Have used a couple of your tutorials since taking up this hobby a year ago. Always clear and concise with no assumptions to people level of expertise. Thank you.
What a fantastic guide. Thank you for producing these tutorials Martin. After purely visual astronomy for the last 15 years I found the technicalities of computerisation and auto guiding a tad daunting. Thanks to you I have taken the plunge into astrophotography and loving every clear night we get down here on the south coast. 👍🏻
Hi Greg. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Much appreciated. I’m delighted that my channel has helped you out. Assuming you are in the U.K. and we are therefore on the same south coast, making the most of every clear night is so crucial…there have not been so many clear nights in the last 3-4 months! Still, that frees up time for image processing and planning gear upgrades and TH-cam videos!! Clear skies.
This is the only tutorial I've found that has shown the hardware! I'm getting a EQ6-R in a couple of weeks and I've wanted to use a computer to control it instead of the Synscan controller. Thanks for another awesome tutorial, Martin!
I love you pal! I did struggle with the cables a bit and with the drivers but today I am a very happy man because it works and it's sooo smooooth. CLEAR SKIES!
Ah thanks! Yes, it’s so cool when you get it working. Do you know about the sound files you can download so that EQMOD talks to you and tells you what is happening!? Totally free. Just Google EQMOD sound files. You download a zip file, unzip it, then go into the EQMOD setup dialog, click the >>> then click on the speaker symbol. Then you browse to the appropriate .WAV file for each sound. Then click Apply and you’re done.
Many thanks for your incredibly helpful video!!! You helped me a lot. I am so happy that today I could connect my EQ6 pro with your help. I started from scratch today (well, I had the hardware) and now I can control my telescope via Stellarium! THANKS!
Thanks for the positive feedback Michael. I am really happy that you found it helpful. It’s really great controlling the telescope from Stellarium! Enjoy!!
I don't know if this is mentioned already, but the SyncScan controller also has a USB 2.0 Type-B port. Connecting that into your laptop using a USB2 type A to type B cable also works for controlling the mount as well. RJ11/12 and RS232 serial cables are rare these days and adaptors are relatively expensive, doing it this way will save you a bit of money if you don't already have RJ11/12 or serial cables lying around from back in the day.
Hi. Thanks for that. It must be a fairly recent addition as mine (3 years old) does not have it. Sounds like a great improvement though, as a standard USB cable can be used and so an EQDIR cable is not needed.
Hi, this is the current set up Im using (Connecting that into your laptop using a USB2 type A to type B cable on DEVICE MANAGER is under COM ports to be precise COM 5) but I don't know if this is a driver issue or wrong version of ASCOM drivers since when I try to install the latest version it tells me that the ASCOM platform can't be found so I go to the version q (the one Martin is referring to in this video and installs perfectly fine but when I go to Stellatium and chose the mount it freezes on me. PLEASE help I want to keep my HEQ5 but if I can't find a solution I probably going to return it
like your videos very helpful. martin heres a question when i polar align i use polemaster it helps alot. when i download all this software can i still use my polemaster then go in the house so i dont freeze once iam polar aligned? seriously your website is the best on the internet. i have learned a lot from you.
Hi Karen. Thanks for your kind words. Clearly when you are polar aligning using a Polemaster you have to be able to look at the PC screen at the same time as adjusting the azimuth and altitude bolts, so if the rig is outside and the PC is inside this appears to be a problem…I have two solutions for you that I have used with great success. The first is to turn my monitor around and point it towards the window, open the curtains, and then look in through the window while adjusting the polar alignment. An even better solution, which I now use all the time, is to install Team Viewer on both your PC and your smart phone. This streams your PC screen to your phone. Both will need to be connected to your WiFi. You can zoom the view on your smartphone so you can see the key things clearly while adjusting the azimuth and altitude bolts. I hope this helps. Staying warm while doing Astrophotography is a wonderful thing!!!
@@martinsastrophotography Martin your videos have given me a second wind. I had been happily using a Star Tracker for about a year and finally ordered an EQ mount. But I have started to get TH-cam fatigue as most tutorials just repeat the manufacturers blurb and state the bleedin' obvious. Your videos fill in the gaps perfectly. My interest in NINA is really just an attempt to limit the budget. Thanks for all the help!
@@AstroCloudGenerator Delighted to hear that! I do try to avoid the “fluffy” side of things and stick to the technical. I know lots of people use NINA so I would recommend you give it a go. It has a very elegant looking user interface! Let me know how you get on. Clear Skies.
Good video Martin. I used StellariumScope for quite a long time before moving to AstroPhotography Tool and its Plate Solving tool. But I did get a consistent problem with the telescope reticule in Stellarium drifting off of the target and hence bad guiding. I think this might have been a problem with a PHD2 conflict. This method may well work a lot better though with less software involved.
Thanks Brian. I now use Sequence Generator Pro and ASTAP plate solving and it works great. Stellarium is now virtually obsolete for me, but I do still use it to choose and slew to a bright star for focusing and to see how far I am from the Meridian flip. Clear Skies!
Thanks Martin. Got break through after watching your video. I was missing the PC Direct mode on the handset. Have you tried the USB connector on the handset instead of the "phone" like cable?
That’s great Christian. Thanks for your comment. My mount is a bit too old and does not have a USB port. It was a late addition by Sky-Watcher. Clear Skies!
Hi Ricky. If you connect via the bottom connector you have to put it in PC Direct mode using the hand controller. If you use an EQDIR cable directly into the mount without the hand controller, then no.
You will need a USB to (male DB9) RS232 converter cable and a female DB9 to RJ12 adapter cable. Both are available from multiple sources online including eBay.
Hello again, Martin. Still learning a lot from your vids - good job! Question: How do you integrate Stellarium in your image capture process? Or rather: Which work flow do you use? E.g. target acquisition by Stellarium, PHD2 for autoguiding, then Astrophotograpy Tool for capturing?
Hi Hans. I now use Sequence Generator Pro for most targeting with the embedded ASTAP plate solving function. I only use Stellarium for choosing a star to focus on and slewing to it, and also for visualising how close to Meridian flip I am. I use PHD2 for autoguiding. DeepSkyStacker for stacking. Photoshop and Lightroom for post processing.
Great progress. In stellarium you need to open the configuration window (spanner at left side menu) then go to the plug-ins tab. Scroll down to Telescope Control and then tick ‘Load at Startup’. Then close Stellarium and the-open it. When that’s done, let me know and I’ll tell you what you need to do next.
@@martinsastrophotography brill thanks....i set my scope based more or less at polaris by sight....pressed telescope icon to see it on the stellerium screen pointing north sky....i then picked a place on the screen and slewed there seems to work but not accurate as ive not set it up properly yet...im geting there though. ive got a ZWI guife camera and i sent for the adapter to flo that will fit the SW 50 mount on the 200 scope.....i will then work out to connect and use PHD2 i think. Ive also tested both my nikon d5200 and the mount with APT and it works...hurrah onwards and upwards lol
@@mikebeswick3420 Cool. In Stellarium you can apply a Sync via the telescope control dialog. This is like a star alignment point. You can also Slew to the current selected object. These functions are found in the telescope control dialog. Slew to your first object. Adjust pointing until object is centred in camera view, then do a sync. Should then slew accurately after that. Add more sync points across the sky for slewing accuracy across a wider range of positions. Oh, and make sure you have set the Epoch to J2000 in EQMOD setup window!
Hi Martin, thank you for this very usefull video. One question though, when I would use all the programs in your video and sync with Stellarium, do I still need to to the 2 or 3 stars alignment when starting up the mount?
@@martinsastrophotography Thanks for the quick response. So what you did after slewing to Vega (slightly go to the South and sync again), that is the way to go? So slew to an object, slighty move to S, E, W or N and then click sync again. Is that correct?
@@uglydude2007 Yes. 1 Assemble all kit. 2. Balance 3. Polar align. 4. Move to home position and lock clutches. 5. Switch mount on. 6. slew to a bright star and adjust pointing using handset or EQMOD until camera sees the star in the centre of the frame. 7. Sync. 8. Slew to whatever object you like. Can repeat 6 & 7 for multiple stars a long way apart to improve slewing accuracy across the sky. If only imaging one object in the session, just do 6 & 7 once using the nearest bright star to the object.
Hello, thanks for your informative videos I want to know if it's a possibility to use a VGA to HTMI converter cable instead of the VGA to USB converter that you used in the video?
Thank you. I do not use a VGA to USB cable in the video, and I have never encountered such a cable. In the video there is an RS232 to USB cable, and a USB to FTDI cable. VGA is a display interface and cannot be used to control a mount. There is no such thing as HTMI. Did you mean HDMI? That is also a display interface, and cannot be used to control a mount.
Hello Martin! I was able to connect my heq5-pro directly to the mount (by passing synscan) I use eqmod, stellerium but my main imaging program is APT. All is working fine with the exception of guiding phd2. I was trying to avoid using st4 cable and use the ascom driver directly to connect to mount but it is not working! It calibrates for a while and it states, star did not move enough, it is working fine with the st4 cable. Any ideas what I can try next? Thank you and clear skies!!
Edwin Sanchez I wonder if you have excessive backlash in your RA or Dec worm gear. Does it always fail when calibrating the same axis? (I.e. during East/West or North/South movement)? I have seen many forums and TH-cam videos advising against using the ST4 cable. I have had all sorts of issues during PHD2 calibration over the years but it’s never been the cable to the mount. I doubt APT is the problem. Do you have a heavy payload? Is it well balanced in all three directions? (RA, Dec horizontal and Dec vertical?)
Hi Martin! Thanks for the reply, well I doubt that it is an issue with payload, balance back slash as the mount is brand new and it works great with the st4 cable. You have a good point on checking which axis is the issue as I did not notice but it took lots of steps during calibration before failing, I have a feeling it is the connection to the mount without the st4 cable, I am using the eqmod ascom driver, maybe I need to use the ascom poth as APT is using that one? Unfortunately I have a bad streak of sucky weather fir a few days, but I will make a note which axis is at fault. Oh I checked your video on space, your images are awesome! I love the green/yellow you use!!! 🤝
Edwin Sanchez Balance depends on how you position your counterweight and telescope, and can be wrong on any mount, new or old. The PHD2 calibration does all the RA steps first then dies the Declination steps, so I am wondering if the issue you have is in Declination as you said it does a lot of steps before failing. Glad you liked the space video!
Hi Martin, Thanks for usefull videos. I have Sky watcher HEQ5 Pro end everything s working fine with Syn Scan hand set. Now , following your video I have tried to connect to my PC with windows 10. So I made all hardwear connections via hand set (in PC mode). Connections are recognised at USB port. Downloaded Platform and EQASCOM just as you did. Then I have oppened Stellarium make all steps as you said and made connect. EQMOD control window oppened but all I got under Mount Position is " Connect Error: Port Not Available". Tried few times but no success. Than reading on forums I have bought Lynx Astro FTDI EQDIR USB Adapter for direct connection from Mount to PC overriding hand set. So again I did connections. First EQDIR cable was not recognise so I downloaded driver FT232r-USB-UART-Driver and adapter was recognised as USB Serial port (COM5). Must say I uninstalled Platform and EQASCOM and installed it again. Unfortunatelly when I started with stellarium I have got the same message " Connect Error: Port Not Available", If it is clear to you what m I doing wrong can you help and advice RGDS Davor
Hi Davor. Your problem sounds very familiar!! I think you need to go into the EQMOD setup window and select the COM port. To do this, run ASCOM Diagnostics, select device type ‘Telescope’, click ‘Choose’, Select ‘EQMOD ASCOM HEQ5/6’, click on Properties. EQMOD ASCOM SETUP window should open. On left side choose Auto Detect, Timeout 2000, Retry 1, Baud 9600, then select the COM port it appears on (or click on the binoculars if it is plugged into the computer via EQDIR cable and switched on). Then click OK, OK, Exit to Close ASCOM diagnostics. Then try again in Stellarium! Let me know if this works please.
@@martinsastrophotography Dear Martin, Thank you very much. It was at the end very simple. When I have installed driver for the EQDIR adapter it automatically coos com 5 that in fact I do not have. Now with your proposal I have automatically set COM 1 and is working. Thank you very much. And stay safe RGDS Davor
@@martinsastrophotography @davorFliker Thank you both for this comments, Jumping in because my issue is very Similar to this, Im connecting from My PC to the SynScan Controller using a USB2 type A to type B cable I ran the ASCOM diagnostic tool follow your instructions mentioned above (selecting and COMport 5 or let the binoculars do it for me)and I Get a message port not found) and even if I just selected COM5 it seems like it wants to open the EQASCOM but it goes away almos immediately
Its driving me crazy! A great video Martin, thank you! Have connected my HEQ5 to Stellarium which has helped a lot but one thing is driving me crazy... I point to Rigel (for example, low and South) and then Saiph just a couple of degrees East and the mount does a full flip - 358 degrees?? (The first time knocking over my focusing screen, battery pack and pulling the leads out lol) Any idea?
Hi David. This sounds like a Meridian flip. This will occur whenever you slew from a target East of the Meridian (line from North to south) to one west of the Meridian, or vice versa. Also, have you successfully completed the following steps? : 1) polar alignment, 2) place the mount in the home position, 3) cycle power to the mount off/on. 4) star alignment. You need to do these steps before you slew to any targets.
@@martinsastrophotography Hi Martin, thanks for your replay. Mmmm, yes it 'could' be just one side and then the other from the Meridian? I will test. I have done 1-2-3 but was hoping to use Stellarium to do 4. Is there a 'disable flip;' button - that it would be helpful . Thanks again - keeps the vids coming!
@@davidcarr4984 I do not recommend disabling Meridian flips, as you will be in danger of crashing your telescope into your tripod legs. EQMOD has the facility to set limits to further reduce the risk of crashing into something.
I just got myself a new Sky-Watcher HEQ5 mount and also the Digitus (RS-232 to USB adapter) But to my surprise there is no cord (the one you showed on minute 1:36) looks like the connector on the bottom of my controller is different than yours as well. I see an extra entry (A jack) to connect a "telephone" cord labeled "auto guider" I guess I'm in trouble! 😂 lol, any tip?
I believe Sky-Watcher have recently changed one of the interfaces on the hand controller from RS232 to USB by including the RS232 adapter into the hand controller. This means you do not actually need the Digitus adapter any more. Instead you need a USB type A to USB type B cable (as used for USB printers) to connect the PC to the hand controller. I believe you still need to put the hand controller into PC Direct mode to use this new USB connection. The alternative is to remove the hand controller altogether and connect the PC directly to the mount using an FTDI EQDIR cable. It depends whether you want to retain the hand controller as a way to move the mount or if you want to do everything from the PC. I hope this helps. Clear Skies.
@@martinsastrophotography Thank you so much Martin for the reply. Now it makes sense. You are correct. My remote has a RJ-45 to the left a phone jack in the middle and an USB to the right. I want to keep the remote. Will see how the computer connection works with the USB input.
AGAIN, EXCELLENT TUTORIAL MARTIN!, am I able to control the camera with Stellarium?, I have S. and was thinking I will need Astrophotography Tool but if I can operate everything with Stellarium I’m Good. Thank You Martin!. 😎🍻🍣🇬🇧
Rick Gerlach Thanks for your comments. Stellarium cannot Control the camera. I recommend Sequences Generator Pro which can control pretty much everything! What camera do you have? I used BackyardEOS with my Canon camera which was very good but then moved to a dedicated Astrophotography camera and switched to Sequence Generator Pro.
Martin’s Astrophotography Hi Martin, I have a Nikon D810A mounted with a RedCat51. I was looking at my windows laptop (dedicated Astro laptop) and realized I did get Astrophotography Tool which will control the camera I just need to do some homework on operating it properly before my HEQ5 arrives. Trever Jones from astrobackyard has a tutorial on it’s set-up and use so I’ve been watching that. I will give backyard EOS a look also. Thank You for the info and the GREAT TUTORIALS you publish. 😎🍻🍣🇬🇧
hey quick question im thinking of getting the heq5 mount as my first equrdial mount im just woundering can i set and polar align it with my rokinon 135 telephoto lens and then use the go to function to locate stars and nebula ect and how long can i track with this mount ?
Great choice! Yes, you will need to polar align it (see my HEQ5 setup video) then do a star alignment (1 star alignment is enough if the star is quite close to your intended target). Once that is done you just choose a target and it will slew to it! On your other question, the answer depends on whether you are autoguiding or not. For DSLR work I have made up a vixen dovetail with an Arca Swiss clamp for the camera and a bracket for a 9x50 guidescope so I can autoguide using PHD2. Doing this increases the exposure time you can use significantly. The exact time you can achieve without autoguiding depends on your focal length and how good your particular mount happens to be. I regularly do 3-5 minute exposures at 800mm focal length. At 135mm focal length I expect you can do 1-2 minutes without autoguiding and 5-10 minutes with autoguiding. In the end it is a matter of experimentation. Other factors need to be considered….longer exposure time is not always better! For example, a longer exposure time causes more star bloating due to saturation/clipping. I hope this helps. Clear Skies.
Hello! Thanks for the video. It is extremly useful and i was able to download and set up all programs. Unfortunetely, i am not able to connect my go to system to the stellarium app. The program returns a connexion error: "unavailable port". Have you ever encountered this error? Can you please provide me with a piece o advice? I have a EQ5 mount with the additional GoTo upgrade kit recently installed. Thanks a lot, Dan!
Also, are you using an EQDIR cable plugged into the hand controller socket (no hand controller connected) or a USB serial adapter plugged into the bottom of the hand controller?
@@martinsastrophotography Hey! Thanks for the fast response! I have installed Stellarium, ASCOM and EQmod from the websites you reccomended. Also, for the connection with the laptop i am using the following usb adapter and cable: www.astroshop.eu/data-cables/skywatcher-usb-adapter/p,63821 with a USB cable similar to the one used in printers. Also, the remote is in PC Direct mode.
Moreover, i have tried using both cables that came with the USB adapter and i have also plugged the usb cable directly into the remote and the controller.
@@danlazar9617 ok. Open Stellarium. Open telescopes window. Click on Configure telescopes. Select your telescope and click the spanner button. Scroll down and click Choose ASCOM Telescope. Check your mount is selected in the drop-down list then click Properties. This should open the EQMOD ASCOM SETUP window. There is a section on the left side called Mount Options which should be set to Auto Detect. There is also a section called EQMOD port details. Set this to Timeout 1000, Retry 1, Baud 9600, port . If your mount is connected, switched on and in PC direct mode then you can click the binoculars button to try to find the com port. Then click OK. Ok again. Ok again. Now click connect. Hope this sorts it!
I have a webcam so I can monitor my mount from inside the house. If I was using Stellarium to slew my HEQ5 and I noticed that something was going to jam or hit a tripod leg, what is the best way to interrupt the slew or do an emergency stop?
Does the eqmod window apear with other mount to or only If you chose egmod_i got a exos-2 and cant get it to point same place as in Stellarium at upstart where it should point at polaris😮
First you will need to find and download/install an ASCOM driver for your mount. Then you need to select the correct device option in the ASCOM chooser dialog (I choose HEQ5…you may need to choose something else). Hopefully you will get this far and can then connect and the EQMOD window will appear. There are quite a few discussions about your mount and ASCOM/EQMOD online which I suggest you study. Good luck!
Hi Martin jam so confused on how to set all this stuff up. I have a heq5 mount. I bought a Pegasus cable and highpoint scientific said I needed. I was told to plug the Pegasus into my mounts hand controller slot on my mount. I have downloaded ascom.stellarium and eqmod. I watch your video and you show the cable plugged into the synscan hand controller not the mount. I'm so confused on what to do. Its freezing outside so this is why I want to work inside. Thank you
Hi Geoff. Let’s start with how old your HEQ5 mount is. I ask because more recent versions have a USB port on them. These can be connected directly between the mount head (not the hand controller) and the PC with a regular USB cable. Earlier ones do not have this and require a special FTDI to RJ45 cable (“EQDIR”) from the PC to the socket on the head where the hand controller plugs in. I don’t know what this “Pegasus cable” is that you refer to. Let me know if your mount head has a USB socket on it, and whether your Pegasus cable is an FTDI to RJ45 (EQDIR) cable.
It doesn't have a USB slot. It the heq5 pro mount just a simple mount bought from highpoint. On the mount it has where you plug in the hand controller plug in for power from a battery and autoguider.as far as the adapter it doesn't say if it has ftdi will get back to you.
Ok. You need to buy an FTDI to RJ45 cable, know as an EQDIR cable. This plugs in to the hand controller socket on the mount with the USB end going to your laptop. Then you need to install the ASCOM Platform (latest version) and then EQASCOM (which gives you the EQDIR interface).
Ok found out it does have ftdi it is a long cable and eqdir is made for windows 10. Mount connector is DJ 45 and pc connector is USB type a. I have the one part connected to my laptop the other end I tried in the hand controller still no resjlts. Appreciate your help
There is no USB socket on the SynScan Hand Controller, only two RJ10 sockets. However, you can connect an RJ10 to RS232 serial cable (I think it comes with the mount, but if not you can buy one) and an RS232 to USB adapter (e.g. DIGITUS USB 2.0 serial adapter). Together these enable you to connect from the hand controller to a PC via USB. For the adapter visit www.assmann.com/en/products/computer-and-office-accessories/computer-accessories/usb-components-and-accessories/interface-adapter/da-70156/
@@martinsastrophotography thanks, I'm struggling to connect mount to pc I have HEQ5 Pro, an basically try everything, last option for me is RJ11 to usb and connect straight to PC hopefully will work
@@rpg350 To be honest, the best way to remotely control an HEQ5 is to unplug the hand controller completely and use an EQDIR cable between PC’s USB port and the hand controller port. Install Ascom platform and EQASCOM as per my tutorials and then you can control your mount from Stellarium.
Some USB cables are better than others. Might take a bit of trial and error with different brands. I have two 5m unpowered usb extension cables plugged end to end and working fine.
I believe this is true. I had a lot of connection issues with a 10m cable. Decided eventually to go wireless using remote desktop, leaving the laptop outside underneath the mount.
As a recently retired network engineer I should point out that your cabling recommendation is incorrect. Usb shouldn't really be extended over 5 metres, ideally much less, while rs232 serial connections are largely distance tolerant. You would be much better off using a 10 metre serial extension and a 1 metre USB cable.
Hi Paul. Thanks for that. Yes I agree I’m pushing it by going above 5m but my setup works reliably like this and as an engineer myself I believe in the old adage “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. Also most laptops and PC’s no longer have RS232 ports, so what would you recommend buying and what would you plug it into if the PC only has USB ports? There are some Cat 5e/Cat 6 USB 2.0 extenders out there like the ICRON 2311 which extends up to 100m but costs an eye watering £330 and my camera is USB 3.0 anyway and is on the same extension. Also I only need about 7 metres. Amazon do a 7.5m USB 3.0 extension cable with ‘extension chip’ from MutecPower that is £27.99 which might work well but I am never confident of such things working until I see that it actually does (too many disappointments in the past with active USB extension cables). I actually bought 4 different makes of 5m usb extension cable before I found one that works reliably in a 10 extension configuration (evidence that I am indeed pushing the limits, and that all cables are not the same). Would be interested to hear what USB 3.0 solution you recommend in the absence of an RS232 port.
@@martinsastrophotography a usb to 9 pin serial adapter should be fine, and the drivers should hold the correct pin voltages. My point is use short usb/serial adaptor and use a serial rs232 cable to provide the length. Having said that, if your solution works, go for it, its just that its outside of the recommended specification for usb. I haven't done either of these. I bought the sysnscan wifi adaptor, and really recommend it. Install the app on your laptop, configure it with eqmod, and Stellarium works fine with it. All with no cables. Unfortunately, I'm still using Backyard eos with my Canon DSLR, so still need a laptop next to my scope. However once connected, I remote desktop to it over WiFi from my study.
@@paulmurton1019 Thanks Paul. Synscan WiFi adapter is ok for the mount, but I also have a usb main (ZWO) camera, a usb guide camera, a usb filter wheel, and a usb focus motor. I therefore need 5 usb connections. Thankfully the ZWO camera has a built in hub with 2 ports which reduces me to three. So I have a 4-port usb hub on my tripod for this. I could look at using RS232 to get to that hub though. I just bought a 7.5m usb 3.0 cable as an experiment (because you got me interested in this part of my setup!). It seems to work ok too. If USB to RS232 and RS232 to USB converters are cheap I might give them a try too.
@@martinsastrophotography Martin, just to be clear, the usb to rs232 adaptor would only work for the mount. (I.e. serial cable into the synscan controller, and usb to serial at the computer end). It wouldn't work to extend a usb cable, the signalling is completely different. One thing you have in your favour for your long usb solution, is that you appear to have a powered usb hub, which will help keep signal voltages up if there is cable attenuation.
@@paulmurton1019 Understood. That makes sense. Yes, the hub in the ZWO camera is powered but the 4-way hub before it is not. My focus motor and mount run off that hub. The filter wheel and guide camera run off the ZWO hub (with VERY short cables!)
Martin have you investigated removing the synscan controller from the picture completely? Using Ascom direct from USB on PC/Hub to RJ45 in the synscan port of the HEQ5? With something like this: www.amazon.com/dp/B07XVQCZBL
Yes, that’s how I always do it now. I needed to master Plate Solving first as I no longer have means to steer to a target from my telescope, but that’s sorted now and I use an EQDIR cable and ASTAP plate solving. It’s brilliant!!! Will do a video on this.
Have used a couple of your tutorials since taking up this hobby a year ago. Always clear and concise with no assumptions to people level of expertise. Thank you.
Thanks Gary. Appreciate the feedback and pleased to help you.
What a fantastic guide. Thank you for producing these tutorials Martin. After purely visual astronomy for the last 15 years I found the technicalities of computerisation and auto guiding a tad daunting. Thanks to you I have taken the plunge into astrophotography and loving every clear night we get down here on the south coast. 👍🏻
Hi Greg. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Much appreciated. I’m delighted that my channel has helped you out. Assuming you are in the U.K. and we are therefore on the same south coast, making the most of every clear night is so crucial…there have not been so many clear nights in the last 3-4 months! Still, that frees up time for image processing and planning gear upgrades and TH-cam videos!! Clear skies.
This is the only tutorial I've found that has shown the hardware! I'm getting a EQ6-R in a couple of weeks and I've wanted to use a computer to control it instead of the Synscan controller. Thanks for another awesome tutorial, Martin!
Glad to help you! Enjoy your EQ6-R!!!
Thanks Martin for this very useful tutorial. I followed it a few months back and I'm continuously working according to it.
Great stuff! Thanks for the great feedback!! Clear Skies.
Excellent tutorial Martin! Thank you for taking the time to make this video.
I love you pal! I did struggle with the cables a bit and with the drivers but today I am a very happy man because it works and it's sooo smooooth. CLEAR SKIES!
Ah thanks! Yes, it’s so cool when you get it working. Do you know about the sound files you can download so that EQMOD talks to you and tells you what is happening!? Totally free. Just Google EQMOD sound files. You download a zip file, unzip it, then go into the EQMOD setup dialog, click the >>> then click on the speaker symbol. Then you browse to the appropriate .WAV file for each sound. Then click Apply and you’re done.
Many thanks for your incredibly helpful video!!! You helped me a lot. I am so happy that today I could connect my EQ6 pro with your help. I started from scratch today (well, I had the hardware) and now I can control my telescope via Stellarium! THANKS!
Thanks for the positive feedback Michael. I am really happy that you found it helpful. It’s really great controlling the telescope from Stellarium! Enjoy!!
Many thanks for the tutorial. You provided a clear and concise description! I will be trying this on my neq6 pro mount
Outstanding, thank you very much 🙂
best faq on TH-cam, tnx!!!
Thank you
I don't know if this is mentioned already, but the SyncScan controller also has a USB 2.0 Type-B port. Connecting that into your laptop using a USB2 type A to type B cable also works for controlling the mount as well. RJ11/12 and RS232 serial cables are rare these days and adaptors are relatively expensive, doing it this way will save you a bit of money if you don't already have RJ11/12 or serial cables lying around from back in the day.
Hi. Thanks for that. It must be a fairly recent addition as mine (3 years old) does not have it. Sounds like a great improvement though, as a standard USB cable can be used and so an EQDIR cable is not needed.
Hi, this is the current set up Im using (Connecting that into your laptop using a USB2 type A to type B cable on DEVICE MANAGER is under COM ports to be precise COM 5) but I don't know if this is a driver issue or wrong version of ASCOM drivers since when I try to install the latest version it tells me that the ASCOM platform can't be found so I go to the version q (the one Martin is referring to in this video and installs perfectly fine but when I go to Stellatium and chose the mount it freezes on me. PLEASE help I want to keep my HEQ5 but if I can't find a solution I probably going to return it
Yes. Very useful. Thank you.
TRYING TOSTE UP MY 200P AND HEQ5 SO REALLY USEFULL
Dear Martin, thank you very much. Will try asap and Will send feed back
Best of luck!
A life saver of a video. Brilliant. Thank you so much :D
Glad you found it useful. Clear Skies!
Great video, this convinced me to buy a Go To Mount !
You won’t regret that decision! Clear skies.
like your videos very helpful. martin heres a question when i polar align i use polemaster it helps alot. when i download all this software can i still use my polemaster then go in the house so i dont freeze once iam polar aligned? seriously your website is the best on the internet. i have learned a lot from you.
Hi Karen. Thanks for your kind words. Clearly when you are polar aligning using a Polemaster you have to be able to look at the PC screen at the same time as adjusting the azimuth and altitude bolts, so if the rig is outside and the PC is inside this appears to be a problem…I have two solutions for you that I have used with great success. The first is to turn my monitor around and point it towards the window, open the curtains, and then look in through the window while adjusting the polar alignment. An even better solution, which I now use all the time, is to install Team Viewer on both your PC and your smart phone. This streams your PC screen to your phone. Both will need to be connected to your WiFi. You can zoom the view on your smartphone so you can see the key things clearly while adjusting the azimuth and altitude bolts. I hope this helps. Staying warm while doing Astrophotography is a wonderful thing!!!
Amazing. your videos are so helpful. Thanks you.
Thank you. It's so nice to get positive feedback like that. Clear Skies!
Great Video, i have same exact setup Astro Dad's, use zwo asiair & EQ Mod, perfect fire & forget set up.
Thanks Martin. That's a great help. Did you ever consider doing a tutorial on setting up your mount to operate with NINA?
Thanks for the feedback. Not as yet Richard….I have downloaded NINA but my preference remains with Sequence Generator Pro at the moment.
@@martinsastrophotography Martin your videos have given me a second wind. I had been happily using a Star Tracker for about a year and finally ordered an EQ mount. But I have started to get TH-cam fatigue as most tutorials just repeat the manufacturers blurb and state the bleedin' obvious. Your videos fill in the gaps perfectly. My interest in NINA is really just an attempt to limit the budget. Thanks for all the help!
@@AstroCloudGenerator Delighted to hear that! I do try to avoid the “fluffy” side of things and stick to the technical. I know lots of people use NINA so I would recommend you give it a go. It has a very elegant looking user interface! Let me know how you get on. Clear Skies.
Good video Martin. I used StellariumScope for quite a long time before moving to AstroPhotography Tool and its Plate Solving tool. But I did get a consistent problem with the telescope reticule in Stellarium drifting off of the target and hence bad guiding. I think this might have been a problem with a PHD2 conflict. This method may well work a lot better though with less software involved.
Thanks Brian. I now use Sequence Generator Pro and ASTAP plate solving and it works great. Stellarium is now virtually obsolete for me, but I do still use it to choose and slew to a bright star for focusing and to see how far I am from the Meridian flip. Clear Skies!
Thanks Martin. Got break through after watching your video. I was missing the PC Direct mode on the handset. Have you tried the USB connector on the handset instead of the "phone" like cable?
That’s great Christian. Thanks for your comment. My mount is a bit too old and does not have a USB port. It was a late addition by Sky-Watcher. Clear Skies!
Do you have to change some settings on the handcontroller to use EQMOD?
Hi Ricky. If you connect via the bottom connector you have to put it in PC Direct mode using the hand controller. If you use an EQDIR cable directly into the mount without the hand controller, then no.
Martin, thnk you very much for your videos, I have a question, how can I find the cable to the Handset? DB9 to RJ11 or RJ12?
You will need a USB to (male DB9) RS232 converter cable and a female DB9 to RJ12 adapter cable. Both are available from multiple sources online including eBay.
@@martinsastrophotography you're the best, thank you!!
Hello again, Martin. Still learning a lot from your vids - good job! Question: How do you integrate Stellarium in your image capture process? Or rather: Which work flow do you use? E.g. target acquisition by Stellarium, PHD2 for autoguiding, then Astrophotograpy Tool for capturing?
Hi Hans. I now use Sequence Generator Pro for most targeting with the embedded ASTAP plate solving function. I only use Stellarium for choosing a star to focus on and slewing to it, and also for visualising how close to Meridian flip I am. I use PHD2 for autoguiding. DeepSkyStacker for stacking. Photoshop and Lightroom for post processing.
Ok managed to set up my mount and and laptop as you have described. Sonext i am looking at how this interacts with stellarium...thnaks
Great progress. In stellarium you need to open the configuration window (spanner at left side menu) then go to the plug-ins tab. Scroll down to Telescope Control and then tick ‘Load at Startup’. Then close Stellarium and the-open it. When that’s done, let me know and I’ll tell you what you need to do next.
@@martinsastrophotography brill thanks....i set my scope based more or less at polaris by sight....pressed telescope icon to see it on the stellerium screen pointing north sky....i then picked a place on the screen and slewed there seems to work but not accurate as ive not set it up properly yet...im geting there though.
ive got a ZWI guife camera and i sent for the adapter to flo that will fit the SW 50 mount on the 200 scope.....i will then work out to connect and use PHD2 i think.
Ive also tested both my nikon d5200 and the mount with APT and it works...hurrah
onwards and upwards lol
@@mikebeswick3420 Cool. In Stellarium you can apply a Sync via the telescope control dialog. This is like a star alignment point. You can also Slew to the current selected object. These functions are found in the telescope control dialog. Slew to your first object. Adjust pointing until object is centred in camera view, then do a sync. Should then slew accurately after that. Add more sync points across the sky for slewing accuracy across a wider range of positions. Oh, and make sure you have set the Epoch to J2000 in EQMOD setup window!
@@martinsastrophotography ok I’ll have a play tomorrow cheers
Hi Martin, thank you for this very usefull video. One question though, when I would use all the programs in your video and sync with Stellarium, do I still need to to the 2 or 3 stars alignment when starting up the mount?
Hi there. No, you don’t have to, because performing a sync in Stellarium creates a sync point exactly like a star alignment does.
@@martinsastrophotography Thanks for the quick response. So what you did after slewing to Vega (slightly go to the South and sync again), that is the way to go? So slew to an object, slighty move to S, E, W or N and then click sync again. Is that correct?
@@uglydude2007 Yes. 1 Assemble all kit. 2. Balance 3. Polar align. 4. Move to home position and lock clutches. 5. Switch mount on. 6. slew to a bright star and adjust pointing using handset or EQMOD until camera sees the star in the centre of the frame. 7. Sync. 8. Slew to whatever object you like. Can repeat 6 & 7 for multiple stars a long way apart to improve slewing accuracy across the sky. If only imaging one object in the session, just do 6 & 7 once using the nearest bright star to the object.
@@martinsastrophotography Super useful, thank you!
Hello, thanks for your informative videos
I want to know if it's a possibility to use a VGA to HTMI converter cable instead of the VGA to USB converter that you used in the video?
Thank you. I do not use a VGA to USB cable in the video, and I have never encountered such a cable. In the video there is an RS232 to USB cable, and a USB to FTDI cable. VGA is a display interface and cannot be used to control a mount. There is no such thing as HTMI. Did you mean HDMI? That is also a display interface, and cannot be used to control a mount.
Hello Martin!
I was able to connect my heq5-pro directly to the mount (by passing synscan) I use eqmod, stellerium but my main imaging program is APT. All is working fine with the exception of guiding phd2. I was trying to avoid using st4 cable and use the ascom driver directly to connect to mount but it is not working! It calibrates for a while and it states, star did not move enough, it is working fine with the st4 cable. Any ideas what I can try next?
Thank you and clear skies!!
Edwin Sanchez I wonder if you have excessive backlash in your RA or Dec worm gear. Does it always fail when calibrating the same axis? (I.e. during East/West or North/South movement)? I have seen many forums and TH-cam videos advising against using the ST4 cable. I have had all sorts of issues during PHD2 calibration over the years but it’s never been the cable to the mount. I doubt APT is the problem. Do you have a heavy payload? Is it well balanced in all three directions? (RA, Dec horizontal and Dec vertical?)
Hi Martin! Thanks for the reply, well I doubt that it is an issue with payload, balance back slash as the mount is brand new and it works great with the st4 cable. You have a good point on checking which axis is the issue as I did not notice but it took lots of steps during calibration before failing, I have a feeling it is the connection to the mount without the st4 cable, I am using the eqmod ascom driver, maybe I need to use the ascom poth as APT is using that one? Unfortunately I have a bad streak of sucky weather fir a few days, but I will make a note which axis is at fault. Oh I checked your video on space, your images are awesome! I love the green/yellow you use!!! 🤝
Edwin Sanchez Balance depends on how you position your counterweight and telescope, and can be wrong on any mount, new or old. The PHD2 calibration does all the RA steps first then dies the Declination steps, so I am wondering if the issue you have is in Declination as you said it does a lot of steps before failing. Glad you liked the space video!
Hi Martin, Thanks for usefull videos. I have Sky watcher HEQ5 Pro end everything s working fine with Syn Scan hand set. Now , following your video I have tried to connect to my PC with windows 10. So I made all hardwear connections via hand set (in PC mode). Connections are recognised at USB port. Downloaded Platform and EQASCOM just as you did. Then I have oppened Stellarium make all steps as you said and made connect. EQMOD control window oppened but all I got under Mount Position is " Connect Error: Port Not Available". Tried few times but no success. Than reading on forums I have bought Lynx Astro FTDI EQDIR USB Adapter for direct connection from Mount to PC overriding hand set. So again I did connections. First EQDIR cable was not recognise so I downloaded driver FT232r-USB-UART-Driver and adapter was recognised as USB Serial port (COM5). Must say I uninstalled Platform and EQASCOM and installed it again. Unfortunatelly when I started with stellarium I have got the same message " Connect Error: Port Not Available", If it is clear to you what m I doing wrong can you help and advice
RGDS Davor
Hi Davor. Your problem sounds very familiar!! I think you need to go into the EQMOD setup window and select the COM port. To do this, run ASCOM Diagnostics, select device type ‘Telescope’, click ‘Choose’, Select ‘EQMOD ASCOM HEQ5/6’, click on Properties. EQMOD ASCOM SETUP window should open. On left side choose Auto Detect, Timeout 2000, Retry 1, Baud 9600, then select the COM port it appears on (or click on the binoculars if it is plugged into the computer via EQDIR cable and switched on). Then click OK, OK, Exit to Close ASCOM diagnostics. Then try again in Stellarium! Let me know if this works please.
@@martinsastrophotography Dear Martin, Thank you very much. It was at the end very simple. When I have installed driver for the EQDIR adapter it automatically coos com 5 that in fact I do not have. Now with your proposal I have automatically set COM 1 and is working. Thank you very much. And stay safe RGDS Davor
@@davorfliker2362 Happy to help. Clear skies!
@@martinsastrophotography @davorFliker Thank you both for this comments, Jumping in because my issue is very Similar to this, Im connecting from My PC to the SynScan Controller using a USB2 type A to type B cable I ran the ASCOM diagnostic tool follow your instructions mentioned above (selecting and COMport 5 or let the binoculars do it for me)and I Get a message port not found) and even if I just selected COM5 it seems like it wants to open the EQASCOM but it goes away almos immediately
Its driving me crazy! A great video Martin, thank you! Have connected my HEQ5 to Stellarium which has helped a lot but one thing is driving me crazy... I point to Rigel (for example, low and South) and then Saiph just a couple of degrees East and the mount does a full flip - 358 degrees?? (The first time knocking over my focusing screen, battery pack and pulling the leads out lol) Any idea?
Hi David. This sounds like a Meridian flip. This will occur whenever you slew from a target East of the Meridian (line from North to south) to one west of the Meridian, or vice versa. Also, have you successfully completed the following steps? : 1) polar alignment, 2) place the mount in the home position, 3) cycle power to the mount off/on. 4) star alignment. You need to do these steps before you slew to any targets.
@@martinsastrophotography Hi Martin, thanks for your replay. Mmmm, yes it 'could' be just one side and then the other from the Meridian? I will test. I have done 1-2-3 but was hoping to use Stellarium to do 4. Is there a 'disable flip;' button - that it would be helpful . Thanks again - keeps the vids coming!
@@davidcarr4984 I do not recommend disabling Meridian flips, as you will be in danger of crashing your telescope into your tripod legs. EQMOD has the facility to set limits to further reduce the risk of crashing into something.
@@martinsastrophotography Thanks again
I just got myself a new Sky-Watcher HEQ5 mount and also the Digitus (RS-232 to USB adapter) But to my surprise there is no cord (the one you showed on minute 1:36) looks like the connector on the bottom of my controller is different than yours as well. I see an extra entry (A jack) to connect a "telephone" cord labeled "auto guider" I guess I'm in trouble! 😂 lol, any tip?
I believe Sky-Watcher have recently changed one of the interfaces on the hand controller from RS232 to USB by including the RS232 adapter into the hand controller. This means you do not actually need the Digitus adapter any more. Instead you need a USB type A to USB type B cable (as used for USB printers) to connect the PC to the hand controller. I believe you still need to put the hand controller into PC Direct mode to use this new USB connection. The alternative is to remove the hand controller altogether and connect the PC directly to the mount using an FTDI EQDIR cable. It depends whether you want to retain the hand controller as a way to move the mount or if you want to do everything from the PC. I hope this helps. Clear Skies.
@@martinsastrophotography Thank you so much Martin for the reply. Now it makes sense. You are correct. My remote has a RJ-45 to the left a phone jack in the middle and an USB to the right. I want to keep the remote. Will see how the computer connection works with the USB input.
AGAIN, EXCELLENT TUTORIAL MARTIN!, am I able to control the camera with Stellarium?, I have S. and was thinking I will need Astrophotography Tool but if I can operate everything with Stellarium I’m Good. Thank You Martin!. 😎🍻🍣🇬🇧
Rick Gerlach Thanks for your comments. Stellarium cannot Control the camera. I recommend Sequences Generator Pro which can control pretty much everything! What camera do you have? I used BackyardEOS with my Canon camera which was very good but then moved to a dedicated Astrophotography camera and switched to Sequence Generator Pro.
Martin’s Astrophotography Hi Martin, I have a Nikon D810A mounted with a RedCat51. I was looking at my windows laptop (dedicated Astro laptop) and realized I did get Astrophotography Tool which will control the camera I just need to do some homework on operating it properly before my HEQ5 arrives. Trever Jones from astrobackyard has a tutorial on it’s set-up and use so I’ve been watching that. I will give backyard EOS a look also. Thank You for the info and the GREAT TUTORIALS you publish. 😎🍻🍣🇬🇧
hey quick question im thinking of getting the heq5 mount as my first equrdial mount im just woundering can i set and polar align it with my rokinon 135 telephoto lens and then use the go to function to locate stars and nebula ect and how long can i track with this mount ?
Great choice! Yes, you will need to polar align it (see my HEQ5 setup video) then do a star alignment (1 star alignment is enough if the star is quite close to your intended target). Once that is done you just choose a target and it will slew to it! On your other question, the answer depends on whether you are autoguiding or not. For DSLR work I have made up a vixen dovetail with an Arca Swiss clamp for the camera and a bracket for a 9x50 guidescope so I can autoguide using PHD2. Doing this increases the exposure time you can use significantly. The exact time you can achieve without autoguiding depends on your focal length and how good your particular mount happens to be. I regularly do 3-5 minute exposures at 800mm focal length. At 135mm focal length I expect you can do 1-2 minutes without autoguiding and 5-10 minutes with autoguiding. In the end it is a matter of experimentation. Other factors need to be considered….longer exposure time is not always better! For example, a longer exposure time causes more star bloating due to saturation/clipping. I hope this helps. Clear Skies.
Hello! Thanks for the video. It is extremly useful and i was able to download and set up all programs. Unfortunetely, i am not able to connect my go to system to the stellarium app. The program returns a connexion error: "unavailable port". Have you ever encountered this error? Can you please provide me with a piece o advice? I have a EQ5 mount with the additional GoTo upgrade kit recently installed. Thanks a lot, Dan!
Hi Dan. Have you installed ASCOM platform and EQASCOM?
Also, are you using an EQDIR cable plugged into the hand controller socket (no hand controller connected) or a USB serial adapter plugged into the bottom of the hand controller?
@@martinsastrophotography Hey! Thanks for the fast response! I have installed Stellarium, ASCOM and EQmod from the websites you reccomended. Also, for the connection with the laptop i am using the following usb adapter and cable: www.astroshop.eu/data-cables/skywatcher-usb-adapter/p,63821 with a USB cable similar to the one used in printers. Also, the remote is in PC Direct mode.
Moreover, i have tried using both cables that came with the USB adapter and i have also plugged the usb cable directly into the remote and the controller.
@@danlazar9617 ok. Open Stellarium. Open telescopes window. Click on Configure telescopes. Select your telescope and click the spanner button. Scroll down and click Choose ASCOM Telescope. Check your mount is selected in the drop-down list then click Properties. This should open the EQMOD ASCOM SETUP window. There is a section on the left side called Mount Options which should be set to Auto Detect. There is also a section called EQMOD port details. Set this to Timeout 1000, Retry 1, Baud 9600, port . If your mount is connected, switched on and in PC direct mode then you can click the binoculars button to try to find the com port. Then click OK. Ok again. Ok again. Now click connect. Hope this sorts it!
I have a webcam so I can monitor my mount from inside the house. If I was using Stellarium to slew my HEQ5 and I noticed that something was going to jam or hit a tripod leg, what is the best way to interrupt the slew or do an emergency stop?
Never mind, I just saw that EQMOD has an emergency stop button.
Does the eqmod window apear with other mount to or only If you chose egmod_i got a exos-2 and cant get it to point same place as in Stellarium at upstart where it should point at polaris😮
First you will need to find and download/install an ASCOM driver for your mount. Then you need to select the correct device option in the ASCOM chooser dialog (I choose HEQ5…you may need to choose something else). Hopefully you will get this far and can then connect and the EQMOD window will appear. There are quite a few discussions about your mount and ASCOM/EQMOD online which I suggest you study. Good luck!
Hi Martin jam so confused on how to set all this stuff up. I have a heq5 mount. I bought a Pegasus cable and highpoint scientific said I needed. I was told to plug the Pegasus into my mounts hand controller slot on my mount. I have downloaded ascom.stellarium and eqmod. I watch your video and you show the cable plugged into the synscan hand controller not the mount. I'm so confused on what to do. Its freezing outside so this is why I want to work inside. Thank you
Hi Geoff. Let’s start with how old your HEQ5 mount is. I ask because more recent versions have a USB port on them. These can be connected directly between the mount head (not the hand controller) and the PC with a regular USB cable. Earlier ones do not have this and require a special FTDI to RJ45 cable (“EQDIR”) from the PC to the socket on the head where the hand controller plugs in. I don’t know what this “Pegasus cable” is that you refer to. Let me know if your mount head has a USB socket on it, and whether your Pegasus cable is an FTDI to RJ45 (EQDIR) cable.
It doesn't have a USB slot. It the heq5 pro mount just a simple mount bought from highpoint. On the mount it has where you plug in the hand controller plug in for power from a battery and autoguider.as far as the adapter it doesn't say if it has ftdi will get back to you.
Ok. You need to buy an FTDI to RJ45 cable, know as an EQDIR cable. This plugs in to the hand controller socket on the mount with the USB end going to your laptop. Then you need to install the ASCOM Platform (latest version) and then EQASCOM (which gives you the EQDIR interface).
Ok found out it does have ftdi it is a long cable and eqdir is made for windows 10. Mount connector is DJ 45 and pc connector is USB type a. I have the one part connected to my laptop the other end I tried in the hand controller still no resjlts. Appreciate your help
@@geoffnash3098 Have you installed ASCOM Platform and then EQASCOM?
Hi , in hand controller is another socket USB 2 I believe, can you use that instead or have to be telephone one ?
There is no USB socket on the SynScan Hand Controller, only two RJ10 sockets. However, you can connect an RJ10 to RS232 serial cable (I think it comes with the mount, but if not you can buy one) and an RS232 to USB adapter (e.g. DIGITUS USB 2.0 serial adapter). Together these enable you to connect from the hand controller to a PC via USB. For the adapter visit www.assmann.com/en/products/computer-and-office-accessories/computer-accessories/usb-components-and-accessories/interface-adapter/da-70156/
@@martinsastrophotography thank you , but I have USB 2.0 printer type socket in my controller
@@rpg350 Ok. It must be a different design to mine. Suggest emailing the manufacturer if not explained in the documentation.
@@martinsastrophotography thanks, I'm struggling to connect mount to pc I have HEQ5 Pro, an basically try everything, last option for me is RJ11 to usb and connect straight to PC hopefully will work
@@rpg350 To be honest, the best way to remotely control an HEQ5 is to unplug the hand controller completely and use an EQDIR cable between PC’s USB port and the hand controller port. Install Ascom platform and EQASCOM as per my tutorials and then you can control your mount from Stellarium.
I thought usb only had a maximum of 5 meters. After that it degrades heavily.
Some USB cables are better than others. Might take a bit of trial and error with different brands. I have two 5m unpowered usb extension cables plugged end to end and working fine.
I believe this is true. I had a lot of connection issues with a 10m cable. Decided eventually to go wireless using remote desktop, leaving the laptop outside underneath the mount.
@@owenjones-wells9395 Yes, more than 5m can cause trouble, but not always. It’s quite irritating!! Clear Skies.
As a recently retired network engineer I should point out that your cabling recommendation is incorrect. Usb shouldn't really be extended over 5 metres, ideally much less, while rs232 serial connections are largely distance tolerant. You would be much better off using a 10 metre serial extension and a 1 metre USB cable.
Hi Paul. Thanks for that. Yes I agree I’m pushing it by going above 5m but my setup works reliably like this and as an engineer myself I believe in the old adage “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. Also most laptops and PC’s no longer have RS232 ports, so what would you recommend buying and what would you plug it into if the PC only has USB ports? There are some Cat 5e/Cat 6 USB 2.0 extenders out there like the ICRON 2311 which extends up to 100m but costs an eye watering £330 and my camera is USB 3.0 anyway and is on the same extension. Also I only need about 7 metres. Amazon do a 7.5m USB 3.0 extension cable with ‘extension chip’ from MutecPower that is £27.99 which might work well but I am never confident of such things working until I see that it actually does (too many disappointments in the past with active USB extension cables). I actually bought 4 different makes of 5m usb extension cable before I found one that works reliably in a 10 extension configuration (evidence that I am indeed pushing the limits, and that all cables are not the same). Would be interested to hear what USB 3.0 solution you recommend in the absence of an RS232 port.
@@martinsastrophotography a usb to 9 pin serial adapter should be fine, and the drivers should hold the correct pin voltages. My point is use short usb/serial adaptor and use a serial rs232 cable to provide the length. Having said that, if your solution works, go for it, its just that its outside of the recommended specification for usb.
I haven't done either of these. I bought the sysnscan wifi adaptor, and really recommend it. Install the app on your laptop, configure it with eqmod, and Stellarium works fine with it. All with no cables.
Unfortunately, I'm still using Backyard eos with my Canon DSLR, so still need a laptop next to my scope. However once connected, I remote desktop to it over WiFi from my study.
@@paulmurton1019 Thanks Paul. Synscan WiFi adapter is ok for the mount, but I also have a usb main (ZWO) camera, a usb guide camera, a usb filter wheel, and a usb focus motor. I therefore need 5 usb connections. Thankfully the ZWO camera has a built in hub with 2 ports which reduces me to three. So I have a 4-port usb hub on my tripod for this. I could look at using RS232 to get to that hub though. I just bought a 7.5m usb 3.0 cable as an experiment (because you got me interested in this part of my setup!). It seems to work ok too. If USB to RS232 and RS232 to USB converters are cheap I might give them a try too.
@@martinsastrophotography Martin, just to be clear, the usb to rs232 adaptor would only work for the mount. (I.e. serial cable into the synscan controller, and usb to serial at the computer end). It wouldn't work to extend a usb cable, the signalling is completely different.
One thing you have in your favour for your long usb solution, is that you appear to have a powered usb hub, which will help keep signal voltages up if there is cable attenuation.
@@paulmurton1019 Understood. That makes sense. Yes, the hub in the ZWO camera is powered but the 4-way hub before it is not. My focus motor and mount run off that hub. The filter wheel and guide camera run off the ZWO hub (with VERY short cables!)
Martin have you investigated removing the synscan controller from the picture completely? Using Ascom direct from USB on PC/Hub to RJ45 in the synscan port of the HEQ5? With something like this: www.amazon.com/dp/B07XVQCZBL
Yes, that’s how I always do it now. I needed to master Plate Solving first as I no longer have means to steer to a target from my telescope, but that’s sorted now and I use an EQDIR cable and ASTAP plate solving. It’s brilliant!!! Will do a video on this.
@@martinsastrophotography bang on. That would be a fantastic video.