LXUSB and SAC7

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BHFG
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LXUSB and SAC7

Post by BHFG » Tue Aug 16, 2011 9:12 pm

Hi,
I saw some info online about the LXUSB and LXCNV-SAC7 cable working with the SAC7 CCD. I am hoping you can provide some information.

Can you please tell me what the LXUSB does for this camera connection that a Serial-USB adapter would not do?

Is the LXUSB and drivers compaatible with Windows Vista?

With the LXUSB, would I still need to install the SAC7 drivers?

If I use an LXUSB and LXCNV-SAC7 to connect the camera, does the SAC7's USB lead still connect to the laptop and just the long exposure control cable would connect to the LXUSB, or do both the USB cable and the long exposure cable connect to the LXUSB?

Is the LXCNV-SAC7 cable just a cross connect to route the SAC7 pinout to the pinout of the LXUSB? If I am adept at making my own RJ-12 modular coables, is this pinout information something you are willing to provide?

Thanks for your help!!

dpanderson
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Re: LXUSB and SAC7

Post by dpanderson » Wed Aug 17, 2011 9:19 am

I've never owned a SAC7, but I will try to answer your questions to the best of my ability.
Can you please tell me what the LXUSB does for this camera connection that a Serial-USB adapter would not do?
The LXUSB drives the long exposures pins on the SAC7. When the SAC7 first came out, this was done with a parallel port on your computer. With parallel ports no longer readily available on newer computers, the need was there to be able to drive these signal lines with an alternate method. I'm not sure how you would use a serial-USB adapter to duplicate the function of a parallel port.
Is the LXUSB and drivers compaatible with Windows Vista?
Yes, to the best of my knowledge. I'm not sure about the SAC7 drivers though.
With the LXUSB, would I still need to install the SAC7 drivers?
If I use an LXUSB and LXCNV-SAC7 to connect the camera, does the SAC7's USB lead still connect to the laptop and just the long exposure control cable would connect to the LXUSB, or do both the USB cable and the long exposure cable connect to the LXUSB?
Yes, and yes you will need two USB connections to your computer (SAC7 and LXUSB).
Is the LXCNV-SAC7 cable just a cross connect to route the SAC7 pinout to the pinout of the LXUSB? If I am adept at making my own RJ-12 modular coables, is this pinout information something you are willing to provide?
LXUSB----SAC7-----Signal Name
pin 1---------------------No connect
pin 2--------pin 2-------Common
pin 3---------------------No connect
pin 4--------pin 3-------CCD Amp
pin 5--------pin 5-------Shutter
pin 6--------pin 4-------Frame1
--------------pin 1-------No connect
--------------pin 6-------No connect
Doug Anderson
Shoestring Astronomy
http://www.ShoestringAstronomy.com

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