What is EQMod? Let's talk with the Mount.

[@stephencox3446]

Hi Amy , an interesting insight into using EQMod. I haven't tried it yet but your video was an excellent introduction. Thanks for sharing.

[@AmyAstro]

Thank you for watching.

[@Bluefrogict]

Thank you very much Amy. This helps me understand EQmod clearly.

[@tunascuba1]

Thank You AMY ASTRO for your wonderful videos...I am a Newbie to Astrophotography and I just viewed "What is Eqmod" Video and wrote 6 pages in my notebook as I watched this video...WOW Thank you so much..

[@AmyAstro]

You are so welcome!

[@gregmckay666]

Could you do a video review, walk though of the NiteCrawler focuser? Maybe show us how the hardware AND software works.?

[@TheMje1963]

Greg, The Nitecrawler is an awesome tool to have in the inventory.

[@AmyAstro]

I will definitely get one together. I love my NC.

[@gregmckay666]

@@TheMje1963 I'm sure it is. I'm a huge Moonlight fan. I've got 3 of his focusers. One on my 12" Meade SCT, one on my Explore Scientific 127mm refractor and one on my Lunt 80mm Ha scope. But the only way I could justify the cost of the Nite Crawler is if my mount was remotely controlled in a dome in a remote location.

[@gary7990]

Hey Amy, I 'm a bit behind watching all your videos but learning lots off each one. I waited almost 3 months for my EQmod cable, had this video saved to walk me through the process. I am all setup and everything is working good.. thanks for your help!!

[@AmyAstro]

That is awesome! Once we figure out EQMOD things are so much easier.

[@bradfrankshaw]

Hi! Super helpful and got me out of the mess I was in!! I have the cable from FLO in the UK and going through this with you, my EQ3 started moving! Yay thank you!! Going to stick with your channel as your style is friendly, nice and you have a great quirky sense of humour! :)

[@AmyAstro]

You are so welcome! What an amazing feeling when the mount moves for that first time! I was a dancing fool when it all worked. Congratulations !

[@bradfrankshaw]

@@AmyAstro I know I literally squealed when the mount started moving! Then I connected it to APT and Stellarium. This tutorial unlocked everything else, so thank you again so much.

[@bradfrankshaw]

@@AmyAstro Will you be doing an A to Z of set up any time soon? I mean I google and you tube information on setup for astrophotography and I get how to do B F A C G M L etc but I need one person to tell me how to do ABCDEFGHI etc I'm writing a check list of Things to do how but have gaps...

[@AmyAstro]

Claire Bradshaw so are you looking for the steps to set up the telescope from tripod to polar alignment?

[@bradfrankshaw]

@@AmyAstro right through to using APT to image. I have a SW 150P on an Eq3 GOTO but all my DSLR imaging has been guesswork.. guessing to get PA right. Guessing to get 3star alignment instead of Plate solving. Guessing at imaging. Want to learn the whole ABC steps from set up to imaging. Your video was a vital piece. :) Just need learn everything properly.

[@RaysAstrophotography]

Wow! I used eqmod briefly! Need to try sometime! Good work Amy!

[@AmyAstro]

Please do! It is handy. :)

[@CosmicDigs]

This is brilliant, thank you so much Amy :)

[@AmyAstro]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@AG-vk9gq]

Once again a great video Amy thanks.To compliment this video I suggest looking at the polar align option as well using Eqmod.A very simple procedure that I use all the time.Basically once the mount is active you expand the screen as you showed and click on the HA clock which then shows the current position of the pole star for alignment and the buttons to press which I have also set up on the gamepad.Chris Shilito from EQmod has an excellent video explaining the procedure.I find it easy and very accurate. Look forward to your next video Amy thanks again.

[@AmyAstro]

Thank you, I have not tried that option yet.

[@davidemancini7853]

Thx a lot Amy, great video👍😀

[@AmyAstro]

Thank you!

[@AstroDenny]

Great Video, Amy! I'm using the DIYMall USB device with EQMOD on a Raspberry Pi and Astroberry and it works great!

[@AmyAstro]

I love the whole Pi process. I have not ventured this way yet. I did a small detour with a latte panda pc. It was fun till I broke a connector off. They were not intended to be plugged in and out so much. It was great when it lasted. It was the size of a deck of cards.

[@AstroDenny]

@@AmyAstro The more I play with Astroberry, the more I like it. It's a very comprehensive tool set with no licensing costs and it has very low power consumption.

[@Spaced_Out_Bill]

This was super helpful! Thank you!

[@AmyAstro]

You're so welcome!

[@robertbennett6410]

Thank you soooooo much for such a great clear explanation, not to mention pleasant to look at!! ;) Thanks for a super job! Thumbs up!

[@AmyAstro]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@philwright8280]

Fantastic video, Amy - I've pottered around, experimenting with astro photography using the cheapest equipment I had (not very successfully) for many years, on-and-off, and decided finally it was about time I upgraded my HEQ5 to goto spec. HOWEVER.... Having just discovered all the bearings in my mount have seized and ordered replacements to fit from ebay (!) I'm going to follow your instructions for setting up EQMod... Interface already ordered from FLO. As I say, your description is very succinct and I have a renewed confidence. Thanks to you! I mean, what could possibly go wrong...? (On a slight negative, one comment from a pedant: one of my pet hates is the mispronunciation of the word 'Longitude'. Even BBC commentators get it wrong... It's LONG-I-TUDE not long-di-tude.). I know I'll get hate messages for noting this but hey...I'm old enough and ugly enough to shrug em off! Looking forward to watching more of your vids!

[@AmyAstro]

Thank you!!! Sometimes I southern fry words. lol

[@TalkingJesus]

Hi Amy, am pretty new to astrophotography, like a few weeks new, so thanks for your time and teachings. Am pretty sure you might figure this out by now, but just in case you have not, the reason why you get the error message when you first start EQMOD, you must right click on it and run it as an administrator, if not you will get that error message. I have one question, I have a EQM35 and trying to connect it to my Windows 10 64bit laptop. it keep giving me connect error for my port connection. I installed the ASCOM Platform and EQMOD drivers, watch a million videos and did everything they suggest but still will not connect, even though in i connect to the right port in the ASCOM setup, as in Device Manager. Would appreciate any help. Thanks.

[@AmyAstro]

Does your mount connect to the pc via USB? It takes a special cable from the mount to pc. It could need the FTDI Chip driver.

[@TalkingJesus]

@@AmyAstroThank you Amy but it stated working fine, I did nothing different that what I was doing before, was about to call it quit for then day when it started working.

[@PaulHummerman]

You should show exactly how you connect the eqmod cable to the mount i.e.which port? Do all mounts allow this?

[@AmyAstro]

EQMod is specific to sky watcher / Orion type mounts.

[@osamadessouky802]

Extremely helpful! 👌Always hated the interface and felt intimidated to use it. You’ve simplified it very nicely. Will give it a go. The only issue I have is that Stellarium refuses to talk to the mount. Even when adding the telescope plugin and setting to start at setup. CdC works, but not stellarium. Would be great if you can follow this video up with your workflow in Stellarium with EQMOD. Excellent work. Thanks.

[@AmyAstro]

Have you installed the 3rd party app called Stellarium Scope by Welsh Dragon? I use this to get stellarium to talk with the mount. There is now a built in plug in with tellurium, but I have not had much luck with it. Google the app above and see if it helps you.

[@osamadessouky802]

Amy Astro Hi Amy. Thank you for getting back to me. Yes, I did install it, even though on Cloudy Nights everyone insists it’s not needed and the new Stellarium has no need for it. It does help, and I remember I got Stellarium to work with EQMOD just once. That was a month or so ago. Never worked again. :( Thank you so much for your reply! Would be nice if you can do a tutorial with what you do on screen exactly with Stellarium and EQMOD so we can follow it. It’s a very common problem, and most end up using CdC which is not as nice as Stellarium. Thanks again.

[@AmyAstro]

Osama Dessouky I can certainly do that. Best of luck.

[@osamadessouky802]

Amy Astro Thanks Amy. Much appreciated.

[@richardhendrick5835]

Hello, Richard from Belgium...Good video. I don't use a game controller, but my mouse by clicking on "Pad" in the slew controls panel. This brings up a window, you just have to keep the arrow in the window. Then I can go to my scope with the mouse an use it for centering a star...:-)...

[@AmyAstro]

Hello Belgium! Hope all is well over there. Beautiful country. I love how there are so many way to accomplish things. Choices are good.

[@michael.a.covington]

Very useful!

[@AmyAstro]

Glad you think so!

[@timothysheridan5602]

Hi Amy U have great videos very helpful. My question is I have a celestron 8se and the stock mount, but I did purchase their eq wedge. Do I connect to the st4 port or can I just use the aux port on the mount??? The stock cable was a phone jack R232 with a serial connector on the other end so I picked up a serial port to usb cable. It worked good when I run stellarium. I now have a wifi adapter that I use for the skyportal app , which I also use for connecting to cpwi. Do know what the best way I can connect my equipment? I hope I did not ramble on to much 🤪

[@AmyAstro]

I will be honest, I just don't know. Reach out to Celestron customer support. They have answered all of my questions so far. Just give them a couple days to reply.

[@timothysheridan5602]

Thanks amy

[@karennash2937]

hi amy i have been trying for 5 days to connect this mount i have the pegasus cable going from laptop to mount hooked in the hand controller and all i get is port not available or timed out. i have watched your video many times even wrote things down and i still get the same answer port not available. i have ascomand eqmod and nina i dont know what else to do but it wont talk with my mount, i have the mount turned on by my celestron battery and i still dont know what to do. can u help me? i cant sleep nights because this is running through my head all the time trying to figure out what i have done wrong. your expertise would be appreciated.

[@RobBob555]

really dont see why i should use a game pad over my synscan handset.. seems pretty dumb to me

[@AmyAstro]

Everyone likes options.

[@RobBob555]

@@AmyAstro I use my game controller to play games 🤷‍♂️

[@AmyAstro]

@@RobBob555 good one. Lol

[@TheMje1963]

Amy, What game controler are you using? I don't have one and never thought of getting one till I saw you using one.

[@AmyAstro]

I have the logitech game controller. I added links in the video description for similar ones. Mine is currently out of stock.

[@nelsonrivera6575]

Hi ,Amy ,great video ,here is where i come to learn ,since as you can tell am a total noobie , i was wondering what Ascom and eq mod was all about , thank you , but i do have questions , is windows the designated OS for astrophotography? if so i recently purchased a windows 10 computer and downloaded ,the drivers for my cameras (guider,imaging) ,mount EQ6-R, focuser, and polemaster , but somehow anything is working ,my usb's wont recognize nothing ,and i have everything i need exept a working computer, sorry for the rant , any help will do , thanks again ,be safe

[@AmyAstro]

Windows is not designated, but more folks write code for a PC than a Mac. I tried the Mac route in the beginning and found it difficult or very expensive. My first question would be do you know your USB ports work? There are drivers specifically for a USB hub. They typically auto download. I have a software video about the programs I download when I start a new PC build The software links are in the description. Check it out and see if you are downloading the same files as I am. This is a software often forgotten that is important for the USB items. DRIVER FOR FTDI CHIP www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm Link to video kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6K9lKmhpbVqa5Y Best of luck. Let me know if you need more help.

[@janelubenskyi1177]

Hi Amy… Could you please tell me if it possible to operate Eqmod by wifi by setting up a virtual com port…this is possible with the EQDirfi adapter but does it work with the Synscan WiFi Adapter?

[@AmyAstro]

I have never tried this so do not know. Best of luck.

[@WilliamSmith-gf3nt]

Hello Amy, I thought I left a comment here the other day but I must have hit the wrong button because I do not see it. I wanted to add to it since we had two nights of clear skies and I was able, almost, to use EQMOD and Stellarium to control my sessions. The first night failed. I had a Canon EOS-M6 MKII connected to APT and was trying to control the whole thing through EQMOD and Stellarium. For some reason the three just did not want to cooperate with each other and I ended up using the hand controller. Last night I used my Fuji X-E4 without APT - no ASCOM drivers for Fuji cameras that I know of. With EQMOD and Stellarium controlling my HEQ5 Pro mount I ended up with 105-2minute exposures with perfectly round stars! The only problem was star alignment. The telescope shown on Stellarium was way off the actual target so it took a while to acquire the target in the camera sensor but once there the tracking was perfect. Perhaps you could/would do one of your vids that addresses star alignment with EQMOD and Stellarium. I tried following another video about this but the information was presented just too fast to follow. You present the information at a pace that normal people can follow with no problem. Heel erg bedankt mevrouw (thank you very much) Amy.

[@AmyAstro]

Thank you so much for the compliment. I have not tried this option before. I cheat and use platesolve 2 in sequence generator pro. No star alignment necessary.

[@WilliamSmith-gf3nt]

@@AmyAstro I am really new, less that 5-months, into this so I was totally amazed that my EQ mount moved to a star when I clicked on that star on the Stellarium screen with EQMOD going. It did not line up in the camera sensor but it did move everything close enough that I was able to eventually align the target on the camera sensor. Platesolve 2 sounds like trying to solve a dinner problem with two breakfast plates :) a little over my head right now.

[@bertlaws]

Is there a way to press a button to "Like A LOT!!!"?. This is something that I have been struggling with for 3 weeks. I found the FLO cable quite by accident. Your video is really spot on. I cannot fathom why Skywatcher does not include the Lynx cable with the mount. I would have paid an additional $40 to have this to start with - AND - the documentation could reference this as well. Thanks again for this great, informative, direct and easy to understand video!!

[@AmyAstro]

I am humbled by your comment. Thank you so very much. I'm happy this helped you. This was a sore subject for me for a long time. So I had to share how to do this with everyone. Clear skies!

[@josephsinger4907]

Hi Amy, I'm new to astrophotography and finding you're posts delightful...keep up the excellent job ...you talk about using the Logitech game controller, but never mention how to create the connection or reset the controller toggles/buttons. The Game controller certainly would allow for easier telescope control compared to the small controller on my iPhone. My current setup...iPhone/ZWO ASI Air Pro/EQ Mod---(through USB A --> USB B)/Skywatcher EQ 6-R Pro and now would like to add Logitech F310 game pad (USB A cable) to the set up. Can't find any recommendations on how to do this. Thanks, Joe

[@AmyAstro]

OK, I will work on a video for this. Very easy, it will surprise you. Stay tuned.

[@rob33873]

Been using the xbox wired game controller for a few years now and love it,, i gave it up now due to not needing it for anything as i platesolve...but for a quick centering of a star or moon shot it`s worth having around. I on the other hand have seen some weird things going on with the controller like the mount will micro slew in both axis dec 4 secs and then ra 4 secs ....been trying to figure out why it is polling back and forth like that...if i use the mount without slewing with the controller it`s fine ..but as soon as i slew with the controller it starts the weird behavior as soon as it parks.

[@AmyAstro]

I only break out the game controller when the kids are around. I plate solve everything now.

[@hernando0712]

Amy, please, What GPS can you recommend to instal on the laptop and that works correctly with EQMOD-ASCOM? I've been watching your videos and I'm learning... Thank you very much!

[@AmyAstro]

I have purchased 3 different ones so far. They all work once, then not again. I don't know why. I wish I could help you with this. If I find a reliable one I will share.

[@craiglowery4427]

Amy does EQmod work with Celestron mounts

[@AmyAstro]

No it does not. Celestron has their own software to run the mount. Search their website for CPWI. Best of luck.

[@craiglowery4427]

@@AmyAstro is that what you use with your RASA

[@AmyAstro]

@@craiglowery4427 I use the CPWI to connect the dew controller and focuser. My mount is sky watcher so I use the EQMod to run it. I do not have a Celestron mount.

[@SH_space]

Hi, I got one question. For the EQdirect cable, does that plug directly into the hand controller port on the EQ6-r, and then the other side plugs into a computer? I really want to make sure none of this damages the mount in any way. Thanks

[@AmyAstro]

Yes, one side in the hand controller port of the mount, the other side is regular usb to your computer.

[@SH_space]

@@AmyAstro Okay, thanks for the clarification :)

[@Steve-br7wt]

Do you happen to know if a regular usb cable will work with the eq6r pro? That is the mount I ordered. It looks like Sky Watcher has added a USB port to the side of the mount

[@AmyAstro]

I've heard rumors that it will, but I have no proof. I have a first Generation EQ6.

[@Steve-br7wt]

Amy Astro just to let you know the New version does have a USB port and can connect directly to a pc with a standard usb A/B cable

[@AmyAstro]

@@Steve-br7wt Wonderful. Great improvement.

[@swapsaraf3]

The USB A-B cable works well. I use it on the EQ6r-Pro

[@tedmcgee7896]

As mentioned by others, some EQ6-R Pros have a USB port that works with a PC and direct USB connection. The video is excellent and I used it to verify some of my settings The information provided in this reply is only to provide a little additional information on the EQ6-R Pros that have USB in case someone looking for a little more knowledge stumbles across this. The USB port on the EQ6-R Pro is locked at a baud rate of 115200. I didn't come across this in the user manual or their website. I found it on the EQMOD website This is undocumented on the Sky Watcher site. This value has to be set in two places, EQMOD ASCOM Setup screen under EQMOD Port Details and in Windows Hardware setup for the com port selected for this purpose. Right off you should see that the port selected for the mount must be dedicated because everything else is working at 9600. I use this port and have had no issues, but it is a dedicated port. If someone is using a Pegasus Power Box or other device to combine USB it would be problematic to try to connect through this port. To make this even more interesting, the hand controller supplied with the EQ6-R Pro that has a USB port also has a USB port next to the RJ45 and RJ11 ports. That port communicates at 9600 baud. Anyway, it all works perfectly if you dedicate a port and set the baud rate to 115200. If a dedicated port is not convenient the mount should still work with one of the two videos in this video.

[@karennash2937]

also i have the skywatcher heq5 mount i forgot to add that.

[@deeber35]

Can u do this wirelessly?

[@AmyAstro]

Not sure what you mean by wirelessly. You need the cable from the mount to a PC. From there you can use Remote Desktop Protocol and do everything wireless.

[@Oxizee]

You can get rid of that error with loading the toolbox as Administrator.

[@hernando0712]

I have seen some GPS with USB port (Some from eBay), but I don't know which one would be appropriate

[@AmyAstro]

If you find one that works, please let me know. They are very helpful.

[@hernando0712]

Amy. Well ... for now I bought the GlobalSat BU-353-S4, USB GPS receiver. It will come to me in a few days. When I have it working, I'll tell you how it works

[@AmyAstro]

@@hernando0712 Best of luck. I hope it does work!

[@1AngryDpg]

Hi Amy, Question - I see that ASCOM makes no distinction between a 64 -bit and 32-bit version. It shows up as 32-bit in my task manager. I've just started using N.I.N.A and I think it states it needs the 64-bit ASCOM version and if things don't run well, then use the 32-bit NINA version. Can you do a little setup help for getting all the software you use to play nice together -working together, please? My DSLR battery indicator in N.I.N.A. runs down from 100% to 0% on cold nights and stops the session even though the DSLR has the DC direct from the Pegasus Pocket PowerBox & my camera shows full battery. The computer is a 64-bit Windows 10 laptop. Everything else seems to be working great.

[@AmyAstro]

I had not paid attention to the 64/32 bit with ASCOM. My computers are all 64 bit. NINA is new to me and I have not used it on an astro run yet. When I do I will create a video. Till then checkout these channels for NINA info. The Lazy Geek, The Heavenly Backyard.

[@eqmrcs]

I practically knew the history of this software since Day 1 :-) Yup literally day 1 :-)

[@VittorioSergi]

nice vid Amy, I feel we don't get enough of you to be honest. i'm gonna play a bit of a devil advocate here though, let me be clear, I did use Eqmod, I still have the lynx astro eqdirect cable, but is there a reason to use eqmode lately? especially on skywatcher, celestron and ioptron mounts? i do believe the flip function on eqmod is cool, but the synscan app basically does everything eqmod is supposed to do, it does ascom pulse guide, you can control the mount via pc without using your HC, it does sync for platesolve, it does park the mount. Lately I've been kinda thinking that eqmod was supposed to solve a problem mounts USED to have, and that is connect your mount to the pc, but lately every respectable manufachturer provides a perfectly serviceble driver/control panel. Don't get me wrong, I'm simply providing a different point of view, tere's no ill willed criticism here

[@AmyAstro]

Funny thing is, our favorite program is the one we know. Are you saying Synscan has software out there now? When I started a couple years ago, I could not find a way to get the synscan controller to connect to my computer. I did not have a pc with the proper plug. A club member pointed me to eqmod. I've been hooked since. It is one of those things if it ain't broke don't fix.... I unplug the game controller when I don't need it. One less item dangling off the scope. Now I need to research synscan again. The Devil Advocate is always welcome! Keeps me on my toes.

[@VittorioSergi]

@@AmyAstro yeah, basically the ascom driver for the mount acts as it should, so its always the skywatcher driver you use for say phd2, but you can control the mount itself through the synscan app which acts as a control panel. I'll admit eqmod is a better layied out interface and I did have a good time playing around with the controller, only I used a num pad. To be honest the main thing that turned me off eqmod is the fact that it doesn't really like to do a meridian flip whe close to the meridian, I always have to extend my wait time, which is something synscan never really complained about. Granted that might be a problem with my particular setup but I did hear people report the same behaviour

[@DiegoGomez-px6lh]

but is there a reason to use eqmode lately? Well, in my case absolutely yes. This is because I do fully remote control so I don't use a HC, neither on my SW EQ6R-Pro nor on my AP Mach 1 GTO CP4.

[@TheMje1963]

I have a newer version of the EQ6-R Pro mount, and I find that EQMod is much more reliable. I don't need an EQMod cable like Amy does, My mount has a USB port right on it, so I just use a standard USB printer cable.

[@AmyAstro]

Mark Ellis Wow I did not know they fixed that. Excellent improvement. Ive had my mount about 2.5 years now. Still going strong.

[@HogarthsAstrophotography]

This is the one I use with EQMOD. It’s all down to the chipset the vendor uses as to wether Eqmod gets in with it Stratux Vk-162 Remote Mount USB GPS with Extended Cable ADS-B Receiver www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N46VSC4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_6GNTEb0X8JERW

[@AmyAstro]

Thank you so much!!!! Time to go shopping! My favorite!

[@Johnnyboing]

The reason it comes up with the error when registering tool box is because you have to run it as administrator.

[@AmyAstro]

Good to know, Thank you