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
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
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
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..
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.
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
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????
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
