Starlight Xpress Filter Wheel Constantly Rotating

I went out last night, the first clear night in ages. The last time I had been out was the morning of the lunar eclipse. I was hoping the equipment was going to work straight away after not using it for a few months. The EQ8 mount was fine, the Lakeside focuser was working well, the Windows 10 PC was working well. But the Starlight Xpress filter wheel suddenly wouldn’t stop rotating.

I first tried just unplugging the USB cable and plugging it back in, that changed nothing. I then tried restarting the PC, that still didn’t work. I then looked on the Starlight Xpress website and downloaded the ASCOM v6.1 driver then I found the Starlight Xpress filter wheel firmware I had was 2 versions behind. So I installed the installer and managed to connect to the filter wheel and update the firmware. But even after doing this the wheel was still turning constantly.

I then tried a different USB port on the PC, but the PC did not even recognise the filter wheel. So my last option was to change the USB cable to a different one. I went straight from the filter wheel to the PC with the new USB cable into the same USB port on the PC and it worked. What I previously had was a USB extension cable and then a standard USB cable into the filter wheel. So I am still not sure if the USB extension cable was at fault (they usually are) or the standard USB cable.

Another thing to check is if the USB cable is loose in the back of the PC, as sometimes USB cables don’t fit very well into the back of the PC, they can be a very loose fitting. This may also be a problem if you are using a USB hub PCI card.

But if your Starlight Xpress filter wheel is constantly rotating check the USB cable is plugged in correctly, if that does not work try a different USB cable. As the power for the filter wheel is coming through the USB cable and you may have stepped on it and damaged it.

Here is a video on YouTube I made about the Starlight Xpress USB Filter Wheel problem.