Z8 keeps disconnecting

[momelia]

After working perfectly fine on March 26th, I'm having continuous issues last night and tonight with the camera either not connecting to the BYN or briefly connecting and immediately disconnecting or a few times I was able to test one of the plans I created and it disconnects before it finishes all the exposures.  

logfile-[20240328-20h16m47s814]-[11488]-2024-03-28.txt

[admin]

Its USB cable issue.

Use a quality high speed USB-C cable. And no, the Nikon camera supplied cable is not the best. When I had a Z8 for testing about 3-4 weeks ago, the camera supplied cable kept disconnecting, and it was only when I changed USB cable for a quality one that the camera stayed connected. 

[momelia]

that's odd - I'm using a Tether Tools Cable, I'll try something different and let you know.

Thank you

[admin]

indeed it is odd, Tether Tools Cable are top quality.

Is it a usb-c to usb-c cable? How long is your cable?

The cable I ended up using that resolved all connection issues was a high speed usb-c to usb-c cable, not a usb-c to usb-a. 

[momelia]

The cable is usb-c to usb-c and is 15 ft , also no hub is being used - have you found issues with any longer cables.  I tested last night with a new cable (JSAUX I bought just for backup but only 10ft) and no issues, went back to the tether tools and surprisingly no issues.  Ran through my plan again today a couple of times and no issues.  I did see some other post on the Z9 having connection issues - what should the USB connection priority in the menu be set to for my Z8 ?  Should it be set to Upload or Shooting ?  Actually I've tried both and it doesn't seem to make a difference, either setting seems to work.  One more thing - the first night when every thing was working I was using a fast SD card.  Then I decided to purchase a faster CFx card to see if the plan would run faster.  The original issues started when I added CFx to the second slot and started writing to it.  For what it's worth I played with both cards yesterday and today and various combos all work, so it's a mystery to me.  Thanks a lot for the feedback, I'll keep testing and see if any other glitches arise 

[astroman133]

5 meters, or about 16.4 feet, is the max length of a USB  2.0 cable, per the standard. You can go longer if you use a USB Extension cable. It has a bulge at one end with circuitry to restore the waveform of the USB signal. This allows you to go longer.

However, for testing you should start at your kitchen table with your laptop and the camera and a short USB cable that is known to be good. That way the hardware (cable, PC, Windows, drivers, etc.) and BYN are proven. Then if you have issues but the only change that you made was to replace the cable with a longer one, you know that the issue is with the longer cable, not the camera, the PC, or BYN.

You should direct your question about USB priority to Tether Tools. I have never heard that discussed on the O'Telescope forums.

At this point, I would suggest that the most likely issue when you experience communication issues is a faulty connector or a loose connection. Camera USB sockets take a beating. Use some kind of strain relief. Try to correlate BYN comm failures with times that you have unplugged and replugged the cable. For example, did you unplug the USB cable from the camera to replace the CF card, only to experience an issue when you re-plugged the cable and tested again with BYN? If so, I would suggest the connector at the end of the cable that was disturbed.

One time when I was out in the field, I disconnected a USB cable and when I re-connected it, the cable did not work. I finally traced it down to a piece of dead grass inside the connector.

[admin]

2 hours ago, momelia said:

The cable is usb-c to usb-c and is 15 ft 

This could be the issue, the maximum of USB 3 is actually 10 feet, 15 feet is for USB2 protocol.

[momelia]

Hi admin - I'm still  having issues with either cable, both are not working.  What causes me to connect and load a plan, but the start capture button is grayed out, so I can't click on it ?

logfile-[20240329-14h50m34s028]-[20544]-2024-03-29.txt

[astroman133]

When something is not working, try to simplify your setup. For example, try RAW only instead of RAW+JPG. The log ends after reading that setting. Perhaps it locked up.

The OP never said whether he was using USB2 or USB3. The camera may be USB3, but it will operate at USB2 speed if connected to a USB2 port on the PC.

If both ends are USB3, then a 15 foot cable is too long.

Have you tried using a different port on the PC? It could also be a flaky connector on either end.

[admin]

46 minutes ago, momelia said:

Hi admin - I'm still  having issues with either cable, both are not working.  What causes me to connect and load a plan, but the start capture button is grayed out, so I can't click on it ?

logfile-[20240329-14h50m34s028]-[20544]-2024-03-29.txt 22.85 kB · 1 download

This log file is incomplete.

Have you tried rebooting?

[momelia]

It's working again, the different cables don't seem to matter, but I will consider using the 10ft cable going forward and see if I have any further issues.  I have not rebooted, but next time it stops connecting I'll try the reboot.  As far as the RAW + JPEG, the issues come and goes and that would not be causing initial issues I have sometimes when it doesn't connect at all, but may explain why it craps out during the middle of a plan.  I'll let you guys know if I can narrow it down.

Thanks again for the feedback and suggestions

Regards,

Mike