Will PPA work for my setup?

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HankScorpio
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 5:22 pm

Will PPA work for my setup?

Post by HankScorpio »

Hello All - In an effort to speedup my setup/teardown process and also reduce variables when troubleshooting problems, I've decided to get serious about cable management.

The gear:
meade 130mm apo triplet, eq6-r pro, asi294mm, asi290mm-mini, ZWO OAG, ZWO 7x36 filterwheel, ZWO 5v autofocuser (new model). I run astroberry on a rpi4 w/8GB and connect all this through a powered USB hub. Right now this is working. I have four cables from the OTA to the mount/stand:

1: rpi4 to mount (usb3 cable)
2,3,4: 5v for the rpi and 12v for camera cooler and powered USB hub

Most cables are too long and are wound up with velcro. It works - until something get bumped or moved. I need to get a dew-strap and don't want to add to this rat's nest.

My desired end state is to run everything into a PegasusPower Advanced (PPA) and control it through that. My question comes down to the power from the various ports. I would like to run the following:

USB on the PPA:
port 1 (special USB3 powered port) - ZWO autofocuer 5v - new model gets power from USB, no external 12v power)
port 2 - ASI294mm with filterwheel (daisy-chained through camera)
port 3 - eq6-r mount
port 4 - ASI290mm-mini guidecam

Power ports on PPA:
port 1 - eq6-r (special cable to interface with mount from Pegasus) @12v
port 2 - cooling power for ASI294mm @12v
port 3 - power for rpi4 (2.1mm barrel to usbC connector plugged into rpi4) @5v

My main question is about powering of the rpi4 and the autofocuser. Does anyone know if this new ZWO autofocuser that pulls power from USB work in port1 of the PPA? Additionally, is it possible (advisable) to run the rpi4 from the power port with a cable such as this: https://www.amazon.c...020651&sr=8-10

If so, sourcing appropriate length cables and mounting hardware will be the next order of business.

Any help/experience here would be greatly appreciated - thanks!
historybuffjb
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue May 04, 2021 3:21 pm

Re: Will PPA work for my setup?

Post by historybuffjb »

Yes it will work fine. I run a mini pc and used to run an AAP from it and it never even gets close to 12 amps. That is with 2 cooled cameras, dew heaters at 100%, an EQ6R-Pro and a bunch of other accessories like filter wheel, focuser etc.
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Evans
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Re: Will PPA work for my setup?

Post by Evans »

One important note: USB Port1 does not support USB2 devices so the ZWO EAF will not be recognized there.
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L0173
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2021 10:38 pm

Re: Will PPA work for my setup?

Post by L0173 »

Hi to all

I'm Elio and new to this forum and this is my very first post :D

I have a PPBAdv since two weeks. I also use a RPi4 with 8GB and I use it in these way:

USB Port 1 (USB3) to RPi4 only for Power delivery (need of 3A)! The USB-OUT Port is obviously also connected to the RPi4...
USB Port 2-4 are for mount, main camera and guider camera

I use only 2 power ports: for the mount and the cooled main camera.
I also use 2 dew heaters for the main and guide scope

Everything works fine, with the exception that I need always to unplug the USB-OUT Port before I powering up the RPi4, otherwise Ekos don't recognise my PPBAdv. I reconnect the USB-OUT to the RPi4 just after booting.
It is not a big deal, but I spent some time to figure this out... :roll:

I like very much the PPBAdv. The cable mess is now a cable order :lol: just the 1m DC cables are to long for my small setup.

Clear skies
Elio
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