EQMOD issues

[Andywilliams]

I recently had issues with ascom eqmod and decided to uninstall the whole lot and start again.

Ive downloaded everything ( I’m pretty sure), connected my heq5pro to my computer with the specific cable ( I know this works fine), I’ve triple checked the comm ports are aligned.......and still the damn thing won’t connect. It shows either a time out message , a can’t connect mount message in NINA, or the eqmod panel just flickers for a second and then disappears.

I’m at my wits end ! 

Any suggestions. would be most gratefully received.

clear skies,

Andy 

[Dr_Ju_ju]

First off which version of Windows are you using ?? 

Then start with the basics, after installing EQMod, & connecting your PC to the mount, open EQMod Toolbox, and in the Setup section "Driver Setup" you first check the Comm Port settings are as per the Windows, Device Manager, Ports settings...

If they are the same you should be able to drive the mount directly using EQMod....  

[Andywilliams]

Thanks very much for your reply 😀

I will follow your steps .

I'm running windows 10 

[bottletopburly]

Have you reinstalled ascom ? Also make sure you have latest windows update installed as soon here was an issue with Eqmod  lately which was fixed by updating windows .

Edited June 14, 2021 by bottletopburly

[Andywilliams]

Many thanks. 

I will certainly update windows 👍👍👍

[malc-c]

On 13/06/2021 at 00:16, Andywilliams said:

I recently had issues with ascom eqmod and decided to uninstall the whole lot and start again.

Ive downloaded everything ( I’m pretty sure), connected my heq5pro to my computer with the specific cable ( I know this works fine),

Andy, your post is a bit vague

Can you confirm what cable you are using with the HEQ5. it has to be a dedicated EQDIR cable and not a USB to serial adaptor with the supplied PC-DIRECT cable.  Whilst the connector on the end of the cable is different (a phone type connector rather than a network cable connector) it has been know that people still try and use this , which then ends up blowing the URART ports on the two microcontrollers on the  motor board.  Lets hope that isn't the case here.

Assuming you are using the correct cable that has been designed for direct connection to the mount, it will need the drivers installed.  Windows 10 natively supports FTDI virtual com port drivers, so will install them without issue.  But Prolific drivers are not supported ( drivers were dropped way back in 2012), so you would have to search, download and install the correct driver for the cable you have.

If the cable has installed correctly then go into device manager to confirm the port settings and number.  It needs to be set to 9600 baud speed.

If you are still having issues with EQMOD reporting a coms error, and still have the handset to hand, try that and if it reports "no response both axis" then that will confirm that the motor board has been damaged and you either need to purchase a new one, or if you have soldering experience and can pick up a PIC programmer can replace the two 16F886's (if you can find them as there is a shortage of electronic chips worldwide).  If the handset works then this proves the motor board is fine, and the communications issue is either the EQDIR cable is faulty, or its software related on the PC.

Updating windows to  the latest build resolved issues with the sliders (active X components) disappearing, and nothing to do with the communications.   

If you can report back, with details (not "its fine" or "expected") then it would help us advise further

[Andywilliams]

Hi Malcolm and many thanks for your detailed reply.

I have included a screenshot of the cable I’m using.

I will do a latest windows 10 update.

Then I will follow your instructions, however, I can’t try the handset as this went blank and stopped functioning a while back. This was the reason for the EQ cable purchase.

I am assuming that the motherboard issues you are referring to are the HEQ5 pro motherboard......this makes me somewhat anxious but I guess if all else fails then I may need to put a motherboard on my shopping list !

I apologise for the vagueness of my cry for help. Astrophotography is possibly not the best hobby for a technophobe !

I really appreciate your answer though 👍👍

cheers,

Andy 

[malc-c]

Andy,

The good news is that the cable you listed is indeed an EQDIR cable and one that uses FTDI chipset so it should be picked up by windows, if not drivers can be downloaded from the FTDI website. here

There are several tests you can do to confirm if the issue is with the com port on the PC / Laptop, or software related.

• Open up device manager, under Ports (COM & LPT) and you should see the com port assigned to the EQDIR cable when its plugged in.  Make a note of this number
• Right click on the port and select properties, then select the port settings tab
• Ensure the Bits per second is set to 9600, data bits 9, parity None, stop bits 1 and flow control None
• Click OK to close, and close Device manager window.

Now to check EQMOD setting.

• From windows Start select all programs and navigate to EQMOD > EQASCOM
• Select ToolBox
• Click Driver setup
• Middle left is the EQMOD port details panel.  Set Baud to 9600
• Rather than search for the port, click the drop down arrow and select the port number that matched the port shown in device manager
• In the panel above select SyntaEQ if its not shown.
• Click OK
• Power up the mount (with cables connected)
• Click on Test Connection to launch, EQMOD should launch and display the mount position.  If It reports a time out error then we need to investigate further
• Click the Disconnect button in the Toolbox window to close EQMOD
• Close the toolbox.

The simple way to test the EQDIR cable is to use a thin bit of wire to short the RX and TX pins on the RJ plug.

If you hold the RJ45 plug so that the pins are facing you with the spring tab is uppermost, pin 1 is on the left and pin 8 is on the right.  You need to short together pins 5 and 6.  If the cable follows the default standard for FTDI manufactured VCP this should be the Orange and Yellow wires.  This can be done with a short length of wire , or fine nosed tweezers.  In order to test the cable download a serial terminal such as Termite from here

• Once installed, run Termite
• Click the settings button and in the port settings set the port to the same one noted in Device manager, with the same settings for baud rate (9600) etc
• Leave the transmitted text to Append CR and local echo and click OK
• Click Clear
• In the small window at the bottom type in any text you want but don't click the return arrow just yet
• Short pins 5 & 6 of the RJ45 plug with the tweezers and then click the return arrow to transmit the text via the EQDIR cable
• You should see the same text appear in the main screen 

• If you do then this proves the EQDIR cable is working, and it proves the USB port on the PC is working, and that the drivers are OK.  

Basically what this does is connects to the com port, sends a string of characters to the port which then gets transmitted to the TX wire, which as its connected to the RX wire then sends it back to the com port and the result is echoed in the terminal window.  Think of it as a submarine sonar that sends a ping out and it then hears back the echo.   

If the test of the cable described above works then the issue is with the mount.  It would be worth checking that the cables are plugged in correctly between the interface PCB (where the handset  and power plugs in) and the mainboard.  If that checks out then my git feeling would be that the PICs are fried, or the two 1N4148 diodes have gone open circuit or shorted.  It is possible to fix this if the board in your HEQ5 is of the older type with two 16F886 Pic microcontrollers.  I've repaired a few boards this way (mainly MC003/04s for Dobs, but also my own HEQ5 board), and the full process is detailed in this post here  If the board is one of the newer boards that use nan ARM processor then that is beyond my skill set and you would need to look at obtaining a new board.  

One other possibility is that the PICs are fine, but the issue is with the power side of the board.  This would need testing to ensure 5v, 12v and 33v are present on the various parts of the PCB.  If the 5v rail is missing then the PICs won't run (in the case of old boards, the newer one also have a 3.3v rail)  If the PICs are not able to run then this too would give the same communications error (it would be like trying to connect to an unpowered mount).

Anyway, hope this long post hasn't bored or confused you.... but hopefully given you some things to try to get to the bottom of this

 

 

 

[Andywilliams]

Thanks Malcolm,

I am pleased to report success ! 

The mount and my computer are now communicating nicely !

I only need to sort out one more issue 😬

When I park the mount it parks to Polaris on cdc ! Which is not very helpful as I am in New Zealand, so it needs and indeed did once park to sigma octans scp.

Ive updated my home lat and long in both eqmod and cdc but to no avail. 

Again, I would value all your opinions.....and I would buy you all a nice pint if it weren’t for the fact I’m twelve thousand miles away !

Woe is me 🤬🤬🤬

Many thanks to you all thus far 🙏🙏🙏

clear skies,

Andy 

[Merlin66]

Andy,

I’ve just gone through the same issue.

I’m in wet and cold Victoria, although I was 100% sure the coordinates were set to Southern Hemisphere, when parking went to Polaris, I had to acknowledge my error.

Resetting the EQMOD Ini files fixed the problem.

 

Edited June 16, 2021 by Merlin66

[malc-c]

1 hour ago, Andywilliams said:

Thanks Malcolm,

I am pleased to report success ! 

The mount and my computer are now communicating nicely !

I only need to sort out one more issue 😬

When I park the mount it parks to Polaris on cdc ! Which is not very helpful as I am in New Zealand, so it needs and indeed did once park to sigma octans scp.

Ive updated my home lat and long in both eqmod and cdc but to no avail. 

Again, I would value all your opinions.....and I would buy you all a nice pint if it weren’t for the fact I’m twelve thousand miles away !

Woe is me 🤬🤬🤬

Many thanks to you all thus far 🙏🙏🙏

clear skies,

Andy 

Andy, glad to hear the two are talking to each other.  It would be helpful for anyone following, or any one in the future with similar issues if you could explain what it was that resolved the issue, and if it was related to anything I suggested in that post that took me a good hour to type !

As for the parking position, one way to resolve that was simply be to set up a custom parking position.  Place the mount in the desired position, in the Park/Unpak panel of EQMOD (click the spanner under the version number if the settings window has not expanded) click the button with P+ and a window pops up from the top dropdown list select "undifined" and type in a name for it, then click the set button and close the window.  Now under the Park/Unpark panel, the new custom park position can be selected from the dropdown list as the default parking position.  Now when you unpark the mount the park/unpark button displays the name of the parking position you just created.  May not be ideal, but its a workaround

[Andywilliams]

38 minutes ago, malc-c said:

Andy, glad to hear the two are talking to each other.  It would be helpful for anyone following, or any one in the future with similar issues if you could explain what it was that resolved the issue, and if it was related to anything I suggested in that post that took me a good hour to type !

As for the parking position, one way to resolve that was simply be to set up a custom parking position.  Place the mount in the desired position, in the Park/Unpak panel of EQMOD (click the spanner under the version number if the settings window has not expanded) click the button with P+ and a window pops up from the top dropdown list select "undifined" and type in a name for it, then click the set button and close the window.  Now under the Park/Unpark panel, the new custom park position can be selected from the dropdown list as the default parking position.  Now when you unpark the mount the park/unpark button displays the name of the parking position you just created.  May not be ideal, but its a workaround

Malcolm, my apologies, I got so excited that I just batted off a Thankyou without acknowledging what had fixed it.

The changes I made were

: installing the EQDIR driver specific to that cable

: updating windows 10 to the latest updates 

: changing the baud setting to 9600 . I had had it on a higher setting after reading an article that suggested that the higher number ( I can’t remember the exact number now) would give more reliable results. 

Again, apologies Malcolm but my poor computer skills mean I can’t be certain whether it was one of these changes or a mixture of all of them .... but it’s worked and I am grateful. 

I will be attempting your fix for the northern/ Southern Hemisphere issue.

Thanks again,

Andy 

[Andywilliams]

1 hour ago, Merlin66 said:

Andy,

I’ve just gone through the same issue.

I’m in wet and cold Victoria, although I was 100% sure the coordinates were set to Southern Hemisphere, when parking went to Polaris, I had to acknowledge my error.

Resetting the EQMOD Ini files fixed the problem.

 

Hi there Merlin,

Its always sunny in Victoria....isn’t it ?

A bearable 16c here in Hawke’s bay but plenty of scattered cloud 😞

Anyhow, basic, silly question time.....where do I find the Ini files ? 

Cheers and thanks,

Andy 

[malc-c]

Andy,

My guess would be the driver for the cable and having it set at 9600 which is set in the PICs firmware.  The 115000 speed is for the newer boards that have a USB socket (often found on the new Eq5 / EQ35M and such.

Anyway, it's up and running which is the main thing

[Andywilliams]

Hi Malcolm,

Once again Thankyou !

I am now pointing at sigma octans in cdc !

I did your custom parking position in eqmod.

Could it be something as simple as not checking the set button in eqmod once I had the park position or could it be something as simple as not checking the save button in the observatory location in cdc ?

Either way, a combination of these manoeuvres has done the trick and saved me from almost certain mania !

I sometimes think that these programs are actually relatively easy to use but contain so many parameters that need to be accurate and saved/checked that one or two simple omissions can really stuff the whole thing up !

Once again, I am in your debt and I can now wait for the omnipresent clouds to depart and go on my merry way again 😃

Thanks heaps for all of your advice.

Cheers and clear skies,

Andy 

[malc-c]

On 17/06/2021 at 05:30, Andywilliams said:

Once again, I am in your debt and I can now wait for the omnipresent clouds to depart and go on my merry way again 😃

Thanks heaps for all of your advice.

Cheers and clear skies,

Andy 

No worries, glad my suggestions helped