ascom drivers on linux with wine

[Tonystar]

Hi, I have a ubantu operating system with wine to make it look like xp.

Has anyone tried to install Ascom using such a set up. I get a message telling me to uninstall previous version

Tonystar

[Breakintheclouds]

Hi there,

I don't think ascom works on Linux. What are you trying to do? I've managed to get my mount working with Stellarium and other programs on Linux, so might be able to help you out if you tell me what you're trying to accomplish.

Of course, if you're after more complex things like automatically changing filters then you might be stuck...!

Ian

[Tonystar]

Hi Breakintheclouds,

I am trying to drive my syntrack heq5 with 200p from Stellarium. I understood that you needed ASCOM drivers which are windows based to do that. Wine is supposed (and certainly does for some software) to provide a layer on top of linux on which windows software will run. Unfortunately I cannot install THE ASCOM SOFTWARE. However by the sound of it you may have an alternative solution.

Rgds

Tonystar

[Breakintheclouds]

If you download the latest version of Stellarium from their site, then you should find telescope control all works out of the box using the new telescope control plug-in. I've been using that recently and it's great. Just connect the scope and you can set it all up from within Stellarium.

If you are using an older version of Stellarium (e.g., from the Ubuntu repos) then you need to use the TelescopeServerNexStar program. If you can't find that program (try Telescope Control (client-server - Stellarium) ) then PM me with your email address and I can send you a copy.

When you have this program installed, you need to check the name of the scope in your /dev/ directory. For me, it usually gets named /dev/ttyUSB0 after I connect it to the computer (because I'm using a serial-to-USB converter). I then use this command:

TelescopeServerNexStar 10000 /dev/ttyUSB0

which starts the telescope server working on port 10000. If you look at the page I linked to above, it tells you how to set up Stellarium's config file to monitor this port so that Stellarium can talk to the scope.

As you can see, though, this older way of doing things is pretty fiddly. If you can install the latest Stellarium it's way simpler!

Having said all that, you say you have the Syntrack HEQ5. Will the Syntrack version work with a computer? I have the Synscan version (the full goto), and that works fine, but I'm not sure whether Syntrack mounts will talk to computers or not. Have you any information on that?

EDIT: More generally, I've found that although many programs will work with Wine, if you want to do things like connecting hardware to your computer then you can forget trying this with Wine - it just doesn't work. Best thing is run the Linux version of Stellarium.

[Daggerstab]

Stellarium 0.10.4 (the most recent version to date, 0.10.5 is expected some time next week) is in Ubuntu Lucid Lynx's repositories.

SynTrack (Syntrack?) is not currently supported by Stellarium's Telescope Control plug-in. (I remember looking into it when I added SynScan to the list of supported devices.)

As for Wine... You can remove all of your previously installed Wine applications by removing ~/.wine (WARNING: this will really wipe everything.) I think that the ASCOM platform requires installing the .NET platform first. I haven't tried it and I don't know if Wine can communicate with the hardware. I've only used Wine for games.

[Tonystar]

Hi Breakintheclouds & Daggerstab

Many thanks for both your inputs. I shall now go and try and see what happens. From The Syntrack comment does this imply that stellarium makes use of software in hand set cos, as I understand it, (from my very limited knowledge) the only difference between the two is the handset. anyway many thanks again - shall be away for a few days but will let you know how I get on

Rgds

Tony

[Cornelius Varley]

Stellarium connects to your telescope via the Synscan handset (using the RS232 or PC direct option on the handset) or an EQdir module. The EQdir module requires the Ascom platform which is not available on Linux. A verion 2 Synscan handset would work with Stellarium using the RS232 option on the handset and you should be able to buy one fairly cheaply as people upgrade to v3 or start using EQmod.

Peter

[Breakintheclouds]

Peter's hit the nail on the head there. Yes, Stellarium needs to speak to a Synscan handset, so if you can find a cheap one you should be laughing.

[Tonystar]

Thanks Guys,

There I was trying to save money. Still I am finding my way round the sky which must be good. I'll look out for Synscan handset.

Thanks to all for help

Rgds

Tony

[Daggerstab]

A verion 2 Synscan handset would work with Stellarium...

Are you sure about that? Stellarium's SynScan support is based on a NexStar driver that uses the high-precision commands of the NexStar serial cable protocol. Are they supported by version 2?

I was under the impression that they have been introduced in version 3 of the SynScan controller and that version 2 uses the low-precision ones.

[Cornelius Varley]

Are you sure about that? Stellarium's SynScan support is based on a NexStar driver that uses the high-precision commands of the NexStar serial cable protocol. Are they supported by version 2?

I was under the impression that they have been introduced in version 3 of the SynScan controller and that version 2 uses the low-precision ones.

The Synscan version 2 handset is compatible with the Nexstar 5 protocols. In Stellarium you would select Nexstar 5 as the telescope mount (as you would for any other planetarium program that doesn't list Synscan as an option), there is also a Synscan v3 handset listed in Stellarium for the newer handsets. The v2 handset connects to the program using the RS 232 option under the utilies menu.

Peter