Some of the software I use
September 13th, 2015 | 
Author: Hi Everyone,
I had a gentleman reach out to me new to the hobby asking what software I use so I thought I would share this with everyone else, I hope this helps those starting out find some of the tools out there, these are all worth looking at and becoming familiar with.
Hi “changed for privacy”,
Thanks for contacting me, I will try and cover everything for you as best I can. Where to start???
Mount connection:
I use an EQDIR Cable and these can be found here: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-cables-leads-accessories/hitecastro-eqdir-adapter.html or you can make your own by purchasing one of these TTL-232R-3V3 from here http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/Cables/USBTTLSerial.htm and following these instructions http://eq-mod.sourceforge.net/eqdirect2.htm more vendors can also be found here: http://eq-mod.sourceforge.net/vendors.html.
I use an EQDIR Cable and these can be found here: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-cables-leads-accessories/hitecastro-eqdir-adapter.html or you can make your own by purchasing one of these TTL-232R-3V3 from here http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/Cables/USBTTLSerial.htm and following these instructions http://eq-mod.sourceforge.net/eqdirect2.htm more vendors can also be found here: http://eq-mod.sourceforge.net/vendors.html.
ASCOM:
Ok so that is the physical mount connection to run your mount from a PC. The next thing you need is ASCOM standards software from here: http://ascom-standards.org/ specifically you want this http://download.ascom-standards.org/ASCOMPlatform61SP1.exe, this software is an interface platform for Astronomy equipment to connect to and simplifies the way companies need to write their code. Just download and install.
Ok so that is the physical mount connection to run your mount from a PC. The next thing you need is ASCOM standards software from here: http://ascom-standards.org/ specifically you want this http://download.ascom-standards.org/ASCOMPlatform61SP1.exe, this software is an interface platform for Astronomy equipment to connect to and simplifies the way companies need to write their code. Just download and install.
EQMOD:
Next you want EQMod, this software is the driver that allows Planetarium (telescope control) software to actually control the mount, the whole suite of software can be found here http://sourceforge.net/projects/eq-mod/files/ but you specifically want this download http://sourceforge.net/projects/eq-mod/files/EQASCOM/EQASCOM_V127l_Setup.exe/download
Next you want EQMod, this software is the driver that allows Planetarium (telescope control) software to actually control the mount, the whole suite of software can be found here http://sourceforge.net/projects/eq-mod/files/ but you specifically want this download http://sourceforge.net/projects/eq-mod/files/EQASCOM/EQASCOM_V127l_Setup.exe/download
Planetarium Software:
I use Cartes Du Ciel to control my mount and it can be found here http://www.ap-i.net/skychart/en/start, have a good read of the doco as there is just too much to go over in an email, plus there are a bunch of sky map updates and data that can be downloaded and installed.
I use Cartes Du Ciel to control my mount and it can be found here http://www.ap-i.net/skychart/en/start, have a good read of the doco as there is just too much to go over in an email, plus there are a bunch of sky map updates and data that can be downloaded and installed.
Those four components alone will allow you connect your mount to a PC and control it (Slew, Sync, Park etc). The next part is around guiding and actually controlling a camera:
PHD Guiding:
There are two options here, PHD the original or PHD2, I use PHD2 as it has heaps more features and seems to be more stable, it can be found here http://openphdguiding.org/ again heaps of doc on how it works.
There are two options here, PHD the original or PHD2, I use PHD2 as it has heaps more features and seems to be more stable, it can be found here http://openphdguiding.org/ again heaps of doc on how it works.
Imaging Camera:
Now this one depends on your camera, I use a modified Canon EOS 600d from Central DS (http://www.centralds.net/cam/?p=1687) so I use Backyard EOS (http://www.otelescope.com/index.php?/page/index.html) or APT (http://www.ideiki.com/astro/Default.aspx) and I am just starting to dabble with Sequence Generator Pro but this is something to work up to if you are just starting out.
Now this one depends on your camera, I use a modified Canon EOS 600d from Central DS (http://www.centralds.net/cam/?p=1687) so I use Backyard EOS (http://www.otelescope.com/index.php?/page/index.html) or APT (http://www.ideiki.com/astro/Default.aspx) and I am just starting to dabble with Sequence Generator Pro but this is something to work up to if you are just starting out.
General Utility:
A handy tool I use is AstroTortilla (http://sourceforge.net/p/astrotortilla/home/Home/) as this helps you find out exactly where you are pointing at and corrects the mount position to the target you wanted to slew to.
A handy tool I use is AstroTortilla (http://sourceforge.net/p/astrotortilla/home/Home/) as this helps you find out exactly where you are pointing at and corrects the mount position to the target you wanted to slew to.
Image Processing:
There really isn’t any tool better than PIX Insight, it is expensive and takes a while to get the hang of but once you do you will wonder how you ever did without it. It can be found here (https://pixinsight.com/), the other handy tool is Deep Sky Stacker (http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html).
There really isn’t any tool better than PIX Insight, it is expensive and takes a while to get the hang of but once you do you will wonder how you ever did without it. It can be found here (https://pixinsight.com/), the other handy tool is Deep Sky Stacker (http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html).
Have a look at Harry’s Astro Shed (http://www.harrysastroshed.com/) as he has some great tutorials on Pix Insight.
I think that covers it for the moment. Let me know if you have any other questions?
Cheers
Anthony
Anthony
Posted in General Blog