chris_suffolk

Plenty of people use an EQ5 for AP - so long as you can guide it you should be ok Look at Mark's site, http://astrocasto.blogspot.co.uk/ To see what he used to do

I think PHD just sends EQMOD additonal (correction) signals, it doesn't guide the mount directly - stand to be corrected on that one though.

EQMOD is set to pulse, and fairly sure it's not a conflict on guiding as it works using seperate usb ports. Given that the board in the laptop physically shares the bandwidth between usb ports (as do all laptops) it shoudn't make any difference using a hub and the traffic requirements will be pretty small anyway. My guess is a config issue where the software can't find the scope because it's on a different port or internal address, but not sure how to test this theory, nor what to do about it if it is. Does nobody use a hub in their setup? At least then I would know it's techically possible to do .

I use software called 'redscreen' puts all programs on a pc into red mode, and you can switch back and forth, see no reason why it won't work on windows 8 - worth a try. http://www.astrodigital.net/download/redscreen_windows/redscreen_windows.html

Alternatively I can see no reason why a standard PC cable won't work, at less than half the price http://www.senetic.co.uk/product/CAB-CONSOLE-USB?gclid=CJ7vjdy6wcMCFfHKtAodL0EARg Adding the word 'astronomy' to an item is seen as good reason to double the cost !!

Trying to persuade Backyard EOS, EQMOD (through Cartes-du-Ciel) and PHD to talk to each other through a USB hub It all seems to work, except for PHD. PHD can see the mount and the guide cam, and gets an image when I loop, but when I try to send the mount a command (even manually in the tools menu) I just get a PulseGuide error and nothing happens. I'm assuming PHD can't send the commands via the ASCOM drivers for some reason (it's fine when it uses its' own dedicated USB port on the laptop) - so is it just a configuration issue? Do I need updated drivers (though from what I can see everything is bang up-to-date (all drivers and software)) or is there some other setting I need to change to get it to work? I had to alter the DCOM port in Cartes-de-Ciel (to enable it to launch EQMOD) so do I need something similar for PHD, though I can't find any menus to allow ports to be specified. Any help appreciated, especially if you use a similar set-up Chris

Thanks Will do some searching. On a different note, the USB hub looks good. Tried one out today, but couldn't persuade PHD to talk to EQMOD via ASCOM drivers - just got PulseGuide errors - anybody got this working?

Ok, thanks - how did you attach it? Worried that a self adhesive pad won't hold for long, or does it?

Prob too far, but Galloway is a designated dark sky area

HEQ5 ports are in a different place in relation to the NEQ6 - on the face round to the right equivalent in the photo above - and no hook. Thought about self adhesive cable hook, but not sure the glue will be very strong with cables dragging on them

Not tried getting up early yet, always put off by the fact that it's all for nothing if it's cloudy. At least at night I know it's cloudy before going to bed rather than the other way round

I've read in a few places that the ports in the board on an HEQ5 are not too robust. Thus, to avoid cables constantly pulling against them, it seems sensible to 'tie' the cables back and attach to the mount to reduce the stress. Currently I've a couple of rubber bands that I put round the scope and push the cables under, but it means I can't remove them easily, and it doesn't exactly look good, Is this a real problem I should be concerned about, and if so, what do folks do about it? Thanks in advance Chris

Yes, lots (and lots and lots) of images, then careful teasing with curves and levels in photoshop

I just bought a secondhand 200P on an HEQ5, with guidescope and cam Guy I bought itrom took these images with the kit http://astrocasto.blogspot.co.uk/ just so you know what is possible Thinking I might add an ED80 at some point, but right now the 200P is good

This was my first attempt with SPC900 and 5x barlow