[APBeta] EX 125 Telecsope Control

Thu Jun 17 02:37:17 PDT 2010

You can use the ETX with ASCOM using the Meade LX200 classic driver
Regards,
Inge

Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2010 22:29:44 -0400
From: michaelwright42 at gmail.com
To: apbeta at lists.astroplanner.net
Subject: Re: [APBeta] EX 125 Telecsope Control

Thanks everyone for jumping in and trying to help with this problem.

I am using a Sabrent USB-to-serial connector to the Meade serial/RS-232 cable to the Autostar controller.  The driver that came with the USB-to-serial is by Prolific Technology.  According to Windows, it is up-to-date.  It is configured to emulate COM3 at 9600 Bits/sec.  I played around with the port settings tonight.  If I turned off the FIFO buffers or changed them to a low setting, I could get the scope to return the RA (18:50:27) in response to the #:GR# command using the "Test Telescope Communications" panel.  AP still would not connect from the main window.

I left the FIFO buffers off and tried this.  On the Telescope resource tab, I used the Auto-Detect option to tell AP to scan COM3 for "Meade: ETX series".  It returned "Autostar detected on COM3".  Still AP would not connect from the main window.

There appears to be limited communication between AP and the ETX, but not enough to connect.  Any thoughts?

Paul, Is there a way to use the ASCOM driver for the ETX with AP?  It's already installed on my computer because Cart du Ciel uses it.

Mike

On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 7:35 PM, Michael Conte <mwconte at verizon.net> wrote:

Okay,

I tried my ETX-90 with AP both in the direct and in the ASCOM mode and it connected up fine. I'm using some generic off the wall brand of USB => RS-232 converter though in the Device Manager it does say it's a Prolific device (COM4 - baud rate 9600 bps).

Mike, if you'd like to take this off the list I'd be more then happy to try and help you resolve this.

Regards,

Mike

----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Rodman" <paul at ilanga.com>

To: "AstroPlanner Beta Testers" <apbeta at lists.astroplanner.net>

Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 3:28 PM

Subject: Re: [APBeta] EX 125 Telecsope Control

Then I'm stumped (assuming you are correct about other apps having the ability to connect to the scope via the same serial port). Exactly what brand and model of USB-to-Serial converter are you using (perhaps someone else here has the same setup)?

Anyone have any suggestions?

Paul R.

On Jun 15, 2010, at 5:08 PM, Michael Wright wrote:

Nothing happen.  No response from telescope.

On Mon, Jun 14, 2010 at 8:29 PM, Paul Rodman <paul at ilanga.com> wrote:

OK. Try this:

With the scope cable connected, switched on, etc.:

a. Telescope->Test Telescope Communication

b. Select your serial port (COM3) in the popup

c. In the Input Command field, enter   #:GR#

   (this is the Meade command to get the current RA reading)

d. Click the Send button.

e. In the telescope response, you should see a number of the form hh:mm:ss#.

Do you?

(screenshot below shows this done while connected to my ETX-60AT via a KeySpan USB-to-Serial device)

On Jun 14, 2010, at 5:11 PM, Michael Wright wrote:

Yes

On Mon, Jun 14, 2010 at 7:02 PM, Paul Rodman <paul at ilanga.com> wrote:

On Jun 13, 2010, at 12:15 PM, Michael Wright wrote:

> I'm having a similar problem connecting with my ETX90.  I get "No > response from telescope mount controller.  Please check cables and > serial port."  I checked the cables and serial port, and I ran > through the the instruction that you gave Tim, but still no > connection.  There was no file left on the desktop either.

>

> I'm running Astroplanner on an Acer Aspire One netbook with Windows 7 > Starter.  The ETX90 is connected with a USB-to-serial cable and > Prolific software to emulate COM3.  Cart du Ciel can connect and > control the scope via COM3 with no issues; however, I'm using ASCOM > driver with CdC.

>

> I love the new version too, but just can't get past this problem.

Does COM3 show up in the serial port popup in AstroPlanner?

Paul R.

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