ST4 Guiding

[Neila1975]

On 07/02/2021 at 20:22, Rustang said:

No problem, il do my best to help you through it but I may not be able to remember ever part of setting it up. 

Cable has arrived!  

Will hook it up tonight.  Is everything controlled via APT?   Have other software installed, NINA, PHD2, Ascom, etc etc. 

[Rustang]

1 hour ago, Neila1975 said:

Cable has arrived!  

Will hook it up tonight.  Is everything controlled via APT?   Have other software installed, NINA, PHD2, Ascom, etc etc. 

So the way I have it set up and running is as follows:

Mount-  Controlled by the EQDirect cable from mount to laptop, the correct ASCOM/EQASCOM drivers for the mount downloaded on the laptop. Now when I open APT to connect the scope, EQASCOM opens up and shows what position my scope is in (i.e park), from there i can un park the scope and set it to side rail tracking ready to then slew to target in APT. I can now connect the scope to APT and PHD2 and the mount can be controlled via the EQASCOM control pad, APT and PHD2 for guiding. APT is where I select my target and slew the mount to it, plate solve etc then capture away! I have set up a 'Profile' in PHD2 for my mount and guide camera, you can check the drivers etc are working when you try and connect your equipment in PHD2 when setting up the profile or when connecting to the other software programes.

Imaging Camera - Again I have the correct ASCOM driver and a cable running from the camera to the laptop, I can now select my camera in APT where I control it and run the exposure plan Ive set up.

As long as all the drivers etc are set up properly, all of the software programes will speak to each other.

 

So when I'm out for the night I do as follows:

Everything turned on, first I pola align. I then turn on APT which also opens my EQASCOM control pad, I un-park the mout and set the mount to sidereal tracking via the EQASCOM control pad. In APT I have set up what is needed to plate solve so I then choose my target, send the mount to that target, plate solve then I'm ready to capture the target. I then open PHD2 and check my mount and guide camera are connected to it. Because I have already completed a good enough star calibration I can then start lopping and then auto select a star and start guiding. When I'm happy with the guiding I can go back into APT and run the capture sequence that I have set up.

It might sound alot but its only the setting everything up to start with that takes time, once your set up correctly on your laptop, you can be up and running really quickly for a nights imaging. Hopefully that all makes sense.

Edited February 10, 2021 by Rustang

[Neila1975]

Cheers - think I'll have a go on Saturday when I have a little more time

[Rustang]

1 hour ago, Neila1975 said:

Cheers - think I'll have a go on Saturday when I have a little more time

No problem, I hope you manage to get it all up and running ok. 

[Neila1975]

Not going too well. 

Want to check that everything connects and registers OK, getting a mount error in ascom 'connect error: port not available.'  Believe I've downloaded all the correct drivers & software but looks like I've fallen at the first hurdle.  Cable is connected from laptop direct to the handset port.   

Any ideas? 

Cheers

[Neila1975]

Apt  also states cannot connect to mount

[Jamgood]

You need to set the COM Port that EQMod uses to connect to the mount. 

Look in Device Manager on the PC, see what COM Port is being used. Under Ports (COM & LPT) it'll say USB Serial Port and a COM number.

Then open the EQASCOM toolbox. If you haven't registered EQMOD, hit Register. Then click on Driver Setup and under EQMOD Port Details, select the Port number from Device Manager.

 

[Neila1975]

15 minutes ago, Jamgood said:

You need to set the COM Port that EQMod uses to connect to the mount. 

Look in Device Manager on the PC, see what COM Port is being used. Under Ports (COM & LPT) it'll say USB Serial Port and a COM number.

Then open the EQASCOM toolbox. If you haven't registered EQMOD, hit Register. Then click on Driver Setup and under EQMOD Port Details, select the Port number from Device Manager.

 

Ah yes, just found that & can now move the mount with the directional pad.    Thanks alot.

[Jamgood]

49 minutes ago, Neila1975 said:

Ah yes, just found that & can now move the mount with the directional pad.    Thanks alot.

Glad you got that bit sorted. 

Don't try and rush and learn everything at once. You'll give yourself brain damage and want to quit. Just have a play with APT via EQMOD for a few times, learn how it works. Watch lots of tutorials. Then add in other things like guiding and plate solving. Once you get it, you'll be able to do it all very quickly but there's a learning curve to all this. 

Fools rush in. 👍