EQStar User Guide www.astro-gadget.com
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3.5.
Connect the control unit to 12V power via a user-supplied cable with a 5.5mm x 2.1mm power
plug.
After the power switch on the EQStar is turned on, the unit will sound 3 short and 1 long beep that
indicates the EQStar is ready.
3.6.
Observe the setting of the control unit using the EQStar setting program on the CD software.
The settings program can be found in the ‘EQStar settings’ directory on the CD.
Note this program requires the .NET 4.0 framework and VS2013 x86 redistributable to run.
The virtual COM port used by the settings program defaults to COM4, but can be changed in the
settings panel to the one noted above in the Windows Device Manager if it is different.
In the EQStar settings panel, click on ‘Load settings’ to see the current settings of the unit.
The EQStar kit should come with the EQStar correctly set for the mounts supported by this kit. Of
particular importance is the RA and DEC gear ratios. For example, at least the LXD75 and Vixen GP
mounts have 144 tooth worm gears on both axes, so the gear ratio should be set to 576 (144 x 4,
where 4 is the step-down ratio from the stepper motor gear to the worm shaft gear).
Motor current affects the load capacity of the telescope mount, but also affects how much noise the
stepper motors emit.
If the settings do not meet the required settings for your mount, change and save the settings.
4.
PC control
4.1.
Automatic Find (GoTo)
Before beginning work in this mode, the PC must have the ASCOM platform and the EQMOD
telescope driver installed. See the previous section.
Next, in a planetarium program on your PC, configure the program to select the ASCOM telescope
EQMOD, and set the COM port name to the virtual COM port listed in Windows device manager, a
