5 replies to this topic

[pyrasanth]

Having striped down the CEM120 for the build of the side by side configuration  this neccessiated removing all the equipment and recabling with the associated change in the positions of equipment and cabling. I needed to remove the USB hub completely as it would have been sandwiched between the 2 OTA's thus preventing me from being able to plug in USB cables.

 

Having rebuilt everything nothing would play nicely- cameras were crashing, devices were starting and then disappearing and all manner of other errors. I began to investigate the issues I was seeing and most of the camera crashes were down to the legacy ZWO drivers that were released before Christmas which did not work correctly. I gunuinely thought I had updated these drivers and the newer ASCOM versions but the ZWO installer said no.

 

I also moved the USB2 devices from the Pegasus USB3 hub and used the hub on the ASI 183 to connect these devices- this seems to have given a greater level of stability- it is never good having multiple hubs  which would be given by having 3 ZWO cameras with all their USB2 hubs on the same system. I could imagine a USB huib fight with that one!

 

I'm still no fan of the ZWO driver implementation- it can be tempermental and can lead to a lot of frustration- there is a really strong need to carefully consider, more than I'd like, as to how devices are connected & where they plug in.

 

I lost hours of good imaging time last night however I hope now moving forward these issues are behind me or at least mitigated.

 

Now I need to look at how the RASA is behaving itself as I've not even begun to work the kinks out in that OTA after the placement of the side by side on the CEM120- I'm trying to sort one system out at a time to save my sanity!

 

I will let you know hoew I get on.

Edited by pyrasanth, 05 May 2024 - 04:22 AM.

[F.Meiresonne]

Yep, software can be frustrating. Even the simplest update can ruin everything. No fun, one has to sweat it out and solve the issues. It can take time...

[pyrasanth]

Yep, software can be frustrating. Even the simplest update can ruin everything. No fun, one has to sweat it out and solve the issues. It can take time...

I think I've pretty much fixed the issues- I'm soak testing now & I've made a full system backup of the working system in case an update makes everything go north of broken again.

 

However I do get a feeling that this computer may have been software broken for sometime. It's only when I added a third ASI camera to the dual rig that the ugly ZWO camera software problems manifested themselves. The complete hardware tear down does not help much as previously configured devices are once again having to jufggle themselves around- its a recipe for a configuration headache which as you stated takes time to fix. The only time you really know you have an issue is when your under the stars cursing around the lost imaging time.

[Mert]

I feel your pain Mark, been there and done that many times!

 

CS,

Mert

[pyrasanth]

I feel your pain Mark, been there and done that many times!

 

CS,

Mert

Hi Mert- I've just finished a soak test- I managed over 1000 60 second subs with the guide camera also working in parallel- did not see any camera issues- I just hope things stay working. I have a system image back up as well for good measure- however its MS patch week next week- that will, I'm sure, break something.

Edited by pyrasanth, 07 May 2024 - 09:41 AM.

[Mert]

Good to know about that MS patch week next week.

Will disconnect all PC's I'm using, too many times things went haywire.

Edited by Mert, 07 May 2024 - 10:22 AM.