I'm having problems with my 1090 Puck again. It runs for anything between a few hours to 5-10mins and then powers off (orange light goes off). The Puck is directly connected to my PC with a USB cable. All the USB power settings are disabled. I'm running Windows 7 64 bit, and installed some Windows updates recently.
Any suggestions of what I might try would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Nigel
When did the problem start again?
Looking back on previous posts it appears to have gone away when you changed the USB cable connection?
It started again yesterday. It has been fine since before Xmas using the active USN extension between the original USB cable supplied with the Puck and my PC. It restarts when I remove the USB from the Puck and plug in again. It might be coincidence but I installed a Windows 7 update yesterday. I've checked the power management settings to the USB as you suggested last time and they all remain disabled. It's puzzling because it ran overnight without a problem and then has been intermittent during today, stopping after 10-30 mins but then runs for an hour or so.
May be nothing to do with the problem.
But I noticed that there was two USB updates yesterday, whilst my lappy was updating Windows Updates.
FTDI - Other hardware - USB Serial Converter A
FTDI - Other hardware - USB Serial Converter B
Mike Knows I'm a bit of a Dunce when it comes to computers
As I say might not be relevant.
Harpic
Hi Nigel
Is your PC a desktop or laptop?
I've had a similar problem twice in the last few weeks, I found that there were zero contacts and found no orange & green light on the puck, reconnecting the usb solved the problem but unsure why it is disconnecting ?
I also have this problem.
I use my puck for my travels it is normally just left running collecting data and has run for days with my net book plugged in to the mains or on its battery if I am moving. Then for no apparent reason it will drop out with no visual warning so I still have lights on the unit and my net book says it is still connected but nothing on my radar.
If I unplug my usb cable and reconnect straight away it starts picking up aircraft it is real frustrating and I find myself doing this on a regular basis just in case as I am not always in a position to check if it is still working.
I have run my net book with my older sbs1e and it has never dropped out so it must be the puck not my net book or usb lead.
My experience is I can not trust the puck to be left alone without supervision and certainly it will not go on my next holiday as I normally leave it running in the apartment while I relax by the pool or walk down the beech just in case I fail to read of a lander as I cannot be certain anymore that the puck would be working.
David Ryan
Welcome and thanks David.
I don't have a Puck so have no personal experience but judging by the responses here there may be a problem.
Chris Taylor (official Puck distributor and 1st Line Support) seems noticeably absent from here these days. And I emailed him on another topic a few days ago and he hasn't replied. Maybe he's away or he doesn't want to be associated with the forum anymore?
I'd email him a link to this post but he may ignore me. Perhaps give him a call and ask for his input?
Taylor Made RF Limited
Elstree Aerodrome
Hogg Lane
Borehamwood
Hertfordshire
WD6 3AW
Phone: 01923 884670
Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:30
Email: sales@tmrf.eu
Thanks for all the responses. Funnily enough, after posting the topic yesterday evening it has run for almost 24 hours without a problem and then suddenly just dropped out. My PC did the USB Serial Converter updates on Monday evening but the problem started just before that.
Anmer - I'm running it off a desktop PC
I've bought a couple of antennae from Chris Taylor so I may try and contact him about the problem.
Thanks again, I'll continure monitoring, and if anyone thinks of a possible solution please let me know.
One last comment is that USB can be interrupted by local surges, such as halogen lights or cell radio masts.
If it was the usb then it would affect my sbs1e but that runs fine.
My puck ran all day today until 1800 then dropped out 4 or 5 times in 30 mins. Each time I Un plugged the usb and then back in in less than a second or two and it re-connected after that it's run nearly 3 hours
With out a problem.
David Ryan
Another thought is the drivers may be an issue.
Perhaps a Windows update has updated the original ones?
Assuming the drivers are the same as for USB connection of SBS-1, the latest ones are here:
http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/D2XX.htm
Or as Mike has pointed out before, there is an older version that comes with BS - run CDM20814Setup.exe ;D
Is it the original grey Puck lead?
Some leads do not have a long enough metal plug causing drop outs!
Quote from: Chris-G0WTZ on January 22, 2016, 08:36:08 PM
Some leads do not have a long enough metal plug causing drop outs!
Does that mean that the USB port on the Puck is not to spec?
If the supplied lead needs to be replaced, how can we be sure the replacement is going to work?
And is this an issue for the current Pucks?
Do you remember a few months back. I suspected the bias tee to have packed in. Only to find the supplied lead faulty >:(.Replaced no problems since.
Shaky
I'm using the same active USB cable that I used to power the SBS1.
Quote from: Ian K on January 23, 2016, 08:35:28 AM
I'm using the same active USB cable that I used to power the SBS1.
Chris Taylor is implying only the supplied Puck USB leads will
definitely work
And if he's correct, here lies the problem. How do we know an alternative lead
should work and eliminate these dropouts?
I started getting problems with the supplied lead just before Xmas, constantly losing contact and dropping down. I seemed to have cured this by plugging it the orginal lead into an active USB extension lead and that into my PC, until the problems started again this week. However, everything seems fine again at the moment...not dropped down for at least 50 hours.
Nigel what colour is the lead please ?
Regards
Hi Chris
The original USB lead that came with my Puck is grey.
Also Chris, received the N-type connector for my TMRF-BS on Saturday thanks. The antenna is in the loft at the moment and has resulted in a tremendous improvement in the range of my scanner. It goes on the roof next week so I anticipate even better coverage...many thanks
Nigel
Hi Nigel
Glad the antenna is doing its stuff!
I wish more people would get an outside antenna :-)
OK so just to be sure you are using the grey puck lead?
Thanks
Hi Chris
Yes I'm using the original grey Puck lead. However, it no longer works without problems (keeps dropping down/losing connection) if I plug the grey lead direct from the Puck into my PC. I cured this by plugging the grey Puck lead into an active USB extension lead and then the extension lead into my PC. This was working fine until it started playing up gain last week, within intermittent dropping down. However, I've not changed anything apart from unplugging and plugging in again the various leads and it seems to have settled down again, so I'm puzzled.
Thanks
Nigel
Three weeks without a disconnection problem and it has started again. My Puck runs for varaiable amounts of time from 4-5 hours to a few minutes and then suddenly loses connection. It might be purely coincidence but it seems to happen after a Windows update, which I have tried to avoid my PC doing. I've checked the USB power settings and they seem to be fine. Has anyone else experience similar problems? I'm puzzled why it suddently starts after weeks without a problem. Had exactly the same experience over Xmas.
Thanks
Nigel
It's possibly the Win update messing up the USB drivers.
Try what IanH proposed earlier in this thread:
Assuming the drivers are the same as for USB connection of SBS-1, the latest ones are here:
http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/D2XX.htm
Or as Mike has pointed out before, there is an older version that comes with BS - run CDM20814Setup.exe
You may need to disable the old drivers if they're showing. Can you post a screen capture of the expanded USB services from Device Manager?
I'm not very practical on technical updates or changes. Is this the right info about the expanded USB services?
Many thanks
[Attachment deleted by Admin to save file space]
Remove or disable USB Serial Converter A and B. Then install them afresh as IanH suggests.
I'm a real novice at doing things like this. How do I go about getting the ones that come with BS? Please could you direct me to earlier messages about this if you know where they are. How do I run the CDM20814Setup.exe?
Sorry for the basic questions but things like this fill me with worry that I'll mees it up completely.
Many thanks
The earlier posts are in this message thread, just scroll up and back a page.
If you have the CDM file, just double click on it in Windows Explorer. It should be in your BseStation folder.
Since a windows update on Wednesday my connection is dropping out more than ever, sometimes it lasts for a couple of hours other times just minutes. this is so frustrating !!!
Hi Ian
Have you tried reloading the USB drivers?
No not yet Mike
Just run the CDM20814 Setup.exe ..let's see if it works
Well, that hasn't worked, lasted 8 mins before dropping out again .
Did you first uninstall the existing drivers?
May not be relevant to the immediate problem but for future reference this post goes on about dealing with poor connections between cable and Puck.
http://forum.planefinder.net/threads/hacking-1090-puck-usb-cable.209/
May be related to the earlier comments about using alternative cables from the one supplied with the puck.
I didn't uninstall.
Tried sbs-1 with same issue, now trying different usb cable. if still fails i will uninstall drivers
The usb drivers are showing as 22/01/2016
After a number of frustrating months of connection problems I finally decided to try a different USB cable (the one from my portable hard drive!) and now the Puck seems to be working fine again. I know that this had been suggested on the forum but had considered the cable not to be a problem because sometimes the Puck worked fine for a number of days without disconnection.
I also replaced my Active extension cable and have had no problems for 2 weeks.