EQMod & GPS: The Ultimate Time-Saving Combo

For us traveling astrophotographers, hooking up a GPS to EQMod is a game-changer for mount setup. It automagically populates all your “Site” info: Latitude, Longitude, Altitude, and even that crucial atomic time. These four parameters are key for EQMod to precisely calculate your local sidereal time and, in turn, accurately nail those celestial coordinates when you’re slewing to an object.

Now, if you’re like me and have a fixed observatory, a GPS might seem a bit redundant. After all, your geographical coordinates aren’t exactly doing a moonwalk every night! But here’s the cool part: it still offers the neat trick of automatically grabbing atomic time. This keeps your mount’s internal clock perfectly synced, helping maintain that buttery-smooth tracking and alignment throughout the year.

This little gadget (in my case, a speedy Sirf 3-based Globalsat BU-353 Gmouse USB) probably wouldn’t have found its way to my observatory if I hadn’t snagged it for a ridiculously good price on eBay! Quick heads-up, though: a little tip from experience, most of these modules are stuck at 4800 baud. So, make sure your software plays nice with that!