|
EricCCD
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/14/04
Posts: 1945
|
|
Hi all,
I'm curious about my options here:
I have a Meade DSI Pro that I'd like to use as an autoguider.
My imaging laptop is a 750MHz laptop with 256MB RAM running XP. I'm running MaximDL 4.6, TheSky6, FocusMax, Robofocus, and CCDAutopilot. The laptop has only 1 USB 1.1 port, which I'm using a USB 2.0 hub for all the devices connected to it. Yes, it's slow as molasses with all that software running.
With the above configuration, I am unable to run a sequence of images with the DSI. At unpredictable intervals, Maxim will error out with a failure message (e.g., with the DSI as an autoguider, the message is "Autoguider Error (-4)". I've contacted Cyanogen, and the suggestion is to use USB 2.0 ports. Which my laptop lacks.
I do have a USB 2.0 PC Card for that laptop: a CompUSA-branded card that has an input for power, but was sold without the power supply. If I attempt to connect the camera to that card, I get a "Power surge" error. If I use the USB hub (which is USB 2.0) connected to the PC Card and using the hub's power supply, the system does not recognize the DSI at all.
What are my options in this case? The DSI appears to run fine using Envisage and connected to the USB 1.1 port. Am I out of luck with this combination?
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Eric
|
AlanT
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/20/07
Posts: 532
Loc: 122º36' W, 47º37' N, WA USA
|
|
Strange problem. I been using an old 600Mhz Toshiba laptop (which also doesn't support USB 2). I bought a NexxTech USB2 PC card for it from Circuitcity. It also has a power input connection but I've never used it. It has worked great either with the DSI Pro hooked directly to the card, or by way of a powered hub.
Does your USB2 card work in other respects? Like with USB2 flash drives, webcams, etc?
The PC card i use cost me about $40, so if you want to gamble, you might just want to try a different PC card. I think they're finicky... I had to send back the first one I bought (a Sabent card from Newegg), because I couldn't get the drivers to work right.
Just a thought,
al
--------------------
al
Meade 80mm APO
Celestron 6" SCT
CGE, GM-8, & CG-5 GT
ST-4000xcm, ST-2000xcm, DSI Pro II, DSI Pro
( www.alberts-astro.com/astro )
|
Zyxlor
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/10/05
Posts: 2335
Loc: In my RV - Anywhere USA
|
|
I'm supprised it works at all with only 256k of RAM. Envisage wouldn't work for me until I went to 512.
At any rate more RAM always helps performance.
--------------------
Zyxlor
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
|
russ_watters
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/24/04
Posts: 1340
Loc: Trappe, PA
|
|
I'd suggest a higher quality usb 2.0 card and a memory upgrade.
--------------------
Equipment: Orion Atlas 11, ED80, DSI-C, DSI III Pro, Dell Inspiron Laptop.
www.russsscope.net
|
EricCCD
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/14/04
Posts: 1945
|
|
Thanks for the ideas, everyone!
Al, the USB card does work with other devices. I was actually expecting that "Power surge" error when I plugged the DSI in, as that was exactly what happened the first time I used that USB card with my Neximage. Oddly enough, the Neximage works beautifully with the following configuration:
USB Card + Powered USB 2.0 hub + Neximage
It didn't work with the DSI (Card + powered hub + DSI), though I wonder if I should try it with the computer cold-booted. I'll probably try it one more time before throwing in the towel.
Z, that's interesting about 256MB RAM. I wasn't aware of that, but Envisage hasn't complained yet. Not that I've tried imaging with that - I got the DSI primarily as a guider.
Russ, good suggestions. 512MB is all my laptop can take, if I can find it inexpensively I'll try that, and the better card if all else fails. Any suggestion on a good one in addition to Al's card?
My one other beef with having to use the USB 2.0 card is that I also use a wireless network card to control my laptop remotely, and I don't know if that will fit in my notebook's PC card slot with the USB card. I may end up having to get in addition to all this a USB wireless networking device. 
Eric
|
SleepIsWrong
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/07/05
Posts: 607
Loc: Baltimore, MD
|
|
Hi Eric:
Maybe just find another laptop? My main laptop croaked two weeks ago so, needing SOMETHING to run the 'scope until my laptop returns I went to a local computer company. They had lots of "old" used laptops. Picked up an HP something-or-other that had 1 usb2, 1 usb1, a parallel port, 60g disk, 1 gig of ram, and XP pro for $399.
Mike
--------------------
14" Celestron CGE (two of 'em)
Soupy, orange, mag 4. skies (woof!)
ST9-XE, ST8-XME
ssp-3 photometer
Mira Pro UE7 & ProScript, IDL v7.1, AIP4Win, MaxIm DL, TheSky6 Pro, PC-IRAF 2.14.1
Way too many white squares in the graphic, below
|
AlanT
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/20/07
Posts: 532
Loc: 122º36' W, 47º37' N, WA USA
|
|
I agree with Mike here.... that's what I'm going to do soon. Although my old beater is working, I want to start using it remotely by VNC over a fast wireless connection. I think that load, along with the capture and guiding software would probably cause the poor thing to hemorrhage.
Just for reference, My old laptop is maxed out at 192mb of ram and the DSI and Envisage have been working ok.
al
--------------------
al
Meade 80mm APO
Celestron 6" SCT
CGE, GM-8, & CG-5 GT
ST-4000xcm, ST-2000xcm, DSI Pro II, DSI Pro
( www.alberts-astro.com/astro )
|
Pess
(Title)
Reged: 09/12/07
Posts: 2444
Loc: Toledo, Ohio
|
|
Your main problem is memory. The fact that the DSI downloads at all is a near miracle with all that intensive software.
With the cost of laptops coming down and the cost of laptop memory so high, I would just save for a new laptop with a higher CPU speed, 2.0 USB bus and at least 1Gig of ram.
Probably get that for around $450 while a ram upgrade will likely be around $100.
No matter what you upgrade on your current laptop you'll bump up against something else as you go on. Your going to need the faster CPU, faster USB, more RAM and more storage space on your harddrive.
Kick out that extra kidney for cash, drain half that blood sloshing around for some extra bullion, sell little guppies for gold to the local bank and get yourself a new laptop.
Pesse (Will attest that Christmas decorations don't look dorky for extra RAM) Mist
Edited by Pess (12/19/07 05:01 PM)
|
EricCCD
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/14/04
Posts: 1945
|
|
Thanks for the additional input. My hope is (was?) to keep the old laptop around as my DSO workhorse (which it has done very well at) until it really crashes into something hard and immovable. Yes, 512MB RAM is over $100, probably not worth it with this laptop.
I do have a newer laptop which can easily have the old one for lunch. However, it's got Vista on it (which I'm curretly loathe to replace with XP), and I was not intending it as my imaging laptop, at least not yet. Maybe I'll just wait a bit.
More stuff to consider.
Eric
|
EricCCD
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/14/04
Posts: 1945
|
|
Hello all,
Just an update. Yesterday I bought a NexxTech USB2 PC card from Circuitcity like Alan's, and with that the DSI works perfectly! At least in a test - I ran a series of 1-second exposures in Focus mode for at least 20 minutes, and every image downloaded like a champ! Woo-hoo!
Now, new question: I need a longer USB 2.0 cable for my DSI - any suggestions on a good one, or a good extender?
Erc
|
|
|
Previous
Index
Next
Threaded
Edit
Reply
Quote
