Linking Mount to Laptop or pc

[Starman1115]

Hiya guys iv recently purchaced a canon 600d for my Astrophotography and backyard eos for automating of my imaging sessions which i love by the way, what a brilliant bit of software ! What i want to do tho is be able to control my mount from the pc or laptop so i can get my images properly framed, is there a way to do that ? I could leave the laptop outside and link via team viewer but i would rather have a hard connection from the mount to pc just for peice of mind in regards to connection, or am i being paranoid and there is a simple way to do this lol.

Chris

[spillage]

I would use a eqdirect lead from the mount to the laptop , put the latptop in a box for safety and either network lead or wifi and team viewer into the laptop. Not sure if you can then platesolve using backyard eos as I have only ever used apt.

[Bizibilder]

I believe EQMOD/ASCOM works withthe EQ3 mount.  Its freeware which is always helpful! http://eq-mod.sourceforge.net/  is a good place to start - also Chris Shillito's Youtube channel:  Chris Shillito  will explain things.

[Marci]

2 main ways...

For both... install ASCOM: https://ascom-standards.org

 

Then...

 

1: Connect laptop to handset and use native ASCOM driver for your mount...

Plug this into USB port on laptop: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-mounts/sky-watcher-synscan-usb-to-serial-rs-232-cable.html

Connect that to this: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/lynx-astro-rs232-serial-cable-for-sky-watcher-mounts.html

Plug the connector at the end of all the above into the left hand socket on the bottom of this (which I presume you already have): https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-synscan-v4-handset.html

Install ASCOM driver for SynScan Handsets: https://inter-static.skywatcher.com/downloads/skywatcher_ascom_driver.zip

 

OR

 

2: Connect laptop direct to mount (same socket handset plugs into). No handset required.

Plug this from USB port on laptop to hand-controller socket on mount: https://www.365astronomy.com/HitecAstro-EQDIR-Adaptor-USB-EQ3-2-and-EQ5-Direct-Interface.html

Install ASCOM EQMOD driver: https://sourceforge.net/projects/eq-mod/files/

 

 

[Starman1115]

10 minutes ago, spillage said:

I would use a eqdirect lead from the mount to the laptop , put the latptop in a box for safety and either network lead or wifi and team viewer into the laptop. Not sure if you can then platesolve using backyard eos as I have only ever used apt.

Hiya yes i think this might be the way to go. Iv just been reading in the user guide for backyard eos and it says that astrotortilla can be used with it to plate solve ? tho i cant see the 3rd party intergration option in the settings. Am i missing something or is this only an option with the preimium version of eos ?

[Starman1115]

26 minutes ago, Bizibilder said:

I believe EQMOD/ASCOM works withthe EQ3 mount.  Its freeware which is always helpful! http://eq-mod.sourceforge.net/  is a good place to start - also Chris Shillito's Youtube channel:  Chris Shillito  will explain things.

I cant do it that way unfortunatly as my pc and laptop are very old and dont have the necessary video cards to use them but i will look in to this option later in the year when i upgrade thank you.

[shirva]

Skywatcher wifi unit,, can use laptop, tablet,smart phone,, available from FLO

 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/sky-watcher-synscan-wifi-adapter.html