Stellarium scope / Stellarium telescope control

[Startrek]

Is there a current procedure available for setting up Stellarium telescope control of my HEQ5 Pro Mount
The one I’m using is from IIS 12th March 2010 by Karl Louwersen and it’s outdated ( I’m using the latest Stellarium version 0.18.0 )
Prerequisites
I have a brand new laptop Omen i7 processor with 32GB ram ( heaps of memory )
I have latest ASCOM installed
I have EQMOD installed
I have latest Stellarium Scope installed ( 26/12/2016 )
I have a USB serial adapter connected between Laptop and mount with its driver installed ( I can see COM3 port on Device Manager )
I have Synscan HC set to PC direct
All latitude longitude etc data is entered and com port COM3 selected
I’ve selected EQMOD ASCOM EQ5/6 am click properties then OK
ASCOM window is displayed

Need next procedures for current version of Stellarium

Any help appreciated

Thanks in advance

[Startrek]

I’ve been trying to connect to my mount via PC direct with EQMOD and Stellarium via Stellarium scope all night until 1.00am with no luck ( very frustrating as I’ve read so much data / info on the subject

I found a site which has a detailed procedure called Light Vortex Astronomy - Tutorial Setting up an EQ mount on ASCOM with EQMOD and Stellarium

Has anyone seen or used this site and procedure ??

I will give it a go tonight

Once again appreciate any help and advice on the subject

[Startrek]

Further to my struggle with connecting my laptop to HEQ5 Pro mount, can someone confirm what specific driver from Shoestring Astronomy I need to create a virtual com port on my laptop using the USB2EQ5 cable

The link takes you to FTDI ?

Thanks and await some advice

[Merlin66]

Martin,
The cable you mention (USB2EQ5) is a direct EQDir cable which connects directly to the handcontroller socket on the mount NOT the handcontroller - which is not use at all.

[Startrek]

Thanks Ken yes I know in principle about the set up and have read so much info before attempting to connect laptop to mount
I’ve tried a USB / serial adapter ( including down loading the driver ) via the handcontroller in PC direct mode , COM3 can be seen in Device manager , go into EQMOD toolbox, enter correct data in EQMOD Ascom set up including COM3 ,press ok, power up mount, EQ Ascom toolbox comes up, I have previously registered , then press ASCOM Connect and the EQMOD HEQ5/6 box comes up LHS only but then I have no control over it , I move my mouse arrow over this narrow box and it just circles for minutes, so I just shut down and pack up

I’m going to try the second method EQ Direct ( remove HC ) using the USB2EQ5 cable but I need a driver to create a com port in Device manager ( my posted question below )
I may even reinstall ASCOM, EQMOD and Stellarium scope

I’ve been searching IIS and Cloudy nights for answers and there were so many guys having trouble connecting their laptop to mount ( me included )

Any advice and help by IIS members most welcome and appreciated !!

[Merlin66]

Martin, I don't use Stellarium with my EQMod set up-up, I use Cartes du Ciel but I assume the install is similar....

EQMod is "called up" via the Planetarium program. Normally you don't need to use the raw Ascom or EQMod toolbox....

When everything is installed (I don't think you need a driver for the Shoestring cable as you say it's already being recognised in Com3)
Just open Stellarium, click the "telescope settings" - this should show ASCOM, then move to the "telescope connection" The driver selection needs to be set to "EQMOD Ascom HEQ5/6" check "Properties" this brings up the EQMOD setup screen - here you can set the Coms port and various other data. Click OK then click OK on the Ascom panel. Finally connect to the telescope and the EQMod control panel will appear.
Hope this helps.
(I'm doing this in the office and show the simulator in this example - you could probably do the same to practise)

[Startrek]

Ken,
The COM3 only appears in Device manager when I plug the USB serial cable (adapter) to the mount via HC as I installed a driver for this device as advised by others

When I plug the shoestring USB2EQ5 cable direct to the mount there is no Com port shown in Device manager , so I’m assuming I need a driver from the shoestring website ( free) to create a com port . Have read a few posts on cloudy nights that refer to this issue
Thanks for your information I will look into it once I establish a com port with the shoestring USB2EQ5 cable connection to the mount

Thanks again !!

[Merlin66]

The FTDI driver is pretty standard, I think it must be already installed on all my PC's - from a previous life??
I'd be interested to see how you go......

[Russj]

G'day Martin, the first time I tried to setup s/scope I had similar results to what you are having, the second time everything just worked, this info is of no value to you in your current situation of course :(, its just to assure you that s/scope/stellarium does work :D.

Which documentation are you using to setup scope?
The doc I used is called "Stellarium Scope Users Guide" its 17 pages and has everything you need to know about installation. it would be hard to setup without this doc.

Hope this is not stating the obvious, ...I've found when setting up imaging equipment its alway the little things overlooked that cause you the most grief.
Regards Russ

[Startrek]

Hi Russ,
Thanks for replying much appreciated.No I haven’t seen this manual for Stellarium scope but I found it now and will give it a go

A few questions about your set up -

What type of mount do you have ?
Are you connected to it with a USB serial adapter cable via PC Direct with handcontroller still connected or by EQ Direct using the Shoestring USB2EQ5/6 cable direct to the mount
Are you running Windows 10 Home
If your using EQ Direct with the shoestring cable direct connection did you have to install a FTDI driver to create a COM port in Device manager
Distance from my mount to Laptop is approx 3.5m cable length, what is your cable distance

Thanks again Russ for replying any help or assistance no matter how small is greatly appreciated

Martin

[Russj]

What type of mount do you have ?
I have NEQ6 which is basically the same as HEQ5 .. but heavier payload

Are you connected to it with a USB serial adapter cable via PC Direct with handcontroller still connected or by EQ Direct using the Shoestring USB2EQ5/6 cable direct to the mount.
I connect directly to the mount via eqdirect cable similar to yours,.... going thru the hand controller is a pain, the main reason for using eqdirect is to get rid of the hand control,...... I should qualify the last statement by saying I image only, so the hand controller just gets in my way.


Are you running Windows 10 Home
yes home edition

If your using EQ Direct with the shoestring cable direct connection did you have to install a FTDI driver to create a COM port in Device manager
I cant remember if I had to load a driver, I'm fairly sure win10 will load the driver when connecting the first time, I may be wrong on this.

Distance from my mount to Laptop is approx 3.5m cable length, what is your cable distance
My cable distance is about 2 meters, cable length should not make a difference until you get over 5 meters as I understand .

Hope this helps, if you need more help let me know.

Regards Russ

[Startrek]

Hi Ken and Russ,
I just connected laptop to mount and used the Stellarium scope procedure you suggested with my USB serial adapter cable to the handcontroller ( with the handcontroller in PC direct mode) and it worked !!!!!
Therefore I know know Ascom is allowing devices to talk to each other
One issue though with SS you can’t park the scope back to the home position when your finished. I had to cancel PC Direct mode on the handcontroller and select park telescope and then the scope parked itself back to home position or SCP.Is there a park scope function on Stellarium ?

My next program will be PHD2. I have already connected the ZWO 120MM camera to the laptop and it can see it , so as long as PHD2 can talk to the mount I can start learning autoguiding
I think PHD2 want you to cable direct to the mount and bypass the handcontroller so I will need to install the driver for the shoestring cable in any case

Thanks Ken and Russ again.

[Merlin66]

Martin,
Sounds promising....

When using EQMod you have the option of Pulse guiding (No ST-4 cable involved) or alternatively the traditional ST-4 cable from the camera to the guide port on the mount.
I prefer to use the ST-4 cable set-up.

[Russj]

Good news Martin,
to park the mount you need to goto the ascom mount panel and park.

I think PHD2 want you to cable direct to the mount and bypass the handcontroller so I will need to install the driver for the shoestring cable in any case
Going direct is the way to go, if you use st4 on PHD2 you will have to calibrate each time you turn on the mount, if you go direct, calibration is retained, calibration can be a bit pain in PHD.
As well you dont have to configure the hand set each time.

Getting guiding to work can also be a bit traumatic, PHD has a good forum:

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!forum/open-phd-guiding, if you have problems.

Have you decided on a sequencing program?

Regards Russ

[Merlin66]

Martin,
Why not use EQMod for parking and unpacking???

[Startrek]

Yes I forgot about the EQMOD ASCOM window as I had it minimised at the time
I’ll give it go tonight when I do some imaging with BYEOS

As far as PHD2 goes I’m just going to do the wizard set up , align the guide scope / camera and pick a simple object then calibrate and see how we go

My PA is around 30 arc sec by using the handcontroller so I’m getting around 1 minute exposures before the commencement of star trailing so it should give PHD2 a good start

Cheers

[Startrek]

Hi Ken and Russ,
My luck with Stellarium scope was short lived as I tried last night to connect and it failed, tried again today and failed again
Check all settings like site location and port data to ensure both Stellarium, SSC and EQMOD HEQ5/6 all match
I also updated Stellarium configuration on SSC
Checked all cable connections
Checked Device manager

I power up mount and check Device manager ports and can see prolific USB to serial com port ( Com3) which matches EQMOD
Then start Stellarium scope and click on connect box
EQMOD Window opens on far left handhand side
At bottom of Stellarium scope 3 x sockets say waiting for slew connection etc.. and scope connected
I start Stellarium via SSC
Cross hair symbol is seen at SCP labelled same as ASCOM telescope ( mount in home position )
I select an object nearby
Press CNTR + 1. Nothing happens
Go back to EQMOD window and click on park and then unpark , then my mouse arrow turns into a running circle and EQMOD says Not Responding
So I shut down and start again or give up

Am I missing something ??? As I’m sure I performed the same procedure yesterday and it worked on 3 occasions ok ??? Ah but I didn’t use EQMOD to park the scope , I took it out of PC Direct and parked it manually

Any ideas ???????

[Merlin66]

Martin,
I’d love to assist further but my experience is with Cartes du ciel and EQMod.
Hopefully someone with a similar setup to yours will come along soon.

[Russj]

Hello Martin,

When I click S/scope, it starts and connects to the mount and opens Stellarium, this will happen automatically each time you open S/Scope, if you go into the settings for S/Scope you will find tick boxes to enable these features.
See if this works for you. Russ

[Startrek]

Thanks Russ I will try auto connect
I have my suspicions that it could be the USB serial adapter that’s giving EQMOD an issue
I’ve checked so many forums regarding problems with EQMOD and most of them relate to the USB serial adapter. After changing to a Keyspan USB adapter most of them had their problems resolved
I’ve ordered a Keyspan and will try it out

Thanks sgain
Martin

[Merlin66]

Martin, Don't know if it helps but all my Serial>usb adaptors are Keyspan....
Been using them for over ten years -no issues, no drama.

(Might be worth trialling a quick comparison using CdC with the EQMod set-up, at least it would confirm your cables/ adaptor)

[Russj]

Hello Martin,
I use a TTL232R 5v usb cable these are easily available for about $24 As I understand it the TTL232R come in 3v and 5v versions, apparently the 3v wont work on eqmod. You have to fit a RJ45 on the end to suit the HEQ5, I've used these on three different computers plus I made one up for a mate, they work just fine, if you still have trouble let us know and I can give you more details and the pin configuration etc. Russ

[Startrek]

Ken, yes I saw a lot of posts on IIS and cloudy nights with guys having simliar EQMOD problems and the majority of the fixes were to replace the inferior prolific USB serial adapters with the Keyspan high speed USB serial adapter

Once I have the Keyspan my son who has 15 years in IT is going to come over on the weekend and look at the set up

Chris from The EQMOD Project recommends to use EQMOD tool box to confirm connectivity to the mount , then use your planetary program to navigate

Russ, I have the RJ11 to DB9 serial cable that came with the mount but I’m going to make my own up as I don’t trust it after all the trouble I’ve had getting this up and running. I have the wiring diagram for it from version 3 Synscan ( it only uses 3 wires, pin 2 Tx , pin3 gnd and pin 5 Rx )

I also have the Shoestring Astronomy USB2EQ5 custom cable if I give up on PC Direct mode with via the handcontroller and go with the more reliable method of EQDIRECT

Thanks again Ken and Russ for your input

I will let you know the outcome next week

Martin

[Startrek]

Hi Ken and Russ,
My son came over on the weekend and finally got StellariumScope and PHD2 working for me, and yes the USB serial adapter ( both Prolific and Keyspan ) did not work using PC Direct
We tried for 3 hours trying to get PC Direct to work ( with Handcontroller connected ) even changing cables etc.. but decided to ditch that method and use the EQ Direct method with the shoestring USB2EQ5 cable from Bintel and it worked flawlessly, although we had to install the Windows 10 FTDI chip set driver

Com ports are tricky buggers too, we had to eventually use com port 9 to enable connectivity

Anyway the moon was visible in the afternoon so used Stellarium to slew to it and it ended up very close to crosshairs in the finderscope, then clicked on Venus and the scope slewed to it within the FOV of the finder

PHD2 via EQMOD connected to my ZWO guide camera and the scope , so now waiting for a calm night to try some autoguiding, we have 40 to 50km/ hr winds in Sydney at the moment

One question Russ , how can I use the sync function of StellariumScope (CTRL + 3) for improving goto accuracy as my handcontroller is now disconnected ??I’m only using the handcontroller now for some alignment and visual etc...

So happy to finally get all these programs working after failure upon failure

Martin

[Merlin66]

Sounds good!
I’m a little surprised that the Keyspan adaptor didn’t work with the PC Direct/hand controller option.
I use this frequently on my HEQ5pro..

[kosborn]

Martin,


I'm not sure if you're aware that those USB serial adapters will give you a different COM port if they're plugged into a different USB socket. EQMOD will only use the COM port it has been configured with, it won't search for an active one. If you change USB sockets then what worked one night won't work the next unless you reconfigure EQMOD.


Kevin

[Startrek]

Thanks Kevin,

My son whose been in IT for 15 years came over on the weekend and tried to connect with the keyspan USB adapter via PC Direct mode
We selected and could see the port on device manager / ports (COM9)
Powered the mount
Placed hand controller into PC Direct mode
Select mount on Stellarium scope
Select Eqmod Ascom HEQ5/6 in telescope chooser
Select properties , EQMOD Ascom set up window appears
Check site info etc
Check port details (COM9)
Click binocular icon. Port says found !!
Press OK
Press connect in Stellarium scope
EQMOD HEQ5/6 window appears on the LHS
As soon as you hover the mouse pointer over it , the pointer changes to a blue circle ( EQMOD not responding )
And then you have to shutdown or restart

He tried reassigning a new port ( bearing in mind we didn't use any hubs etc..)
Still no connection
We even changed the cable ( I buzzed out the pin assignments and continuity of the cable and it's spot on )

As soon as we used the Shoestring cable USB2EQ5 direct from laptop to mount and installed the drivers , the mount connected and we were in business

Any further ideas or procedures on the PC Direct method as we tried everything

Thanks

[Merlin66]

I've just connected my HEQ5 mount with the Keyspan serial adaptor (comms 3) using the original SW serial upgrade cable to the Synscan hand controller set to "PC Direct" and Cartes du Ciel.....
Select Ascom, select "Eqmod Ascom Heq5/6" press Properties, then OK.
Connect to scope via the drop down panel......

Definitely seems to work for me...really sounds like a Stellarium/ Synscan issue????

[Startrek]

Hi Ken
Yes I think EQMOD suggested in their documentation to use CdC
But they didn’t rule out StellariumScope and other planetarium software either

I do enjoy observing so I suppose I will use StellariumScope, Stellarium, EQMOD and my little finderscope for the moment ( can’t sit in front of the laptop all night ) SGP and other plate solving software can come a bit later I suppose

Anyway time to call it a night

Thanks again !!