What's a good USB 2 hub and 12 volt power supply?

[gregbradley]

An area of my observatory that is causing trouble is USB Hubs and too many 12 volt transformers and unreliable 12 volt power supplies. I have too many cables and need to simplify it as it causing unreliability.

I have had lots of little cheapie USB hubs and they often do not work with my CCD cameras, filter wheel and guiding camera.

It seems to be an area of computer technology that is weak.

Can anyone suggest a good USB hub?

Also a neat 12 volt power solution with a power distribution board and a separate power supply?

There is the rigrunner in the USA for about $110 shipped. There's the Hitec Astro Pro hub from England. But there most likely is something I can get locally.

Greg.

[frolinmod]

For power supplies, I recommend one of the following:

http://www.powerwerx.com/power-supplies/powerwerx-30-amp-desktop-switching-power-supply-powerpoles.html

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamps/1235.html


For power distribution from the power supply (and on my battery box in the field) to all my 12V equipment in general I'm using a West Mountain Radio RIGrunner:

http://www.powerwerx.com/powerpole-power-distribution/

http://www.westmountainradio.com/content.php?page=RIGrunner


For power distribution on mount to dew heater, camera, focuser, rotator, etc I'm currently using a HiTecAstro Mount Hub Pro:

http://www.hitecastro.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48:mount-hub-pro&catid=36:mount-hub-pro&Itemid=54

[Marke]

Greg I have a couple of these :
https://www.lindy.com.au/online/arrshop.exe?anonymous=true&cat=l3
I have been able to run CCD , guider (Loadstar) , mount and focuser
all from 1 with no problems , so far so good theyre not cheap but
are also USB extenders as well .

[gregbradley]

That's helpful Ernie. I have seen the rigrunners mentioned on the Software Bisque site. They look very good.

The power supply says its 13.8 volts. Is that a problem for your typical 12 volt device like cameras etc?

How do you find the Hitec Astro Pro Hub? Does everything work OK?





Thanks Mark. Which item on that list do you use?

Greg.

[Marke]

Sorry URL didnt work its
USB 2.0 Active Extension Cable Pro 4 Port Hub
its under USB extenders - 8m one is what I have

[gregbradley]

I see the one $69.95. That seems pretty handy with the 8 metre cable which is plenty in an observatory.

Greg.

[DavidTrap]

I think that's the one he's meaning Greg. Part No 42781. I have 20 metres of their active extension cables and can sit inside with the mount in the backyard - very nice in winter! I already had a Belkin USB 4 port hub that I've had no problems with, so I just bought their fancy extension cables rather than their hub as well. Any of these hubs will need to be powered to run cameras or USB-Serial adapters, etc.

I have a 12-5V DC converter that I bought from Jaycar. It is capable of 2amps supply so running a couple of cameras is not an issue. Seems to have been fine thus far.

DT

[Marke]

David I have been able to use mine without the ext power no prob.
The mount , focuser and CCD have there own power so nothing
needs to be powered thru the USB . I do have the DC coverter from
Jaycar as well if I need it but so far not :)

[[1ponders]]

I've used one of these for a while now and its never given me a moments grief. http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=XC4946

Running multiple cameras, temperature logger, USB led red light, USB focuser, anything I want to run off it. The only thing I don't run through there and like to keep on a separate USB direct to laptop is the GPUSB

[RickS]

I have one too and the only device that doesn't like it is my QHY-12.

[gregbradley]

Some good advice here.

I'd like to find out more about the Hitec Astro Mount Hub Pro. Is it worth the expense?

Greg.

[Paul Haese]

Talk to WYSIWYG (AKA Mark) too; he has developed an automated system that is powered from one box. One cable going through the mount too. Computer on board of the mount; wireless down load. All sorts of cool gadgets.

[frolinmod]

Has never been a problem. Note that a 12V battery is not actually 12V. It's 12V "nominal." Put a volt meter on one and see for yourself. In most cases when someone says 12V, they actually mean 13.8V. Now I suppose there could be occasions when 12V really means exactly 12V. However, every piece of equipment I have that runs off of a nominal 12V runs just fine off of 13.8V. If they have their own internal regulators, they might even handle anywhere from 10.5V to 14V or so. I know that 10 year old or older SBIG cameras were very BAD in this regard though!

So far I haven't had any trouble with it. It works with my 10 meter USB2 active extender cable OK.

I did replace the cigar lighter adapter with Anderson power poles and a 15A fuse.

The Mount Hub Pro has reduced the cable clutter and device clutter on my mount. It replaced an on mount RIGrunner, a Kendrick dew heater controller and three through the mount USB cables. The only cables I now have through the mount are one 14AWG power cable and one USB extension cable.

The only thing that does annoy me about it is that it only registers with windows when it powers up. So if I unplug the USB cable and plug it back in for whatever reason, it has to be re-powered. Or if I reboot the PC for whatever reason, it also has to be re-powered. Well, it actually only has to be re-powered if I want to be able to talk to it with it's control program, remote switch devices on and off, remote adjust the dew heaters, etc. It still functions as a hub just fine without needing to be re-powered.

[gregbradley]

Thanks for the heads up Paul. I'll send him a PM.



Thanks Ernie. Yes I thought car batteries are called 12 volt but are really 13.8 volts.

I remember hearing that before about the Hub needing to be rebooted if anything changed. Is that the latest 1.5 version or would that be no different?

[Hagar]

Hi Greg, I just purchased a mount hub pro from Star Optics in QLD. I have just put it all together on the mount and it seems great. It controls everything from my Robofocus to dew heaters. The USB Hub is the only hub I have been able to run qhy9,qhy10 and qhy5 from all at the same time.
Not cheap but for what it does it is reasonable.

[gregbradley]

That's good to hear.

How much did it cost? I sent Star Optics an email today but their posted hours show they are closed on Mondays.

What are you using as a power supply?

Greg.

[Hagar]

I am using a 13.8V Jaycar switch mode power supply. 15A I think.

Cost $309 for the basic one including delivery and $70 more for the model with the built in GPS.

One power and one USB lead to the mount and it seems everything just works.

[cventer]

Greg,

I had a really good play with my Mount Hub Pro on weekend.

I run 3 dew heaters, I power the QHY10 Camera, RC10 colling fans, the Robofocus stepper motors, my autoguider and QHy10 USB

The PMX has a built in USB HUB and already has through the mount power cabling, so all you do is hook up mount hub to the Power on versa plate and connect mount hub to the USB port on the versa plate.

Seems to all work well. I left guider and camera both exposing for 20 minutes without any glitches plus had 3 dew heaters on. Seems very possible and real reduced cable clutter becuase basicaly I have none. 1 USB cable that is alrady through the mount and 1 power cable already through the mount.

I got the mount hub with GPS reciever as well.

[marki]

Had my mount hub pro for about 6 months now and its a beauty, dont know what I did before I got it. Small package, totally reliable and controlled via the PC/laptop. I run my camera's, Mount, FW, Focuser etc through the USB ports with no drama's at all. It also has loads of power ports 8 of which you can set the voltage plus 4 outlets for dew straps which can be controlled manually as well as via the PC/laptop. Mine also has the inbuilt GPS. All that leaves the mount out are 2 wires, one for usb and the other for power. I run my power lead to a scientific lab power source which is very clean and that is plugged into my Honda Genset (also very clean). In short I love my mount hub pro and the great job it does getting rid of all the wires whilst working faultlessly with all the software programs etc. I plug in something new and it is detected and works straight away, no nonsence with drivers etc. Well worth the bucks.

[cventer]

Biggest problem with Mount Hub pro now is finding short enough USB and power leads to avoid cable clutter on top of the scope. :)

[frolinmod]

I know it doesn't do you any good down there, but I usually get all my USB cables from monoprice.com. Good quality cables at a rock bottom price.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10303

[Hagar]

Mine came with 4 X 1M long power leads (These are easy to make anyway) a hand control for the focuser to use when in manual without a computer connected and I managed to find some 1M long USB printer cables on ebay which served the purpose well. I had to shorten the leads on my dew straps but again very easy to do.
All up I am very impressed with the whole unit.

[gregbradley]

You can get 1 metre long USB 2 cables from computer shops or even Jaycar. I have quite a few and they probably are just a bit long for that purpose but not too bad.

Greg.

[marki]

I got some 0.9m USB2 cables from Harvey Normans. These are pretty much the ideal length with no over hang.

Mark

[stevous67]

I have three of these and they work flawlessly:

http://www.mo-co-so.com/RAM-Tough-Powered-6-Port-USB-Hub-p/mcs-ram-hub.htm

Steve

[cventer]

Mark

Thanks for tip. Found the same ones at Harvey Norman in melbourne. Perfect length.

[Paul Haese]

What did you decide to go with Greg?

Ernie, will the mount hub pro work with focusmax and robofocus units?

[bmitchell82]

Steve is that hub capable of connection to a hub though the 10/100 socket? if so i would be mighty interested in it.

[cventer]

Paul

The mount hub has an ascom focuser driver. robofocus motors plug right in to mount hub. I have used it with focusmax with no issue. Nice thing is you dont need the robofocus unit, so can actualy just buy this hub and buy the motors standalone for $90 and you have a decent motor focus solution.

[Paul Haese]

Wish I had known that a couple of weeks ago. Bummer. I have the unit now. So I should be able to run the cameras (DSI and SSAG), the dew heater and focusor with Maxim and focusmax. If so that would be good.

[marki]

Yep just plug the robofocus motor into the hub and off you go no controller needed. Only thing I dont like is that there is no realtime display of the focuser steps, just absolute postions. Paul it is a great bit of kit....everything just works.

Mark

[frolinmod]

It is a great bit of kit as you say. In fact, it's now the central point of failure for everything on my mount. If mine ever fails on me, I'm screwed. I had to buy mine from the UK because the only local dealer I'm aware of has an insane asking price. I should probably buy a backup unit just in case, but I'm waiting for OPT to become a dealer and stock it first. Also, as I previously mentioned, if you open it up, the thing looks like it was assembled from spare parts in someone's garage. I would like to see one built with a better case more akin to the dew buster.

[gregbradley]

[QUOTE=Paul Haese;778548]What did you decide to go with Greg?


Hi Paul,

I ordered a HiTec Astro Pro hub. He is out of the GPS version for a few weeks. He had one hub left until he gets the next shipment of parts.

I should have it next week. In the meantime I am using a powered hub that "seems" to be working although I had 2 mysterious nights where the imaging ended prematurely for no apparent reason.

I suspect the usb hub stopped working. But then it could have been cable drag from the mess of cables pulling out a power supply to the hub -who knows. It worked fine the other night.

I am trying to improve the reliability of my setup and my cables are a mess hence the Hitec Astro hub.

He is supplying some 450mm long 12 volt centre pin positive power leads as well which will be neat.

Greg.

[marki]

They have a 2.5mm plug hope they fit all of your gear Greg, perfect for mine.

Mark

[gregbradley]

Both ends?

My gear is the usual 12 volt pin. I would have thought it was bigger than 2.5mm though. More like about 3.5-4mm.

Greg.

[marki]

Hi Greg

Yes both ends are 2.5mm plugs if they are the standard cable. These fit most things like synta, losmandy etc etc. It would not be terribly difficult to cut one plug off and replace it with the correct size if needed though.

Mark

[ChrisM]

I presume that the mount hub does not generate much heat? Does it get at all warm?

Chris

[Paul Haese]

I ended up ordering the USB version without the GPS from the UK since the Australian distributor has gone. Looks like I will need to learn how to make USB cables now.

[Marke]

Paul , Lindy have 0.5m cables and longer if you need short usb

Mark

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Mark. I was just checking out their .2m cables too for specific cables. Once I get the hub I will start looking at individual cables for each scope.

[Marke]

The clear silver ones are very well made and cheap , I bought a few just recently

[marki]

Not that I have noticed.

Mark

[Paul Haese]

Just some questions now. Do I have to run the software that mount hub pro uses? Or can I simply just plug the hub in and run everything through it? I suspect I will need to do this just so that I can run the dew heater.

Mine took a few weeks more to get hold of because of a sticker related problem. David from the UK was very good though and offered a discount.

[cventer]

Paul,

You run the mount hub software if you want to control the relays for power.

There are some allways on 12v power which I connect things like my RC10 fans to.

You dont need the software running to use the focuser port for your robofocus, but you do need to ascom focuser drivers installed.

several months on and I am still very happy with mine.

Main quirk I dont like is having to power the mount hub last. If the mount hub gets power before the USB connection is active you have to cycle the power. Because I use it as a hub through my MX it means MX must be powerd on first before the mount hub. No big deal but sometimes I forget.

[gregbradley]

Is that power up sequence true for most USB powered devices. Power up the computer, then power up your gear?

I have found sometimes powering up the gear and then turning on the computer can lead to failures in USB connections.

I am at my dark site and last night I setup the MX mount in my observatory here. The mechanical side went smoothly.

But then I had troubles with the Sky X (not as user friendly as the Sky 6.0) and connecting with my cameras. I got them all to connect finally and then the mount would drop out! I found the MX hubs to not work well. Then again I don't find any hubs work well including the Proline's.

I'd get everything working except the filter wheel. It said it was working in Device Manager but it would not connect. I may have to cable it direct to the computer.

Any suggestions? Win 7 64 lappie one is core duo 2 the other is i7 with lots of RAM.

Greg.

[frolinmod]

Actually, TheSkyX is more user friendly than TheSky6. Way more user friendly. It's like the difference between metric and imperial. American's can't understand metric because they keep thinking in imperial. They just need to stop thinking in imperial...

[Paul Haese]

Bit of an update.

I have the hub mounted on my refractor now. Today I made a power cable for the QSI which now just plugs into the hub. I ran the QSI through the hub for 30 minutes without a hitch. I have also ordered smaller USB cables for both the QSI and the SSAG through lindy.com.au and the service looks pretty fast (perhaps 24 hours for delivery to SA; I ordered the cables this afternoon and the cables are already on a plane).

I have the Robofocus cable directly connected to the hub and the manual focus controls work so now I need to get the ascom driver and use focus max to drive the focusor.

For mount intergration, how are people using it on PMX or PME? The PME version I have 4000 does not have USB or power (only camera power) going through the mount, so I am thinking I will shorten the cable for the mount hub pro and run a power cable directly through the mount with a female lighter plug at the top end and a power supply at the base of the mount. That way I can just unplug the refractor and replace it with the big scope and not need to take off the versa plate. Thoughts?

Anyone used the dew controllers? What sort of setting works best?

[cventer]

Paul

On PMX, I connect mount hub USB cable to the Versa Plate USB. I then Power the mount hub via the internal Cable run through the mount.

I cut cigarette lighter off mount hub and attached one of these

Its this one http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView...n&form=KEYWORD (http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=PP0362&keywords=mini+din&form=KEYWORD)

Part Number: PP0362

I then use another of same connector for panel on mount to regulated 12v supply that i know is very clean.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Chris, that has given me some things to think about. Power and USB through the mount cables is out of the question. However power connectors will work with what I have in mind.

[frolinmod]

I have the serial port for the ME connected to the through the mount serial port on the back of the mount. Just a little loop from one connector to the other. That goes up through the mount to the serial connector on the back end of the Versaplate. I then have the serial port on the back end of the Versaplate connected to the Mount Hub Pro via a short serial to USB cable. The USB cable from the Mount Hub Pro goes down through the mount (via an extension cable) and out the back.

I cut the cigar lighter plug off the Mount Hub Pro power cable, shortened the cable and crimped on Anderson power pole connectors. That connects to 14 AWG power cable that does down through the mount.

I also replaced the existing USB cable on the Mount Hub Pro with a shorter (18-inch?) and more flexible one. I connect that to a (6-foot) USB extension cable that goes down through the mount.

I'm using the dew controllers. I generally use them at either 0% or 100%. With an EdgeHD 14, when the conditions call for dew, anything less than 100% from the get-go is generally not effective. I also use a dew shield.

[gregbradley]

I have the Robofocus cable directly connected to the hub and the manual focus controls work so now I need to get the ascom driver and use focus max to drive the focusor.



Let me know how you go with FocusMax as I need to go through that learning curve and start using it. At least to try it out.

I tried to start it up with the CDK but there are posts about it how you have to adjust the CDK electronic focuser software. It would not connect.

Perhaps on the refractors just to get started.

Greg.