Ez eq6

[kermit (Vince)]

HI,
I have just ordered my new mount an EZ EQ6 and waiting for delivery. As I am waiting I have started looking at connecting it to the PC using ASCOM and I just found out that ASCOM driver for Celestron will not work on the Synta mounts.
(This driver does NOT support Synta mounts) from the ASCOM site.
I can't find the older driver so I am stuck.
How do you auto guide your mount without using EQMOD.
How do you connect to a planetarium to?
Your help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Vince

[Eden (Brett)]

Hi Vince,

The Celestron V4 driver does work with this mount, however only slew commands are available (no sync, which is needed for alignment) since connection must be done via 4 pin serial cable through the bottom of the hand controller.

If you want full control of the mount from a PC, you'll need to connect to the mount using EQMOD and a serial to USB cable which connects to the hand-controller port on the mount itself. You can then operate it via planetarium program like Stellarium (Using StellariumScope) or Cartes Du Ciel directly via EQMOD.

Auto-guiding can be done using PHD Guiding (or the newer OpenPHD) and an ST-4 cable going from the camera to the mounts auto-guider port. This does not explicitly require EQMOD, but is useful because it allows PHD to make use of telescope co-ordinate data during auto-guiding.

[Amaranthus (Barry)]

Vince, you can autoguide using ST-4, as Eden notes. But I wonder, why the resistance to use EQMOD? It works wonderfully well with the AZ-EQ6, and when combined with Astrotorilla plate solving, it makes a fantastic combination for alignment, goto, tracking, AutoPEC, etc.

[kermit (Vince)]

I don't really have any resistance using EQMOD but it is a learning curse for me and I would I liked to start imaging now as I did in the past with the EQ6 using the celestron drivers.
I will have to get use to the EQMOD.
Thank you.
Vince

[DavidLJ (David)]

Sorry to break into this thread but I also have a new SW AZ-EQ6 GT which I have been trying to connect to Sequence Generator Pro and SkyTools3 via EQMOD / EQASCOM without success. I have been using the supplied SW serial lead from the SynScan hand controller (set to PC direct) and connecting it to the laptop's USB2 socket via an Aten serial to USB converter device. Using that route I can connect via ASCOM using the Celestron Mount Driver but I am experiencing some minor issues. I would prefer to use EQASCOM. From my reading of the earlier postings on this thread Vince suggests that by-passing the SynScan hand controller might resolve the issue. And Barry notes that EQMOD “works wonderfully well with the AZ-EQ6”. Can I ask, Barry, if you are connecting the mount via the SynScan hand controller or not?

[Amaranthus (Barry)]

David, I've done both, 1st via the HC via PC direct mode when I first got the mount, and now via a shoestring cable. What is the error you get?

[DavidLJ (David)]

Thanks for your reply Barry.


Generally the error message that I get is “cannot connect” although when I use ASCOM Diagnostics and after selecting Choose Device → Select Device Type – Telescope → clicking the Choose button → in Ascom Chooser selecting EQMOD HEQ5/6 → making sure via Properties that EQMOD ASCOM Setup is set to the same port as the Aten serial to USB2 device → and clicking the Connect button I get a “Connected OK” message in the Diagnostics window but when the EQMOD HEQ5/6 telescope control window appears it displays in the Mount Position panel “Connect Error: Timeout”.

[killswitch (Edison)]

Ive tested EQmod using the included serial cable for the handset, it works fine in PC Direct mode. I've also tested it with a handset bluetooth adapter.

I read somewhere that some USB>Serial adapters dont communicate well. Borrow a different one?

[Eden (Brett)]

Originally Posted by DavidLJ

Thanks for your reply Barry.


Generally the error message that I get is “cannot connect” although when I use ASCOM Diagnostics and after selecting Choose Device → Select Device Type – Telescope → clicking the Choose button → in Ascom Chooser selecting EQMOD HEQ5/6 → making sure via Properties that EQMOD ASCOM Setup is set to the same port as the Aten serial to USB2 device → and clicking the Connect button I get a “Connected OK” message in the Diagnostics window but when the EQMOD HEQ5/6 telescope control window appears it displays in the Mount Position panel “Connect Error: Timeout”.

Hi David,

You're using the wrong cable. The 9pin serial cable supplied by Skywatcher is not what you want for EQMod operation. You use that for hand-controller firmware updates. That cable will work with the Celestron V4 driver when that cable is connected to the hand-controller but you need a one-piece USB to serial cable that goes straight from your USB port or USB hub into the port where the hand-controller plugs into the mount -- in place of the hand-controller. Details on this cable, recommended brands and where to buy are in the EQMod documentation.

The Celestron driver will give you problems because it can't issue the full range of the commands available to the mount through that 9pin -> 4pin serial cable. For example, it will slew but not synchronize.

[DavidLJ (David)]

You may be right killswitch about the Aten USB>Serial adapter but the strange thing is that it does work when using ASCOM with the Celestron Mount Driver. Anyway I don't want to hijack this thread so perhaps I can start a new one in the hopes of getting to the bottom of the problem.

[Amaranthus (Barry)]

David, this error has happened to me. EQMOD can have trouble locating the COM port. Look it up in Device Manager, and then set this directly in EQMOD setup. Then it should all work fine. Been there, done that (this only occurs when using a USB to serial adapter - I had plenty of dramas with mine due to a prolific driver update!)

[DavidLJ (David)]

Barry : Both the Aten and EQMOD ASCOM are set to COM6. The original setting for the Aten was COM18 but then I found that the drop-down list in the EQASCOM setup window only allows for ports up to COM16. So I changed the Aten port setting to COM6 via the Device Manager and then set EQASCOM to the same COM6. But unfortunately that did not solve the problem. But anyway thanks for the suggestion.

Eden : I've just now ordered a Shoestring cable and will see what happens when it arrives. Thanks for your guidance. I'll report progress in due course.

[Amaranthus (Barry)]

If you've ordered the Shoestring cable, then put your feet up. You'll have no further issues once it arrives, they're brilliant (just a tad short).

[I still reckon its a COM port issue - maybe clear all your COM ports in Windows, as if you hit the limit with old 'zombie' allocations, it can do crazy things, even those it gives no error messages]