I recently bought a Skywatcher CQ350 mount and would like to use Sharpcap with it. I am currently using Sharpcap/EQMOD for my EQ6 mount. Are there any Sharpcap (or EQMOD) settings I need to change to be able to accommodate the CQ350? Or can I just use the same settings I use for the EQ6?
It would be great if I could use the same settings for both mounts so I could use either one with the same laptop, but not sure if that is possible.
Use of Sharpcap with CQ350 mount
Forum rules
If you have a problem or question, please check the FAQ to see if it already has an answer : https://www.sharpcap.co.uk/sharpcap-faqs
If you have a problem or question, please check the FAQ to see if it already has an answer : https://www.sharpcap.co.uk/sharpcap-faqs
-
admin
- Site Admin
- Posts: 17464
- Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2017 3:52 pm
- Location: Vale of the White Horse, UK
- Contact:
Re: Use of Sharpcap with CQ350 mount
Hi,
a quick look at the specs of the mount makes me think that the number of stepper motor steps per revolution is different between the CQ350 and the EQ6, which means that even if they have the same control protocol (and I have no idea if they do) then EQMOD would need custom settings to know the number of steps needed per revolution of the mount. There is what looks like a discussion about this subject here : https://groups.io/g/EQMOD/topic/additio ... /105184811
You might also look into whether the newer GSS (Green Swamp Server) supports this mount more easily, or you could just stick with Skywatcher's own Synscan App ASCOM drivers at least to begin with.
You can use SharpCap's '/instance' command line parameter to have multiple sets of SharpCap settings for different hardware configurations if that helps (https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/4.1/#Comman ... 0Arguments)
cheers,
Robin
a quick look at the specs of the mount makes me think that the number of stepper motor steps per revolution is different between the CQ350 and the EQ6, which means that even if they have the same control protocol (and I have no idea if they do) then EQMOD would need custom settings to know the number of steps needed per revolution of the mount. There is what looks like a discussion about this subject here : https://groups.io/g/EQMOD/topic/additio ... /105184811
You might also look into whether the newer GSS (Green Swamp Server) supports this mount more easily, or you could just stick with Skywatcher's own Synscan App ASCOM drivers at least to begin with.
You can use SharpCap's '/instance' command line parameter to have multiple sets of SharpCap settings for different hardware configurations if that helps (https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/4.1/#Comman ... 0Arguments)
cheers,
Robin
-
Moonstruck
- Posts: 169
- Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2021 4:34 pm
Re: Use of Sharpcap with CQ350 mount
Thanks for the info. I received the mount and will be using it with EQMOD and Sharpcap very soon. I am anxious to find out what needs to be changed in EQMOD, in particular. I connected it today as a first test, and it looks to be slewing and pointing in the generally correct direction (with my existing EQ6 settings in EQMOD), which is a good first sign.