SKOTIQ 8.1 · GUIDE
Connect your equipment
Camera, mount, focuser, filter wheel and PHD2.
On this page
Choose the connection path
Open Equipment → Connections. Choose ASCOM for locally installed Windows ASCOM drivers, Alpaca for network devices or bridges, INDI for a reachable INDI server, or Native where the required vendor library and device are supported.
Available controls depend on the device driver. See Settings → Connection → Platform Capabilities and the hardware guide.
Start with the camera
- Power the camera and connect its USB or network cable.
- Select your protocol. For ASCOM, choose the installed camera driver and review its Properties. For Alpaca, discover the device or enter its host and port. For INDI, connect to the server first.
- Connect the camera. Confirm its name, sensor information and cooling telemetry where supported.
- Set gain, offset, binning and temperature for a test exposure. Verify saving before building a full sequence.
If a camera is already open in a vendor utility or another capture application, that application may own the connection. Close the competing connection before retrying.
Add the mount and accessories
Connect the mount through the same protocol selection. Confirm coordinates and tracking state. Unpark the mount before testing a slew.
Connect the focuser and filter wheel. Check focuser position, slot count and filter names. Make sure the configured filter names correspond to the wheel’s physical positions.
PHD2 guiding
Start PHD2, connect its equipment profile, and enable its server. Connect from Skotiq’s guiding controls (the usual PHD2 server port is 4400). Verify guiding and settling before adding dithers or a meridian flip to a long run.
Save an equipment profile
Open Equipment → Profiles and save the working setup. Use a separate profile when you change the camera, telescope or other meaningful equipment settings. Saved profiles depend on the drivers still being installed and available.
Connection problems
If discovery fails, try a manual network address and check power, drivers and firewall rules. If a device connects but a control is unavailable, check the capability exposed by its driver. Troubleshooting walks through the common cases.