EQ6Mod Bluetooth

[Steve_Max127]

A recent acquisition from forum member Kaminovs in the form of a Bluetooth EQMod adaptor.

My reason for buying this was to cut down on the number of wires around the mount, given that last year I tripped and caught the USB lead between my DSLR and laptop causing £135 damage to the camera.

It comes in two pieces an EQMod module (73 mm x 42mm x 26mm 60gm) that connects to the EQ6 Synscan or Pro mount and a small USB Bluetooth dongle for the PC or laptop, plus a set of easy to follow instructions. I had no problems with setting everything up using both Vista and windows XP, have not tried Windows 7 yet.

The package worked perfectly just like using the EQDIR adapter but without the need for the USB lead. With full ASCOM compliant software you should not have any problems; I have used it on several occasions over the last two weeks with both Stellarium and Cartes du Ciel for the GoTo control and PHD guiding.

My laptop is usually quite close to the mount but just to test the range of the Bluetooth I moved the laptop close to the house with the mount about 25 to 30 foot away. No problem controlling the mount even using my wireless Xbox handset standing at the mount.

All in all an excellent piece of kit and good value at £55 including delivery, Pity I still need the USB lead from the webcam or DSLR to connect to the laptop.