/Speed settings. I have mine set to 80% which I think is the default.

Maybe reduce this incrementally to say 60% then 50% to see if this has any effect on your problem.

Cheers

Dennis
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Old 01-09-2020, 07:10 PM
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Hi Marc

Check the USB Traffic/Speed settings. I have mine set to 80% which I think is the default.

Maybe reduce this incrementally to say 60% then 50% to see if this has any effect on your problem.

Cheers

Dennis
Thanks Dennis. Will check that out too.
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Old 01-09-2020, 07:49 PM
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How long was the cable?

Any longer than 2m?

The other thing you could try is a different port
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Old 01-09-2020, 07:52 PM
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How long was the cable?

Any longer than 2m?
Yes a lot longer. 2x5m active extensions.

Quote:
Originally Posted by h0ughy View Post
The other thing you could try is a different port
No chance. I'm sticking with Hanging Tree Wines in Pokolbin.
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Old 01-09-2020, 10:24 PM
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Yes a lot longer. 2x5m active extensions.


No chance. I'm sticking with Hanging Tree Wines in Pokolbin.
And there's your answer, your problem is those 2 cables, can you do it with one
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Old 02-09-2020, 07:26 AM
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No chance. I'm sticking with Hanging Tree Wines in Pokolbin.


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Old 02-09-2020, 08:10 PM
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And there's your answer, your problem is those 2 cables, can you do it with one
Unfortunately I'm too far from the pier.
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Old 03-09-2020, 08:35 AM
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Yeah, you'll probably need a powered cable like this.
https://www.jaycar.com.au/20m-usb-ex...cable/p/XC4124
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Old 03-09-2020, 09:57 AM
PeterM
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Interesting Marc, I have had a similar issue twice now with my recently acquired older ZWO 120MM usb2 and had to unplug the USB and replug to get it to work again. The USB is a 10m active Lindy cable, so that is not the issue. After reading this thread I did some googling I found these articles. If you go down the page and follow along from Windows Mac, etc you get to FW Update and in there is an exe file noting USB2 Camera update 12/11/2019, nil instructions so I have no idea if this is the update patch? Thoughts?

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/5...-very-strange/
https://indilib.org/forum/general/21...m.html?start=0

Last edited by PeterM; 03-09-2020 at 10:15 AM.
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Old 03-09-2020, 10:33 AM
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Originally Posted by PeterM View Post
Interesting Marc, I have had a similar issue twice now with my recently acquired older ZWO 120MM usb2 and had to unplug the USB and replug to get it to work again. The USB is a 10m active Lindy cable, so that is not the issue. After reading this thread I did some googling I found these articles. If you go down the page and follow along from Windows Mac, etc you get to FW Update and in there is an exe file noting USB2 Camera update 12/11/2019, nil instructions so I have no idea if this is the update patch? Thoughts?

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/5...-very-strange/
https://indilib.org/forum/general/21...m.html?start=0
I'll look into the USB cables first, then the drivers, if need be the camera firmware and also look into the OS maybe putting the USB device in "sleep" mode. Will post back if I find a solution.
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Old 03-09-2020, 12:26 PM
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OICURMT
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I had the same problem with my 0th (zero-th) generation ASI120mm, the original one without the ST4 port. ZWO told me that a firmware update was necessary.

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com...are/FWTool.zip

Update using the file ASI120MM-compatible.iir
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Old 03-09-2020, 01:15 PM
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I had the same problem with my 0th (zero-th) generation ASI120mm, the original one without the ST4 port. ZWO told me that a firmware update was necessary.

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com...are/FWTool.zip

Update using the file ASI120MM-compatible.iir
Mine has a ST4 port. I'll check with ZWO which firmware to use.
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