SharpCap Forums

Hi,
I have installed the ASCOm & driver for the Sky Watcher AZ-EQ5. I configured hardware in settings and I am able to operate it.
However, while N and S functions well, E & W always ges East.
Please advice.

Hi,

the trick to working out the cause is to try different tests to see how extensive the problem is - for example...

* Try another application that can also control the ASCOM driver for the mount and see if that has the same problem - if it does then the problem is somewhere in the ASCOM driver rather than in SharpCap. If the other program works correctly then the problem is probably in SharpCap

* Try using the movement buttons on the hand controller and check that the scope moves east/west correctly with those.

Once we have narrowed down the issue to a particular area, we can start to think about finding the exact cause.

thanks,

Robin

Thanks Robin.
The original hand controller works well.
I have tried again using the Sharpcap controller, and now E-W works well but N-S always takes the telescope downword, and at a much lower speed then the E-W.
And another hint, maybe - the floating hand control window shows up to 4 degrees/second, matching the AZ-EQ5 spec, but the Telescope control on the right bar functions of Sharpcap, shows only 3 degres/second as the maximum rate.

Hi,

the mystery deepens...

Actually, the movement speeds being different is OK - SharpCap has its own list of preferred movement rates that it will try to use if the mount supports them, and they include value that are roughly 1,2,3 and 4 degrees per second. However, due to the way the maths works out for the difference between the sidereal and civil day, the values are actually a bit above 1,2,3 and 4. Thay could well mean the SharpCap's roughly 4 degrees per second is above the maximum rate that the mount supports, so doesn't get shown.

The fact that it has changed axis and is intermittent makes me suspect a communications issue between the PC and the mount - maybe sometime commands are being garbled.

Which ASCOM driver are you using? There are at least 3 for Skywatcher - Synscan Pro App, EQMOD and Green Swamp Server. I think those all have their own movement buttons inside the ASCOM driver window, so testing those buttons to see if you see the same effect as you see in SharpCap would be a good idea. Trying a different ASCOM driver would be good too.

cheers,

Robin

Hi Robin,
even deepen
I have installed the Synscan app fpr Windows, and now sharpcap works well, while I can't contol from te Synscan app itself - but from Sharpcap it works.

Hi,

very weird - you have a ghost haunting your software somehow! If you decide to try to track down the cause then I would suggest changing one thing at a time before testing the new change. However, if things work now in SharpCap, that might be good enough for you to use the telescope...

cheers,

Robin