How To Control Your Mount With Stellarium & EQMOD 

Newcomer here. This walk though was very well done and got me up and running first time through. Thank you.

Had trouble using eqmod and stellarium,found your video,and got it running ,thank you

i was stuck for ages and this video was well explained and easy to follow. and what makes things easier is the fact it the same mount and scope im using :D again thankyou for putting this up answered alot of questions

Great step by step explanation. Now to get the mount pulse guiding with PHD2. Cheers mate!

Really good step by step tutorial.ideal for learner's to follow thank you Mick

Thank you for an excellent video which I followed to get my AZ GTi mount ASCOM controlled from Stellarium. I could not have done it without your excellent tutorial.

This video is the most explicit one that I listen to so far 👍👍

Excellent detailed and thoughtful presentation ... answered all my questions and you have the same set up as me which is a bonus 😃

Best walk through ever! I couldnt thank you enough!

Excellent tutorial on connecting EQMOD and Stellarium. Game changer? You said it! TY so much.

Thank you for sharing! I just set up my EQ6-R with EQMOD and Stellarium with the help of your video and it's working great :)

Finally got my laptop controlling my scope! Thank you for this excellent video.

Three years ago I found out how to copy n paste , I am a Neanderthal , who can now control his telescope via a computer thanks to THIS video. Like you said it’s a game changer. WOW 😁

Great walkthrough! Huge help for a beginner.

Thanks for the walkthrough... useful to understand what ASCOM and EQMOD are related to oneanother, and what they are supposed to do with the telescope

Brilliant! Worked like a charm.

Great video mate!! This has to be the best easy to follow guide for eqmod. I've Just got my serial port adapter for my neq6 pro mount to have ago for the first time tomorrow night. And I shall use this video to help me. 5* from me. Tom

Thank you for the tutorial. Some settings are slightly different in the latest version of Stellarium but it was easy enough to figure out. 👍

Thank you for this great tutorial.

superb thank you, might be worth mentioning - be sure the latest Stellarium is downloaded as ASCOM doesn't show up in the config window on previous versions. Took me a while to work that out.

what a great tutorial, many thanks.

Will definitely give this a try. Thanks

Thank you for sharing, subbed im looking forward to connecting my mount ,thanks to this video

AMAZING VIDEO ! It Helped me so so much ! Thx

That’s a great tutorial, I’ve just subscribed to you,hope you add some more videos soon, cheers Tony 👍

+Thank you AstroPhotographer: I really like so very much your slow and step by step approach..to instructing...I write down in my Notebook all your important instructions step by step...I am now at 3:56...I will finish tomorrow AM and then cross my fingers...(:

Thank you! Clear Skies

I'm more or less a beginner and have Stellarium as well as everything else you need on my computer, but I have to say that I've never been able to approach my selected object with any degree of accuracy. However, I don't have a direct view with the Pohlachse either Polaris and have to trust my eye like the compass. After correcting with the GamePad and tracking, they either dive down or up very smoothly. I always compensate for this by then setting a manual value in EQMOD on the Dec. Enter the axis (between +- 0.1 and 0.05 to run or compensate for this via Custom. What strikes me about your interface is that your Curson in Stellarium always seems to drive in a straight line, whereas with me it always follows an arc.

Thank you for your tutorial

Really useful video... Thanks

Awesome, got it working!

Thank you. 👍🏻

Super clear video, thank you. Just a quick question, can I ask is it possible to connect via the USB port from the mount direct to PC, or did you use the RS232 serial to laptop cable?

Thanks for the useful video. One problem I had is that of finding the port number for the connector lead which I got from First Light Optics for my HEQ5. On my Windows 10 laptop, not only is the Device Manager made hard to find, it no longer has a Ports option! Online searches suggested clicking on 'show hidden devices' and other more involved procedures, but in the end I just went through the port numbers in turn until it worked! Hopefully it will retain this port number whichever port I use. I miss not having the handset when centring an alignment star, but now I can choose an alignment star that I can view easily with the finder, rather than the one that the mount chooses (which could involve extreme contortion to view). Loosening the axis clamps and centring the star in the finder manually gets the star into the field of view of the camera on the main scope.

A very well-organized video. Every step described is exactly what I experienced in downloading and setting up the software. Great set of instructions; well done. Perfect........until the last step at 10:44 when I held down CTRL and tapped "1". No response from the mount. (It's on, and connected to the laptop, confirmed by an audible sound.) Suggestions? Thanks!

I’ve been into astrophotography for just about a year. I sold my cgemll to get a EQ6R pro and I bought a asi 294 mc pro . I will be using Nina and what your using here . What liked is you go slow enough for me to follow what your doing . Not having to watch it a million times . Sadly for me most how to RU-viders go way to fast . Processing, laptop connect and programs to use need to be presented in a way that’s assuming the student has only a basic knowledge of computer skills. Thank you

Followed your instructions and it worked :) I have an old SW EQ6 Heavy Duty (black) mount and the cable to the handcontrol "died", i.e. needs to be fixed so only solution was to take out an old laptop to handle the mount. The problem I have is that it does not find the objects I point to well enough. I am sure that the scope is polar aligned. Any ideas?

Hi and thanks for the video. I'm looking for the cable to work with my Celestron AVX mount. I see some on Amazon but they don't mention working with the Celestron mount. Do I have to be carful what I get? Not sure if they are all the same. Thanks so much. Pete

Great video. I was just wondering. My serial cable plugs into the hand controller and then to the usb on the computer. Is that ok or do i need the nine pin cable to usb and completely remove the hand controller? I have the orion atlas mount and it has a nine pin rs232 directly on the mount.

Thank for the video. What galaxy was that on your wallpaper?

Hi great video, I'm hoping this will work with my Skywatcher EQ3 Pro mount ? I've ordered the Skywatcher Telescopes Goto FTDi Mount Control Cable for HEQ5pro AZEQ5 AZEQ6 EQ6-R. The cable will connect from where the hand controller used to plug into the EQ3 Pro Sky-Watcher Motor Control Box into my laptop running Stellarium. Thanks again for the great video.

Question: @10:30 how did you get Stellarium to show your telescope reticule up in the sky like that near Polaris (me being in the Southern Hemisphere it would Sigma Octantis or even a star such as Acrux)? Looking towards the S in Stellarium my telescope reticule shows up in the ground when I look down. Is that because I shouldn't have put in my physical location information (lat, long and elevation) in the "Site Information" of EQMOD ASCOM Setup? Should I instead have put in the location of Sigma Octantis/Acrux/whatever my polar alignment star is here? Just a note: @7:14 if you are in the Southern Hemisphere you need to change Site Information > Pole Star HA to Sigma Octantis. And some hints: You may have to select "ASCOM Disconnect" before starting Stellarium. I found I received a connection error message when I didn't do this. Additionally, you will want to select "Load at startup" under Plugins > Telecope Control and restart Stellarium in order to be able to configure the telescope in Stellarium.

thanks

Awesome setup ! Thank you for sharing. Is star alignment done through EQMOD or do you use the hand controller at the beginning?

You can set Toolbox (or any app) to always run as administrator.

Great video - I have an eq3 pro mount and it just won't connect. Followed all the steps buy it just doesn't find anything! I have the HEQ5 ascom installed, any ideas? Thanks!

Wow this is great. I have ordered my cable so looking forward to trying this out. Can I ask, did you still have to polar align (Sharpcap) and then slew to your target and then carry out guiding??

Fantastic video. Helped me a lot. One question, I often stand at the viewfinder and find myself needing to tweak the object into the cross hairs. Seems you cant do this when you have the direct connection. Isnt that a bit awkward having to go back to the mouse? Thank again for the great video

Do you still need to run through the star alignment routine first, so that it knows where your scope is pointing ? Thanks

Great video. There's lots of conflicting EQMOD setup videos out there, yours worked perfect for me. Can you explain how the scope knows where "Home" is for parking? Is it the location the mount is pointing when powered on?

Did you have to do polar align or do you point it roughly north, please tell. I see it was during daylight.

New user of an EQ6-R. So sorry for an obvious question. Using Stellarium and EQMod, assuming polar alignment is good and starting from "home position", is "star alignment" not necessary?

Did you know that you can click on the telescope icon on the bottom toolbar in Stellarium. Select scope. And click on slew. You don't have to use the keys on the laptop. Lots easier at night.

I just got fooled by someone else's video. Their PC clock in the bottom said it was 9:51. I was like, I AM SO LATE GO IMAGING !. and then I watched yours and I was like 'it's 10:53 !!!!!!!!!!!' LOL......

All very well, but how do you do a 1 to 3 star goto alighment?

Do you have to align the mount so that stellarium knows where it’s currently pointing and slewing too accurately?

Nice simple to follow video. By using EQMod and Stellarium do you still need to use PHD2 for guiding, or is it simply the case that once you select target in Stellarium it's job done and the mount tracks using Stellarium. I'm interested because I'm just starting my Astronomy adventures

Can you also track satellites with this setup? It would be very nice for taking pictures of ISS

Thanks for the reply, I am communicating with Chris Shillito of the EQMOD project. I have to find the "EQMOD.ini" file and delete it. I will do it once I find it. The file is likely corrupted, a problem that happens in Windows 10. I will let you know when it's fixed. Thanks again. Ben.

What cable connects the mount to the PC? Been trying with PC direct from hand controller. Many thanks

I can't get to a position more precisely without using a game pad because where the telescope is supposed to go. Virtually it isn't steered to the real sky. The stars that I fixed with synchronization can then be found again immediately.

I loved this when I first setup, great talk through, I now Plate Solve so no longer link it to Stellarium.

Now getting EQMOD connected to mount, at first it slewed the mount but took 20-30 seconds to respond, now the mount wont slew at all despite EQMOD bening connected.

Hello, do you use the handset to connect to ascom or do you directly cpnnect to the mount? I'm having trouble maintaining tracking on my heq5 and trying to narrow down what could be causing it

How do you do your star alighment? The HC ask to do a star alighment

Dose it need star alignment? If I do polar alignment will be enough?

Nice video, it’s helped me a lot. Got stuck at 9.22 on the video. In Stellarium, I have the configuration screen with Telescope Control highlighted but when I try to press the Configure button nothing happens. Any idea what’s wrong? Many thanks.

thx for this wideo..my eq6r working now with pc..only last point in your video not working in my stellarium...ctrl and number 1...I must use ctrl and number 2...🙂✌️..but I dont know why 🤷😆

Hey, can ı use the technic for my eq3 pro syncan mount ??

Do you still need to install the drivers for the mount?

Hi and thanks for a great guide. I have one question if someone could help me out. I have a meade ETX105 and need to know what cable I should buy for the direct connection. My guess is its an RJ45 to USB just would like a confirmation before I jump in. The autostar controller display has ceased to function although the controller still works if I know the sequence of buttons to press but hopefully this guide will eliminate the controller altogether.

Excellent tutorial and very clear. However I cannot connect my HEQ5 as I do not see ASCOM listed under add new telescope in Stellarium. Any ideas? I am using the latest version 0.20.4. Thanks.

Hi, I have an AZ-EQ5 model, is it working with the same method?

Eqmod is now working right. Just install Celestron focus motor and it's not working.

I am literally at the last step in stellarium and at the bottom of the add new telescope box when I click ok nothing happens so it does not add scope Bit stuck everything else is installed and working Mount is EQ6r pro Thanks

Hi thanks for the admin tip for windows 10, so i use a b2 cable to connect my controller to my laptop so i driver set up under guiding ive selected ASCOM PulseGuiding (because im not using the ST4 cable). With my mount powered on, i click on ASCOM connect, but I'm still getting Connect Error: Timeout. Any ideas why I'm getting this?

I got a rookie question - Just confirming that after you download everything and double check it all works, you can go out in the field and use all the programs without a WiFi connection. Correct?

please How did you connect the computer to the HQE5 mount , did you use the handcotroler port, or did you connect in another way? and what is it ?

I attempted connecting EQMOD to my HEQ5 by connecting a USB-B cable to the handset and then have that connected to the HEQ5 through the controller port but got a timeout error. Is it possible to connect via the handset or do I need a special cable for a direct connection?

@AstroPhotos every time I click Ascom Connect I keep getting that "Connect Error Timeout" and I have the mount turned on and hooked up with a rj cable to laptop

can u connect by wifi instead of a cable?

Are you making this video in the bath with a tap running? LOL

Ok so this is a great tutorial but what happens with star alignment is it not needed via eqmod and how/why?

Could this be used for constantly tracking objects like the ISS?

The EQASCOM PDF manual says I need to use StellariumScope as a passthrough to Stellarium, but I'm not sure if that is true after watching your video. The manual seems to not be fully up to date.

someone knows, how a smartphone could be used as a "Finderscope"?

How can I make this work on a iMac?

Hmm, the "Configure" button is greyed out for me in the Stellarium Configuration/Plugins/Telescope Control? Also, it should be noted that one must navigate to the Telescope Control section of the Configuration window (yours went there automatically because you already had Load at startup checked)

Sooo only need good best polar aligniament and this tutorial to control telescop??

Where do I order the cable?

Ok new problem, i can connect fine to EQMOD, via the EQASCOM toolbox, the problem i have now was when im in Sterallium and i connect my scope another version of the EQMOD pops up and says Error: Port not Found? Any ideas?

What port did you plug into on the mount?

Don't need to do stars alignment?

-hello, eqmod doesn't recognize the port com1, which has been assigned by my pc, so the connection is always timedout. May you help me? I have a az gti powered by batteries. could be this the problem? Maybe it should be connected to the AC?

My configure in Plug-ins is greyed out.

Not really getting how this is a game-changer. So you click on M81 and the mount slews to it? Entering M81 in the hand controller does exactly the same thing. You probably would have appreciated the controller more if you had a gps module for it (no need to ever enter coordinates, date, or time). One question I have: do you need to keep that little toolbox window open in order to park the scope or make small adjustments? Is there not a provision for that in Stellarium?

....but what I am still confused about is the cables connection between handpad, mount and pc to make all this work correctly...

Mine will slew to the target but it won’t track it.

When I get to Driver setup I get the error message 55 the file allready open. Can't do anything from there

What cable are using from mount to computer?