How to get the Atik 314E remotely connected?

[Skywatcher]

I tried using a Trulink USB 2.0 Extender http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=1521&sku=53877 from Cables To Go to remotely connect the camera to computer.  This works with other devices like a printer but not the Atik 314E.  Is it a driver issue?    The camera works with a 10' USB cable directly to the computer.  When using the Extender wall plates, a 3' USB cable on either end and a 6" Cat 5e patch cable between the wall plates gets no results. Any help would greatly be appreciated.  I am sure there are other people that have tried this.
Thanks.

[Kaidan]

This is probably because it doesn't support isochronous data flow.

[billpellerin]

Hi;

I'm using an Icron USB extender (www.icron.com). The 'at-the-telescope' end of the extender I'm using has 4 ports. One is for the 320E, another for the guide camera (Orion), and the third for the USB to serial (to communicate with the mount).

The Icron isn't cheap, but it works. It's basically 'transparent' to the computer. Once everything is plugged in the computer 'thinks' the USB ports are local.

I've had no problem with this so far.

I heard about a guy who used one of these so that he could be in his trailer with his computer while his telescope, camera, etc were on the field.

Good luck

[Skywatcher]

Thank you for the advice.  I hope this works as well for the 314E as it did for your 320E.

[Skywatcher]

Got the Icron Ranger 2204 USB Extender in the mail today.  The camera still will not connect with the Artemis capture sofware.   Everything looks normal according to the OS (Win 7 64bit).  Would a firmware upgrade on the camera fix this?

[Chris]

If the camera works in the normal way, with a USB cable between it and the PC then the problem is unlikely to be with the camera and changing things there will almost certainly have no effect.

It is Much more likely is that it's something to do with the extender.  Try this with a variety of things - a mouse, keyboard, a webcam or camera and a USB memory stick.  The low speed devices will probably work but the high speed devices may not.

You will probably have to sort this out with the extender manufacturer, it's fitting that that makes the difference and at least they should be able to give advice on how to find out what is going on.

Chris

[billpellerin]

Wow... sorry to hear that the Icron didn't work for you. I'm running Win 7, 64 bit as well on a HP laptop and everything worked as expected with my Atik Camera.  The Icron is USB2, which differentiates it from most of the USB extenders on the market.

The suggestion to try other USB 2 devices using the Icron is a good one. See if those work. As I said in my earlier post I'm using a USB to serial adapter and an Orion autoguiding camera via this link and it's working ok. You can call Icron and see if they have any ideas.

Can you try another computer?

A friend of mine, who introduced me to the Icron is using his successfully with SBIG cameras.

[billpellerin]

Another thing to look at...

Right click the 'Computer' icon then 'Manage' then 'Device Manager'. If all is well, you should see your camera connected to the computer. If you don't see it then the computer doesn't know it's there. This is a possible driver issue, although if it works when direct connected the driver should be ok.

Look under 'Universal Serial Bus Controllers' (you should see the new USB ports provided by the Icron) and look under 'Imaging Devices' to see if the camera shows up there. ((I don't have my camera here, so I can't hook it up at the moment to see how it appears in the 'Devices' list.))

On my 'old' computer some of the USB ports were USB1 and only one of them (I think) was USB2. Have you tried another computer USB port with the 'dongle'?

I'll be at my observing site tomorrow and can provide more detail on how the camera shows up in the devices list.

[billpellerin]

I hooked up my 320E camera to the computer via the Icron device.

If I right-click the 'Computer' icon then click 'Manage' then 'Device Manager' then 'Universal Serial Bus Controllers' I see that there are two additional entries in the list.

Atik 320E
Generic USB Hub

The camera does not show up in the 'Imaging Devices' list.

The Capture program recognizes the presence of the camera and initiates and then downloads images.

I hope you can get this sorted out. Good luck.