Yeah, clear skies are lean here where the stars are supposed to be big and bright! Good info.

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, we gotta change that song. "...where the skies are cloudy all day..."

Thanks for this video James. I fully agree with the message your epilogue conveys about the hobby in general. Responsive vendors and manufacturers will benefit the many astrophotographers at all skill levels. A good news story well presented Sir. Thanks!

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching, David! There but for the grace of our suppliers go us astrophotographers…oh, and keep your fingers crossed too.

I also have the UPB v2 for about 3 years and have not had any failures yet, but early on I noted the unit can directly drive a stepper motor. Despite Pegasus selling focus cubes they happily informed me of the correct wiring for my home brewed focuser. Good to see a company that backs their products and looks after their customers. 👍👍

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

Hey Rob, Hopefully, my recent experience is a one-off thing. It’s nice hear they helped you out with your down-under focuser rather than send you a link to their FocusCube.

Good on them! Sounds like a solid and fair company. These types of failures and frustrations is why I left the hobby completely. Very high cost of entry, endless frustration, poor results.

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

Yes, this sort of thing with what should be a rock-solid reliable piece of equipment is not sustainable if it continues to happen. Frustrating to be sure!

Great video James (as always), and well done Pegasus Astro. Customers need confidence when buying expensive items and the customer service is probably one of the best ways of building such confidence in a customer base. There are so many positive reports about Pegasus Astro and their products are (IMO) pretty good too.

@TheMje1963

Жыл бұрын

That is a bonus with Pegasus, You can even drive a moonlite or feathertouch focuser with them, unlike the proprietary ZWO ASIAir. I use a PrimaLuceLab Eagle 4 for all my Astro Imaging Software.

Good info James and could not agree more with your conclusions. Also, thanks for the shout out. I actually had similar experiences with my second Pegasus Pocket Power Box. I emailed them and an hour later they were on my computer remotely - I already had AnyDesk as I had used for a couple years although now I just use Google Remote Desktop. I also had to ship it back to them but they had me send it directly to their distribution person in NYC who then shipped it to Greece (The Greek Connection). My problem was a burned out power connector typical when you plug the powersupply into the camera output port which is what I did so it was my fault. They had it back to me very quickly and I covered the camera port so not to repeat my error. I am going to get a third one very soon for my portable setup. I find these very useful. Also, I received a new ASI2600 MC Pro, approximately two weeks from leak to replacement. - Cheers and thanks again for the mention, Kurt

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

Wow. 1-hour turn around for remote access. I know you’re one time zone closer, but geez. I lost 2 weeks between reporting a problem and finally getting the remote access set up. Wasn’t too thrilled with that. Oh well, I’ve just lost 6 weeks to clouds so that puts things in perspective.

@AstroQuest1

Жыл бұрын

@@Aero19612 Yeah I was shocked, I guess someone could not sleep there. If it is any consolation the weather here is not any better....

Had a problem with my PPB a few years back and was told it was probably a cold solder joint . I was pointed to the suspect area and fixed it myself . Great Support and a lucky fix for sure . /SRK

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

Wow. That's good troubleshooting by Pegasus Astro and awesome you have the experience and skill to perform the fix. That's great, Scott!

Nice video James. Was wondering how the service worked from Pegasus. Now I know!

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

Hope you never have to make your own video, Don!

Nice story to hear on a Sunday morning.

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

Ha. Yeah, I suppose so. Thanks for watching, Ron!

I’ve had intermittent issues with mine as well, for me it’s always been a software issue. Every time I’ve fixed it, it’s been a slightly different process haha. Something with my imaging software and the unity server not talking to each other properly. It’s fully working for me now. I’m glad it’s not a USB chip for me!!

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

Interesting. When I first installed Unity Platform for use with the new UPBv2, I had issues downloading images from the camera. I went back to the earlier version and things have been working. With my original UPBv2, I tried to upgrade the firmware on two occasions, and it failed both times. Not sure what's going on with the software side. Thanks for watching, Cole!

Disappointing that it failed after just three years but good to see Pegasus Astro fixed it quickly. I've been using Anydesk for some time now and it's great. I remote into my rigs and I like the fact that you can log into more than one rig at the same time from the PC and on multiple devices at the same time too. Funny the route your Powerbox took to get to Greece. I had a similar thing when I sent my Redcat back to Taiwan - it got to Taiwan via several stops including China and looked to be only a short journey from the the city where WO are located, but then it suddenly went back to China, then Tokyo, then China for the third time and to Taiwan for the second time.......and then got delivered to WO 🤣

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

A good idea for a video: "The Secret Lives of Packages in Transit". No way that UPBv2 should have failed only 3 years in. Especially considering how much I DON'T use it given all of the clouds, wind, and Moon. I'll keep my fingers crossed from now on. That should help.

$50 is not bad for repairing your 3-year old unit but I would hope for it to last longer than that before breaking down. I purchased the Pegasus Powerbox Advance 2 in 2021 and haven't any problems as of today. I use it at least twice a week so it's getting plenty of use and still works like a champ. Nice video of what to expect in case mine ever breaks. Thanks!

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

I'm right there with you. When I shell out $600, that component should never fail given that it's not used all of the time. I mean, my refrigerator has been working for 11 years, why can't this thing?

Good timing, I was just thinking of purchasing one of these units, guess I’ll look elsewhere.

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

Hey Woody. Well, I wouldn’t conclude that the UPBv2 is unreliable from this video. However, it is very expensive. So, for that reason alone, it’s worth looking around. Good luck.

Good to know the Pegasus Astro support is good. I have two UPBv2 units (one for each scope) and so far no problems. But it's good to know the company provides good support though, just in case.

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

Let's hope that what happened to mine is a rare occurrence. Now, I've got two of them and don't want to hear from either of them from this point forward. Thanks for watching, Mark!

I thought mine was dead when I pulled it off the shelf after it was sitting their for close to 2 years. Couldn't find my software for it, so I downloaded the Unity software, Unity couldn't find it. I went on their forum and I told them that the unity could not find my UPVv2 I told them it's from a earlier release. They said it may have been a firmware issue and gave me the link to down load the old software and give it a try. It found it and right away it wanted to update the firmware. I let this happen. Than I started the Unity software and it was found. and works great.

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

Ha. Next time you pull one of those off the shelf, send it to me! You had a lot more luck with updating the firmware than I did. I tried twice. It failed twice. Never tried a third time. Pegasus Astro did update the firmware in their shop after they repaired it. Glad it worked out (like it’s supposed to) for you, Mark!

I've found that the Astro related suppliers and distributors have been excellent for support. This is good yet sad given I've got experience with that. In the mere 18 months I've been in this hobby I've had: - two Wireless routers fail - one 500w power station fail - an EAF fail - the controller board in the EQ6RPro fail. Twice. - two dew heaters fail - 12v power brick fail - multiple cable and connector failures It has been a process and an evolution where with each failure I attempt to learn some hardening technique. I don't want to get started with drivers & software and that the entire software ecosystem is built on top of sand. I love a challenge .. this is perfect. 😁

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

Wow, Bruce! That's a lot of failures. If I had that experience, I might be questioning my life choices... Way to hang in there!

@BruceMallett

Жыл бұрын

​@@Aero19612 In a way it is humorous given the number of failures. Just had another one tonight: a ten amp 12v power supply started glitching on and off causing the mount and camera to disconnect. Took the PS apart and discovered that one of the three prongs on the IC mounted 120v AC power connector had a cold solder joint at the connection point on the PC. Fortunately an easy fix at the solder station. Eventually I hope to have everything hardened. Ha!

I had issues with 2 other Pegasus products in the past and the support team was not willing to help/replace the faulty equipment. Therefore I will not buy anymore of their products.

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

I don't blame you one bit, Jim.

Thanks for this video, James. Planning on purchasing the Ultimate Powerbox v3 when it becomes available (Sometime in November now, I believe) but I was wondering if you protect yours from dew someway when it is outdoors? I would definitely like to mount the unit it on the scope, but was wondering how to do that and still get protection from dew. Thanks.

@Aero19612

9 ай бұрын

I have in the past. I've used a large plastic food freezer bag. Cables come in the open side and in through a hole I cut in the bottom of the bag. I also cut an opening to get access to the velcro patch. I seal the opening as best I can. Works great. I may go back to it once the humidity picks up.

@Zircon_215

9 ай бұрын

@@Aero19612 Thanks for the reply, James. Never thought about freezer bags. Thought maybe small plastic ‘Tupperware like’ containers that you can purchase at WalMart. Could cut holes for cables … and seal the area around those cables with rubber bungs. But I would need another one for my mini PC as well.

ESD my friend. Static electricity can reach thousands of volts, and when plugging in your USB cable, find a nice low resistance path to ground through the USB interface chip.

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

Ahh. Very good point there, Bill. Any additional detail on your suggestion. I know there are ESD wrist bands that can be tied off to ground. What else/other would be appropriate?

@billsmith396

Жыл бұрын

@@Aero19612 Hello James! An ESD wristband would certainly work however, you would need to be tied to a low-impedance ground when using it, which is not very practical. A quicker solution would be to discharge any static electricity on the USB cable by touching it to an exposed water pipe. or a piece of 12 gauge copper stuck in the ground near you before inserting the cable. Unfortunately, the Pegasus box does not offer much ESD protection. I also own this power box and suffered a similar issue with it. To solve it, I added TVS diodes to the USB ports that I use. Placing them between the D+ and D- pins and ground provides about 15KV of protection against ESD. You could also consider adding a ground wire between the Pegasus box and Earth. Good Luck!

I had a problem with my PPB after updating the software to the Unity. Unity failed to recognise my PPB, so I reverted back to my original software, and it ran perfectly. After I few days I tried Unity again, with success this time. Not sure what the problem was, but everything is fine now.

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

That's weird. I had an issue downloading the images with the installed and updated version of Unity Platform. I rolled back to the earlier version and haven't had that issue since. Thanks for watching, Brian!

This is one device I don't understand yet. Do you use it to turn things on and off or is it more for the distribution of power (my power currently is a single 12v cable up to a cable splitter to go to all the devices) and everything plugs into the mini PC USB's. Im not sure how this would improve things?

@IceNein763

Жыл бұрын

I'm in the same boat. Obviously people who use them, like James here, find them essential so they must be doing something right. I presume it's mostly a cable management thing, but $600 seems like a lot of money for the benefit of only having one cable floating in the wind. I use an ASIAIR which seems to do a lot of what the Pegasus power box does at a considerably lower price.

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

It may not improve things in your case. Before I bought this, I had a ton of AC/DC converters and cables. This handles all of that. The UPBv2 is also a USB hub (4 USB3 + 2 USB2). It also has 3 dew heater ports, so no need for separate controller. There's also a focuser motor controller, but I don't need that. The control software is pretty slick and allows you to cycle power to the individual power ports (4 12-V + 1 variable-V) and to each individual USB port. There is an environmental sensor/port for measuring temp and humidity. Expensive, but useful (for me at least)

@MethiasZa

Жыл бұрын

@@Aero19612 It might be useful for the power cycling but I have a few relays i was looking to use to do a similar thing

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

So true, Clint. Too expensive. I won’t buy another one. I need to educate myself on other/DIY options that have the same electrical safeguards as the UPB is supposed to have. Always room to learn more.

So was the problem something you did or a faulty product? You should not have to pay for a repair if you were using it under normal conditions with a nominal load.

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

No, nothing I did. They said it was a burned out USB chip. It was out of warranty, so I expected to pay “something”. The total cost of shipping and repair is $50, so I can’t complain. Better not fail again. Thanks for watching!

Get this pegasus power box out of here and bring me a shrubbery!

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

'tis but a scratch

It's time to sell off all this stuff and just head to the Bahamas for a year or two

@Aero19612

Жыл бұрын

Ha. Yeah, with my luck, I'd do that and get clear night after clear night....