Wanting to run everything through APT

[DougM43]

Hi all,

At the moment I am using my heq5 handset to control the mount, APT for camera control and PHD via st4 for guiding.

to simplify things and reduce the amount of cables to the laptop I would like to run everything through APT, (it appears it can be done with just one cable) and from what I’ve read so far I believe it will also open up the possibility of plate solving, can somebody please advise me if this is so and what do I need to install to get it all to work together properly ? 
I have been trying to understand Ascom, wow is it really as complicated as it seems.

if it’s any help the equipment I’m using is

mount, HEQ5, Imaging camera, Starlight express sxvr m25c and Zwo  MC120 guide camera. I also have a  reasonably new hdd, drive laptop.

thanks in advance, clear skies,

keep safe.

Doug.

 

[Anthonyexmouth]

It looks a lot more complicated than it really is. first thing to do is make sure you have a good quality usb hub for the mount end and a good quality usb cable to run to the laptop. once you've got APT running with plate solving you'll never look back. Step 1 is to get the ASCOM platform installed and then the EQMOD software. best  to approachi this is steps. get EQMOD working then move onto pairing with APT. 

Have you downloaded and installed ASCOM and EQMOD yet?

[DougM43]

thanks,
Yes have installed Ascom, (think I needed to install it to get APT to recognise the camera,) will figure it out and install EQMOD now, I presume it’s EQMOD that controls the mount? 

[Anthonyexmouth]

3 minutes ago, DougM43 said:

thanks,
Yes have installed Ascom, (think I needed to install it to get APT to recognise the camera,) will figure it out and install EQMOD now, I presume it’s EQMOD that controls the mount? 

The most important thing with EQMOD is in setup, make sure your location is correct and set the BAUD RATE to 9600 when you scan for the port. 

[DougM43]

Thanks, will do 👍