My imaging so far has used the EQMod software with EQ Direct usb cable to my HEQ5 Pro’s Hand controller port. This has worked well, functionally smooth never a problem and although there is no rush to change I am slightly concerned that the author of this great piece of software has said he has no plans to upgrade the interface of the software behind it. The software is written in Visual Basic v6, this is development software I used in the early 00’s and it’s testament to Microsoft that even though their main focus for years has been on the .Net Framework and now .Net Core that the visual Basic 6 runtime is still supported on Windows 10. This is probably going to be the case for a few years more.
All the above said, it is clear that no further innovations are to be expected on EQMod and no UI improvements forthcoming. Enter Green Swamp Server, this is an open source piece of software that using the same EQ Direct cabling provides a fresh UI and a more modern code base and technical stack, I believed based on .Net Framework and c# code. It had been on my radar to at least try the new incumbant but of course with any software / hardware change comes the risk of destabilising the setup you have, i.e. don’t fix what isn’t broken. However, in my part of the UK for the last several days and looking at the forecast perhaps for a few more it looks like wither cloud, rain, wind and then full moon. A good time to at least get familiar indoors with the new software and determine if it even works.
During the install of GSS and any configuration I was doing I tried along the way NOT to disturb anything that was already in place, uninstalling of EQMod was not required and in fact until I have a few nights of good running with GSS, including some complex operations like meridian flips it will be left in place.
I’m not going to run through the setup steps, they are pretty straightforward, download the latest version (scroll to the bottom and click to download) simply run the installer after download. There are hardly any inputs required to get you to the point that the software is deployed and ready to be launched.
Once up and running I configured my Skywatcher with the standard 9600baud and set the com port as I had done with EQMod, it will be different I guess for each setup for me it happens to be Com port 6. I have noticed in my research other astro tubers giving baud rates much higher, I can only assume that this is because they are using more recent mounts / usb connections to the mount etc. 9600 works for me, I also notice on other videos advice to determine the com port by going to device manager and looking for a particular device being connected. I can only assume that this maybe a symptom of my connection to the mount from the laptop being via the Pegasus Powerbox Advance. Again, I have never seen what I am told to look for as you will see below:-
Device Manager Example
Device Manager Properties
GS Server when launched and my skywatcher profile updated shown below.
GS Server Basic Configuration
Once this setup is completed you will also have a new ASCOM item in any of your “Client” software such as N.I.N.A. or Sky Charts etc… This should be the Telescope connection information that will be required to be set in any of these applications. I have made the chance in PHD2, Sky Charts and N.I.N.A. Example below shows the Sky Charts example:-
Sky Charts connection to GS Server
You may be asked on first use to go to properties – do as it says.
I have not played yet with the other settings, one of which may be to tick the option to use GoTo Dec Pulse, this was one of the recommended setting that the author commented on as being something he always uses. I think some practice in the field is required. One other comment was actually related to the use of PHD2 with GSS. GSS documentation basically says that for most setups you should tick the “Reverse Dec output after meridian flip”, I did not do this with EQMod so I’m going to have to test this when I get a clear night. I also noticed in my reconfiguration that the ZWO camera has been operating in 8bit mode, I’ve had no problems with this but I noticed that it could be set to 16bit, which I assume is better. I have also made that change – two changes is usually not a good idea as if there are problems then which was the cause? Anyway, I have mentally noted these two differences and have decided that because I have not looked at the guiding aspect of my setup for sometime I would do a recalibration, capture some dark frames and run through a test to determine is the Reverse Dec output after meridian is really required.
PHD2 Settings Post GS Server install
The first clear night I have the following housekeeping and testing activities to accomplish:-
Does 16 bit camera mode work – It does, it was as simple as connecting – not other changes required.
PHD2 – Capture Darks – Done. So I not has 16bit darks calibrated from 1 to 6 seconds
PHD2 – Run Calibration. I did this and I was relived to find it worked no problem. In the past I have had to have EQMod use 90% rather than 50% as is usually advised. With GS Server 50% seems to work fine.
PHD2 – Test for Reverse Dec Output after meridian ( PHD2 under the tools menu has a wizard to help determine if this is required). This is something that need more time. The PHD instructions for this seemed to require me to point at a position that locally was a brick wall! This is almost definitely user error.
GS Server – Determine whether Goto Dec Pulse setting is required, any improvements in guiding. I have this setting on and all seems well. I’m sure there is some additional tuning to be done but during my first light with this configuration I’m running with PHD reporting a 0.93″ error.
GS Server – determine the Dec Backlash setting and implement here. A Good tutorial on this from the author of GS Server Rob Morgan. Still a todo. Wanted to use at least some of my time under a dark sky to capture some images.
Then of course do a quick test picking an object 30 minutes or so from Meridian and run a N.I.N.A. imaging session over a 60 minute period – force a flip and see if guiding comes back online.
An update to this post will be forthcoming when I get a clear sky to test.