Help on QHY5 first time use

[SniffTheGlove]

Hello,,

Today my QHY5 came from ModernAstronomy and I thought it would be great during daylight to start to play with it. I connected up to my 9x50finder with the supplied adaptor.

I have followed the instructions and install all the QHY5 drivers and software.

I then rebooted and then installed PHD.

Ran PHD and selected the ASCOM V5 Camera from the camera settings. It is at this point I would expect an image to appear on the screen but nothing did. I played around a bit but still could not acquire an image.

I closed PHD and then ran QGVideo to check if the cam was working in a normal type cam software and I got a perfect image(albeit with a small opaque bar running across the image). So the QHY5 is working. I closed QGVideo down and tried PHD, selected the ASCOM V5 Camera but still no image, so I tried the other ASCOM (late) Camera but this too did not produce an image.

What or where am I going wrong?

Thanks

[Stephen]

I'm simply assuming from what you have posted but ...

Have you pressed the arrow button at the bottom to start the camera looping / taking images?

Capture doesn't start immediately like other softwares do.

[SniffTheGlove]

I'm simply assuming from what you have posted but ...

Have you pressed the arrow button at the bottom to start the camera looping / taking images?

Capture doesn't start immediately like other softwares do.

A ha. Works. I just presumed that once selecting the cam the preview would appear.

Thanks, now on to learning how to connect it all up to the EQ6 now with the Hitecastro EQDirect module in tow.

Thanks again

[Armsoft]

I'm simply assuming from what you have posted but ...

Have you pressed the arrow button at the bottom to start the camera looping / taking images?

Capture doesn't start immediately like other softwares do.

Stephen

You've just solved an issue I've been having with PHD.

Learning every day is such a pleasure.

Mark

[mgirdwood]

sorry your hijack your thread Sean but i am also having a first time problem.

set up is the QHY5 with empty barlow for extension onto the ST80. i know it is daylight at the moment but i can not seem to get any kind of image in PHD (looping) the QGY Video app or SharpCap. i have tried shifting the gain top to bottom but in PHD for instance all i can see is a grainy grey screen.

Any ideas or suggestions are welcomed

Mark

[SniffTheGlove]

sorry your hijack your thread Sean but i am also having a first time problem.

set up is the QHY5 with empty barlow for extension onto the ST80. i know it is daylight at the moment but i can not seem to get any kind of image in PHD (looping) the QGY Video app or SharpCap. i have tried shifting the gain top to bottom but in PHD for instance all i can see is a grainy grey screen.

Any ideas or suggestions are welcomed

Mark

Mark,

When I was having trouble my image in phd was black until I started the looping, so if you have grey it could be working. Cover the aperture with your hand and see if the image changes due to the brightness. Try altering the exposure time right down and see if that makes a difference?

[mgirdwood]

hi Sean - thanks for the reply

same here as in a black screen until you press loop, then a grey screen with horizontal banding. true if i place my hand over the scope the screen will turn white, but i would have thought the even in daylight i should be able to focus in on for instance hills in the distance.

i notice you have the same mount - did you have any driver problems when trying to set the mount up in phd ? i have reinstalled ascom drivers etc but am getting a driver error that won't let me connect. i am pretty sure i i had eqmod working with solarium earlier in the year.

[Auntystatic]

Try fitting the st80's cover with the little center part removed, your problem might be too much light getting in, I had the same problem when I first got my qhy5, remember its not a webcam for daylight but a sensitive camera for night time use.

[SniffTheGlove]

i notice you have the same mount - did you have any driver problems when trying to set the mount up in phd ? i have reinstalled ascom drivers etc but am getting a driver error that won't let me connect. i am pretty sure i i had eqmod working with solarium earlier in the year.

phd installed fine then only tried using with the cam in daylight. Too many clouds around for night use.

[mgirdwood]

thanks again for the quick replies, nearly dark here so i will have another look at the Cam side if phd in a while. However the issue with the EQMod scope connection has me a little baffled.

Connect the Cam on one of the USB ports (PHD say Cam there so okay) then if i connect phd telescope as Ascom type 5 AND i connect the original SW cabling to the Synscan Handset in PC Direct mode i can get EQmod to connect on Com7, use the controls on the pc top move the scope around. so i know PORT 7 is working.

But if i know move the cam usb cable to Port 7, the Cam connects but when i try to connect the Telescope in PHD with the same setting as before i get a Ascom diver error and accruing to the auto search for port in EQMOD there is no compatible port. (ST CAbel from Cam to ST4 port on mount is connected)

can anybody suggest if i missed something in the basic set up ?

thanks for reading the ramble.

Mark

[SniffTheGlove]

thanks again for the quick replies, nearly dark here so i will have another look at the Cam side if phd in a while. However the issue with the EQMod scope connection has me a little baffled.

Connect the Cam on one of the USB ports (PHD say Cam there so okay) then if i connect phd telescope as Ascom type 5 AND i connect the original SW cabling to the Synscan Handset in PC Direct mode i can get EQmod to connect on Com7, use the controls on the pc top move the scope around. so i know PORT 7 is working.

But if i know move the cam usb cable to Port 7, the Cam connects but when i try to connect the Telescope in PHD with the same setting as before i get a Ascom diver error and accruing to the auto search for port in EQMOD there is no compatible port. (ST CAbel from Cam to ST4 port on mount is connected)

can anybody suggest if i missed something in the basic set up ?

thanks for reading the ramble.

Mark

Not quite sure what you are saying but it seems like everything works fine. You have the cam in and working and also the mount, then for some reason you are disconnecting the EQ mount by unplugging the USB then trying to put the cam onto the same usb com 7 setting. If that is correct then of course the mount will not work as you have it disconnected it and remapped the USB port com 7 setting to the cam.

That will be why ASCOM is erroring out ans the mount is not connected.

[Auntystatic]

Your getting your knickers in a twist, or confusing usb ports with com ports, the camera does not use com ports just usb, where as the eqdirect module uses a usb port which is then mapped to a com port as it is a serial connection.

When you plug some new usb-serial device into a port it gets assigned its own com port number, if you swap it for another usb-serial device it will get a different com port number, however any software currently running will not know about this change until the program is restarted, this is why we plug everything in then start our software up.

[mgirdwood]

hi Sean, i am a total beginner here, but my understanding is that the EQmod controls the mount via the st4 port on the Cam. using the USB cable suppled with the cam i can not get the PHD software to see the mount, either using the Celestron or Ascom 5 type as it basically errors on the fact that it can not find a working Com port.

i wanted to be certain that the EQMod drivers etc were working so with the cam connected onto one usb port i connected the sw cabling directly to the synscan from another port, but still using the PHD software it was able to connect to the mount. This tells me that my EQMod set up is at least correct.

so my logic tells me that if i now close PHD and connect the USB to Cam via the port that was just working with EQmod, on starting the PHD again it ought to be able to connect to the mount via the Cam IF the cam is working properly. I am probably completely wrong and am happy to find the right solution.

BUT .....

It is lovely starry night out there and i should have been able to set up the Cam (no scope connect) and be able to focus some stars and at least see the PHD software do the auto calibration etc. After 4 hours of trying to find a single star i have to give up. others on the forum have noted that for the ST80 a barlow will give focus. Nothing on mine. just some pretty obvious noise pixels. i introduced the diagonal to add more back focus but still no changes.

i have to possibly conclude that i may have a duff cam. one reason i am thinking this that when the cam is connected and you start the loop try for focus i have a 1cm black line across the bottom of the capture screen which somehow does feel correct.

such a shame to waste a rare clear night.

[mgirdwood]

thanks for the clarification Danielle. i am no PC wiz but i made sure to shut down before switching the cabling. i even re booted the laptop to be sure on a couple of occasions. every time the same Ascom error - - - - - - i can only hope the weather is good for you back home in Gods County

Mark

[Auntystatic]

So you know it all works via the handset, so I don't see the problem, many of us here use it this way so why change anything?

Ahhh, I think I see what your doing, are you trying to connect by putting the rj12 ended cables from the camera into the st4 guide port on the mount and connect to the mount this way? If so that won't work, the st4 port only controls the mounts motors directly, there is an option in PHD which allows you to guide directly using the camera, many people guide this way but I don't know under which menu it is.

There is an interface unit called eqdirect diy interface (commercial one)which plugs into the 9 pin rs232 port on the mount instead of the hand controller, this allows direct control via eqmod through the ascom diriver, but as you have seen this isn't really needed if you set to pc direct mode, some people had problems using pc direct with the earlier releases of skywatcher hand set software.

The weather here is :clouds2: :clouds2: which is very unusual for this time of year, and to say the NY moors are the least rained on National park in the country we should all be like this :glasses9: :glasses9: mind you it doesn't get astro dark here for another 5 weeks so let it rain if it wants, at least there won't be hose pipe bans when the kids are off school and wanting pools and water fights.

[mgirdwood]

so - to double check my ignorance re the guiding itself. what is the reason for the a cam to have the ST4 port connector if it isn't to connect from Cam to Mount ST4 ?

however after last nights total failure to have the cam find any focus i might be thinking that the cam has a problem. i need to see if i can find a test that shows this working.

thanks again everyone

[SniffTheGlove]

OK, Mark.

The QHY5 has 2 methods of guiding. ST4 and Pulse.

With ST4 you have a cable running from the QHY5 guide port to the ST4 guide port on the mount using an ST4 cable. You then pluf the QHY5 usb cable into a USB port on your PC.

With Pulse Guiding you do not connect the QHY5 to the mount with the ST4 cable, so one the usb come from the QHY5 to the PC.

You then choose the method you have done above into the PHD config (Not sure as I have not really got this far in my learning. I will be using pulse guiding on my mount as some people say it's better,easier and one less cable)

Now for controlling the mount as a goto you use CDC or Stellarium and this is where the ASCOM drivers are. In CDC in the telescope control panel you select the telescope mount in this case it is ASCOM 5.

Now I am using the Hitecastro EQDIRECT (from FLO), this plugs into the PC and is assigned a com port, the other cable plugs directly into the mount 9 pin connection (where the handset would be) and then CDC will do the slewing via the EQDIRECT to the mount and then start tracking. Thenyou choose a guide star in PHD and away you go.

That is how I believe it is but have not fully done all this yet.

[mgirdwood]

hi Sean

the first method USB - Cam -Cam ST4 to Mount ST4, tried this first and there is no way i can get PHD to see the mount.

hence the try at the USB to Cam and the separate SW cable from the Laptop to the Handset in PC direct mode. This way PHD could see the mount as Ascom5 type. What i don't know if this can be used to guide as well with the Cam on the USB link without having to purchase the Hitecastro.

but as i could not get the Cam to focus or find any stars at all last night i am now wondering if i i a faulty Cam.

I am not too worried about using CDC or Stellarium to guide as yet. Then handset is fine at the moment.

[mallorcasaint]

If you are connecting the QHY5 to the mount via an ST4 cable make sure you have selected "on camera" in the mount menu in PHD.

[Auntystatic]

When people talk about using a barlow extension to focus the qhy5, they mean by unscrewing and removing the lens on the barlow and using it as a poor man's extension tube (don't use the diagonal).

Now that skywatcher have fixed the software there is no need to go to the extra expense of buying the likes of the Hitecastro EQDIRECT, just connect to the handset with a bog standard usb>serial cable (ftdi chips are best) and put it in to pc direct for ascom drivers, or leave the hand set in standby mode for connecting directly to stellarium using the telescope control plugin in the configuration menu.

Thanks to mallorcasaint I was able to get this from the PHD manual..........

Onboard ST-4

Several guide cameras include an ST-4 style port on the camera itself. This plugs directly into your mount's ST-4 "autoguide input" port and means you do not need another adapter. If your camera has one and you wish to use it, select "Onboard camera" from the Mount menu.

[chrisshillito]

Now that skywatcher have fixed the software there is no need to go to the extra expense of buying the likes of the Hitecastro EQDIRECT

So long as your happy to assume that the totally undocumented PC-Direct mode is designed with EQMOD in mind and that skywatcher/synta can be trusted not to mess it up in future firmware releases (such as has happened before).

Let me make it quite clear that EQMOD is designed only work via a direct connection to the mount and in an environment where it has sole command of the mount. An EQDIRECT is the only solution that to satisfies these fundamental requirements. The EQMOD website provides full details of how to build your own EQDIRECT should you feel capable.

By all means use pc-direct for initial evaluation but should you subseqently decide that EQMOD control is for you I would strongly advise going the EQDIRECT route, paricularly if intending to run the mount unattended.

Chris.

[mgirdwood]

Thanks for the onboard camera hint - now at least phd says connected.

BUT please can anyone give me an idea on where the focus should be for the Cam on the ST80 . . .. . ( i am hooked onto to Vega with the main scope, ) and with the Barlow (no lens) as far back as i can go there is nothing - i am "capturing at 1sec, not changed any other setting and the gain slider is central i have nothing on the PHD screen at all. exactly the same as i had last night.

MAny Thanks for any suggestions as it is pretty frustrating sat in the dark with good stars again

[mallorcasaint]

Turn the gain up to about 65 and increase the exposure time to 3 or 4 secs. You should be able to see stars and will be able to adjust focus.

[SniffTheGlove]

BUT please can anyone give me an idea on where the focus should be for the Cam on the ST80 . . .. . ( i am hooked onto to Vega with the main scope, ) and with the Barlow (no lens) as far back as i can go there is nothing

I am not sure how much back focus is need as I don't have an ST80 but if you try moving the focuser slowly backward (with the empty barlow in situ) you might get something, if you reach the end then slowly pull the QHY5 out of the barlow thus increasing the length and see what happens. You just may have a to small barlow tube there. If you get an image then you will know to get a larger extension tube. Also as mallocasaint says increase the the exposure time.

[mgirdwood]

Thanks again Sean , Mall. Upped both time and gain plus a longer Barlow but all I am seeing are the noisy pixels on the cam. I really think I may have a duff one