383L+, only partial image downloads after a long wait.

[Zoeff]

MaximDL hangs after the usual beep as well. After 10 minutes or so I can finally check the image but more often than not a large section of the image will be blank (black). Never had a problem like this before.

I can only assume (hope..) that it's a connection issue with the USB cable I'm using. It's a short cable that connects to an unpowered USB hub which is connected to my computer using a 10 meter USB cable which has 2 male USB plugs on the computer end to draw extra power. This setup worked fine for the 2 years I've used it so far.

Just to be sure, these symptoms are a clear sign that the connection between camera and computer is wonky or is there something more serious going on? I've already tried re-seating all the cables but without much success. Should I keep focusing on the cables or is the problem elsewhere? Thanks!

EDIT: Here's an example.
Converted to 8-bit linearly and saved as JPEG in MaximDL: http://i.imgur.com/9H5dJM5.jpg

If you look closely you can see the lowest line with actual data is cut off in the middle, suggesting the transfer was stopped in the middle of the download..?

[Kinch]

I note you say you use a 10m USB cable...even with two plugs to the computer I think you are pushing things there. I am no expert but think indeed that you need Active USB cables (I am sure you can look them up on EBay or at a good local supplier). Basically over 5m and you will have signal loss.....can't really understand that you have been able to do that for 2 years.....is this a different camera than before with larger file sizes maybe?  (I have 4 x5m active USB cables in line going direct from computer to camera (Atik 460 EX) with no problem....downloading the 11.5mb file per sub takes less than 10 secs each. (No hub on cables for camera / PC connection). See here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kinch-astro/10967479225/
The active cables basically push the data along.
Hope this might be an answer to your problem. I would imagine it is indeed your cables.

(I'll add that at one time I did find big delays in downloading subs - went to several minutes - then I went right through the computer to be sure I knocked off anything that was going on in the background (e.g. Norton was a big culprit) and that sorted things for me. That might also be a source of very long delays in getting data transferred).

Kinch

[Zoeff]

It's the exact same setup, worked for years.

I did manage to get it to work eventually, but it's been so many cloudy nights since that I don't remember how I fixed it.

[Kinch]

All's well that ends well then......

Kinch