PHD/ ASCOM problem

[dark star]

Hi, I am trying to set up autoguiding using my HEQ5 mount and a DMK41 CCD camera. I connected the mount to the computer via the Synscan hand controller using the cable that came with the mount. PHD connects to the camera fine, but when I try to connect to the mount I get an error message-ASCOM driver failed when checking pulse guiding and it does not connect to the mount. I have downloaded the latest ASCOM platform and the Celestron telescope driver which should work with Skywatcher mounts. Any help appreciated. I am using a finder guider made from half of an old binocular, as I could not get the camera to focus with either of my finders.

David

[Merlin66]

Interesting....

Sounds like PHD will work OK, just a matter of getting the guide signal to the mount via an "interface"

Previously a Shoestring adaptor and a ST-4 cable would be recommended to get the correction signal to the guide port on the mount....

To use the "pulse guide" feature of EQMOD (not just ASCOM - this will look after the telescope interface etc) you need EQMOD installed and set-up....

You can connect via the Synscan Handcontroller or invest in a dedicated EQDIR module.....

Does this help??

[Black Knight]

As Ken says, I think you need to have EQMod installed http://eq-mod.sourceforge.net/

[Chris Rowland]

The Celestron driver works because Synta use the same commands for scope control. I'm not totally sure if this extends to guiding though. You have to have the Celestron driver set to EQ N and of course it has to connect through the serial port and the connection to the scope.

It could fail because the serial connection hasn't worked, because the driver reports that it is an Alt Az scope or because the HC version reported is too low. All of these generate different error messages so if we know the message we can work out why it's not working. The trouble is that PHD may be replacing the message with one of it's own.

One thing to try is to connect using a different program, such as CdC, to make sure that the conection works. Once connected the About button will report the HC version.

Chris

[chrisshillito]

The synscan handcontroller only implements a minimal subset of the nexstar protocol that the generic celestron driver is using. I doubt it is capable of performing anything other than goto and reporting position.

As others have sugested use the EQMOD ASCOM driver instead as this bypasses the synscan's nexstar interface thereby opening up much greater functionality including pulse guiding.

Chris.

[dark star]

Hi, thanks for all the advice.

I have now got everything working, I think, inside the house, which is the easy part! I had to adjust the settings in EQMOD as I was getting a time out message when trying to connect to the mount. I am using the hand controller in PC direct mode.

However, looikng at Glider's autoguiding tutorial in Astronomy Shed it should be possible to use the Synscan hand controller to autoguide not in PC direct mode, using the Celestron telescope driver. I will probably give this try as I like using the hand controller for two star alignment and to slew. I may try linking the mount to Stellarium so I can use the computer for go to, once I have figured out autoguiding, one step at a time!

David

[dark star]

So now I got the Celestron driver to work with the mount and PHD as well, I just needed to enter the COM port. Next I just need to see if I can successfully autoguide for the first time!

David