You could use NINA, NINA will talk directly to PHD2, SharpCap, Stellarium and other apps including weather apps to monitor wind and clouds. ?NINA is free and pretty simple but I won¡¯t fool ?you either because it does have a learning curve as does all software. Use NINA as the main software hub and it will communicate directly to PHD2 for your guide scope and also ?talks directly to your other apps and also to the Gemini 2 using ASCOM. Once you get the hang of it, it¡¯s pretty simple to use and extremely powerful. I would recommend visiting??to learn what NINA can do and when you are ready download it, then watch some Youtube videos (I prefer Patriot Astro¡¯s videos) to learn how to set it up, connect to your devices and then learn what NINA can do to automate everything you need for AP work. NINA offers full equipment control over:
Cameras (primary and guide cameras)?
Telescopes (meaning the mount really)
Filter Wheels
Electronic focusers
Rotators
Switches
Weather devices and even automate observatories.
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On Mar 10, 2023, at 7:48 PM, gmartin@... wrote:
Here is an update on where I'm at. My setup is a C11 HD Edge with a Losmandy G11 mount with Gemini 2. Love this thing. It is housed in a shed with a roll off roof so I can leave it setup.?
I have ASCOM and Gemini Telescopt.net setup and talking on my laptop. Today I installed PHD2 version 2.6.11dev4. As mentioned my laptop only has two USB ports. One is connected to the G11, the other to my ZWO ASI guide cam. Both connect in PHD2. I'm as far as I can go for now, as I'm in the house with just the Gemini 2 box off of the mount and the ZWO camera. Next step is to go out and put the stuff on the mount and try the guide camera Calibration in PHD2. But we have 10 inches of snow on the ground at the moment. I live in the high desert in Oregon.?
I know now I need a USB Hub of some sort. Thanks for recommending the Pegasus Hubs. I think I'll go with the Pocket Powerbox gen 2 for now. The Ultimate V2 is almost twice as much. At the moment I don't have Due Heaters or cooled cameras that need 12 V DC, but I will in the future.?
Next, I want to setup a network to connect the telescope to my PC in the house. I have a CAT6 Ethernet cable run out to the observatory, which is about 150 feet from the house. Actually it runs to my shop first where there is a Router, then out to the observatory. So the next thing I'd like to figure out is the best way to connect it at the scope. Something like the Mele mini PC or Intel NUC. I'd like to stay Windows based, I don't know Linux. So if I'm thinking about this right, I would have the Pegasus Powerbox to use as the USB Hub, have USB hub connect to the mini PC's USB, have the mini PC setup with ASCOM, Gemini, PHD2, etc, and use the mini PC to connect to my network via the Ethernet cable. Is this how people do it ? Since my goal is to eventually run the scope from in the house, I have decided not to go with a ASIAir Plus?setup, as it sounds as if your still outside controlling things via your phone, iPad or tablet. I don't know if you can connect ASIAir to a network via Ethernet.?
As lastly, I'm bewildered by all the Astro programs out there and how they all fit together. I'm starting with PHD2. But then you have all these things like NINA, SharpCap, Stellarium, and many many more. What is a reasonable software suite to go along with PHD2 ? It seems NINA is one. Besides guiding, I will want things that help with polar alignment, focusing, plate solving, image scheduling, planetarium, etc.?
Gary?
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