ZWO ASI 120MM slow fps rates

[stash]

Thanks Mark ,

 

Yeh that's interesting - especially the short cable length/no hubs 

 

I guess the USB cable is the one that came in the box ?

 

Plus you are using Sharpcap which with Firecapture

 

Noted on ZWO site they warn "Full resolution function of the ASI120 requires full 480mbs USB communication!" and if you read this article

 

http://www.bandwidthtest.net/peripheral_ports_bandwidth.htm you can see that unless you are on USB 2 and direct one to one (no hubs) you aren't going to get a decent FPS. 

 

 

Rob ,

Have you tried , as an experiment , connecting the camera using the Original usb cable directly to you computer - don't know your set up so you may not be able to do it.

If you did what rate did you get ?

[oldfruit]

I do not use Firecapture Clive as the couple of times I have tried it caused my laptop to freeze, so just Sharpcap on its own. Yes the cable I am using is the one that came with the camera.

[stash]

I do not use Firecapture Clive as the couple of times I have tried it caused my laptop to freeze, so just Sharpcap on its own. Yes the cable I am using is the one that came with the camera.

Ta Mark for the info - Yeh Firecapture wasn't very stable for me either when I was "playing" with just std Web Cams - yet Sharpcap was fine.

[Guest Eddy]

Just my 2c, With a normal laptop usb2 port and the cable that came with the camera, I believe I could manage over 100fps at 640x480, this was recording to an SSD though, which may make a difference.

[stash]

What EMS need,perhaps, is something like this(see below) to loan around (?) 

 

http://www.passmark.com/products/usb2loopback.htm + ;http://www.passmark.com/products/bit.htm

 

Might help with some problems - Note the USB 3 hardware is a bit more expensive

 

Or just good old "trial and error" plus some common sense 

 

Very frustrating for those with problems -  I sympathize greatly as AP's put so much work(love ?) into their hobby 

[Daz Type-R]

What EMS need,perhaps, is something like this(see below) to loan around (?) 

 

http://www.passmark.com/products/usb2loopback.htm + ;http://www.passmark.com/products/bit.htm

 

Might help with some problems - Note the USB 3 hardware is a bit more expensive

 

Or just good old "trial and error" plus some common sense 

 

Very frustrating for those with problems -  I sympathize greatly as AP's put so much work(love ?) into their hobby 

 

That's fine and a good idea, but who is going to pay for it and or pay for the postage to send to each member who needs it?

 

The dark site members pay £20 a year and that goes towards our dark site rental, we also pay for the upkeep and running of the forum (it's not free) and also all our public liability insurance.  Asking the dark site members to also contribute to the buying of said equipment to assist with computer problems could be a bit much, but saying that, we have bought a projector to use at public out reach events so anything (funds allowing) is possible.

 

Although should a dark site member who does not do AP still have to pay the full £20 a year to help fund an AP bit of kit??????  While I do not really mind some might.

 

We have had members donate whole entire mounts and scopes and barlows and ep's, if your offering that would be great

Edited September 17, 2014 by Daz Type-R

[stash]

That's fine and a good idea, but who is going to pay for it and or pay for the postage to send to each member who needs it?

 

The dark site members pay £20 a year and that goes towards our dark site rental, we also pay for the upkeep and running of the forum (it's not free) and also all our public liability insurance.  Asking the dark site members to also contribute to the buying of said equipment to assist with computer problems could be a bit much, but saying that, we have bought a projector to use at public out reach events so anything (funds allowing) is possible.

 

Although should a dark site member who does not do AP still have to pay the full £20 a year to help fund an AP bit of kit??????  While I do not really mind some might.

 

We have had members donate whole entire mounts and scopes and barlows and ep's, if your offering that would be great

I don't do AP (so don't need it - lucky don't have USB problems that I can't sort)  either and it was only a suggestion - I will leave something in my will 

 

This utility is a quick way of seeing whats on USB ports instead of going thru Control panel etc and requires no installation. Just download. Note not tested on Windows 8

 

http://www.ftdichip.com/Support/Utilities.htm  util called USBVIEW

Edited September 17, 2014 by stash

[red dwalf]

that unit looks a good idea, i didn`t know you could but such a device.

 

anyway i don`t think the problems i`ve had are anything to do with the camera, it works fine and great FPS using my old Dell D 610 laptop, 

trouble was i was sitting next to the pier when trying to image planets with it wasn`t too practical and i also wanted the camera to work as a guide camera, which when using PHD software i would set the exposures at 2 seconds so there was no problem.

the cameras do not like powered hubs, of which i`ve tried two, or active usb cables although now i`ve found that normal 5 meter usb extension cables work very well.

my obsy desktop computer is a HP Compaq microtower dx2200 3 ghz Pentium 4 with 1.87 gb of ram running windows xp professional 32 bit dual core i think, which is a lot newer than the old laptop and has 7 on board usb 2 ports, 3 at front and 4 on rear which are supposed to be usb 2 ports, i`ve checked drivers for these and they seem to be latest window ones.

now if i plug the camera into any of these ports i`m lucky if a can get 1 - 4 fps out of it, now i inserted an old usb 2 pci card into the rear of the desktop and the frame rate has improved immensely, not jaw dropping but reasonable and considering that the pci card must be over 5 years old i`m not complaining.

frame rates i`m now getting are,

full resolution 1280 x 960 = 17 fps, ZWO website quoted figures are 35 fps

resolution 640 x 480 = 71 fps, ZWO website quoted figures are 113 fps

resolution 320 x 240 = 215 fps, ZWO website quoted figures are 215 fps so bang on there.

resolution 120 x 128 = 425 fps, ZWO don`t publish figures for this as it`s a bit small anyway.

maybe a newer pci card will improve things, i don`t know, not really my line, i just like to turn it on and it work.

anyway i`ve had no problems running any of my other stuff, i.e. ccd cameras, dlsr cameras, usb filter wheels, usb focusers or the mount on EQmod at all just this camera but as said above, noe the usb pci card has been installed it runs perfectly well considering the pc is not state of the art.

anyone throwing away and all singing and dancing computer give me a shout L.O.L

[stash]

Rob,

 

What fun(not) and games you have had.  Number of USB ports can be a problem in that it depends on how many USB controllers are on the Motherboard - so for example 7 physical ports maybe controlled by 3 (more likely) 2 USB controllers. Worst scenario 1 controller controlling 7 ports.

You can see how many controllers you have, if the are "enhance USB"  and which controller is controlling what Physical port. You can even see how much power is being given to each device. This is via Device manager as you know.

 

As for ZWO quoted rates - there are under ideal conditions(super fast PC,SSD,short cables etc etc) and like all sales info tend to stretch the truth a bit. 

 

IMO and from experience USB devices are a pain because manufacturer's ,especially far eastern  , don't stick to standards. Countless problems with so called "powered Hubs" that just power the LED and don't repeat the signal.

 

Having said that people treat USB ports /hubs like Electrical extn plugs and hang everything off including the kitchen sink and expect performance. 

 

if you have found a solution that works brill - more time to do AP    .

 

I wasn't suggesting throwing away the kit - sorry if I implied it.

[red dwalf]

I wasn't suggesting throwing away the kit - sorry if I implied it.

 

not at all, i`m always very grateful for advice,  

[red dwalf]

just reinstalled windows xp sp2 onto my old Dell D610 laptop,

installed the driver for the asi 120 mm camera and the new version of firecapture 2.4.05 beta,

excellent frame rates, almost as good as the website figures, just goes to prove you don`t need the all singing and dancing machine, mind you theres not alot of software loaded onto it at the moment.

1280 x 960 frame size is achieving 31 fps, zwo quoted figures of 35 fps

640 x 480 frame size is achieving 106 fps, zwo quoted figures of 113 fps

320 x 240 frame size is achieving 212 fps, zwo quoted figures of 215 fps

happy bunny 

[oldfruit]

just reinstalled windows xp sp2 onto my old Dell D610 laptop,

installed the driver for the asi 120 mm camera and the new version of firecapture 2.4.05 beta,

excellent frame rates, almost as good as the website figures, just goes to prove you don`t need the all singing and dancing machine, mind you theres not alot of software loaded onto it at the moment.

1280 x 960 frame size is achieving 31 fps, zwo quoted figures of 35 fps

640 x 480 frame size is achieving 106 fps, zwo quoted figures of 113 fps

320 x 240 frame size is achieving 212 fps, zwo quoted figures of 215 fps

happy bunny 

Excellent.

[stash]

glad to hear it - just try to keep it un-bloated 

 

Rob ,

 

I know its a bit much too ask but have you tried  the orig Hub and Extn lead on your Dell D610 laptop - just interested in the rates when  using Hub on clean Install. 

Edited September 20, 2014 by stash

[Guest AstroOlly]

Hi,

I have read through this thread with interest, as I thought my frame rates were low from my ASI120mc camera.

I use mine on 10mts of active USB extension leads, and with a Atom 1.6ghz netbook, and get at full resolution, colour in preview mode 17fps, when I then connect to my older Laptop that has an Core 2 duo 2.4ghz I get 33fps with the same settings, which is pretty much the maximum for those settings, and like I say I have two 5 meter active USB cables between the camera and my laptop, although there is a powered hub at the camera end.

So maximum fps advertised are possible even with an old laptop and 10 meters of active USB cable in between.

Olly

Edited October 7, 2014 by AstroOlly

[red dwalf]

you have done well with 2 active usb cables Olly, i couldn`t get it to run with one and it didn`t like either of the 2 powered hubs i have.

 i`ve bought a 5 meter cheap usb extension cable and a 1.6 meter extension on that and the camera works fine, but if i go over that length much more the frame freezes and the frame rate stops.