PHD ASCOM Port Error

[CosmicOrangutan]

Hey Everyone, 

I'm having issues with PHD/ASCOM recognising my mount which is an HEQ5. I can connect to the QHY5 guide cam no problems and can see stars when i start taking test exposures etc. However when i try to connect to the mount it wont recognise it at all and they are not communicating. Its just giving me a CONNECT ERROR: Port Not Available message everytime i try and connect the mount in PHD when the ASCOM software opens. Please see below screenshots to show what i mean.

So far i have tried assigning the correct port in the ASCOM properties menu before hitting OK. Im currently using PORT4 for the guidecam.

Tried auto detecting the port but says NOT FOUND

Tried 2 different ST4 cables

Tried reinstalling drivers v1.29 twice and even rolled back to v1.28 to see if that would help but no luck so far.

Has anyone encountered this issue and knows how to fix it please? Really want to try and get autoguiding finally up and running.

many thanks,

George  

[Physopto]

Have you looked in windows under Control Panel, Device manager, Ports (COM &LPT)?

You should see a list of ports in use. If there is none listed I.E.  under Device Manager there is no list for Ports at all then there is no COM Port. If there is a list one or more try clicking on them to see what information it/they give. You can insert a port number in EQMOD where it shows Not Found at on the photo you have shown above. Then try it and see if EQMOD connects. Try them one after another if necessary. DO NOT SEARCH under Auto Detect when doing this. Quite often EQMOD will not pick up a PORT but when told which one to use it will work fine. Once EQMOD works and picks up the connection try to get PHD going.

Derek

[PhotoGav]

What cable are you using to connect computer to mount - EQDir or PC Direct on the handset?

[kens]

5 hours ago, Nukemninja said:

Tried 2 different ST4 cables

To use EQMOD you need either a USB-Serial cable connected to the hand controller in PC-Direct mode, or a EQDIR cable connected straight to the mount.

Caution: do NOT use a USB-serial cable to connect your computer to the mount directly - even though it looks like it would fit.

If you want to use ST4 guiding, in PHD you can set the mount to "On Camera" and not bother with EQMOD.

You should also install PHD 2.6.1 instead of PHD1

I think you are best off going with the EQDIR option but there are pros and cons with all three ways.

[alacant]

Hi

If you want to use the st4 cable, you choose 'on camera' for the mount. The only connection to your laptop is the camera which you say you already connected. That's it: 1. laptop to camera USB. 2. camera to mount st4. Reset everything to default. No ports to worry about unless you want to connect via the handset.

[rob0971]

I think you still need a eqdir cable to connect the mount to the computer if using eqmod. You then select the com port that has been assigned for that cable in the eqmod set up screen, not the com port the camera is plugged into. You can find out which com port has been assigned to the eqdir cable in device manager. So you have the eqdir cable from lappie to mount, USB cable from camera to lappie & st4 cable from camera to the guiding port on the mount. 

There are of course other ways of doing it as suggested above & you can get rid of the st4 cable & use pulse guiding instead.

[brrttpaul]

I have gone back to using the "on camera" method, when eqmod worked it was great but when it starts playing up with comm errors I had an absolute nightmare with it, I really dont understand why it goes like that but it does which is a shame because its great when its working, 

[alacant]

Hi. Did you try scanning the ports (hit the 'binocular' button just above the COM port selector)? My usb to com adaptor is slow and I found to which port it was asigned by taking each port manually until I found the correct one. You can take the guesswork out of port assignment by setting the port yourself as described here. HTH

[Guy Wells]

I have the same problem. No comm ports in device manager.

[Physopto]

2 hours ago, Guy Wells said:

I have the same problem. No comm ports in device manager.

If there are no com ports showing in Windows device manager then there is something wrong. It means Windows cannot see any devices. So you either have a faulty device or connection problem with the device. I would try to borrow another lead and try that. One that is known to work.

Derek

 

[Guy Wells]

That is not the issue. I have now had the time to look into this.

Nukemninja

Have a look in

c /windows/system32/drivers/ do you see the file ser2pl64.sys? (or the 32bit version)

 

[CosmicOrangutan]

Thanks for all the responses guys. I have switched over to using 'On Mount' guiding in PHD now and thats working fine, managing to get accurate 5 min subs now.

Ive had another go getting ASCOM running with the EQDIR cable but still no luck in recognising the correct port. when i fire up ASCOM it flickers on screen for a split second then disappears then reappears etc. Going to try wiping everything and starting from scratch when ive got some free time next week. 

[CosmicOrangutan]

Sorry 'On Camera' option not 'On Mount'

[Guy Wells]

19 minutes ago, Nukemninja said:

Thanks for all the responses guys. I have switched over to using 'On Mount' guiding in PHD now and thats working fine, managing to get accurate 5 min subs now.

Ive had another go getting ASCOM running with the EQDIR cable but still no luck in recognising the correct port. when i fire up ASCOM it flickers on screen for a split second then disappears then reappears etc. Going to try wiping everything and starting from scratch when ive got some free time next week. 

Yes, this is what happens. Did you look for the file I suggested? This will resolve the port issue. Also, run Toolbox from EQMod instead of EQascom.

[brrttpaul]

interested in this as i have the same issues, so time for a stupid question, looking for the file you mention what next when you find it? and what if its not there

[PhotoGav]

5 hours ago, Nukemninja said:

Ive had another go getting ASCOM running with the EQDIR cable but still no luck in recognising the correct port. when i fire up ASCOM it flickers on screen for a split second then disappears then reappears etc. Going to try wiping everything and starting from scratch when ive got some free time next week. 

There are issues with the driver for the eqdir cable on Windows 8 & 10, so which version of Windows are you using? Check this out, it explains what you have to do very well,

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-cables-leads-accessories/hitecastro-eqdir-adapter.html

Look in the Product Info section and it gives a link to the driver that will work and instructions on how to install it. It's a bit of a strange workaround to use an older driver, but if you follow it exactly it does work. I had to do this with my current laptop and it works fine now.

Good luck!

[Guy Wells]

29 minutes ago, brrttpaul said:

interested in this as i have the same issues, so time for a stupid question, looking for the file you mention what next when you find it? and what if its not there

Look in c /windows/system32/drivers/ for a driver called ser2pl64.sys (I have the 64bit version) If it is not there, download that file and place it in the folder.

[brrttpaul]

Ok thx I will try that

[Pompey Monkey]

On 4/30/2016 at 22:54, kens said:

Caution: do NOT use a USB-serial cable to connect your computer to the mount directly - even though it looks like it would fit.

This is exactly what I use. It is a serial port in the mount, even if it uses an RJ-45 connector.

See here: http://eq-mod.sourceforge.net/eqdirect2.htm

I made one myself using a (genuine) FTDI USB to serial cable with an RJ45 connector crimped on the end.