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

[Marke (Mark)]

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

[marki]

Not that I have noticed.

Mark

Originally Posted by ChrisM

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

Chris

[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]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

But then I had troubles with the Sky X (not as user friendly as the Sky 6.0).

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

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]

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

For mount intergration, how are people using it on PMX or PME?

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.