Mac OS X Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro Stellarium

[AstroRookie]

Hello,

I don't want to use MS Windows at home (I do have to use it at work and that's more then enough); so we only run OS X and Linux at home. I recently became the happy owner of a Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro and wanted to start astrophotography with my Canon 500D.

• For the capturing I evaluated AstroDSLR and Nebulosity4 and decided to stick with Nebulosity4 as one can handle the capturing and processing all in one package.
• Then I decided to control the mount directly (not via the handcontroller) with the MacBook; as ascom and eqmod are not available on OS X, I installed Indigo Server
• I was going to use Stellarium to control the mount, as it's support INDI

The whole idea was such a pain, and I could not make this setup work, to such a point that I gave in and actually installed Windows 10 on my laptop (with BootCamp). I installed ASCOM platform, EQMOD and stellarium and I could configure it so that I could find an object in stellarium and make the mount slew to it with a direct connection.

But I had such remorse over the idea that I was running windows on my MacBook that I decided to go over the initial plan once more and I finally made it work; here is how I made it work:

• • Connect the Mac(Book) directly to EQ6R (not via the handcontroler)
  • Look for the correct port that indigo has to use: in a terminal window execute: ls -l /dev/cu.usbserial*  - copy the name that looks like: /dev/cu.usbserial-141120 (the number may differ as I'm using a usb hub - do not take /dev/cu.usbserial)
  • Start Indigo server and in "Preferences" > "Indigo Drivers", check "Synscan Mount (2.0.0.15)"
  • Set the correct baud rate: 115200 (I sticked to the default 9600 and that does not work - I had found this via the youtube AstroForum channel where the guy explains how to do this setup on windows using ascom and eqmod)
  • At that point, Indigo server connected to the mount, Stellarium connected to the mount (though Stellarium says it connects to a telescope ...) but no way I could make Stellarium slew to any object I gave it. The mount did not move!
  • That's where my 2 hours experience with ASCOM, EQMOD and Stellarium on windows helped me: the mount needed to be unparked: in the Indigo server gui, collapse the entry "Mount", select "Park" and on the left click "Mount Unparked"
  • Now go to Stellarium, configure the telescope, connect it, search an object and slew to it
  • Still todo: incorporate PHD2 and my ZWO guide camera in this setup

I hope this might be helpful to anyone!

(And now I'm going to recover 90GB by removing windows 😉 )

AstroRookie

 

[Ouroboros]

Looks like you’ve done well there. I use KStars/EKOS/INDI on a Mac to control everything - in my case: Canon 450D, guiding, and mount. I love the fact it comes with a planetarium app, polar alignment and plate solving. KStars will control all sorts of stuff: mounts, cameras, focusers, observatories, guiders etc etc. And it’s free!  Several people on here use it. 

It includes its own guiding software which works fine but is perhaps a little less sophisticated than PHD2.  It will interface with PHD2 running on the Mac too. 

[MarkAR]

I'm also on Mac with KStars/Ekos.

My AZEQ6 has a USB port and I connect with that via a standard cable, in Ekos I set the baud rate to 115200 and it connects fine. No need for any mucking about with EQMOD or INDILIB etc.

[AstroRookie]

Hello Ouroboros,

I tried with KStars as well but at that point I was confused if still needed Indigo server as indi server, for what I think to understand now is that KStars comes with it's own indi server. Maybe one day I'll give it another try.

AstroRookie

[Ouroboros]

@AstroRookie Sorry, only just caught up with this.  Yes, it’s all included.  The only extra download I needed were the appropriate index files for plate solving.  

[bobrosset]

@AstroRookie I was wondering if that was possible (Connect a goto to a mac). So first of all, thanks.

I'm also curious on the steps to connect to an indigo server. Is it easy to do? did you follow any guide that you can share with us?

Last but not least, I'm still waiting for the mount to arrive in December (bloody pandemic), do you need any extra cable to connect everything? I'm about to buy a mac mini now that I see that it's possible. I haven use a windows machine since Windows XP, so I prefer to stick to a Mac.

I'd like to see some photos of your setup, just for curiosity. Again, many thanks and have a great day.

 

Cheers!

Bob

[AstroRookie]

On 17/10/2020 at 03:16, bobrosset said:

@AstroRookie I was wondering if that was possible (Connect a goto to a mac). So first of all, thanks.

I'm also curious on the steps to connect to an indigo server. Is it easy to do? did you follow any guide that you can share with us?

Last but not least, I'm still waiting for the mount to arrive in December (bloody pandemic), do you need any extra cable to connect everything? I'm about to buy a mac mini now that I see that it's possible. I haven use a windows machine since Windows XP, so I prefer to stick to a Mac.

I'd like to see some photos of your setup, just for curiosity. Again, many thanks and have a great day.

 

Cheers!

Bob

Hello Bob,

(sorry for the late reply)

you'll need a USB-A to USB-B cable (amazon). You can connect the mount directly to your mac, no need to go via the handcontroller. As for the indigo server, you can download it for OS X here from the cloudmakers website for free: cloudmakers indigoserver

As for the settings, see my experiences at the beginning of this thread. I did switch to "Carte du Ciel", as I did not have good experiences with stellarium (but that could have been my mistake as well). To summarize with my Macbook:

• to connect it all I use a powered USB-hub (I only have 2 usb ports on my mac)
• for controlling the scope, I use indigo server, carte du ciel (free)
• for polar alignment I use the Polemaster software provided with the Polemaster camera (not free, but for me, best invention since sliced bread)
• for capturing with my Canon 500D, I use Nebulosity (not free)
• for guiding PHD2 (free)
• for preprocessing I use siril (free)
• for postprocessing I use startools (not free)

Not all is free software,  but the softwares I paid for are not very expensive.

I have to say, I will stop using my MacBook outside, already during the summer it suffered a lot from the dew, so I'm in the process of switching to a Raspberry pi + Astroberry (with the bad weather that doesn't want to stop, I have plenty of time to experiment). I'd rather ruin a 60€ Raspberry pi, then a 2000€ macbook, that I need for work. And my goal is to control it from inside.

As for the pictures of my setup, I don't have any, will have to wait for clear skies before I set it up agin.

Kind regards,

AstroRookie

 

Edited October 19, 2020 by AstroRookie

[bobrosset]

Thanks for the update @AstroRookie! that's a great update. I was considering 3d printing a case for a mac mini. Or put it below a plastic case with a power cord. I would assume that that will produce some heat as well. Maybe if I add some ventilation... I'll think about it Tonight.

I'm in that spot where I want to buy something, but I'm not sure what to buy yet. I'll see what's available on Linux for a Raspberry Pi+ to handle the setup.

 

Thanks again mate, and have a great day.

[AstroRookie]

On 25/10/2020 at 16:06, bobrosset said:

Thanks for the update @AstroRookie! that's a great update. I was considering 3d printing a case for a mac mini. Or put it below a plastic case with a power cord. I would assume that that will produce some heat as well. Maybe if I add some ventilation... I'll think about it Tonight.

I'm in that spot where I want to buy something, but I'm not sure what to buy yet. I'll see what's available on Linux for a Raspberry Pi+ to handle the setup.

 

Thanks again mate, and have a great day.

Hello Bob,

a short update: I did a "dry run" yesterday in the afternoon with all the gear setup using Astroberry on a Raspberry PI 4+, and I have to say VNCviewer over wifi was not a great success, the VNCViewer screen on my macbook froze every couple of minutes (probably also because the Raspberry pi outside was too far away from to wifi access point). So, I'll continue with the Raspberry Pi controlled via VNCviewer from my mac, but using a UTP cable connected to the router; this setup should be more reliable. I'll keep you updated. Anyhow plenty of time,as they still don't announce clear skies for the next couple of days.

Kind regards,

AstroRookie

[bobrosset]

Thanks for the update. I took a look at some stick pc yesterday. I'm not convinced yet. But I'm leaning towards buying a Mac Mini. Depending on how your research goes to be honest. I also considered (until I saw the price) those tiny computers dedicated purely for astrophotography (https://www.primalucelab.com/astronomy/computer-and-software/).

For post processing, I'll keep using my MBP with PixInsight, but spending near USD 1000 on a new computer, I'm still thinking about it. Not an easy decision to be honest.

[bobrosset]

@AstroRookie, hope you're fine mate. I was wondering how was your test. I'm about to order something for another test aswell. Before jumping into a new mac mini, I'm going to buy this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BXGS9MT/ref=ewc_pr_img_2?smid=A1TF8C3N0T7QHH&psc=1, it has enough ram so far, and I'm adding a 256 micro SD to see how that goes. My idea is to attach it to a leg of the tripod and leave it there while shooting.

I'll let you know how that works as soon as I get it.

Clear skies and stay safe.

[AstroRookie]

19 hours ago, bobrosset said:

@AstroRookie, hope you're fine mate. I was wondering how was your test. I'm about to order something for another test aswell. Before jumping into a new mac mini, I'm going to buy this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BXGS9MT/ref=ewc_pr_img_2?smid=A1TF8C3N0T7QHH&psc=1, it has enough ram so far, and I'm adding a 256 micro SD to see how that goes. My idea is to attach it to a leg of the tripod and leave it there while shooting.

I'll let you know how that works as soon as I get it.

Clear skies and stay safe.

Hello Bob,

using a UTP-cable from the Raspberry pi to the router, I did not have any problem running  VNCViewer on my macbook. It was as if I had a monitor connected directly to the pi. Unfortunately I had to stop my tests and cover the scope in a hurry, as it started to rain, and it didn't stop raining with heavy wind for the rest of the weekend. The 50m UTP-cable will come in handy when I will build the astroshed. However that's the long term planning, but for now the telescope stays permanently outside .

The whole setup has been staying outside for 2 weeks now, under a car cover that costed me 82€ where as a dedicated telescope cover from telegizmo would have cost me double or more. I wrap some old towels around de usb hub and the EQ6-R motor and the whole setup stays dry. The last few weeks have been extremely windy and wet, but the scope hasn't moved at all. As promised I'll post some pictures in here. (don't expect any thing fancy, it's quite primitive, but at least I don't have to drag the tripod, mount and telescope outside any more).

Kind regards,

AstroRookie

[bobrosset]

@AstroRookie, I just received a Terryza StickPC, 8Gb of RAM, 120Gb + 256 Card. I'll test it this weekend and let you know my results as well. I think I can clamp it to the tripod and leave it mounted. I may need to 3D Print a cover though. I'm excited about this! Wooohoooo!

[AstroRookie]

On 18/11/2020 at 16:40, bobrosset said:

@AstroRookie, I just received a Terryza StickPC, 8Gb of RAM, 120Gb + 256 Card. I'll test it this weekend and let you know my results as well. I think I can clamp it to the tripod and leave it mounted. I may need to 3D Print a cover though. I'm excited about this! Wooohoooo!

Hello Bob,

looks indeed very cool; I wonder if you could install linux on it (I'm not a windows fan as you will have guessed)? For the rest over here, nothing but bad weather, wind and rain for weeks now. And according to clearoutside.com next Thursday clear between 02:00AM and 06:00AM, but that combined with an almost full moon

Kind regards,

AstroRookie

[bobrosset]

I haven't used Windows in about 20 years. So I'm getting used to this new interface so far. But regarding to Linux, I found this on Amazon: "Q: Is linux supported? how do we disable uefi? 
A: I can install Ubuntu server and desktop version on it but can NEVER get the wireless driver to be recognize so I gave up".

My test so far is that the interface is slow. I'm connecting with TeamViewer using the LAN version. And also tries Remote Desktop (Windows), but it's still slow. Not unusable though, but slower than I expected. I'll keep trying. But I was able to shoot some test photos remotely. So I guess it will require a bit of patience. Clear skies and have a great week mate.

[bobrosset]

It's been a while since the last time I wrote this, but finally I've got the whole setup. I ended up using an Intel Nuc, because the StickPC was painfully slow. This Nuc is faster than the Terryza though, but not as fast as a computer itself. So I'm tempted to get all the cables to a hub, and then run everything into my laptop, in the comfort of my living room, or the dining room. Or figure out a way to run it smoother. I'm still understanding Windows RDP.

Have a great weekend!