Ric I ended up cutting my remote cable and soldering a plug and jack at either end with a shielded cable approx 5 metres long.
The beauty is that I can swap the end so I can use it on either the 20Da or the 300D and also I can plug it into the lappy for use with DSLRFocus etc.
Are you talking about the usb cable Ric or the bulb cable. The ones for bulb control from www.shoestringastronomy.com makes are about 10 feet long. Canon don't make one for computer control for bulb exposure.
If it's the USB then just get a 1.5meter extension. If you go longer you may need a powered hub. Better check with someone a bit more computer savy than me
Thanks Andrew, I'm really enjoying getting used to it. So many buttons to learn and press.
Hi Paul, It's the USB cable that I mean't. That way I can use the the lappy and utilty software for long exposures.
Ah ok, I thought you meant the remote cable.
If using the EOS utility then just use a USB extension like Paul-Gates said.
If you need a longer run then get an active USB cable or powered hub.
Also how long can these cables be before the signal starts to degrade?
5 meters, but you can go over that limit if you are using powered hub or just an active USB cable which is usually 5 meters long and can be extended with a passive cable to 10 meters. It does not required to be powered externally as it gets power from USB port and makes a signal stronger for another 5 meters. As far as I know you can connect maximum of 5 these active cables together to get total 25 meters length with no signal degradation.
I think something's been missed here. To do long exposures you need two cables, not one.
The standard (or whatever length you want or get) USB cable will control the camera via the EOS Utility or, as Geoff has stated, ImagesPlus. That's great if you want to control it for exposure and focus remotely for exposures from the fastest right up to 30 seconds.
If you want to go beyond 30 seconds, i.e. bulb, you'll need the ShoeString USB to headphone-type jack that lets the software control the bulb exposure as well via the shutter remote plug on the camera. The standard USB to USB cable won't allow bulb exposures to be taken.
Thank Chris and Michael, I can see a good reference book on the subject is soon going to be the order of the day.
I have MaximDL and there is MaxDSLR add on/plugin that is available, is that going to be the same as ImagesPlus? I have found the Maxim software to be very good and I'd hate to go out and buy another load of software plus my better half might just string me up by the proverbials.
Chris - This is my experience - you can get up to 30 sec with the single USB cable and the EOS utility. Beyond that you need the Bulb connection which involves mini headphone jack connection into the camera in addition to the USB connection. I bought the Shoestring DSUSB and have this and a powered USB hub in a box below the mount. From the powered hub I run a 3m USB cable to the laptop so a total of 6m cable from the camera to the laptop.
Here are some pics of the "limited edition IIS interface box". In the top I have three of the Shoestring products (GPUSB, FCUSB and DSUSB), a serial to USB adaptor, a USB2 hub and a 4x12V outlet vercro'd to the tray. I use this hub to connect the 400D, the DSI and/or the Neximage.
The wiring drops through the tray to the underside where I have another 4 port USB powered hub permanently wired to the interface devices.
In the bottom of the box I have a 240V powerboard and a 240V/12V powersupply.
I therefore have only a few connections to make - 240V, 2xUSB into laptop and the connections to the mount/camera. All the wiring from the mount/camera terminate in the box so less wires to trip over.
I've also wrapped the two 400D cables together in a spiral plastic cable tidy.
Hi Peter, that is one excellent setup, very well thought out and very stylish.
I will have to take a leaf out of your book of great ideas when I start to build my observatory. At the moment I'm starting to look like spaghetti junction with more cables to come.