StevenEvan My problem was caused by the ZWO FLAT USB3 cable supplied with the camera.
The flat ribbon cables are useless for high speed data.
Don't use a replacement cable from ZWO even if they offer to send you one. Buy a good cable instead, with the shortest length that will support your needs.
Use real cables with twisted pairs (tried and true technology invented by Alexander Graham Bell himself). They hold much more constant impedance (Zo), and has the low standing wave ratios (VSWR) needed to prevent reflection of signals at the USB chips (the usual cause of dropped data).
The proximity of a ribbon cable to any metal will also cause the impedance to change. Just wrapping the cable on itself will cause the impedance to change.
Furthermore, buy the ones where each data twisted pair is individually shielded; this will not only further reduce the effects from proximity to metal, but also helps with RFI too.
For devices that are bus powered, get cables with at least 22 AWG wires for power. You can find plenty of USB cables where the power pair (which also does not have to have constant impedance) has thicker wire gauge than the data pairs.
I never use the cables that are included in the ZWO boxes.
Chen
