Marian

While waiting for at least little piece of the sky to show some hint of stars, I fixed the guide scope. I think, this might be rigid enough.

2 hours ago, alacant said:

Sorry. I think that term is local to here. I should not have used it.

SBIG is the company which introduced on camera guiding many years ago. That is the same (non ASCOM) method I recommend to begin with and which is explained above.

My recommendation stands. Forget ASCOM for now. All you need running on your computer is PHD2.

Cheers 

Again, I am the one that should say sorry. As far as guiding is concerned, I am a total, 100% noob. Everything is new to me. Yes, I've been looking up with my telescopes for many years, took some nice pics as well. But I've never been a member of any forum nor I've ever knew anyone with this hobby. It's only lately, that I've decided to move little ahead and try guiding. 

Yes, your recommended method is still my plan A. Though I still don't understand How will PHD2 move my mount. I guess (I hope) I'll be surprised once I have the opportunity  to take it all out and try.

1 hour ago, malc-c said:

Yes, I think this is where @Marian is getting slightly confused. 

While waiting for the post to bring me all what I ordered, I was multitasking and tried to get all this ready but I bumped into this problem  

I don't think I am somehow confused what ASCOM is or what's its function, the Bresser Ascom driver prvided by Bresser just simply wont work. After installing it, there was this readme file:

3 hours ago, alacant said:

ASCOM alone will do nothing. You also need the EXOS2-goto driver, the latest version of which is available here. 
Probably best to stick to your plan A, keep it simple and get the SBIG method working first. Many I know still use this method to guide.

Cheers and here's hoping the clouds will part soon.

Actually, when you guys told me what to get, this was the first that the postman brought me. That means, the handheld already has the last firmware, with the ASCOM driver. But it still won't communicate. (what does SBIG method mean?) I try to read all the manuals, I watched so many youtube videos to learn as much as possible but everyone uses these and many more abbreviations and I've no idea what they mean.

16 hours ago, malc-c said:

ASCOM is just a platform that all other astronomical applications used to communicate with. 

This will be my "plan B" in case the "plan A" fails. If so, I'll have to buy a new mount that actually communicates with ASCOM. I updated the firmware of this mount (it's supposed to work with ASCOM) but it just doesn't work. I posted a picture of the error message, that ASCOM pushes above. 

There will be no dark skies in the night very soon here, I hope I'll be able to guide before the light nights come. Otherwise I'll have to wait until late August. 

But thank you for the instructions. I will do all I can :)

17 hours ago, alacant said:

For the method I gave, yes.
There is a second method where you can control the mount using a planetarium program. Maybe get this method going first before throwing more software at it?

 

Ok, I think I am all set to try this out. Next time I am off and the sky is clear. I hope this will work.

3 hours ago, alacant said:

PHD2 is software for guiding.

And I thought, that's what the NSEW commands are for. I sat there for hours and tried to figure that out. So I still need the handset, good to know.

Now, will the PHD2 guide, drive my mount? Or will it only show how off my mount and alignment are?

It's been really cloudy since last October. I was able to take my telescopes out maybe twice in last 4 months. And it was so cold, that everything froze. (southern Finland)

2 hours ago, alacant said:

Ah, so you now have it connected? All that's left is to read the phd2 manual. If not...

 

Thank you for all your help. I did everything just like you wrote. Then I tried to move my mount through the "manual guide" in PHD2, but the mount didn't move. 

I couldn't point the cam anywhere. It's cloudy.

1 hour ago, alacant said:

Hi

The short answer is, no.

Further than that, we'd have to guess; we don't know what is connected to what, which cables are in use nor -apart from así- which software is installed.

Cheers 

Well, I connected the camera to my laptop via the USB cable that came with it. The other cable (whatever the connector is called) I connected to the mount. 

As far as the software is concerned, (it all can be deleted or installed again) I downloaded the driver for the camera, PHD2, something called ASCOM (this doesn't like my mount). 

The PHD2 connected to the camera after I installed driver. So (I hope) that problem is solved. But still I struggle with the mount. No idea how to  control it via my laptop.

I just have no idea how to make my mount  to communicate with the camera. Sweating my ... to figure this out.

do I have to do this? Because it doesn't work

Finally, finally the cam arrived today. First I bumped into a problem with connecting. Resolved by installing the driver. 

13 hours ago, alacant said:

Please accept my apologies. i assumed you now had the camera. Sorry for the noise!

No need for apology , like I said, sometimes (quite often actually) I am too eager and make mistakes (sometimes expensive ones).

I already wrote above, I tried to open those plastic covers and I managed to strip the screws . I looked in from the side panels and it looks the same as on your pictures. I almost took my WD40 to grease it up, but I changed my mind.

I like the idea with the aluminium bar, I might copy it. No copyrights, I hope

I actually have the same set as on your pictures. Exactly the same tube as well. I thought it might be too big and heavy for the mount, so it stands in the corner now.

 

 

45 minutes ago, malc-c said:

To me (and no expert) that seems to be related to those who are developing and writing drivers rather than the "end user".  I was not able to locate a driver for the serial to USB cable in the support / download page, however chances are it uses either FTDI or more probably the Prolific 2303 driver which was dropped from Windows when MS developed windows 10 (Prolific didn't want to sign up to the licencing agreement)

Chances are you get a warning under device manager against the COM port assigned to the adapter / cable.  Right click on it and select properties. Click the details tab and then select Hardware ID from the "property" drop down list.  Copy the first line that appears in the value box, and then past that into google.  It should then bring up links to the driver for that chipset.   Download and install the driver which hopefully go smoothly and resolve the issue

That was the first I checked.I changed the port from COM1 to COM3 in order to get the firmware to upload to the handheld. The port does’t trigger any warning. 
I copy pasted the readme of the driver though. It says, it’s a mere skeleton and for sure I don’t have enough knowledge to code in C to build it up. I kinda suspect that to be the problem.

3 hours ago, alacant said:

Hi

I'm not sure why you have chosen this method, although almost certainly my not reading the thread properly!

To begin guiding now, why not simply use the autoguide port on the mount? The cables you need are included with the camera I recommended, which AFAICT, you will now have. Do the pulse stuff later maybe.

Cheers.

 

There is a simple reason, why I went for this first. The cable to update the firmware came today, while the cam and the guide scope are still on their way. (the cable came from Germany, the rest from China)  I wanted to get the PHD2 to work before the scope and the cam arrive to start learning. And ASCOM via the handheld was the only way to try to connect my mount to PHD2 without the guide cam. 

I am all but a patient guy and I always try to be as fast and effective as possible. It doesn't always work out and this is a good example of me doing what I do. (I am actually pretty close to buying a new mount, that much frustration this one brought today).

Last time I took my set out I bumped into a servo motor problem, also my 3 star alignment  was somehow very off, even though the polar alignment was precise . I hoped, the PHD2 might give me ideas, is  there something seriously wrong with the mount.

But yeah, I'll wait for the rest to arrive and then I'll try to make it work as you've suggested. I'll actually have to find a rail long enough to fasten it into both rings together as rigidly as possible. All I have are the short ones. This is actually harder, than I thought. Do I have to wait for the scope to arrive and measure the width of the .... stand/holder?

That was the first I checked.I changed the port from COM1 to COM3 in order to get the firmware to upload to the handheld. The port does’t trigger any warning. 
I copy pasted the readme of the driver though. It says, it’s a mere skeleton and for sure I don’t have enough knowledge to code in C to build it up. I kinda suspect that to be the problem.

On 09/02/2023 at 03:30, malc-c said:

If you don't want to go down the route of using a PC to run the guiding software and control of he mount then google "Autogider" (without the quotes) - They are not cheap, but provide a self contained system to keep the scope tracking the guidestar

Synguider for example is one suitable for skywatcher mounts.  You would need to obtain the specs of your mount to ensure it uses the same gearing ratios as the EQ5 otherwise it would be a waste of money.  The mount looks like an EQ5 but the specs state it uses servo motors with encoders, the EQ5 goto uses stepper motors, however the worm gear ratio is the same 144 as an EQ5 so assuming the firmware uses the same communications protocol then it should work.   Personally using a standard guide camera with a guidescope and a PC gives you more options.  The manufacture offers a PC cable and adapter along with ASCOM compliant driver so it should be possible to use applications such as PHD2 to handle the guiding 

 

So,

I looked into it a little ( a lot actually) and this left me frustrated. In order to get this mount to autoguide, I had to update the firmware. Got my cable from Bresser and after some fight, I got that done. However, the driver that came with it, that should work with the ASCOM, doesn't work. I googled and googled but nothing helped. The readme file that came with the driver makes it even more confusing for me.  

👍

Sounds great. Let me know how the update went and how easy/difficult is the connection with your pc.

so, https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001831167979.html?srcSns=sns_WhatsApp&spreadType=socialShare&bizType=ProductDetail&social_params=60264354595&aff_fcid=bbf8f632933d438ba7560677ceaa59d0-1676118610282-09299-_EzkPFXF&tt=MG&aff_fsk=_EzkPFXF&aff_platform=default&sk=_EzkPFXF&aff_trace_key=bbf8f632933d438ba7560677ceaa59d0-1676118610282-09299-_EzkPFXF&shareId=60264354595&businessType=ProductDetail&platform=AE&terminal_id=a93eebcf6d2b4ed28be1594e709ed496&afSmartRedirect=y

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are on it's way. Should be here by March 11th.

https://www.bresser.de/en/Astronomy/BRESSER-Computer-Cable-for-Remote-Control-of-MCX-Goto-Telescopes-and-EXOS-II-EQ-Goto-Mounts.html this is what I am ordering right now.

I took my set out yesterday, it was freezing and windy. One of my servos seem to be off, kinda too slow. I tried to take it odd to check the gears , but the screws were too tight and of course I managed to strip them :(( 

Oh well, this only brings more questions. How do you update the software for the controller. 

https://www.bresser.de/en/Astronomy/BRESSER-Computer-Cable-for-Remote-Control-of-MCX-Goto-Telescopes-and-EXOS-II-EQ-Goto-Mounts.html this is what I found

Oh wow,  words (PHD2, ASCOM) that I don't know. I have so much to learn and the summer is coming. (Summer in southern Finland = 20 hours of daylight = no dark skies for a long time) and I'd like to get this to work before the snow melts. (it reflects so much light the light pollution made by nearby cities, that I can't really make decent photos in this area). 

But thank you for this option, I'll keep it in y mind. I'll use my pc for now and will look into that little later. 

great. That sounds like I need to pour some concrete around my scope :)) 

Like I said, I know nothing about guiding. But I'll do my very best.

Thank you

Thank you, this is exactly what I was hoping for. 

Hello everyone. 
I have this tripod https://www.bresser.de/en/Astronomy/Accessories/Mounts/BRESSER-Messier-EXOS-2-EQ-GoTo-Mount.html , it’s been working just fine, but I’d like it to make it work for longer exposures. I mounted the Svbony 80ed telescope on it.
Now, as far as autoguide, I am a total noob. I know, I need a guide scope with a guide camera. But I’d like it to work as painlessly as possible for me to make effort in learning new skills in astrophotography without being frustrated in buying stuff I don’t know. The mount features ST-4 compatible autoguiding input. If there is someone so kind to suggest what to buy and what software I’ll need to get and learn. 
I’ll be happy to answer any questions. I hope, my inquiry is not too bold.