FT232RL USB to RJ45 Serial Converter Control Cable for Skywatcher Telescope EQ6-R AZEQ6 AZEQ5

I have been using my PC to control my Orion Atlas mount for a couple of years through a USB->serial converter connected to the hand controller. This worked as a "SkyWatcher" instrument though ASCOM, but never worked properly with EQMOD. It was good enough to move the scope around, but I could not take advantage of EQMOD's alignment or other features.I saw this cable for $15, and figured it was too good to be true, but at that price, I could afford to be wrong. No such luck :). I already had the latest ASCOM and EQMOD versions installed on my laptop, plus the FTDI chipset driver for my other scope cable, so when I plugged this in, it just worked. All I had to do was find the serial port (6 in my case) and tell EQMOD to use the HEQ5/6 driver, et voila. Running the scope through its paces proved every feature working exactly as expected. I now have the ability to use a gamepad for slewing, I can use N point alignment, and all of my other programs like PHD2 and Cartes du Ciel work as before (mostly - I have had one interesting issue where CDC seems to turn off sidereal tracking sometimes - I have not debugged this yet).

Simple plug in to the hand controller port on the mount (no hand controller needed), other reviews I read say it does not fit, but it fits the EQ6-R Pro just fine.... then plug the usb side into the raspberry pi or pc. FTDI port was detected without any additional drivers, simple command on linux terminal of 'dmesg | grep -i FTDI' displayed the port that it was using, in my case /dev/ttyUSB0. Changed that to the value used to connect to the mount using baud of 9600 in Ekos setup for indi EQMod driver and connection was made with no problem at all and I could control my mount with 0 issues.

This took a bit of work to connect but in the end it connected. Using EQ6RPro direct to laptop WIN10, ASCOM, EQMOD, no hand controller. Updated FTDI drivers ascom wouldn’t find the COM port, even tho both ascom and laptop were at same baud rate 115200. Not sure why I tried it but set ascom to 9600 leaving laptop at 115200, hit find in ascom and it found it. After ascom connect I was able to unpark, slew, park. Then set ascom baud back to 115200 and it kept the com connection. I haven’t tried APT or Stellarium but with a valid COM connection there’s no apparent reason they shouldn’t work as before. Connection was maintained through my powered USB3.0 hub.Update: still a good cable, but not required, the problem I was having was power supply not data cable. If you have a mount with a USB type B port, use that to direct connect PC to Mount. 12/17/20.

I'm using a Raspberry Pi 4 to control my Orion Atlas Mount. The cable has worked without any issues, allowing me to run without the hand controller.I would have given 5 stars, but the clip on the RJ-45 jack is very stiff and it makes it difficult to remove the cable from the mount, (especially in cold weather).

I'm using this to control a cq350 from an asiair. for that purpose, it's working fine.

I had crazy things going on with my mount when trying to use a computer through the hand control. during an imaging session the mount would develop a mind of its own and take off to another coordinates. once I removed the hand control and connected with the FTDI cable I had no more problems. the mount works flawlessly. Your cable must have a FTDI chip in it or you will burn out the motor control board on your mount.

I've been using EQMOD for years with both my AZ-EQ5 as well as my new EQ6-R. I'm not a fan of hand controllers and wanted a cable to bypass mine. This looked to be just the right thing and the price was right. It arrived, I successfully installed the FTDI drivers, (freaked out a little because it has only 3 pins wired, but this is actually correct), connected it to my mount, found the right COM port, and fired up Stellarium Scope... but it wouldn't connect. I tried shortening my USB extension cords thinking that the ones I was using might be just a bit too long (even though the cable itself is short and I haven't had issues with either mount going a little longer), but it still wouldn't connect. I tried different ASCOM programs like PHD2 and AstroTortilla, but EQMOD just wouldn't connect. The next day, I brought my laptop to my roof and tried directly from my computer to the wire and still nothing on either mount. Even if that had worked, it wouldn't have worked for me. All other FTDI USB to RJ45 wires (Shoestring, Xagyl and Lynx) cost around $45 - it would have been nice if it worked, but on the other hand: with an FTDI chipset costing about $15 to begin with, how are they able to make this one so cheap? If it seems too good to be true...

It seems to be well made. The cord is flexible, at least in August weather. Best of all, it works with my Orion SkyView Pro GoTo mount, ASCOM, EQMOD, CdC, and PHD2. I was concerned for a while, until I found the right combination of software settings.

Received the cable in good order all worked as described.

I’ve just bought an EQM-35 Pro to work on widefield alongside my EQ6R-Pro. Given the precious few clear nights we get in the UK, and with such a night looming close, coupled with the cost saving, I took a chance on this cable to use with it rather than pay more than twice as much for a Lynx Astro cable and wait a week for delivery from an Astro retailer.I plugged it in and switched everything on, but it did nothing. I went to the FTDI website and checked the driver, but the one I have installed is the latest (2.12.28). Anyway, cut a long story short...To get it to work make sure your mount is switched on and the cable is properly plugged in. In Windows, Open Device Manager / Ports where for me it appears as ‘USB Serial Port’ on COM3 (your COM port may differ) and then open EQASCOM Toolbox / ‘driver setup’. Tell it there which COM port the cable is on (again, COM3 for me), and select 9600 baud. OK that, open EQMOD and it should work (don’t set it on the lowest slew rate or it will seem like the mount isn’t moving).I can confirm it works with an EQM-35 Pro and I tried it on my EQ6R-Pro too, which also works. No reason to believe it won’t work with other Skywatcher mounts such as the EQ5 and HEQ5.No experience using it in anger yet, but I’ll update this review when I have.Update: used it last night and it worked fine. I had all sorts of problems but none of them were related to the cable.

I bought a Lynx Astro 5m cable from an online retailer which worked for a year or so, but would randomly lose the connection between my mount and mini pc after 10-15 minutes. Thinking the issue may be due to the cable length (5m being the max advised for USB communications) I was going to buy a shorter cable from the same retailer, but as it was showing out of stock on their website, decided to take a punt on this model, which was about £10 cheaper from Amazon. I've run the mount a couple of times for a few hours, and connection has been rock solid, no disconnects, Astrophotography can be frustrating enough at the best of times when all the equipment is working, this cable has given me one thing less to worry about :)

Works as specified

Not as robust as the more expensive versions available through dedicated Astro stores. This lighter weight cable does work and is excellent for the price.