If unsure which to use, go through both section 3.1 and section 3.2. This is the job of Stellarium or Cartes du Ciel - it is ultimately your choice which to use, as both are excellent, well known and free. The only missing feature is a planetarium for Goto.
This is a critical tool to computerise your equipment and completely replaces the hand controller. With EQMod installed, we will be able to physically connect to the mount, slew it across the night sky, polar align, manage its star alignment (for more accurate Goto) and manage autoguiding response. The installation will add a number of shortcuts to your computer, and later we will look at the best one to use EQMod. EQMod can be downloaded for free from the EQMod website (download the latest version on the list). This is EQMod, another open-source program created with the idea of controlling mounts through the ASCOM platform with a program interface rather than the hand controller. Next, we need to install what will essentially replace the hand controller in a virtual form on your computer. Please feel free to ask questions or leave comments via the comments section on the bottom of this page. Do keep in mind that in this case, certain settings on the hand controller will still interfere with your computer control, such as autoguiding speed. This may disable the hand controller's main functions and allows the computer software to take over. In the latter, the hand controller will either auto-detect a connection to the computer or the user can set a PC Link setting active. In the former, the hand controller is no longer in the equation (this is ideal) and a good number of popular mounts have dedicated cables, such as the EQDirect series of cables for the likes of the Skywatcher HEQ5 and NEQ6 mounts (or related ones such as the Avalon M-Uno). You will also need a cable that can connect your mount directly to a USB port on your computer, or a mount that connects your hand controller to your computer. Links to each are provided within this tutorial. Ultimately we will need to download and install a number of drivers and programs, which are all free in this particular case. This tutorial is aimed at guiding people through this process.
In the past months I have seen a lot of people posting on groups and forums asking fundamental questions such as how to get their mount connected to their computer via USB to control it from the computer. Moving away from the hand controller on an equatorial mount can seem daunting at first but is ultimately a very rewarding experience when you realise all the possibilities it unlocks.
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