Connecting a macbook to a Skywatcher mount

[philjamesw]

Hi All,

I am new to this and was wondering if anyone has any advice on connecting a macbook (Mac OSX 10.7 Lion) to a Skywatcher AZT GOTO mount? I have not had any success with the usb-to-rs232 adapter I bought at a local shop. Are there any specific makes that anyone can point me to?

[Dai150PL]

Have you installed the Prolific drivers for 10.7, for your USB to rs232 cable.

[philjamesw]

Thanks for the prompt reply. I have downloaded the drivers and nothing shows up on the 'terminal' app. I am wondering if the cheap cable is a bit too cheap as I do not know what chipset it contains!!

If anyone has had success with a specific cable make I would be grateful to know which one.

[Dai150PL]

I bought a cheap one from Amazon around £4, most will recommend the Keyspan one at around £35. I have read of an issue for prolific with 10.7, but am sure there's a work around.

You,ll get what you need here - http://www.astronomiser.co.uk/converters.htm. Hope this helps as a Mac user I know it can be fun to find astro software and drivers.

[philjamesw]

David,

Thanks for the above, I have had a quick look at the site. It might be that the cable I have already got does not have an OSX driver; it does not appear in the network connections or in the terminal list. Hopefully a different cable might do the trick.

Being new to this I don't want to be forced to dust-off my ancient windoze laptop that is somewhere in the loft!!