HEQ5 Control

[Gazer914]

hi guys an gals,

just wanted to ask some advice, i want to be able to control my heq5 direct from my laptop using stellerium what would be the correct cable to use and recommended length?

also im trying to get into long xpo ap and keep things as easy as poss, ive tried with an xbox webcam with some really good results, what im looking for is photographing dso's as well, ive invested in a canon 1000d which im going to get modded. now i know there is a weight limit on the heq5 and scope im using is a sw 200p, so by the time i get the canon on then a guide scope of whatever description its all going to add weight.

ive been looking at the skywatcher synguider camera which ive read some quite good reviews of, also have had a look for sw st80 guide scope which everyone seems to recomend as the best but have had no luck so far, anyway what i would like to know is, is it possible to convert the standard guide scope that came with the 200p for use with the synguider?

any help greatly appreciated

stuart

[malc-c]

Stuart,

The HEQ5 is quite capable of taking a 200P plus an ST80 and a DSLR. For connection there are commercial EQDirect cables abailble from RVO, FLO and other suppliers, or you can make up your own ussing an RS232 5vTTL cable and a normal computer network cable. As the connection after the TTL converter is serial, you can easily get away with 10m cable, but idealy keeping cables arond 2m is preferable.

As for camera control, BYE (BackYard Exposure) or APT (Astro-Photography Tool) are excellent programs for controlling Canon cameras. You may need a serial cable to control exposures over 30 seconds, but again these are availble commercially or DIY if you have the skills.

For guiding, I would recommend using a QHY5 camera, and run PHD on the computer that is controlling the mount. PHD is free and this combo with the ST80 / QHY5 has been proven over and over again.

[Cornelius Varley]

hi guys an gals,

just wanted to ask some advice, i want to be able to control my heq5 direct from my laptop using stellerium what would be the correct cable to use and recommended length?

also im trying to get into long xpo ap and keep things as easy as poss, ive tried with an xbox webcam with some really good results, what im looking for is photographing dso's as well, ive invested in a canon 1000d which im going to get modded. now i know there is a weight limit on the heq5 and scope im using is a sw 200p, so by the time i get the canon on then a guide scope of whatever description its all going to add weight.

ive been looking at the skywatcher synguider camera which ive read some quite good reviews of, also have had a look for sw st80 guide scope which everyone seems to recomend as the best but have had no luck so far, anyway what i would like to know is, is it possible to convert the standard guide scope that came with the 200p for use with the synguider?

any help greatly appreciated

stuart

Your recent posts suggest that you have a non-goto/non motorised EQ5 not a HEQ5. Have you replaced your EQ5 with a HEQ5 Pro ? If your mount doesn't have the Synscan upgrade you will not be able to control the mount through Stellarium.

Peter

[Gazer914]

thanks malcolm for the quick reply, nice setup btw, just had a look on the modern astronomy website and do like the look of the QHY5 and its cheaper than what i was looking at, i have to update my laptop with a larger hdd as its only a 110 gig and am about half way to filling that lol.

have also looked for the st80 on the likes of ebay and a few other places an have been unable to find one would there be an alternitive to the st80 that would work as good?

ill have a look on RVO for the cables as thats where i bought the scope and mount from plus they have been pretty good so far. ive downloaded PHD already as everyone seems to use that and looks quite easy to use. one difficulty i do have is that my laptop is all usb i dont have a serial conection other than the one for conecting an external monitor.

[Gazer914]

yeah sorry peter forgot to mention that had upgraded to the HEQ5, sorry about that

[182570]

If you look on the astronomiser website you'll find all the cables you need, I got my serial to usb from them about 15 pounds I think,not sure but the serial port on your PCisn't the same as the serial port needed to guide ,I'm sure there are differant pin connections.thats why you need a serial to usb cable:)