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Eqmod error?


Astroblagger

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So iv got usb plugged into computer and the ascom cable into the hand controller socket on my heq5. Iv clicked on the com port selection box binocular symbol it then displays com 16. Iv went to my device manager windows 7. But I can't see the com port anyway in the lists? Don't seem to be getting anywhere am I missing something obvious? 

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36 minutes ago, Astroblagger said:

. Iv clicked on the com port selection box binocular symbol it then displays com 16. Iv went to my device manager windows 7. But I can't see the com port anyway in the lists

Take read of this thread 

As you are at Port 16 which is the limit for eqmod, maybe the mount is being assigned port 17 or higher. Just a thought.

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Device Manager is showing your EQMod cable in 'Other Devices' with an exclamation mark which means Windows hasn't found a driver for it. Odd, as FTDI drivers have been included with Windows for around 10 years or so. Right click on the FT232R USB UART entry in 'Other devices' and select 'Uninstall device'. Select Yes if it asks if you want to uninstall the software as well. Then unplug and replug your EQMod cable and see if Windows can then find the correct driver for it and then it will be installed and listed in 'Ports (COM & LPT) with an assigned Port number for EQMod. If this doesn't work, you can download the drivers from here

https://ftdichip.com/drivers/vcp-drivers/

Choose the Windows Desktop 32 or 64 bit version as appropriate, or if your not familiar with extracting drivers and pointing Device Manager to where it can find the driver to use, choose the Setup Executable on the right which should do it for you. Unplug and replug your EQMod cable and it should find the driver, install it, and then list it in the  'Ports (COM & LPT)' section of Device Manager where it will be assigned a COM Port number which you can then select in the EQMod setup dialog box. The Auto Detect option in EQMod is a bit flakey so it's best to assign the port number directly.

EQMod is showing PORT 16 as it did an auto-detect from ports 1 to 16 and couldn't find anything so just stopped at 16.

Alan

Edited by symmetal
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Thanks symmetal that has  sorted it was com.11. thanks for everyone's help would be clueless otherwise would t know where to start. Will be odd not using the handset. Just need to figure out the star alignment using stallarium and eqmod now. Any good tutorials on YouTube you can recommend? 

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Glad it's working now.  If you still need help with using it with Stellarium this video should tell you everything you need. 🙂

You're using COM11 for EQMod which is fine, but this implies you have lower numbered COM ports which have likely been grabbed by previous failed attemps to get Eqmod to work and haven't been released properly by Windows.

To free up those blocked COM ports run Device Manager and expand the Ports (COM & LPT) section. Now from the menu at the top select 'View/Show Hidden Devices'. You'll find a number of greyed out entries have appeared with a numbered COM Port. You want to delete these greyed out entries to free up those COM ports. Right-click on each greyed out entry and select 'Uninstall device' and select 'yes'. You can also say yes to delete driver software if it asks. If you don't have the EQMod cable plugged in then the COM11 entry will also be greyed out so don't delete that one. You should have a lot of free lower numbered COM ports by now.

If you want to use a lower numbered COM port like 3 or 4 for EQMod, ensure the EQMod cable is plugged in, and you can reassign it's COM port by right-clicking on the entry as before and select 'Properties'. On the box that appears select the 'Port Settings' tab, and on the next box select 'Advanced'. Another box opens and here you can select the new COM port number from the drop-down list which doesn't have '(in use)' next to it. When done hit OK, and OK to get back to the device manager screen and the new COM port number should be assigned to your FTDI EQMod cable. Just remember, next time you have EQMod running, in EQMod settings, select the new COM port you've chosen rather than COM 11. That should be it. 😀

Windows itself can allocate COM ports up to COM256 but most programs don't work with COM ports above a certain number. As you've found out EQMod can only use up to 16, while some older programs only recognize COM 1 to 8 so using numbers up to 8 covers all eventualities. COM1 and COM2 are reserved for your PC's motherboard to use so COM 3 is the first one usually available for programs to use.

Alan

Edited by symmetal
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