PC Control for your SkyWatcher computer controlled mount This small and inexpensive dongle updates your current SkyWatcher mount with the new “PC-Direct" features found in latest version of mounts like the SkyWatcher EQ8-R or those with the new version 5 of the SynScan hand controller. It allows control of your mount via your PC using a USB cable instead of the SynScan hand controller. NOTE: This must be connected directly to the mount in place of the hand controller. If you plug it into the hand controller (even if the ports are the same!) it will not work. This opens up your SkyWatcher mount to a wide collection of both Open Source and commercial telescope control, planetarium and guiding software. Here’s some examples. For Windows PCs: Planetarium programs – Cartes du Ciel Stellarium Starry Night family TheSky Plus many more. Once connected via the SynScan USB adapter, most of the these programs will allow you to move your telescope to an item of interest or even click on a star map to position your telescope. Guiding: Open PHD Guiding (Often just called “PHD")This popular program allows autoguiding of a mount while taking astronomical photos via a camera. MacOs and Linux users can access a range of astronomy applications via the INDI Library Open Astronomy Astronomy Instrumentation platform. It supports both equatorial or “EQ" mounts SkyWatcher mounts and Alt-Az Sky-Watcher EQ mounts such as the range of SkyWatcher GOTO Dobsonian telescopes. Please note you do not require this adaptor if your SkyWatcher mount already has a USB port or you have a new Version 5 SynScan hand controller. Items included SynScan USB Adaptor 6 pin connector 8 pin connector You will need: A USB type-B cable to connect the SynScan USB Adapter to your PC. This is the also sometimes referred to as a USB printer cable. It is recommended to connect directly to your PC, rather than via a USB hub. Installation In order to control your mount with the SynScan USB adapter it is necessary to first install the ASCOM platform, EQMOD driver and the SkyWatcher Prolific USB-Serial Windows driver. In EQMOD, be sure to also select the correct COM port which corresponds to the SynScan USB-Serial adapter - this can be found in Device Manager in Windows where it will show as "Prolific USB-to-serial Comm Port (COMx)" (where x is the port its connected to). ASCOM Platform EQMOD driver SkyWatcher Prolific USB-Serial driver
