Brainebula

12 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

 

...Addendum: I have confirmed that it is possible to control the V5 handset & mount via a USB A-B cable.  If you power everything up and then connect the cable, the handset appears in the Control Panel of Windows 7 as a USB-serial device. Initially no driver was indicated. After a struggle I installed the ASCOM platform and the Skywatcher handset driver (and .NET).  After turning the laptop off and on, a Prolific driver for a USB-serial device, port COM6, showed up in the Control Panel, and I was then able to start a connection in Stellarium and control the mount...

 

Hi Cosmic, 

Would you by any chance be able to translate that for Mac users? I tried a direct USB from the Mac to the mount, and I've tried several USB serial cables from the Mac to the RJ45, but no success. 

 The Mac OS has its own USB serial driver, and I can see the cu.usbserial entry when I connect an FDTI cable to the Mac but the Mac still doesn't see the mount. I'm not sure how to do it through the V5 HC's USB connector. Does the HC need to set the PC Direct setting? The Mac only lets me select the "cu.usbserial-########" logical connection but not a physical port or bit rate. And then there's your sequence of when to make the connection vs. when to power up which device.  

Also, could you please clarify what you mean by "Skywatcher handset driver (and .NET)". There's an additional driver available for the handset? And what is ".NET"? Sorry, I'm not sure if that applies to the Mac. 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

On 29/12/2020 at 12:55, Happysolderer said:

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

Hi Happysoldered,

I now have the EQ6-R Pro mount and am as yet unable to get my Mac to talk to that mount either through the mount's onboard RJ45 or USB. I've tried several FTDI cables from Amazon and also the Pegasus Astro EQdir USB Stick on both High Sierra and Big Sur. The Mac sees the "cu.usbserial..." cable (e.g., via "ls /dev/"), but it won't functionally "connect" to the mount.

Do I need to use the hand controller to set the mount to "PC Direct", or are there other parameters I need to set, other than simply telling the software I'm using a "Sky Watcher SynScan" mount? I know the RJ45 on the mount is working (the hand controller works fine, and my iPhone also can control the mount via the SW WiFi adapter, but for some reason my iPad can't see the mount through the same connection!). I must be missing something pretty simple, no? 

On 01/03/2021 at 10:59, StevieDvd said:

As Happysolderer has said you can use the usb if yours has one with a standard USB printer type cable, this is the same as using an EQdir cable. 

The skywatcher wifi dongle will allow you to ditch the handset and connect via IOS phone (or Ipad or Android).

 

High, StevieDvd, sorry it too so long to reply. 

I've had zero success trying to get my Mac (High Sierra or Big Sur) to control the EQ6-R Pro mount. I can't get my iPad to talk to it either. I've tried both the RJ45 and the USB on the mount but I've not been able to communicate with that mount either way yet. 

The ONLY success I've had so far is with an iphone through a SW WiFi Adapter. I'm currently only using the mount for direct viewing and no photography, no autoguide, etc. The mount also works fine with the hand controller, so that -- plus the fact that the SW WiFi adapter works with my iphone -- makes me think the RJ45 on the mount is fine. 

But I my iPad can't talk to the mount through that same wifi adapter, and I can't get my Mac to see that mount yet. On the Mac I've tried Stellarium, AstroTelescope, and AstroPLanner and NONE of them see the mount. I'm thinking there must be some combination of preferences/parameters on the software, the Mac, and the mount (ie, set PC Direct first?) but I can't figure out any combination that works. 

Any guidance you can give me for getting my ipad or Mac to talk to that mount on any connector with any cable would be GREATLY appreciated.

On 13/06/2019 at 08:59, G4EQZ said:

Well I decided to buy all the gear up front and made a few mistakes along the way but so far have done a minimal amount of visual observing and no AP so when the skies do finally clear I know am due a lot of frustration and a super steep learning curve    hence I committed to the ASIAIR as I became weary of sitting on the fence being indecisive.

I think the "comfortable with what you already know" issue applies to almost everything from computer languages to gardening. Once we find something that works for us any alternative has  to offer very significant benefits to make us unlearn what we know in favour of something new.

Hi Keith, I realize it's over a year and a half later, but I just got the same mount and am wondering how you are controlling it with your OSX or IOS these days. It's still not easy and I'm hoping you found a solution! THANKS!