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ZWO ASI 120mm Mono Guider on Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro

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Hello,

I would like to as if anybody is using a comparable equipment like me? 

Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro SyncScan
ZWO ASI 120mm Mono Guiding Camera
Canon 700Da 
Skywatcher 80/600
Raspberry PI 4

During the last 3 nights I was trying to get Autoguiding/Dithering with EKOS running. Using PHD2 only Autoguiding worked out nearly of the box. But with EKOS I'm still in the trial and error phase. What I tried until now?

1.) Running KStars/EKOS on a laptop connecting to the RPI remotely. Did not work, too many lost connections. I think the WLAN connection was the problem. The Guiding was done using the ST4 cable over the Guiding camera. 
2.) Running KStars/EKOS on the RPI and connecting to the RPI via VNC to avoid any WLAN problems. 
Using EQMOD driver to move the telescope, doing a polar alignment and used for Guiding. Using the Internal Guider and PHD2. Nothing worked correctly. When starting the guiding directly in PHD2 the guiding
worked as expected, but after capturing a frame the dithering from EKOS made the PHD2 guiding losing the star. Okay, I understand that this cannot work this way, because PHD2 cannot know in that case that EKOS is manipulating the telescope position. But using PHD2 from EKOS directly always fails during the calibration. Using the Internal Guider does not work during the calibration process (tried SEP multiple stars guiding and nearly all other options).

I'm always getting the error that the telescope could not be moved to the position after 21 trials with the hint for backlash issues. Okay, maybe EKOS is much more sensible for backlashes than PHD2? 
Finally, today I was tuning the telescope to remove the backlash in both axes. Yes, there was a minimal backlash. Unfortunately, the weather in Europe is terrible and if there is a cloudless night I'm alway busy trying to get it to run. Beside the Autoguiding also the plate solving does not work. The camera is creating new frames endless times and the telescope is moving, but never reaches a position exact enough (using the default settings). I think everything would work if the telescope could be moved good enough. Maybe all issues are gone next time when I'm trying again??

Or I'm doing something wrong in principal? Maybe there is something to setup in order to use EKOS with this hardware? Maybe, it is better to use the ST4 cable for auto guiding (as recommended in the EKOS guidelines) instead via EQMOD? Maybe, it is better to use another driver, i.e. SkyScan or SkyScan Legacy? If you are using the same hardware, is it working for you? What have you done? Which drivers are you using? Which settings are you using?

Unfortunately, until now I have no log files. I just have found the settings how to configure this. Hopefully, in the next cloudless night this will be helpful. If someone has some experience with my hardware I would be happy to hear if this should be working - just to avoid spending another few nights with more trials to ride a dead horse.

Best regards,
Jürgen
 
   


  

 
 
 
2 years 10 months ago #71651

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ASI120mm (USB2 version) is problematic, but does work with the compatibility firmware flashed to it. I use one with my HEQ5 Pro. To control the mount use the EQmod Driver and an EQdirect cable or bluetooth alternative. Don't bother with an ST4 cable. Pulse guiding is more advantageous.
For PHD2, you need to configure Mount to be the INDI EQmod driver in the connection setup. Have the driver running to see it. But if you do use an ST4 cable, select On Camera under mount. The same idea applies in the EKOS Internal Guider.
As for failing calibration, PHD2 and the Internal Guider both require accurate focal lengths entered. That may be your issue. Configure that in the PHD2 Brain. For the Internal Guider, enter the figures on the Mount Tab in EKOS and Save Telescope Information.
Final note. EKOS will command PHD2 to perform a dither. There shouldn't be any incompatibility there.
2 years 10 months ago #71661

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Thank you very much for your detailed answer.

I did configure the focal lengths of both optics in EKOS, but in PHD2 I did not! This is a nice pitfall! When I change my primary telescope (switch between the telescope and a normal lens for the Canon) I will need to change it in PHD2 too! Lesson learned! :-)

I gave the ST4 cable several trials because this is the recommended way on the EKOS web site, but I already read several times that many people are just using the connection over the mount itself. I bought the ASI120mm for 3 months now but I would guess there is still an older firmware installed. So I will find out how to flash the firmware for it.

Thank you!! You can't imagine how happy I would be if this will work finally. Let's keep the fingers crossed for a better weather situation. :-)
Last edit: 2 years 10 months ago by Juergen Terpe.
2 years 10 months ago #71686

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Did you buy a new ASI120MM? If yes then it probably is an ASI120MM-S (USB3) camera which should work with all modern operating systems. If you bought it second hand then you may not get it to work at all, even if you install the "compatible" firmware. See also this discussion:

www.indilib.org/forum/ccds-dslrs/9702-zwo-vs-qhy.html
2 years 10 months ago #71687

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Hi

'old' ASI120mm cameras work fine with this firmware:
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eXBCN06U...5QRw9zSO?usp=sharing

HTH and clear skies,
Steve
2 years 10 months ago #71688

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Hi

'old' ASI120mm cameras work fine with this firmware:
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eXBCN06U...5QRw9zSO?usp=sharing
This update also allows them to work when connected to usb3 sockets.

HTH and clear skies,
Steve
The following user(s) said Thank You: Juergen Terpe
Last edit: 2 years 10 months ago by alacant.
2 years 10 months ago #71689

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Yes, but it is as 120mm Mini (and yes, it is also a Mono camera) - this is USB 2.0 as far as the ZWO product page sounds so far. Sorry, my fault! :-)

It was new, but the FW update is from end of January and this camera does not contain this update. However, ZWO mentioned in the release notes for the FW update that it should be used only when there are problems. It fixes frame drops and I don't see any frame drops yet. So I will give it another trial without the update. As mentioned above I was already using it in combination with PHD2 only on the Raspberry PI (Astroberry) and the guiding worked really fantastic (over ST4 cable). But then I have no dithering and this must be my next step now to improve my images. Maybe there is another misconfiguration with the pulse length in EKOS. Seems this needs some more trial and error to find out.

Best regards,

Jürgen
2 years 10 months ago #71690

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