Lancebloke

Ok.... I had been trying to connect to the mount guide port. Thought that was the way to do it! Thanks. I will give that a go in real conditions when the sky clears up.

So it should be the handset it connects to rather than the mount itself?

Hi, The only cable I have to the mount is ST4. This is the white cable that I have in my hand that has RS232 on the other end and joins the adapter to USB in to my laptop. The other USB in my laptop goes to the guide camera. No wires from camera to mount or handset.

I am really confused about what I should be doing now! Yes, the white ST4 is the cable supplied. I have bought an RS232 cable so i can connect it to my laptop. I have been informed that the best way to set things up is by connecting the mount to my laptop that has PHD2 on it. I can get it working by connecting the handset to the laptop, but not the mount.

Hi. The guide camera is an Orion StarShoot. It came as a package with the telescope and mount.

Where should I plug the USB in to then? I am connected to the auto guide camera via my laptop... where do I connect to the mount?

Hi No, I havent set the hand controller to do anything. Three pictures of set up attached. The USB connections are 1 for mount and other for guide scope. Thanks for helping! This is not as simple as I thought it would be.

Ok... I tried that and it is still giving me the timeout error. I can hear the mount making different noises when it tries to connect so it seems it knows something is there.

I dont seem to be able to start it before PHD2. The console pops up and disappears repeatedly.

I have installed EQASCOM drivers but I still get the same error.

Ok. I have made some progress here. I have a USB to RS232 adapter and I have managed to connect PHD2 to the synscan handset, however it will not connect directly to the mount. I have assigned that USB port to COM1 and been in to ASCOM to tell it my mount will be COM1 (I was previously getting an error saying COM Port cannot be empty). It is now looking for COM1 but cannot see a Skywatcher mount there. Seems fine when I connect to the port on the handset though. Is there a separate set of drivers for the mount itself that I should have? Thanks, Lance

Thanks all, I will get hold of the suggested cables and give it another go. I think my handset may not have shipped with the latest firmware so I will get that updated when I get the cables too. Lance

You are right... it was an ST4 not and ethernet. I had been connecting from the mount to my laptop. Should I connect from the handset instead? I have an ST4 to RS232 cable already. If I get an RS232 to USB adapter would that work? Not sure of the best way to connect laptop to control the mount. Knobby - It wasnt showing as connected at all so I couldnt tell which port.

Hello, I am currently having 2 issues getting my first scope and guide rig up and running. This issue is with regards to getting my Orion Sirius EQ-G mount with SynScan handset linked to PHD2. I have installed the ASCOM drivers that have been advised (on PHD2 website) should work with all SynScan handsets however I do not see the device on my laptop and cannot connect via PHD2 wizard. I am new to all of this but some starter questions: - I have an ethernet cable that was going to be used to connect guide camera to mount but reading on the subject suggests it is better to go via ASCOM. I am using the same ethernet cable to connect to my laptop... is the right? The seems to be the only free input on mount. - Are there any other drivers that I should use or anything else I should look for... other drivers I should have but maybe don't? - Other suggestions? Thanks!! Lance

Thanks. I will give that a try when I am actually home during daylight. The other issue I have is connecting my Sirius EQ-G mount to PHD2 for guiding. It uses the normal SynScan handset and I am connecting via ASCOM but the drivers dont seem to work (The Skywatcher drivers say they should work). Does anyone know why that may be? Should I try a different set of drivers? Thanks Lance

The screenshot taken is with the scope lens cap on. If I take it off it gets brighter. I am outside with it now as it is dark here so cant find and easy distant object to focus on. If I point at a light I can see a blob so there is something getting through. I just spent 10 mins with my mount pointed up and adjusting the focus but not getting anything other than what was above. I will have to try in the day and seeing if I can get a focus on anything at all. Lance

So I turned the brightness right down and then took the cap off and the picture changed so looks like something is working. Here is a screenshot of what I see. Edit - just tried this on another P.C. and same result. Is this likely to be a hardware problem (camera or connection) or could this be something else? Thanks Lance

To answer both questions, I have the complete Orion guiding package so it is attached to the guide scope provided. I will double check focus but would have thought I would see a difference in light or dark conditions but all I see is grey with darker grey lines across the picture. Will try and screenshot tomorrow when I am at home and have access to the laptop. I will also give it a go on my main P.C. to check there are no hardware issue with the laptop (which I bought specifically for this a few weeks back).

Hi all, I am using an Orion StarShoot autoguide camera. This is what I select as part of the connection wizard and seems (after the initial errors) to connect ok. I have clicked on the loop icon and this is where I get the issue. I will grab a screenshot when I next hook up. Thanks Lance

Hello all, First post on this forum and as someone who is brand new to astrophotography. I have invested in a beginners setup and feeling my way around things but having 2 issues at the moment. The first issue I am having is with my StarShoot autoguide camera. I have downloaded drivers and have connected to my laptop. I can see the device under device manager and I can connect to PHD2 (takes a few minutes and often get an error code 13 a few times first). However, when I actually view the feed in PHD2 is is just a bunch of grey lines in matter of I am pointing at the night sky, with lens cap on or somewhere lighter. Has anyone else come across this kind of issue before? Any ideas on a fix? I will leave my other issue for now as that is irrelevant while this is a problem. For reference if someone does reply, I am quite tech savvy however I am new to anything astrophotography specific so appreciate if you could keep that in mind. Thanks in advance! Lance