Happysolderer

13 minutes ago, red dwalf said:

I'm not 100% familiar with your mount, mine is the Neq6 Pro but I'm sure the USB cable you have shown is the wrong one, this is a printer style cable and I'm sure there is no where to plug this type of cable into the mount, I'd check with flo again or have a look at the mount on their website, it shows you need the eqmod direct cable. 

The new version of the EQ6-R PRO has a USB port. Its underneath the other ports for the hand set

I use a DSLR for my moon pictures. ( The one I have on here for example) attached to my 8" dob.

The camera I have is a Nikon D3100, it was an eBay purchase. It cost £100. But that didn't include a lens. I have used it on all of my scopes so far with varying degrees of success. 

I did have an issue getting it to focus on my 8" dob, but after a little research I just moved the primary closer to the secondary  (about 5mm) and it cured it. 

I asked at a local Astronomy shop and they recommended a Celestron neximage 5. Apparently it's the only camera I'd ever need. 

I wouldn't recommend it. And although it's local, I won't be going back. 

As a newbie myself, and after all the mistakes (some quite expensive) I've made, rushing in buying one person's recommendation, etc the best I can say is research it. Have a clear idea on what you want to see or photograph. And go from there.

3 hours ago, red dwalf said:

Yes but it's not a normal USB cable, this is the one you'll need for your mount 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/lynx-astro-ftdi-eqdir-usb-adapter-for-sky-watcher-eq5-pro-heq5-syntrek-pro-az-eq5-gt-az-eq6-gt-and-eq8-mounts.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-cables-leads-accessories/lindy-cromo-usb20-a-to-b-cable.html

The above link came from FLO. I asked them yesterday via email. 

2 minutes ago, red dwalf said:

Ascom platform which I believe is 6.4 now, and I now use the latest version of stellarium which works great and you don't need stellarium mount anymore as it's built into the new version of stellarium, and you'll need eqmod which is also a free download 

All that will allow me then to run my mount via the usb cable?

On 03/08/2009 at 09:04, Doc said:

Many thanks Rob for this I'm sure it will be useful to many. As you say gettinng your scope to work with some software can be a very confusing thing to do if you are not used to it.

Any idea what I need for the EQ6-R PRO? Mine has the usb port and FLO tells me I can run the mount through it. Do I still need ASCOM? 

According to FLO (contacted them on 29/12/2020) you CAN control the mount via USB. The cable it offers to do it is a simple usb B. As for any other software you'll need is a mystery, as I haven't actually unboxed mine yet. 

With the inclusion of the usb port I hope it'll by pass all the other hoops needed to jump through to get it to work. 

I also have an Ioptron cube which was a nightmare to connect and after 2 weeks of buying quite expensive leads and an awful lot of swear words, I gave up

The new version of the EQ6-R PRO now has a USB port. FLO tells me it can be used to control the mount. Do I still need to download additional software other than stellarium to link it to my laptop