Dome control and USB.

[Hagar]

This is somewhat odd in it's action but I am at my wits end.

I have a sirrius dome with Maxdome automation on the dome rotation only. It has started throwing up a fault which I cannot understand or control.

I have a powered Hub with Maxdome, RS232 Filterwheel, Gemini and Robofocus connected to it with 4 X Keyspan RS232 to USB adapters.
The fault started with Maxdome just stopping without even an error message appearing. Now I seem to be loosing any of the connections whenever they feel like stopping. Some give an error message that a USB item has stopped working and some don't.

I have tried splitting the devices over different USB connections but it seems to happen randomly accross the entire USB network.

This fault might happen once a night up to several times a night. Last night it was the filterwheel and I ended up with 2.5 hrs of 2x2 binned M83 luminance. Nice but not what I was after.

Can anyone shed some light on what might be happening and hopefully a fix.

Thanks in anticipation.

[allan gould]

Doug
This is spooky because if you have a look on the Sirius observatory site at Yahoo.Groups I've just put in a message detailing exactly the same thing which has been happening to me.
Are you using ascom dome control?
I was and a few nights ago the USB dropping out went from never to once a night to every time a command was issued.
I think I may have the answer but I want to check it out before I make a firm commitment.
I went from using ascom dome control to POTH and the problem seemed to disappear. Maybe you can try this.
Had the same thing where suddenly USB ports on my hub were dropping out and then the whole hub.
The dome control had it's own direct connection to the laptop ie it's own USB port and not into the hub.
Allan

[allan gould]

I have also put a posting to Sirius observatories yahoo and had a reply where one chap said he was experiencing the same thing. He was using ascom dome control. Also sent a message to Maxdome but they have not replied for over a week now. So much for customer service. They take your money and blow you off with silence when something goes wrong.

[h0ughy]

yep and they are not the only ones - include software bisket in that lot as well. i still cannot use Automadome, however i can use the ASCOM dome control (and the gemini .net driver) Initially i was using the USB serial on the gemini and had that timing out for some reason so i swapped it over and had the dome operating with it and the dedicated serial driving the mount (have PC with serial port) . I did have a problem again after a microsoft update about 3-4 weeks ago but everything is now working OK after reloading the ASCOM drivers.

[JohnG]

Ummm, never had a problem yet with my dome........

Push to just seems to work, :lol:

Cheers

[h0ughy]

true but moving it every 30min or so was a pain - can get in a full movie and a bit now

[allan gould]

Also you don't donate your blood to the local mozzie population. I've now rigged up a webcam that stares at the seial2USB connector watching the lights. I know now that when I connect another laptop to the observatory laptop byremote desktop and look at the lights via the webcam that if the lights are off then I go out and restart the USB port. But I must admit that I've not had a problem since I used POTH (fingers crossed).

[JohnG]

Still think I will stay with the KISS method :rofl:

Cheers

[Hagar]

Hi Allan, I am and have been using POTH since I got everything up and working. It seems to me the USB is for some reason getting itself knotted up. Scouring the net there certainly seems to be a lot of people everywhere having USB problems and particularly with Windows7.
I found this item which might be worth a look but it seems to be a timming issue of some kind. Driving me mad.

http://windows7professional.wordpress.com/2010/01/08/windows-7-usb-hub-issues-with-windows-7/

You keep your KISS method John and when I;m sitting in front of the fire, I will think of the frost settling on your hair (lucky Bugger to have some) If I can get this damm thing to work properly that is.

[Hagar]

On advice from Theo who is using the same dome control card and software with no problems, I have ordered a PCI 4 port RS232 card to put in the observatory computer. He feels it is a USB timming issue which gets itself knotted up somehow and disconnects whichever port causes the issue.
I have 4 things running on RS232 to serial adapters and hopefully putting them on separate RS232 connections will fix the problem.

Only time will tell.

[Tandum]

USB sure is a fickle thing doug. I had everything running flawlessly here, then locked it all up and went to Melbourne for a few days. Fired it up again last night and the hub on the mount is suddenly an unrecognised device. Got that going and then the qhy5 is not recognised. Got that going and then a filter change on the wheel locks up the guide camera which freezes maxim which means a reboot to get ascom back into action. Fixed that, then showing a guiding graph in maxim crashes maxim.

What a pain, I gave up in the end but trying again tonight. I'm thinking about booting out the eeepc and putting in a desktop with lots of usb and 232 sockets and run everything on it's own cable.

[Bassnut]

I got fed up with USB convertors at one stage, bought a multi RS232 card and it all worked. RS232 is still used for industrial applications, its simple and bullet proof.

[Hagar]

Thanks Guys makes me feel a bit better. I just hope the RS232 card I have bought from EBay works on a windows 7 machine. If not I will buy a much more expensive one here in Aus.

Interesting to see if it all works .

[Tandum]

Doug, if you get stuck, my wholesaler sells Astrotek cards. I can get 4 port 232 PCI cards and 2 port 232 PCI-e cards.

[Hagar]

Thanks Robin, I will keep you in mind but better wait and see if my el cheapo ebay import works first.
It might be a first and work not like my usual ebay imports.

[mozzie]

i'm with john g just use the fingers and it rotates oh and iv'e 180 deg view :lol::lol: hope all is well doug.still coming up in august...make shore you bring a scope and well have a couple of sessions here...

[Hagar]

Hi Pete, Helen just had her leave confirmed so yes we will be up in late July till late August. I have just ordered an Alt/Az basic mount to keep in the Van so I will be bringing up a scope with me this time. I will even bring up my DSLR and maybe capture a few nice widefield images.
Looking forward to the break and catching up with you, Elise and the boys again.

[Hagar]

Looks like the RS232 card was just what the dictor ordered. I have now run everything for 4 X full days and a couple of nights without so much as a glitch of any kind. Hopefully it stays this way.

[Tandum]

Excellent doug, good to hear a positive for a change.

I found here if I run everything though the one powered hub on to one usb cable back to this POS eepc, it's all stable. Not game to bring up a guiding graph in maxim though, it's working, don't touch it ;)

[Gama]

Glad to see it worked Doug.
You didnt doubt me when i said to get the card, did you .....

Theo

[allan gould]

Doug
Going on your success, I found an old laptop that had a native serial port at the back, re-installed all my software on it ( what a bugger) and fired it all up. I'm glad to report that the dome now rotates etc as it should, however I did fire off a petulant email to Doug George of Maxdome II informing him that for the price charged they could include a serial2usb converter that they say works or make it a USB connection. It's pretty rude to say "oh it must be your converter" and then walk away from the problem. It like the RACQ saying "it must be your petrol" when your car won't start and leaving you to figure it all out.
It's only a site like IIS where we share knowledge and problems that keep us sane. Thanks again Doug and the Tempest Observatory survives another ill wind.
Allan

[allan gould]

Further to my gripes about MaxdomeII, Douglas George is now considering making the device USB and not serial.
see http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/siriusobservatories_users/messages

[h0ughy]

would be good to get a USB version as one day PC with serial wont be available

[allan gould]

Well thats what I said to Doug George and asked if an upgrade were to be available.

[marc4darkskies]

Strange, so far I haven't had probs with my dome rotation. I run RoboFocus and Maxdome II via a hub and two Belkin USB serial converters on a WinXP lappy. Been working for years with Automadome and TheSky (with sidereal tracking using a vbs script or CCDAutopilot).

I've just upgraded to a new Win7 64 bit lappy and it still works (after finding the right 64 bit driver for the Bellkins - that wasn't easy!). I'm touching wood of course because I haven't yet used the new system in anger but it all tests out and integrates in bench test mode.

Word of warning though - especially for laptop users. Power saving settings (for win7 at least) include selective switching off of USB ports (!!!). Dunno what the criteria are but worth disabling for sure!

Cheers, Marcus