The Port Name Cannot Be Empty - ASCOM Drivers Problem

[Alex Beck]

Help!  I have PHD2 installed, installed the ASCOM Platform and the SkyWatcher Drivers for my EQ6-R Pro SkyWatcher mount.  I see the SkyWatcher drivers in the Mount Setup area.  However, the COM port is blank and when I click Connect, it gives the error "Port Name Cannot Be Empty".

  I have tried connecting the physical wires via USB to mini USB (print cable type wire) directly to the SynScan hand controller, tried multiple USB ports, no luck. I ordered the ZWO USB to ST4 convertor and tried to connect directly to the SynScan hand controller and directly to the auto guider port but my computer will not recognize the device and the COM port is blank!  How do I get PHD2 to connect to the mount?  

I am using this method as the On Camera method is successful in guiding through my Altair GPCam guider but the calibration is sketchy.  I want to try it through the mount directly to see if I get better results.  Thank you!  

[Andy Galasso]

Alex,

There are several successful reports for controlling the EQ6-R Pro mount with the EQMOD ASCOM driver (EQASCOM).  https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/593876-any-successful-ascomeqmod-connection-with-eq6-r/

Connecting the mount directly to the PC with a USB-serial adapter and using the EQMOD ASCOM driver will be much better than using the ZWO USB to ST4 or the Altair GPCam ST4 connections since neither of those do more than provide a simple ST4 guide interface. ASCOM provides mount control and pointing information in addition to guiding capability.

Hope that helps.

Andy

[bw_msgboard]

Hi Alex.  If you do start using EQMOD (a good idea as Andy said), please be sure to configure its settings according to this document:

 

https://github.com/OpenPHDGuiding/phd2/wiki/EQASCOM-Settings

 

Once you get it hooked up correctly, please be sure to run the PHD2 new-profile-wizard to configure the guiding settings properly.

 

All of this will help avoid a bunch of other problems you really don’t want to have.

 

Good luck,

Bruce

 

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[JohnS]

Hi Alex - I may be misunderstanding your problem and don't know whether this helps.  The Celestron ASCOM driver has a tick box to "Show all ports" which does as the name suggests you can then select the port from the drop down for your particular mount.  It's usually one of the higher numbered ones.  You can find your port number from Device Manager if your using Windows.

Hope this helps

Regards

John S

[Alex Beck]

Thank you for all the responses!  Bruce, yours was the most helpful in that I already had purchased a USB to RS232 cable from shoestringastronomy.com.  The key was to load EQMOD and use the Manual to provide the proper settings.  It had a button in the program to search for the correct COM port to identify the mount which was wired via the shoestringastronomy cable directly from my computer to the EQ6-R Pro mount which was powered on.  It identified the port immediately.  From there, I adjusted the EQMOD Latitude and Longitude.  Next step was to launch Stellarium Scope and make the proper setting for EQASCOM for EQ5 and EQ6 in the telescope setting.  It connected to the scope and then I launched Stellarium through it.  I did have to update the version and some config files which the program did automatically.  

Then, I opened PHD2 and went through the Manage Profiles and added a new set up via the wizard. I had my Altair camera plugged in, it identified the camera, it asked for the mount and again I chose EQASCOM EQ5 and EQ6, it continued with no problem.  

I am looking forward to getting this in the field and trying it out.  But everything seems to have worked.  I am blown away that I am using my computer for all this while the hand controller sits in the box for the mount.  I hope it works in practice as well as it seems to be working inside the house.  Thank you!

Alex

On Wednesday, June 19, 2019 at 9:23:47 PM UTC-7, bw_msgboard wrote:

Hi Alex.  If you do start using EQMOD (a good idea as Andy said), please be sure to configure its settings according to this document:

 

https://github.com/OpenPHDGuiding/phd2/wiki/EQASCOM-Settings

 

Once you get it hooked up correctly, please be sure to run the PHD2 new-profile-wizard to configure the guiding settings properly.

 

All of this will help avoid a bunch of other problems you really don’t want to have.

 

Good luck,

Bruce

 

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From: open-phd...@googlegroups.com [mailto:open-phd...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Andy Galasso
Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2019 8:47 PM
To: OpenPHD Guiding
Subject: Re: [open-phd-guiding] The Port Name Cannot Be Empty - ASCOM Drivers Problem

 

Alex,

 

There are several successful reports for controlling the EQ6-R Pro mount with the EQMOD ASCOM driver (EQASCOM).  https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/593876-any-successful-ascomeqmod-connection-with-eq6-r/

 

Connecting the mount directly to the PC with a USB-serial adapter and using the EQMOD ASCOM driver will be much better than using the ZWO USB to ST4 or the Altair GPCam ST4 connections since neither of those do more than provide a simple ST4 guide interface. ASCOM provides mount control and pointing information in addition to guiding capability.

 

Hope that helps.

Andy

 

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