installing EQMOD and other assosiated software to run on remote desktop

[oldpink]

first of this by no means a tutorial, its to try to help newbies like me, though I do profess that I work in IT and code my own sites
but configuring my system to do what I wanted using existing software proved a challenge and pitfalls I didn't expect

but managed to get around most by some research and some additional tools that helped

let me start by running down my set up

I have an EQ5 synscan mount with my Sky watcher 200p mounted but for the purpose of this post I did the setup with nothing more than the mount and the correct cables

and some freely available software I am able to set my scope up and align it more or less remotely from the comfort of my bedroom

step 1

I took an Intel X2 Acer laptop I have used for nearly 3 years and dropped a new hard drive in and installed windows ultimate (you can do the same with pro or any non home editions)

but for remote desktop your laptop has to be XP or 7 x64 above the home versions as I can't test backward compatibility

first off I did a clean install on the laptop to allow remote desktop with windows ultimate

then installed the latest ASCOM drivers from the site

I've also set up a network
then installed my current camera (ASI120mc) and associated SDK's

next I went to EQMOD's site and downloaded there latest ver of the EQASCOM package and installed it
a quick reboot to settle the system proved useful and a couple of tutorials from the EQMOD page had me connected via my laptop
and I could use Stellarium to control the mount after a basic configuration of the basic parameters

with no more than a £2 lead from E bay to convert USB to serial 

initially every thing worked on the laptop and I could use stellarium to slew the scope and use align master  in simulated mode (align master costs about £10 but worth it if you install EQMOD)

as they wok in tandum
so at that point everything was well, the laptop talked to the goto unit and I could simulate alignment and track objects through Stellarium and Cartes du ciel

next came the remote access to do remote viewing

I set up a remote desktop to my laptop from my PC that went easily due to both being Ultimate editions
this is where I hit my first major issue EQMOD works over Remote Desktop but Stellarium won't open due to openGL issues over Remote desktop not allowing Open GL

wher Cartes du ciel would
and stellarium would not connect to the telescope in either local or network control, no matter how I set the ports or configured my router it would not work

after some research I found there is an addon for EQMOD that by-passes this and edits the config INI to the correct settings
but stellarium would not open due to the Open GL issue over RDC
so I logged into the laptop locally and started Stellarium and minimised the window, did the remote access and hey presto I have stellarium working perfect

and I can overlay the co ordinates from stellarium or Cartes du cie and invoke the EQMOD drivers to control just about all my software

not only that but I can control stellarium from my desktop using the Stellarium telescope plugin

as it puts the correct network, port, and com's channel into the INI  file of Stellarium and allows it to work over remote desktop

i've also set up a shared folder that both my remote PC and laptop share to make file transfer easier

to copy and process images as I save them

this setup means I can set up my scope and camera, align it and use my capture software (firecapture and sharp cap)
though I have yet to load any more software until I get a chance to test this system out

if all works as planned once I achieve focus most of my viewing / imaging can be done from indoors in the warmth of my room
 

if anyone wants help on how I got this working please ask
I will try to remember the steps I took to get it working

OP