2 mounts & scope setup controlled by one laptop ??

[oldpink]

anyone tried this

not sure if its possible, think I will need another laptop to handle a second setup
as I doubt the USB can handle the data flow and distinguish which mount to send the slew commands to

or if using a xbox controller would send commands to both mounts not just the one I want to move

I know Stellarium can be set to more than one scope but not sure about EQMod's ability to handle this setup

I think I may need another laptop so each mount / cam has its own setup to deal with totally separate

[ollypenrice]

I don't know about two mounts but some folks do control two imaging cameras plus a guider on multi scope rigs. While this should be possible it has been reported on here that it can be a bit flaky. I don't risk it. I have two PCs to run our tandem. I find this much easier and having two screens is a big help as well. I think it would get a bit fraught with just one. (It can get a bit fraught as it is, for that matter!)

Olly

[Thalestris24]

Hi

I think, as it stands, eqmod can only handle one mount as it's dependant on setting up a particular com port. Maybe Chris Shillito would be willing to create a multi mount version if there was the demand... But I suspect that would involve a lot of time and effort whereas a second laptop would be a much simpler option! They are pretty cheap these days - cheaper than a decent mount!

Olly - setting up a second monitor with an extended desktop is a way of dealing with a busy display. That's what I do anyway

Louise

[chrisshillito]

The installer for EQASCOM already installs and registers two separate EQMOD Ascom drivers (well three if you count the simulator). The second one should appear as EQMOD2 in the ASCOM chooser list. The EQASCOM setup screen allows you to set a friendly name for each driver so you can tell which is controlling each mount. The gamepad setup screens lets you specify a specific gamepad driver/hardware so you can run with a separate gamepad for each mount.

Provided you can run two copies of stellarium scope, and both maintain separate config files then there should be no problem.

Certainly you can control two mounts by running two copies of CDC.

Chris.

[Thalestris24]

Thanks Chris - that's interesting to know and I stand corrected!

[Sp@ce_d]

I haven't tried 2 mounts at the same time.. Yet

However, I run the whole obsy on an HP netbook. When the triple shooter was on the mount that included 3 CCDs + guider.

[perfrej]

This is a tricky one... While a lot of the components work with two mounts, the capture application may have a problem, as will the camera and focuser drivers. I know for sure that Nebulosity 3 can run several instances, but the more complete capture packages may not be able to do that. Again, the camera drivers... If you have two identical cameras there is a chance that that will trip the project.

Running two identical virtual machines may be the solution. Virtualbox is free...

/per

[lensman57]

anyone tried this

not sure if its possible, think I will need another laptop to handle a second setup

as I doubt the USB can handle the data flow and distinguish which mount to send the slew commands to

or if using a xbox controller would send commands to both mounts not just the one I want to move

I know Stellarium can be set to more than one scope but not sure about EQMod's ability to handle this setup

I think I may need another laptop so each mount / cam has its own setup to deal with totally separate

If possible just use two laptops. I asked the same question a while back and came to the conclusion that even if all the software functioned as they should the laptop USB ports will be overbusy with all the data coming and going and it may just fail you. I also have a very high quality USB repeater that has proven to be tempremental. So for me, once I get the tandem going it will be two laptops, the only downer is loosing the ability to dither which actually  is a big deal as I don't use darks.

A.G

[oldpink]

I think 2 laptops is the way to go

mostly because I doubt that the USB can handle the data stream rates req, Oh well looks like the wallets taking another beating

[Davey-T]

I use two laptops, one an old XP Pro permanently connected in obs'y running giuder mount and one camera and one new one that I take in and out that runs DSLR/ Video or other camera.

I think one laptop doing everything would confuse me, I've already spent time wondering why the focus wasn't altering on the screen only to realise I was looking at the wrong camera 

Dave

[perfrej]

I think 2 laptops is the way to go

mostly because I doubt that the USB can handle the data stream rates req, Oh well looks like the wallets taking another beating

USB throughput should be no problem whatsoever. Just check in device manager and make sure you use two different root hubs - at which time it will be the same as having two laptops (performance wise).

[oldpink]

as I normally run my laptop via remote desktop it would be possible to have two logons to different profiles
and run each separate thats another possibility but I an more leaning to two setups independent from each other to avoid confusion
and sending commands to the wrong scope or having driver isues
I have a couple of laptops sitting about that have broken screens or other issues I can fix up that would do the job
or spend £100 on a second hand one and put some memory and a bigger drive into that I have available at no cost

buying extra hubs and having to power them would be about the same cost and less reliable

[Earl]

If you use stellarium on one mount and cart du ceil for another and two differing imaging applications just in case, you should be ok. most mounts connect via some for of serial o usb and have unique coms ports.

Nebulosity can works fine with 2 camers, keeping a track on what your doing is the hard part LOL

The xbox pad should only work with the mount its setup to control. this could be teh stumbling block though.

[oldpink]

I think Stellarium can handle more than one scope as well
as when I was reading up on it you can call up each scope by pressing Alt and a number to signify the scope you want to track
and each scope is identified by a number if I remember correctly but it does seem to have the ability
 

Camera's isn't a big issue as one scope (SW 200) would be primarily planetary using the ASI and 
the other dedicated to DSO using the Canon

the USB com ports may be another issue, took me a bit to sort out just one scope and get them to communicate on the correct com port
reminds me of the bad old days of setting up modems on com ports that were always temperamental to start with 

[chrisshillito]

Stellarium can certainly handle multiple telescopes. We actually already use three of these to provide the goto, sync and stop interface to Stellariumscope!

What you need to do though is run two stellariumscopes and ensure the second one has its three socket interfaces configured to use different ports from the first one.

Chris

[JamesF]

USB throughput should be no problem whatsoever. Just check in device manager and make sure you use two different root hubs - at which time it will be the same as having two laptops (performance wise).

I think this is where the problems start to show up.  Laptops are particularly bad in my experience.  Even with one mount I try to make sure that anything transferring large amounts of data (a camera, for instance) is not on the same hub as other hardware.  I've found that things can end up in a mess otherwise.  If the laptop only has two USB hubs and you want to run two cameras at the same time they might start to trip over each other or the other peripherals.

On the face of it this seems ridiculous as USB-connected hard disks probably have fair greater throughput, but perhaps the drivers for those are more heavily tested.

James

[oldpink]

just added a HP i5 with 6gb memory, 650gb HD and 2 x usb2 and 2 x USB3 ports

just installed Windows 7 Ultimate on a totally clean install and updated netframe to Ver4 and just about to load up all the EQMod addons and the usual suspects for capture etc
steal at £100