MichiP Posted July 7, 2020 Report Share Posted July 7, 2020 Hi, Has someone done an upgrade from the original build in USB hub in the ASA DDM 85 to a newer one with USB 3.0? If yes, which one have you used? Thanks Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Waldemar Posted July 8, 2020 Report Share Posted July 8, 2020 (edited) 53 minutes ago, MichiP said: Thank you all for your responses I thought it might be easy like a plug and play replacement. There is no certain reason for the upgrade to USB 3. Most stuff is still USB 2 but I made the experience that USB 3 is more stable than USB 2 and since my CCD is running on USB 3 and I have dismounted my RC for doing some improvements, I thorough it could be a good idea to use this chance to upgrade. @Waldemar I think I will go with your solution. Have you also connected the mount directly into the DS600 so that your PC is controlling the your DDM? What are you connecting with the Lumberg 8 connector? Regards Michael PS: @Vaud welcome Hi Michael My DDM85 has an USB-out port for the HUB, but the mount control is done through a RS232 to USB converter. That RS232 connector is not the normal type, but a Lumberg DIN screw connector Three more of those type of connectors are available: 1 for powering the mount, 1 for auxiliary power (for example 2 x12v, galvanically separated) and 1 data port. The connectors on the DEC part are 3 x USB, 1x regulated ventilator connection, 1 data port and of course the aux. power connector I used the data port on the DEC part for making an ethernet connection to the SilexDS600, which I pickup at the data port on the RA. (the Lumberg 8 pole connector) With the DDM60, the connectors are a bit differently arranged, but you also have a data port as I remember, so you can use that to connect to the Silex. I seem to remember there are 2 USB outlets on the RA. 1 for mount control and 1 for the hub...so I do not understand why you could not change the internal hub. You may need to change the cabling, though. Some soldering skill is needed, the 8-pole connectors are not very forgiving ... So in short: the 8-pole connectors are used to make an ethernet cable with rj45 connectors on the other side. Be aware there are two kinds of 8-pole connectors: 1 straight with 240° for the DEC connection and one with 270° left pic shows the different pole arrangement; middle is the DEC cable; right the RA cable (I kept it short) Regards, Waldemar Edited July 8, 2020 by Waldemar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 ChristerS Posted July 8, 2020 Report Share Posted July 8, 2020 Hi, Just asked ASA about this for my DDM85 and the answer was this "No unfortunately not, as the USB hub runs trough our electronics board which is only USB2. I have pretty much the same configuration in my own observatory (ASI 6200). I use external cabling with a Startech USB3 range extender." Cheers, Christer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Vaud Posted July 8, 2020 Report Share Posted July 8, 2020 Hi, I think this is my first post in this forum so let me please take this opportunity to say Hello to Everyone! Back to the topic... Dont know how it is done in DDM85 but in DDM60Pro (i.e. cabling through the mount) the hub, that sits in DEC head of the mount is linked directly to USB Hub socket on RA. That's to say, for the USB Hub purposes e.g. to connect USB 3.0 Camera, the inner electronics should not interfere as it does not go through "electronic board". Could be in DDM85 it's really the case... In any case, I just wonder why would you need 3.0? Some time back it was also my "dream" but then I realized it's just "nice to have", rather than "must have". For the mount control itself USB 2.0 should be sufficient (there is no massive data transfer) and the 3.0 could be achieved as per ChristerS's post. An alternative would be to use "data" socket (if not used of course) + custom cabling. There is a post on this solution somewhere here in the forum, will try to find it when back home tonight. Obviously it requires a bit of "bricolage" as french speaker say, soldering, connectors etc. but just note: (1) you need to play with cables anyway i.e. changing hub or inventing a small bit of new electronics (2) you take a risk of breaking something that is working - ASA support team would not like this approach neither Does it make sense? Cheers, Krzysztof Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Waldemar Posted July 8, 2020 Report Share Posted July 8, 2020 I did exactly that: I used the mount's data transfer sockets, to connect a Silex DS600 USB-Ethernet extender with ethernet connections. I made my own cables with Lumberg 8 point connectors. Using the data cables which are supplied with the mount works as well of course. The Silex DS600 has 1 USB2 port and 1 USB3 port which both can handle a 4 port hub. This solution answers any USB demand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 MichiP Posted July 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2020 Thank you all for your responses I thought it might be easy like a plug and play replacement. There is no certain reason for the upgrade to USB 3. Most stuff is still USB 2 but I made the experience that USB 3 is more stable than USB 2 and since my CCD is running on USB 3 and I have dismounted my RC for doing some improvements, I thorough it could be a good idea to use this chance to upgrade. @Waldemar I think I will go with your solution. Have you also connected the mount directly into the DS600 so that your PC is controlling the your DDM? What are you connecting with the Lumberg 8 connector? Regards Michael PS: @Vaud welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 MichiP Posted July 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2020 Hi Waldemar, Thank you for sharing the details. That looks like a great and stable solution, I think we will go with it Regards Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 ChristerS Posted July 10, 2020 Report Share Posted July 10, 2020 Hi Waldermar, Thanks for the SilexDS600 tip, I used the DDM85 data port to run a ethernet camera befor it worked fine. Do the SilexDS600 deliver the USB3 speed needed? what camera do you run? I will soon test a QHY600M and it should download a full frame 60 Mpixel image in 2-3 sec on USB3 and native driver, the camera specs are "Full Frame Size: 2.5FPS (16-bit output)" And SilexDS600 supports USB3.0 SuperSpeed --> should be 5 gigabits per second (Gbit/s) (625 MB/s) but im not sure what USB3 genaration spec it supports and the troughput on the windows driver, will se. A full frame image is 120 Mbyte -> 960 Mbits so to get 2.5 FPS --> 2400 Mbits/sec -> 2,4 Gbit/s, so I need 50% of the supported USB3.0 SuperSpeed I think it hangs on how the camera and windows driver performes. Cheers, //Christer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Waldemar Posted July 10, 2020 Report Share Posted July 10, 2020 Hi Christer. I had no problems with speed whatsoever. I used it with a ASI 174MM cool for solar imaging. My Icron Ranger 2304 could not work with it... Maybe this info is what you need?: https://cdn-reichelt.de/documents/datenblatt/E910/SILEX_DS600_DB_DEU.pdf B.R. Waldemar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Question
MichiP
Hi,
Has someone done an upgrade from the original build in USB hub in the ASA DDM 85 to a newer one with USB 3.0?
If yes, which one have you used?
Thanks
Michael
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