7 replies to this topic

[Jolan]

Hey guys ! I've looked on cloudy nights and couldn't find the solution to my problem so I'm hoping someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong! 

I have an zwo 220 guiding camera, I'm trying to hook it up to phd2, when I start with the start up wizard I click the zwo camera option and that works great, it's when I get to the next page I'm having problems with. I click on the skywatcher telescope (ascom) option and I have a few pop windows. It says (ascom driver problem during connection (ascom utilities) the port name cannot be empty. Parameter name:portname.)

I have tried the option on camera as well but it brings me to the next page in the set up wizard to try and connect the camera to the mount again. Same thing I click skywatcher telescope(ascom) option and the same pop up window comes up. 

I do have eqmod but I prefer not to use that option in the drop down menu as I just want to keep this simple for now. 

[Dynan]

Do you have the drivers from ZWO? They are necessary for any ZWO camera to interface with ASCOM.

 

https://www.zwoastro.com/software/

[bignerdguy]

First question, do you have ASCOM installed?  Second question, do you have the HEQ5 ASCOM drivers installed?  Last question, have you configured the ASCOM driver to use the correct com port the mount is attached to?

[Jolan]

Yes I do have the ascom drivers for zwo installed. I do have ascom installed, I'm pretty sure I do have the heq5 ascom driver installed. I couldn't find it on the ascom website just the drivers that were on the skywatcher website. The only thing im not to sure about is the ascom driver configuration, I'm not to sure how to do that.

[bignerdguy]

Yes I do have the ascom drivers for zwo installed. I do have ascom installed, I'm pretty sure I do have the heq5 ascom driver installed. I couldn't find it on the ascom website just the drivers that were on the skywatcher website. The only thing im not to sure about is the ascom driver configuration, I'm not to sure how to do that.

When you go to connect to the ASCOM device for the telescope, to the right of the name in PHD2 there is a black square with a small wrench and screw driver in it.  click it and it will open the setup dialog to allow you to select the correct com port and other settings.  You need to be sure your telescope is connected via a Serial cable with an FTDI chipset in it and it is assigned a com port to use the option Skywatcher Telescope (ASCOM).

Edited by bignerdguy, 14 May 2025 - 10:46 AM.

[Jolan]

OK sounds good I'll give it a shot when I get home and see if that works. If I can't connect the guide camera to the mount that way would you mind suggesting another option on how i could connect the guide camera to the mount ?

[bignerdguy]

OK sounds good I'll give it a shot when I get home and see if that works. If I can't connect the guide camera to the mount that way would you mind suggesting another option on how i could connect the guide camera to the mount ?

As long as there is no software corruption issue or missing driver issue it should work fine.  You just need to be sure the right com port is selected and that you have a serial cable plugged into the mount hand controllers serial port.  The only other option is a EQMOD cable which replaces the Hand controller completely.

[archiebald]

Hey guys ! I've looked on cloudy nights and couldn't find the solution to my problem so I'm hoping someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong! 

I have an zwo 220 guiding camera, I'm trying to hook it up to phd2, when I start with the start up wizard I click the zwo camera option and that works great, it's when I get to the next page I'm having problems with. I click on the skywatcher telescope (ascom) option and I have a few pop windows. It says (ascom driver problem during connection (ascom utilities) the port name cannot be empty. Parameter name:portname.)

I have tried the option on camera as well but it brings me to the next page in the set up wizard to try and connect the camera to the mount again. Same thing I click skywatcher telescope(ascom) option and the same pop up window comes up. 

I do have eqmod but I prefer not to use that option in the drop down menu as I just want to keep this simple for now. 

 

As long as there is no software corruption issue or missing driver issue it should work fine.  You just need to be sure the right com port is selected and that you have a serial cable plugged into the mount hand controllers serial port.  The only other option is a EQMOD cable which replaces the Hand controller completely.

There is another option for any Skywatcher mount, look up Green Swamp Server (GS).  I found it far easier to use and set up over the antiquated EQMOD.