I’ve rummaged around a bit and replied to another thread that’s similar, but haven’t yet seen any answers. That said, I’ll outline my setup and then the behavior.
SGP Version: 2.6.0.24 (have tried others with same results)
Windows 7 Pro
Laptop: old HP pavillion with Core 2 Duo
Shoestring DSUSB
Nikon D5100 with OEM firmware
So, here’s what’s happening and it’s driving me nuts:
I connect everything physically & via SGP (specifying camera type, desired filetypes, etc). The camera connects, the LED on the Shoestring DSUSB turns to green. I begin running a sequence, the camera fires properly. However, the exposure does not end. When the frame length reaches its limit (i.e. 5 mins), SGP states that the frame has completed and that it is downloading. It never downloads the frame. I close out SGP and then the shutter on the camera closes.
That said, doing a 2 second framing shot actually works, but going longer does not. The crazy thing is that it did decide to work for an hour or so the other night when I had everything out. However, it is incredibly inconsistent. I’ve tried pulling everything into a USB hub as well as directly into the USB ports on the laptop and the results are inconsistent each time.
I was wondering if anyone has had similar experiences and more importantly, if anyone can offer any potential solutions. We get precious few clear nights where I live so having to wrestle with software and eating up valuable imaging time falls squarely into my “unacceptable” category.
Any suggestions or ideas are sincerely appreciated.
In other news, I seem to have found some improvement with this issue. What I tried earlier was this:
Plug in everything (camera & DSUSB box) while leaving the camera switched off.
Load up a sequence in SGP.
Press the icon to connect to the camera (camera is still switched off at this point).
Switch the camera on after selecting the “connect” icon.
For some reason, leaving the camera off and then switching it on during the connection process seems to work better than if it was left on the entire time.
Anyway, hopefully that will help someone at some point
I’ve had this issue in the past when using my D5100. I’m using an ASI-1600 now so I can’t tell if the issue would have returned. If I remember correctly there were a lot of connection and dropped connection issues when using the DSUSB. I remember that keeping an SD card in the camera caused all kinds of random problems. So, if you have an SD card in the camera take it out and you may be ok. If not, let me know, and I’ll check my notes and see if I can find something else.
Thanks for the reply. I made 100% certain there was no SD card in the camera It’s the lack of consistency that makes this one really hard to trouble shoot. I’ve tried to make the problem crop up, but it seems somewhat random.
Well, I guess the SD card was too easy. I would turn off the image history. Also make sure you are connecting directly to your laptop or you are using a suitable powered hub. Cables shouldn’t be too long. I also replaced a few cables.
You can test during the day. Just set up a test system and take a series of images over 30 seconds so SGP uses the DSUSB.
Unfortunately, I never documented how my problem was fixed exactly. Only that I did all the things I just mentioned above around that time.
