Does the ASI 294MC Pro need USB3

maxchess

Does the ASI 294MC Pro need USB3? I am thinking of getting one but my current set up uses indi/Ekos on a Raspberry Pi which only has USB2. I currently have an asi 178mc which gives heavy ampglow due to low data transfer rates to the pi. Does the memory buffer solve this?

Will it still work better with USB3?

Regards

Max

chad

Hi Max,

Usually, I suggest that it should works with USB3.0.

But for Raspberry Pi, USB2.0 also works. For 294MC Pro, If your INDI is the latest version, the amp glow will be reduced.

Thanks

Chad

maxchess

Thanks for that.

You say reduced, so I assume it will still be better to use a USB3 connection.

I am considering getting a Rockpro64 that does have USB3 to run indi/ekos

Does anyone else have experience of running the 294MC under ekos?

Max

maxchess

Well I bought an ASI294MC and also a Rock64Pro to get USB3

I am running the latest version of Indi/EKOS on Armbian 5.3 The camera is plugged directly into the USB3 port, no hub.

Unfortunately there is a problem downloading 16 bit images. I can download 17 x 16bit images via the USB port.but then no further images are downloaded and I need to reboot the system to unfreeze it.

Downloading 8 bit images works fine.

However if I swap ports and plug the camera into the USB2 port then the 16 bit images download with no problem.

Any idea about what is going on?

My main concern is image quality. Is there any adverse effect in transferring the 16bit image via USB2 vs USB3?

Thanks, Max

katherine.tsai

Hi Max,

There is no difference in USB2.0 and USB3.0 excpet download speed for ASI294 MC Pro.

wvreeven

Max,

The download speed affects amp glow which is why ZWO introduced USB3 ports on their cameras in the first place. However, you *should* be able to create corresponding darks to correct for that higher amp glow. Just make sure that you use the same port (USB2 or 3) for both and you should be fine.

See you on the INDI forum :

Wouter