SV605cc Beeps and Dosconnect

[Ehud]

Hi Robin,
I am using an SCT with a finder scope on top of it. The purpose is to overcome the narrow field of the SCT and have an automatic GoTo.
The SCT is using a ZWO EAF focuser and has an SV605cc camera, and the finder scope is using LPI-G advanced camera. The mount is AZ-EQ5 in EQ mode. All are connected to my laptop through a USB Hub with 5V power boosted 5m cable.
When Sharpcap is using the SV605cc, it has three short beeps every scan. for example, if I am using 5 second captures (and not even doing stacking), the bar at the bottom advances, and when ending 5th-second, it sounds three beeps and starts allover the scan. The beeps are annoying - why I am getting them, and can they be silenced?
Also, after 5-10 minutes they stop - actually the camera image is stuck and not refreshed anymore. If I disconnect the USB cable from the laptop and after few seconds reconnect it - the camera resumes it's operation.
Please advise.

Thanks,
Ehud.

[Ehud]

Hi Robin,
Further to the above - when I disconnect the finder scope camera' the beeps disappears. Strange' as I am not using the finder scope camera in Sharpcap when using the SV605cc.

[Ehud]

Hi Robin,
and more strange - when the SV605cc seems to be stuck, it actually scans for 5 seconds with no output signal, and then few frame at sub second rate, and back to 5 seconds. 5 seconds is the default auto configuration for the SV605cc.

[Ehud]

Hi Robin,
and more strange - when the SV605cc seems to be stuck, it actually scans for 5 seconds with no output signal, and then few frame at sub second rate, and back to 5 seconds. 5 seconds is the default auto configuration for the SV605cc.

[Ehud]

And further- further: I thought it might be the USB hub, so I connected the finder scope camera directly to the laptop thorugh it's own short cable. It works for a minute or so, then the Finder Scope camera gave a message of disconnected. After 2-3 re-plug of the USB cable' it stared to work again. I then tried a different connection at the USB hub. Same as above - worked a bit and stopped.

[Ehud]

And further- further: I thought it might be the USB hub, so I connected the finder scope camera directly to the laptop thorugh it's own short cable. It works for a minute or so, then the Finder Scope camera gave a message of disconnected. After 2-3 re-plug of the USB cable' it stared to work again. I then tried a different connection at the USB hub. Same as above - worked a bit and stopped.
Attached is a snapshot of the error I get.
Btw, all of it happens even if using short USB cable,' extenders with power, etc. As each device consumes about 300ma, it is likely not a USB power issue.

[admin]

Hi,

there are a few things I can add that might help

1) For the SVBony camera, it sounds as though the camera is dropping frames (not receiving valid frames from the camera), leading to the progress bar resetting with no new image.

2) SharpCap doesn't beep - at least not in the way you describe, so I think the beeps are coming directly from the camera SDK, warning you of a lost frame. I do recall encountering this sort of thing somewhere before, but if I had to put a bet on which camera I'd have thought it might have been QHY, not SVBony

3) The error you are getting with the LPI-G indicates that the camera is detected but SharpCap is getting errors trying to send commands to it (the first command tried fails). The common cause of this is if the camera is open in another application, but I can also see that the camera is showing up as 'USB2' which may indicate USB issues if you are connecting with a USB3 cable and port.


It sounds like the SV605C runs correctly with no LPI-G plugged in, but not with the LPI-G connected (even if not used). That raises two thoughts for me

1) USB bandwidth issues - try connecting both back to separate ports on the laptop without any hubs to see if the issue goes away with separate non-hub connections back to the laptop

2) USB power issues - adding a second camera adds more power draw to the laptop USB system, which might be an issue. If you have a powered hub (separate power supply), it would be worth trying it for the SV605 camera

Of course, it's also possible to be 'one of those weird things'... I have one camera (not going to name the manufacturer) that has the weird behaviour of causing almost every USB device on the PC to reset when I plug it in... No idea why

cheers,

Robin

[Ehud]

Hi Robin,
I have tried all you said. Still' weird things going.

And when I reconnect the LPI-G camera' to a different USB connector on my laptop - it suddenly stops. So I plug it out and in again - and I get a message: "Sharpcap faced unexpected error and will be closed" or so. and then it closed. I restart everything - I see the LPI-G camera, I switch to the SV605 - I see it - or sometimes a crash.
It seem to me like Sharpcap do has some issues (but maybe I am wrong). Why the beeps are at the rate of the camera? And why I get crushes when switching cameras?

Thanks,
Ehud.

[admin]

Hi,

do you have a second computer that you could test the two cameras on to see if the same behaviour extends to more than one computer?

cheers,

Robin

[Ehud]

Hi Robin,
I connected each cable directly to the laptop, each to a different USB connector, and it worked almost well. The beeps were gone. But sometimes (maybe 1 out of 5-10) switching cameras resulted in unexpected error and Sharcap crashed..
I than tried connecting the cables to the hub and the hub directly to the laptop - same as above.
But when I added the extension cable' the beeps returned. I think the extension cable might be faulty.
But what about the crash when switching cameras?

Thanks,
Ehud.