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Thanks Han I guess my mindset is still in DSLR mode after all this time, that's good to know I'll try out NINA or APT with it & see how I get on 🙂

Hi everyone sorry if this post comes across as a bit dumb, I know I should probably upgrade to a newer camera which maybe I will when funds allow but for the time being I'm using what I have, I've been using Nebulosity 3 for capturing images with the camera for a while now & found it to be ok & never had many issues from it, I recently got the camera to work in NINA, APT & it's native software EZ cap. One thing I noticed on all of them is that they seem to capture in greyscale with no colour showing at all, NINA when connected to the camera lists it as a mono camera which it isn't. Now I really want to try out NINA & APT but I don't want to be capturing in greyscale unless that's normal, I noticed in Fits viewer the images were in greyscale too when I first used it & panicking thinking I've done something wrong but the colours appeared after stacking in DSS ok. I hope this post makes sense & I haven't rambled on to much.

I've seen one of those on FLO which has peaked my interest as I already own a skywatcher autofocuser, I do have a system for it that works on a pc but the driver is only 32 bit so doesn't work with NINA although I can use it via the computer to focus with its own software. Does anyone know if these will work through a pc as an autofocuser in NINA particularly or would I be better off saving my money & getting a system that uses stepper motors like a ZWO EAF? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-cables-leads-accessories/hitecastro-dc-focus-controller.html

Ey up Gaz nice to see the obsy coming along we'll be looking forward to seeing some images soon 🙂

With the guiding errors mine is causing I may if I'm brave enough have a go.

Another update somehow I've managed to get NINA to recognise the QHY8 camera on the mini pc & laptop whereas it would refuse to work with the ASCOM drivers it seems to work with the native drivers when you can get NINA to recognise them. I'm hoping now when I next get set up it should be easier & quicker to get imaging started so fingers crossed 🙂

I just thought I'd update the post somehow I managed to get the qhy8 to connect to APT & with some head scratching got the platesolving to work, before when I've tried APT it would just simply refuse to connect or just sit & hang & do nothing. Now the problem started when I tried capturing with it as all I got was a thin line on top of the image & a few hot pixels so went back to using Neb3 & all is well so I'm currently shooting the North American nebula. I'm sure with a bit more figuring out I'll get it to work with APT but at least I can platesolve so it's a start.

Unfortunately if APT or NINA don't have compatible drivers for the QHY8 & the ASCOM drivers do not work with each of the programs either which is a bit frustrating, I have to use Nebulosity 3 to capture anything with it & even then that can be a pain at times. If it is possible to platesolve with the guide camera at least it should get me in the ball park providing they are lined up before using the imaging camera. I know it's not ideal but I can't think of any other way of doing it apart from selling my soul for a new imaging camera 😧

Hi everyone I wasn't sure if I've posted this in the right section so apologies if I haven't, anyhow I use an old QHY8 OSC for imaging & as much as I'd like a shiny new camera my funds say otherwise, so I were wondering if it would be possible to use my guide camera in the guidescope to platesolve? I use either a finderguider or ST80 & an ASI120MM to guide with. I were hoping to use it with APT when set up to platesolve to help speed up getting imaging started but that's if it's not to much of a madcap idea of course.

Hmmm I thought I'd already posted that the cables work on the AZ EQ6 GT but I guess I didn't anyway I'm pleased to report that the Lynx astro & Hitec astro cables both connect to the mount perfectly now so one will be in the observatory while the other I'll use when out in the field. Thanks all for your help.

Hi sorry for the delay I've currently spent the afternoon getting an HEQ5 connected to the laptop via the Lynx Astro cable & managed to get it to work, all I had to do was look in the device manager after all the drivers were installed & see the com port 8 was selected so I did the same in EQMOD & it connected straight away. When I get home I shall try it on the AZ EQ6 GT & fingers crossed it will work on there too, as I'm not at home right now that won't be until Monday at the earliest. But should it work that will be both cables working now so one can stay in the observatory & the other I can use at star parties which hopefully we will be able to attend to more over the coming year or so. We've also managed to connect an ATIK 314L & the mount to NINA so that's another slippery slope we'll need to learn hopefully it won't be to painful, thanks for all your help I'll update the thread as soon as I try it on the AZ mount.

So an update on the cables the Lynx Astro arrived from FLO yesterday & true to their word the cloud had arrived too; But when I plugged in that cable it refused to work too even after downloading the drivers for it, EQ ASCOM couldn't find it so I went back the the HITEC astro cable removed the drivers on the system rebooted it aaaaand it works, you really can't make this stuff up can you lol. I'm sure the Lynx cable will work it's just an oversight from me somewhere but it does frustrate me at times.

I've tried to look for older drivers but I'm coming up with nothing apart from links taken to a dodgey site or nothing at all so I've bit the bullet & ordered a new Lynx cable from FLO, fingers crossed it will sort out the issue I'll update this thread with more info when I get to test it. It's weird as it worked fine with an HEQ5 but not the AZ EQ 6.

Hi sorry for the delay in replying this is what I get when I plug the cable into the pc; I get exactly the same message when plugged into the imaging laptop & I'd imagine I'll get the same with the mini PC that will be set up in the observatory at some point although I haven't tested that yet, as for software I use Ascom EQ MOD Cartes Du Ciel although I'd like to use NINA at some point. I've downloaded the drivers required but still it doesn't connect & all I get is the same message & I've even run the check chip version which came part of the PL2303 drivers & on COM 1 I get the message no PL2303 chip the other COM ports fail, the lead itself does click in the mounts just fine so it's baffling me completely......

I do connect the mount directly rather via the handset but it still doesn't work sorry should have explained this better, I've downloaded the drivers from Hitec astro but clueless on how you're supposed to install them apart from the USB driver.

This is the lead I have pictured below it works great with an HEQ5 but not the AZ EQ6 I'll try downloading some drivers from the Hitec astro site to see if it helps. The laptop doesn't recognise the mount at all when plugged in which makes me wonder if the mount needs to be set to EQ mode somehow so the laptop see's it but I can't see how that can be done.

Hi everyone. I've had my AZ EQ6 GT a while now but weirdly I cannot get it to connect to the laptop so I can use ASCOM, EQ MOD etc, I've got a HITEC astro lead to connect the mount to the laptop but I get nothing yet when I try the same laptop & lead to an HEQ5 it works pretty much straight away with no issues. The mount I have is the older type without the USB lead so I'm having to use the lead that plugs into the handset port. If anyone has any ideas on what I'm doing wrong or whether there's something else I need to download then that would be great as I'm at my wits end here.

I've only just finished putting all these together properly although each image I never managed to get a lot of data due to the cloud we were having on that day so out of 41 captures I managed to salvage 22 & the 5th one had barely any data at all so it's a bit dodgey. I started off the run using my trusty Ha PST & then about midway through switched to the CaK PST using a DMK41 camera on both, to be fair I didn't think it would be worth setting up as the view from the observatory was just grey clouds everywhere but it started to clear & I were getting some fairly decent-ish gaps in the end so below is what I got, I did think about making up a sequence but thought it might look a bit odd switching from Ha to CaK so I've left it as it is. The Sun is there somewhere honest!!

Hi Tony I messed around with it in ic capture & I can get it working at 7.5FPS but on 15 it just goes to a black screen blooming nightmare, so I thought I know I've got an old laptop with firewire connection lets get the PGR Grasshopper running but nope that's also become a nightmare so pretty much give up with them both now. It's been a while since I've been to Pencelli we must make it down there again sometime 🙂

Hmmm maybe I posted this in the wrong section but I'm still not having any luck with it, I tried IC capture & I can get it to work at 7.5 FPS but on 15 the screen goes black & a message says it cannot do a live view.

Hi everyone. I solar image using a DMK41 camera & PST's (Ha & CaK) & whilst using it on my very old laptop running Windows 7 I've never had much in the way of issues apart from when I updated Sharpcap once & all I were getting was a black screen, I fired up Firecapture & it worked fine so I've used it ever since. I've bought an HP Mini PC with an i5 processor running Windows 10 as I want to use it in the observatory to either use when I image DSO's & monitor the progress indoors via wifi or to use for planetary & Solar imaging. I've downloaded all the latest drivers & tested out the DMK today but when you start a capture it would either move a frame of 2 then do nothing then might go down a few more frames, I tried it in an older version of Sharpcap & it were doing the same. I tried with an ASI120 MM which I use for guiding & it worked fine so not sure why I can't get the DMK to behave. The mini PC itself only has USB3 ports so were wondering if that could be causing the issue but I thought it should work with a USB2. As far as I know the mini PC has all the specs to run it when I downloaded the drivers from their website.

Recordmaticss are really a 2 person set up & unfortunately it's only Conforts that open up. I've been using these for years now although I do prefer the earlier 70's models. Over the years they have been used in all weathers at star parties too with wind rain or on the odd nights when we do have clear skies & the temperatures drop below 0. We use this one now & have used it at Kelling Heath a couple of times fingers crossed we'll get to go again this year although I do miss SGL & the South Wales star parties too. Hopefully I'll find some work with more flexible holidays soon. I do run a forum about these bonkers caravans so if you're interested in finding more or anything else you're welcome to join; http:// https://rapidofoldingcaravan.freeforums.net/

The DMK is the USB version sorry I should have mentioned that, the capture software recognises the camera but I'm unable to use it to capture video even though you can see the image on the screen, hope that makes sense.

Hi James I had some issues with Ubuntu so ended up doing a reinstall as the wireless kept dropping out, I tried the point grey camera & the software was not finding it so tried a DMK41 which it found but wouldn´t save the video after creating a directory. So I ended up putting Linux Mint on instead & the wireless seems to be working & is stable as I am using the iMac right now. Again I tried the point grey & set up a folder which it captured to fine but the DMK41 wont even though it finds the camera so I am not sure what I am doing wrong.

Hi James I've plugged the camera in this morning & oacapture found the camera & it's working, I've yet to try it out on the Sun sometime so I'll probably have a go weekend all being well. I remember when I did live streams using the imac & I had a choice of what cameras to use using chrome so maybe that option will be there so I might try that option too. Many thanks again & I'll keep you updated 🙂