Connecting astroberry/raspberry pi and UPBv2

Ultimate Powerbox v1 and v2
Post Reply
wesm912
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:55 am

Connecting astroberry/raspberry pi and UPBv2

Post by wesm912 »

Hi,
I have the UPBv2 on order. My questions are:
1. How to power the Pi? So far, best answer seems to be to use one of the USB3 ports on the UPB to the USB-C port on the Pi. Port 6? I need 5V/3A for the PI.
2. How to have the UPBv2 act as a USB hub for the Pi? My speculation is to run USB 3.1 B to USB A cable from the PC port on the UPB
3. Given power input in 1, is that sufficient to power ASI 2600 camera (not cooler) and the ASI12mm-S guiding camera off the Pi?
4. The ASI2600MC Pro cooler needs 12V/3A, can I power that off of 1 of the 4 12V pins?
5. My mount (ioptron GEM 28) needs 12V/5A. Can I power that off of 1 of the 4 12V pins? or the always on 12V pin?

If I can do all that, then I have only one cable that connects to the battery and moves around with the mount.
That's it for now.

Thanks
Wes
User avatar
Evans
Site Admin
Posts: 504
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:06 pm
Contact:

Re: Connecting astroberry/raspberry pi and UPBv2

Post by Evans »

Hi Wes,
Regarding your questions
1) Just plug it into a USB port. Each USB can output the required current for the PI.
2) As you wrote, you need to connect the USB 3.1 B to USB A cable from the PC port on the UPB
3) Yes there is. Each USB port can deliver 2.5A. In practice PI requires less that 2 Amps when it is fully utilized. Practically it consumes less than 1 amp. Check here: https://raspi.tv/2019/how-much-power-do ... asurements
4) Yes
5) Yes
wesm912
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:55 am

Re: Connecting astroberry/raspberry pi and UPBv2

Post by wesm912 »

Thanks a lot for your help
//w
wesm912
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:55 am

Re: Connecting astroberry/raspberry pi and UPBv2

Post by wesm912 »

Evans wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 11:55 am Hi Wes,
Regarding your questions
1) Just plug it into a USB port. Each USB can output the required current for the PI.
2) As you wrote, you need to connect the USB 3.1 B to USB A cable from the PC port on the UPB
3) Yes there is. Each USB port can deliver 2.5A. In practice PI requires less that 2 Amps when it is fully utilized. Practically it consumes less than 1 amp. Check here: https://raspi.tv/2019/how-much-power-do ... asurements
4) Yes
5) Yes
Well, I still managed to fry my Pi.
I started off by plugging one end of a USB A->C cable into usb port 6 on the hub, the other end into the usb-c power port on the Pi. Pi booted up, everything looked good.
I then plugged usb 3.0B into the PC port on the hub, and the A end of that cable into one of the USB 3A ports on the Pi.

That's correct, isn't it? Didn't make sense to plug into a usb2 port on the Pi

Started adding devices to the hub, I could see them inside KStars indi control panel on the Pi.

Now, I got adventurous. I'd been reading where the latest models of RPi 4B liked 5V/3.5A power. I thought the USB ports on the UPBv2 were limited to 2.5A. So I got a step-down converter, 12V/5V 3A, and wired it into a 2.1mm plug. I tried booting the Pi off of that, and nothing. I did notice that the USB3 ports, where the cable from the UPBv2 was plugged in, got extremely hot.

Now RPi won't boot at all. So it seems I fried my Pi. Would reversed polarity on the plug have done that?
What polarity plug do the power ports on UPB expect?

Thanks
Wes
User avatar
Evans
Site Admin
Posts: 504
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:06 pm
Contact:

Re: Connecting astroberry/raspberry pi and UPBv2

Post by Evans »

You should have plugged the RPI4 into the USB ports.

https://raspi.tv/2019/how-much-power-do ... asurements

If you check this diagram you will see that the MAX consumption that rpi4 has is 950mA.
the 3Amps is an extremes scenario when you have used all 4 USB ports of the RPI4 and each port consumes 500mA or more.

Polarity is always . + center pin tip and gnd the outer shell.
Please check the UPBv2 manual for more information
Post Reply