HEQ5 with PHD and stellarium at the same time?

[Jannis]

Not sure if this shuold be in this category or software - but i try here..

I've finally understood how to connect my scope to stellarium, and tested it very quickly - seems to be working fine

Last season i also got PHD to work, connected also trough the handcontroller - after a lot of messing with the settings though, but anyway..

But my question now is, while i have stellarium connected to the scope trough the handcontroller, can i also connect PHD at the same time?

Isn't it so that only one program can access the COM-port at the same time - limiting me to use Either stellarium or PHD?

I would like both autoguiding and stellarium to work at the same time.

There is an autoguider port on the mount as well, but i have never used this at all. Is this the same as the one on the handcontroller, or a separate input?

Hopefully someone can feed me with a tea-spoon here, as i feel liek a complete noob on this area with mount control and PHD.

I'm planning on buyin Orions Starshoot Autoguider later, but i guess this also connects to PHD in the same way, so it will be just the same, right?

[badgers]

I only recently tried out controlling my scope with an EQDIR cable.

I had exactly the same problem you had.... Starting up PHD killed my connection to the mount and crashed MaximDL which I was using to control the mount.

I'd like some tea-spoon feeding here too : )

[mallorcasaint]

Stellarium controls the mount through the handset. PHD connects through a camera and will use a different port (USB usually) so there should not be a conflict. The autoguider port (ST4) connects to the camera via an ST4 cable to enable PHD to make adjustments to the tracking.

[earth titan]

I had many problems such as yours but eventually I found a sequence where nothing crashes. My tips for success as follows, in this order:

Plug in all the leads 1st

Always use the same ports

Power up HEQ5

Power up mount

Fire up PHD

Connect PHD to camera then mount

Start Cart Du Ciel

Connect CDC to mount

Connect my 1000d

Hope this helps!

Typed by me, using fumms...

[earth titan]

Ah. Just rrread your post. I've not tried stellarium.

I can only suggest trying CDC.

Typed by me, using fumms...

[Cath]

Maxim DL crashes?

I'd be a little outraged if I had software I'd paid the money they ask you for and did nothing to help fix the bugs .. their is no excuse for poor coding really, especially when people are paying for it.

[kookoo_gr]

i think that the crashing problem when you start phd is due to bad power connection of the mount's power plug, also this can be caused by insufficient power. about 2 months ago i started having the same problem, when i connected to phd after a few minutes the connection froze both with CdC and MaximDL, after a lot of troubleshooting i found that it was the mount's power plug and i made a mod at the power cable and it is permanent at the mount http://www.astrovox.gr/forum/download.php?id=37669 http://www.astrovox.gr/forum/download.php?id=37668 this problem appeared twice in a session about a week ago (i ran the mount at the same battery pack as my laptop) after the mod so if you run the mount from a battery i suggest using a dedicated battery for the mount.

also i suggest switching to cartes du ciel since it requires less resources from the pc than stellarium, not to mention that CdC does't use a virtual machine for making the connection to the mount.

finnaly my connection sequence is

plug everything to pc

power pc, mount

connect to mount via CdC

run maxim, connect to camera

run phd, connect to camera, connect to mount

I would also suggest (if you run vista or win 7) to connect to all of the software (except eqmod) as "Run as admninistrator" and set compatibility to win xp SP2.

[perfrej]

If you want to control the scope from two applications you need ascom. If you, instead, use the st4 port for guiding, phd doesn't really connect to the scope.

/p

[Merlin66]

You don't say which guide camera you're using?

If it does have a ST-4 cable connection then this can go directly to the ST-4 port on the mount.

I regularly use: EQMOD/ CdC/ PHD/ Al's reticule/ AA5 and Artemis capture (electronic finder) to control my NEQ6pro+C11+spectroscope+Lodestar guider+ATik cameras etc

(I also use Team Viewer for semi remote operation, still using the above software.)

Hope this helps.