Go Back   IceInSpace > Beginners Start Here > Beginners Equipment Discussions

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread
  #1  
Old 27-05-2019, 07:47 AM
GOTO (Geoff)
Registered User

GOTO is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Sydney
Posts: 150
NEQ6 and Cartes du Ciel was perfect but...

Hi all, On Saturday night I was using my EQ6 with EQMOD via Cartes du Ciel perfectly until 4am.

Without changing anything as I just covered it with tarps I tried again last night. When I went to slew it moved maybe 2 degrees and stopped and I couldn't park it or move in any direction using EQMOD. I rebooted several times and everything appeared fine until I tried to slew. I then swapped to Stellarium with the no change. EQMOD then wouldn't let me park or unpark.

After several attempts I disconnected the computer and attached the hand contoller and it worked perfectly.

Any ideas what may be the issue please?
Cheerio
Geoff
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 27-05-2019, 09:19 AM
Startrek (Martin)
Registered User

Startrek is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Sydney and South Coast NSW
Posts: 5,990
If your hand controller operates your mount ok then you connect to EQMOD and it wont work, then the most common faults are as follows -
Cable or connector faults ( EQ direct or via serial adapter)
USB serial adapter fault ( prolific adapters are notorious for faults )EQ direct is the best way to connect to mount
Incorrect com port in device manager ( EQMOD com port must match com port in Device manger ) check EQMOD toolbox
Planetarium location and time details must match EQMOD location and time details
Check settings in EQMOD
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 27-05-2019, 09:27 AM
Startrek (Martin)
Registered User

Startrek is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Sydney and South Coast NSW
Posts: 5,990
I use EQMOD and Stellarium and connect via EQ direct method ( shoestring USB2EQ5 cable available from Bintel ) on my HEQ5 and EQ6-R mounts , they have worked flawlessly
Here’s a procedure for the above if you want to use this method
EQMOD Set Up and Goto Procedure
Once Software is down loaded and “drivers are established” here is the basic procedure* -
1/ Ensure you set up and run Stellarium a couple of times ( this creates the initialization files to allow the systems to work )
2/ Park Scope, switch off mount and disconnect Synscan hand controller ( if you still use Synscan HC *to Star align and Polar align )
3/ Connect the USB2EQ5 cable RJ45 plug end into hand controller port on mount then plug the other end which is USB into a 2 meter long USB2 extension cable , then connect this to your USB port on your laptop
4/ Switch on your mount ( Very important – I sometimes forget and wonder why my com port wont connect )
5/ Check USB serial cable virtual com port (VCP) appears in Device Manager of your Laptop under Ports ( Com and LPT )
6/ Open Stellarium Scope and click on “Select Mount” button. This launches the Ascom Telescope Chooser Box window ( move the Stellarium Scope window over to the right hand side )
7/ Select EQMOD Ascom EQ5/6 then click “Properties” and then “OK” the *Ascom Set Up window now appears
8/ In the Ascom Set Up window enter your location data in the “Site Location” section ( this must exactly correspond to the data entered in the Stellarium *location window )
9/ In the Ascom Set Up window ensure “Mount Type” is Synta EQ
10/ In the Ascom Set Up Window ensure EQMOD Port details are – Time out 1000 , Retry 2 , Baud 9600
11/ In the Ascom Set Up Window leave all other settings as default
12/ In the Ascom Set Up Window click on the Port Button ( Binocular icon ) if port and driver are located , the word “Found” appears and the Com port number ( same as com port number in Device Manager in Laptop ) appears in the red box
13/ In the Ascom Set Up Window click “OK” at bottom
14/ In the Stellarium Scope window click the “connect” *box button and the EQMOD HEQ5/6 window will be launched. Minimize Stellarium Scope but do not close it otherwise you will close EQMOD
15/ In the EQMOD HEQ5/6 window click on the “Spanner’ icon to expand the whole EQMOD window and then check the “Site Information” section again to ensure it corresponds with the Ascom Set Up window and Stellarium location window
16/ In the EQMOD HEQ5/6 window Alignment/Sync section ensure User Interface is set to *“Append on Sync” , Alignment Behaviour is set to “ 3 Point + Nearest Point” , Point Filter set to “All” and 3 point Selection is set to “Best Centre” All other settings are default
17/ Click on the “spanner” icon again which minimises and just leaves the smaller EQMOD control pad window ready to use the slew control buttons, tracking and parking the mount
18/ Maximise Stellarium Scope which should read at the bottom “ Scope Connected ” then minimise it again for convenience but don’t close it.
19/ Open Stellarium and your ready to use the Goto functions via your laptop keyboard which is CTRL 1 for slewing , CTRL 3 for Sync and CTRL 5 for cancel
Note : For better Goto accuracy use EQMOD, Stellarium and BYEOS *
In Stellarium use at least 3 or 4 sync points ( Stars ) surrounding and in the vicinity of your intended imaging target ( you don’t have to be really close , I’ve used stars 30 to 40 deg away and its works fine but as close as you can )
Click on the 1st sync point star, press CTRL 1 on keyboard ,mount will slew to that star but not exactly centred, centre your star using EQMOD slew control buttons and view in BYEOS then hit CTRL 3 on keyboard. Star will be re centred automatically and a sync point count will appear in the EQMOD window. Note: you may have to minimise the EQMOD control pad window first and then press CTRL 3 to allow the sync function to work properly.
Repeat process for another 2 or 3 sync point stars surrounding the vicinity of your intended imaging target, then click on your intended target , the Goto accuracy should be very good if not bang on target
The above seems like a long winded procedure but after a while you get quicker and quicker ( much quicker and more accurate than your hand controller could ever achieve) The more sync points you use the more accuracy you achieve but I have found 3 or 4 to be enough ( The hand controller can only use 2 or 3 stars for limited accuracy , where as EQMOD can use 3, 6, 10 , 20 or more syn point stars with more sophisticated algorithms in a triangulation or trapezium format.
I have EQMOD control pad window open, Stellarium window open and BYEOS window open ( Stellarium Scope is always open and minimised ) and I minimise between Stellarium scope and BYEOS to perform the Goto* as my Laptop has only a 15.6” screen
I would recommend you set up and play around with Stellarium for a while and get use to it before jumping straight into EQMOD ( I used it to navigate the night sky for a year or so *before jumping into EQMOD )
Stellarium Time Settings (version 0.18.2 )
Found in Chapter 4 ( The User Interface ) of the Stellarium User Manual
Setting Your Location in “Location Window”
Eastern Standard Time
Time Zone should be UTC+10
Tick Custom Time Zone
Untick enable daylight saving time
*
Daylight Saving Time
Time Zone should be UTC+11
Tick Custom Time Zone
Tick enable Daylight saving time
Main Screen “ Configuration” Spanner icon
Click on “Time”
In Start up date and time click on bullseye System date and time
*
Stellarium Location Setting
Refer Chapter 4.2
You can set multiple locations as your default ( I have 2 set up , so I just click on either location in the huge alphabetical world list and the location info is all set up for me
For more information read the EQMOD Project website, Stellarium Scope website and Stellarium website
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 30-05-2019, 09:28 PM
GOTO (Geoff)
Registered User

GOTO is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Sydney
Posts: 150
Quote:
Originally Posted by Startrek View Post
If your hand controller operates your mount ok then you connect to EQMOD and it wont work, then the most common faults are as follows -
Cable or connector faults ( EQ direct or via serial adapter)
USB serial adapter fault ( prolific adapters are notorious for faults )EQ direct is the best way to connect to mount
Incorrect com port in device manager ( EQMOD com port must match com port in Device manger ) check EQMOD toolbox
Planetarium location and time details must match EQMOD location and time details
Check settings in EQMOD
Hi Martin,
Thanks for your help and you were spot on! It was that darn USB Serial cable. Mick at Bintel said sudden fails like this are often cables. So back in action.
Again thank you fr the detailed response, I really appreciate it.
Kind regards
Geoff
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 30-05-2019, 09:54 PM
Startrek (Martin)
Registered User

Startrek is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Sydney and South Coast NSW
Posts: 5,990
Geoff
Glad to help , good to see your up and running again
Martin
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 03:00 AM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement