5 replies to this topic

[mistercrisp]

I am slowly learning to do EAA with my ASI Air, using my Sirius EQ-G mount.  I do a careful polar alignment and I am good for 30 and 45 second exposures.

So a friend who does serious astrophotography suggested that I learn to do plate solving.

 

So the guiding port on the EQ-G, takes an RJ-45 plug, I think it is called, and it has 6 wires in it.  But the ASI Air only accepts USB, of course.

 

Is there such a thing as a cable that goes from RJ-45 to USB?  If there is, where could I get one?  Or is there some other way to connect the mount with the ASI Air?

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Ken

 

 

[bignerdguy]

I am slowly learning to do EAA with my ASI Air, using my Sirius EQ-G mount.  I do a careful polar alignment and I am good for 30 and 45 second exposures.

So a friend who does serious astrophotography suggested that I learn to do plate solving.

 

So the guiding port on the EQ-G, takes an RJ-45 plug, I think it is called, and it has 6 wires in it.  But the ASI Air only accepts USB, of course.

 

Is there such a thing as a cable that goes from RJ-45 to USB?  If there is, where could I get one?  Or is there some other way to connect the mount with the ASI Air?

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Ken

The port on the Sirius EQ-G mount you mention is a RJ-12, 6-pin accessory port only.  It doesn't accept serial or USB devices.  The Hand contro0ller has a similar port on it for any Serial or USB devices (depending on model).  If you have the HC that has a built in USB port on it you can attach your PC directly to this.  if it has the RJ-12 you will need a serial to USB cable with that RJ-12 on one end made for this scope.  I use such a cable for my Sirius EQ-G and it works well.  For plate solving all you need is the proper cable, and a PC with software that can do the plate solve.  you might also need the GSC catalog as well to make it faster (its a free download) though not all software requires that.  Below is a description of the three HC types and the connections for each.

 

Edited by bignerdguy, 19 September 2024 - 09:41 PM.

[bignerdguy]

BTW if you want a serial to USB connection that i know works, try this cable on Amazon, its the one i use.  I had to put Black electrical tape around it to mute the lights but this does work...

 

https://www.amazon.c...e?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[mistercrisp]

Thank you so much for this information!  Thanks to your chart of hand controllers, I can tell you I have the v.3 controller.

The ASI Air uses an iPad as its controller which connects via wireless which "simplifies" things I think.  I am always wary of things that "simplify" things...   :-)   So I only need to get from the USB connector in the ASI Air, to the RJ 12 connector.

 

It would never have occurred to me that the connection is in the hand controller, so thanks for that.

 

I think this cable on amazon might be the correct one.  I wonder if you could take a look at it and see if there is something obvious I might be overlooking.  I know it does say it's for the controller for a Skywatcher, but I am guess it might work and for $20 I am willing to take the chance.

 

The text says this:  "FT231XS Telescopes Control Cable for Skywatcher HEQ5pro AZEQ5 AZEQ6 EQ6-R Support EQMOD ASCOM Set Up Sofware Manual Download Support Windows 10 Android (6ft/180cm, Synscan Hand Control to PC)"

 

This is the amazon crazy-long URL:

 

https://www.amazon.c...,94&sr=8-4&th=1

 

Thanks so much for your help with this.

[bignerdguy]

HEQ 5 pro and the Sirius pro are the same mount.  That cable is an EQMOD cable and replaces the Hand Controller completely,  I don't know the AsiAir well enough to know if it can control an EQMOD cable or not.  What you probably need is also something like this to go with the serial cable i mentioned in my last post:

 

https://skywatcher.c...t/rs-232-cable/

 

This cable plugs into the serial port on the USB cable and the RJ-12 connection plugs into the hand controller.  if you use the cable you mention, that plugs into the HC port on the mount and replaces the HC.  It requires a PC to operate and uses ASCOM to control the scope.  i am not sure if AsiAir can install and control ASCOM devices since i don't have one of these units.  Maybe someone else here can answer that.  if it can, then you can replace the HC with the cable you mention and go for direct control of the mount.

[mistercrisp]

Thanks so much for this.  I am not using a laptop at all for my EAA process, so there is no serial socket anywhere in my system.

 

The ASI AIR only has USB A ports on it and the camera plugs into the ASI AIR.  Then the AIR uses wireless to talk to my iPad, and the software on the iPad does all the work.

 

The little red box that is the AIR is an astounding piece of equipment, and along with the software in the iPad, it allows the heavy hitters in our club who do those all-night data gathering sessions, to set up an exposure sequence and then go to bed.  I Just want to do EAA from my light-polluted side yard, where I am lucky to even see third magnitude stars.  But the EAA allows me to see my 30 second exposures, stack in front of my eyes, until I have a nice looking galaxy or planetary or bright nebula on my screen, which I can then save.  It is cool to sit there in the dark and watch the object become more distinct as the exposures stack.  Kind of like watching a black and white print come to life in the developer, so many years ago...

 

So thanks again for the info on the cord.  I will take a chance and buy the RJ-12 for $20 and see what happens.  I will be sure and let you know.