StevieDvd

According to ZWO your camera needs 12v and can draw up to 3A. If your DC to female cigar lighter is a decent amperage you may be able to use a splitter to feed both the camera direct and the Asiair. If splitting you can only supply the maximum that DC unit can handle - so if it was say 10A then if the camera needed 3A it would leave 7A for the Asiair which is more than it could ask for. Whilst you will hear a lot of people say they can run their mount from the Asiair it is not always the case, with the above camera, a mount and dew heaters you could easily be trying to use more power than the Asiair could supply - usually find the mount does not run properly and can stop tracking.

Done that it's a simple tweak. ZWO have inadvertently put a link to github on updating the kernel which gives you more access than I think they realise. 😮

Agreed 👍 - I may end up using it with with Astroberry or Stellarmate if I can access the power board fully and the off/on & wifi/reset extras.

If you frequent the Asiair facebook groups you'll see a lot of users end up buying external power/usb solutions as well. That leaves the main selling point of the Asiair as 'ease of use' with the app it connects with. The major downside being the restricted equipment it supports being ZWO only, apart from the DSLR. Astroberry can be used from a browser and needs the least expense to get a Pi setup, Stellarmate cab eb bought as an OS and has it's own app and same broswer connection as Astroberry. The Asisair has a pretty case and simple to use app. I have all 3!

OK just to check: When you connect the Dew straps are you making any changes to the power port settings - the dew heater setting has a power percentage option? Any reason for using the ST4 cable, this can be handled via the usb/eqdir cable so less cable clutter?

That would seem to remove a power problem from the possible causes, though next time it occurs check whether the power led on the HEQ5 flashes. It's also worth checking the simple things like the mount clutches were tight enough (I'm sure a few here have done that before - me included) and that the mount was balanced. If it is repeatable only with the dew straps added in that would seem to indicate an issue with the ASIair side. You mentioned you made a few tweaks to get the mount to move so you could PA - was that working then with the dew straps still on - and where/what was tweaked? And are these dew straps going in the 12v power sockets on the ASIair or are you using USB powered ones? I'm thinking where the conflict might be, issues with usb ports etc. It would help if you listed what's connected to what in case someone recognises a similar issue. Like what main camera you use, do you connect an ST4 cable and an eqdir cable (direct to mount or via handset).

What are you powering all this with? Your problem has all the hallmarks of a power issue, it's a common enough problem to merit checking the power supply first before looking elsewhere or suspecting the mount.

For anyone else reading this needing for location input help. If you find your location on googlemaps and right-click on it your long/lat co-ordinates will be shown, copy those and paste it back in the google maps search location box and it will show you the long/lat co-ordinates in both formats. And for those who don't read manuals you swithc between W & E using the scroll up/down keys next to the numbers.

This is likely a power issue. The ASIair Pro has a max input of 6A (12-15v) and power/usb ports which can share that. Though in total those ports could use more than 6A, ZWO don't expect them all to be asking for their full capacitiy so mention your setup should not use more than 6A. It also mentions a suggested minimum power supply of 12v 2A. I'm guessing that you have your mount powered by the ASIair based on the alignment issue you had earlier. So as you have discovered a simple usage, even powering the mount, can work. But once you start loading more pwer hungry gear then it's best to run the mount on a separate supply. That too is mentioned in the user manual. A pity they don't put this all in one place and explain it properly for the new users.

The focuser may need a dedicated focuser port and power, new focuser units have a usb & power connections. Only the premium Pegasus have the special focuser port, for Moonlite, Lakeside etc.

It was added as a point of information in case that was a future choice you may have been considering. When connecting a serial port you need to specify the port number & baud rate. On older connections using an eqdir cable this was normally 9600 but the onboard usb port expects a higher value (115200 I think).

You'll read many saying they power their mount fine from the Asiair (AAP), which some can do because they are not using too many power hungry devices at the same time. The AAP can take 12v 6A max input and can share that via the power ports - but using dew heaters and the more power deamnding cameras can leave the 12 outputs a little short. Hence, others would say use a separate mount power supply, as would I. Pegasus units that come up on Astrobuysell don't stay unsold very long so would be a wise buy if they solve the camera power, and usb shortcomings, of any of the AAP/AB/Stellarmate. Just gets a little expensive if you need power for focusers too.

The original ZWO120mm USB2 (not the mini or new usb3) has some issues with Linux, even has a warning in the Asiair Pro manual about it. Your DSLR probably would need a dummy battery to feed in the 7.5v and you'd need a step-done voltage adapter if using the Asiair power (12v fixed not adjustable). Ig going the Asiair route then be aware of the restriction for using all ZWO gear (except the DSLR) and the weak wi-fi due to the metal casing and small Raspberry Pi onboard wifi aerial. You can soon run out of usb ports and need extra power so a Pegasus unit would be a good idea to handle extra usb and DSLR power. Just not contollabel via the Asiair. Stellarmate/Astroberry with a Pegasus are good alternatives, especially for those with good non ZWO gear. And in a user selected case for the Raspberry PI would fare a bit better on wifi.

Only issue with the usb printer style lead direct to the mount is whether the cable comes out too easily. On the plus side the serial/usb conversion is done by the mount and should be supported by Skywatcher for ages, the leads are cheaper and the baud rate is faster (if that helps). There is currently an issue for the Asiair Pro which is awaiting an update to connect with the built in usb for the latest versions of this mount but works with older eqdir cables.

Whilst that wifi aerial can be used on Linux you'd need access to the AsiairPro to load the drivers which is restricted by ZWO and could be overwritten by an update. I too have an extender in the garage but it extends the wifi with the same SSID (you may be able to do that on yours) so I can use my home network around the house and in garage/garden even though the devices are going via the extender(s) or the router.

All good then. 🙂

What we are trying to do is to get you to the point where you selectyour wifi connection rather than editing it in. Like here If you startup on a network cable it's a little easier as you don't need to worry about hotspots. And you can see what wireless points are available anyway.

I apologise for making this into a list and repeating some things which may be obvious but hoped a check-list could help you setup your AB and find the bit which is preventing you progressing. OK I created a new sd-card with AB on it and did the following: With the AB unpowered plugged in ethernet cable Powered up AB - made sure network port lights were flashing On PC opened a cmd shell and ran ping astroberry.local and saw ip was for my network Open browser on PC and entered astroberry.local/desktop in url Clicked on Connect and entered password when prompted Ethernet was connected OK - so I disconnected the Wi-Fi Networks (on the network dropdown) which only showed astroberry Re-connected the Wi-Fi Networks which then displayed other wifi connections Clicked on my home wifi and entered password in panel (used the show option to make sure it was typed correctly & correct case mine has no spaces or odd characters in SSID or password). Dis-connected Ethernet Network (on dropdown) Shutdown the AB and power removed Took out ethernet cable Powered up AB On PC ran cmd ping astroberry.local and checked ip number was for my network Open browser on PC and entered astroberry.local/desktop in url and connected Regards Steve

2 different results depending on whether you left or right click on the network icon. He needs to left click to see the wifi connections available. I think he is editing them manually. I wonder if he has a space or odd character in his SSID or password.

On my Amazon they are coming up as £129.99 (there is a £40 off voucher) and £179.99 (£20 off voucher) for the newer model. I have the new model (I got £30 off when I bought it) and as far as I can see they are both the same apart from the handles. All the data on the rear panel including model numbers appear to be the same. Not sure if there are internal changes to justify the price, but I prefer the new handle. Not used outside yet but have it as a convenient indoor portable supply station and it exudes quality.

Sorry, I've been culling down my tripods so I can cover an EQ6, EQ5 and 3/8 on my Berlebach tripod - now fitted with EQ6 top as standard. So I have the orange geoptic eq6-eq5 adapter and an eq5 to 3/8 adapter to cover all bases. 🤭 We need to get a local johninderby!! The 3/8 adapter needed a bit of tweaking to fit in the geoptik adapter though it had fitted the eq5 berlebach head fine. I'll re-list the tripod when I've gathered all my other unused gear for testing, cleaning and pricing.

My response on the eqmod should have been clearer as it was mainly attempting to answer the question on the use of existing eqdir cable and the wired gamepad. You won't see the exact configuration panels that are on the PC eqmod setup but as Staurt1971 has said there is an EQMOD indi driver, with similar settings and a joystick driver independent of that. On the network side the AB has a default priority of -999, they are checked in descending order so 200 could be the first wifi to check, 100 the next and so on to -999. Typically this would be so your home wifi is checked first (200), but if you are in another house (your weekend getaway) use 100. If all fails revert to default AB hotspot. I'm not sure how unchecking the auto priority works unless it allows you to drop one or more wifi connections out of the ones to be checked. I normally say try the default options first as that's what the coder expects the avergae user to need. Using ethernet is quicker and avoids the delay the wifi checks do. But when you have set your own wifi correctly you should reboot. Radek the AB author often posts on SGL, if he sees this he may correct any factual errors.

OK are you OK now and once rebooted you connect wirelessly to your own network? On my AB the default internal hotspot is set as priority -999 so last resort setting, so a number higher than that will be checked first for a connection. This is so when you are away from home and want the AB hotspot to default it should automatically as it won't find your home network. AB does not have the EQMOD software per se - it uses the connection type which describes the use of a serial/usb conversion. This can be in the mount, in the handcontroller or in the cable itself. If you've used an eqdir cable before then use this with the mount set as eqmod and probably the 9600 baud setting. The other options the EQMOD addon in AB can be seen here https://www.indilib.org/telescopes/skywatcher/eqmod.html

Yes it that's easier for you. I have my AB running now. If you can see the desktop try a normal left-click on the wifi bars and see if your home network appears in the list of available wifi connections.

I still have one I listed a while ago on SGL sitting in the garage. Did not sell as I really don't want to post/courier. If you are interested and lockdown rules allow I can hold it for you till you are OK to collect, for the same price I listed it here - I'm over in Stevenage.