Connecting Explore Scientific EXO 2 PMC-8 to ASIair Pro Wireless Controller

[nephilim]

I bought the EXOS 2 PMC-8 a few months ago & have being slowly building up my AP kit. I've just bought the ASIair Pro for full control of everything rather than using ES's Explore Stars software, but I never thought about how the 2 would connect (Its not plug & play).
After scouring for answers on-line & emailing various suppliers to no avail I finally found what hopefully will be the right way of doing it.
I've not seen much about this mount on SGL apart from a couple of great videos from @Lockie & nothing regarding it being used with the ASIair Pro. For anyone who is (or plan to in the future) I thought I would post instructions here as its a right faff trying to find out how its done. It involves reprogramming the FTDI Chipset as follows:

Firstly you need the specific USB 2.0 to serial adapter cable, This is the only place I could find one although I'm sure its available here in the UK https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JWD8J1W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Then its just a case of following these steps. Using a Windows Laptop/ PC:

1)  Install FT_PROG from here (Its at the top of the page)  https://www.ftdichip.com/Support/Utilities.htm#FT_PROG
2)  Connect the cable to the Laptop (don't plug it into the mount yet) & run FT_PROG
3) Under the EEPROM tab, select Devices - Scan & Parse
4) In the Devices tree go to Hardware Specific - Invert RS232 Signals
5) Tick the 'Invert DTR#'  box.
6) Select Devices - Program
7) Click Program

 It takes about 1 second & the only status indicator that its worked is the msg 'Finished programming' which quickly disappears.

To make sure its worked unplug then plug back in & in FT-Prog go back into the device tree & the 'Invert DTR#' box should now show a tick & that's it.

There's possibly an easier way to do it but after several hours searching, this is the best I could find.

Steve

Edited January 4, 2021 by nephilim

[Quatermass]

Interesting choice of mount seems very similar to the eq5 mount with the synscan upgrade.

[Chris]

Hey Steve, well done on getting that sorted and thanks for adding to the information about this mount. 

[Chris]

9 minutes ago, Quatermass said:

Interesting choice of mount seems very similar to the eq5 mount with the synscan upgrade.

It's a similar class of mount only the EXOS2 PMC Eight is belt driven and has proper bearings so you can nail balancing. The default Explore Stars app works well too if you remember to disable your firewall. that one did stump me for a little while. 

[nephilim]

8 minutes ago, Lockie said:

Hey Steve, well done on getting that sorted and thanks for adding to the information about this mount. 

It took a fair bit of investigating that's for sure.

[nephilim]

3 hours ago, Quatermass said:

Interesting choice of mount seems very similar to the eq5 mount with the synscan upgrade.

Hi Mark

I'd say it was much closer to the HEQ5 Pro GOTO. Although it has a greater load bearing capacity than the HEQ5 (11kg imagining/ 15kg visual where as the EXOS 2 is 12.7kg & 18kg respectively) The EXOS 2 is also sturdier with 2" tripod legs over the HEQ5's 1.75". Its also a fair bit cheaper than the Skywatcher  aswell which is a big bonus.
 I'd never heard of the EXOS 2 so I did a fair bit of research before buying & got in touch with @Lockie who had done a couple of good YouTube videos about it & I was sold.
It has the usual parts such as illuminated Polar Scope & ST4 Port. Its fully ASCOM compliant & has the only wireless ASCOM driver on the market. As it is its own WiFi hot spot it can be taken anywhere ( I've now got the Celestron LiFePo4 lithium power tank which will easily power everything for an evenings imaging) & controlled using a tablet wirelessly or wired to a laptop so no need for a handset & has its own inbuilt GPS so it knows where it is for setting location & advising what's available to view. It has its own dedicated app (Explore Stars) with 80,000 object database object base similar to Skywatchers handset.
I've just ordered the ASIair Pro wireless controller. This unit has everything all in one place & similar to the EXOS, its controlled by a tablet.  You can programme your whole imaging session with it, Polar alignment, plate solving, framing & focus plus guiding, it can also run your whole imaging sequence (Like BackyardEOS) including taking Darks, Flats & Bias. Plus live stacking & image stretching. 
With the ASIair being wireless  I can set up in the garden, go though all the procedures & then go inside & keep an eye on everything remotely through my tablet, laptop or desktop. I cant wait to get started.

How are you doing with your latest project?

Steve

Edited January 4, 2021 by nephilim

[Pete_B]

.

Edited February 21, 2021 by Pete_B
Solved my own problem...

[Cornelius Varley]

3 hours ago, Pete_B said:

.

Hello and welcome to SGL. It might have been helpful to others if you had left the post intact rather than delete it. How did you "solve your own  problem" , could you expand on that as it might help others.

[alandebrut]

Hi,

 

i have the Exos 2/PMC8 as well and have ordered the ZWO ASI air pro so would be very interested in how you "solved your own problem"?

 

Thanks

[johngm]

General question to EXOS-2 PMC-8 owners. Have any of you guys been using PHD2 guiding with this mount yet ? I would be interested to see the guide logs / Graphs to see how it performs. Quick search on tinternet and cant seem to find anything regarding this mount in relationship to guiding.

Regards John

[stomviplar]

Steve,

Good instructions on Exos2 GT and Asiair connection.  The Rs232 conversion went smoothly.  Connected it to the mount controller and Asi air and it cannot connect to the mount.  The Exos shows up in the mount panel but I get the message that it cannot connect.  I am assuming that the only WiFi connection would be to the Asi air.  I tried the Eq Mod as a mount and same results.   Suggestions would be helpful.

Mark

[nephilim]

1 hour ago, stomviplar said:

Steve,

Good instructions on Exos2 GT and Asiair connection.  The Rs232 conversion went smoothly.  Connected it to the mount controller and Asi air and it cannot connect to the mount.  The Exos shows up in the mount panel but I get the message that it cannot connect.  I am assuming that the only WiFi connection would be to the Asi air.  I tried the Eq Mod as a mount and same results.   Suggestions would be helpful.

Mark

Hi Mark,

Its a long time since I did this & I ran into the same problem but I did solve it. Its late here & i'm up for work in about 5hrs so i'll have to get back to you tomorrow afternoon as I'll have to figure out how I did it.
What I will say is that several months down the line, the EXOS II & the ASIAIR are working really well together & i've finally started to get some fairly good images.  Here is my latest image with this set up & the Samyang 135mm f2 camera lens.

I'll speak to you tomorrow.

Steve

[Alanc154]

Hi Folks, A BIG shoutout to Nephilim for his fix on getting the ASIAIR connected to the PMC-Eight. How on earth you discovered that is mind blowing. Six weeks of searching and I did not find the answer, until I saw your post here on SGL. Fifteen minutes later and my system is running entirely from the ASIAIR pro via a USB to Serial cable. Interestingly, I can also adjust the mount/PMC-Eight simultaneously via wi-fi.   Clear skies?.

 

[nephilim]

21 hours ago, Alanc154 said:

Hi Folks, A BIG shoutout to Nephilim for his fix on getting the ASIAIR connected to the PMC-Eight. How on earth you discovered that is mind blowing. Six weeks of searching and I did not find the answer, until I saw your post here on SGL. Fifteen minutes later and my system is running entirely from the ASIAIR pro via a USB to Serial cable. Interestingly, I can also adjust the mount/PMC-Eight simultaneously via wi-fi.   Clear skies?.

 

Brilliant, thats great to hear. It took a fair bit of trawling forums & a fair few moments of frustration but it was worth the grief in the end. Good luck with it & clear skies.

Steve

[Tellurian]

Explore Scientific have a pretty good forum that has lots of users with a wealth of knowledge and information. 

It can be found here https://espmc-eight.groups.io/g/MAIN and the various subgroups listed  via the Subgroups link.

It's a strange sort of forum that is more email based but I find it works well. If you look in the Files section of each group, there are several very useful items.

[KamilaM]

@nephilim - great instructions, thanks! But... I've got some problems...

I bought ASIair plus and connected everything.

Yesterday I checked the operation and polar align and plate solve works great but tracking doesn't work :(

What can I do to make it work?

 

My kit: ES Exos-2 PMC-8, TS65Q, Canon 2000D and ASIair plus. I don't have a guiding camera but that should work without quiding...