USB EQDir for under £4

[malc-c]

Well the FTDI 232r -5v cable supplied to a UK address is the same price as a Hi-tec Astro cable from Rothervalley Optics.  When these first came out they were upwards of £50 so it was worth making your own, but now there's hardly much point in a DIY option if obtaining the genuine FTDI cable.

[dieter5266]

@ Vox45

I don't know if you've already changed it but your FTDI board has RX connected with white and TX with green in opposite to

Dave 's board (post No1):

Black - Orange/white + Solid blue
Green(RX) - Blue/white
White(TX) - Solid green

So for  your FTDI board connection should be:

Black - Orange/white + Solid blue
Green - Solid green
White - Blue/white

so was my PL2303HX too and it took me crazy to finally find this little difference. Now it works pretty stable on my EQ8 (I soldered about 3 of this cheap PL2303HX with different length of Cat6 cables and they all are working without any problems - about 2€/USB EQDir -Thank's Dave!!!!)

CS Dieter

[Vox45]

@ Vox45

I don't know if you've already changed it but your FTDI board has RX connected with white and TX with green in opposite to

Dave 's board (post No1):

Black - Orange/white + Solid blue

Green(RX) - Blue/white

White(TX) - Solid green

So for  your FTDI board connection should be:

Black - Orange/white + Solid blue

Green - Solid green

White - Blue/white

so was my PL2303HX too and it took me crazy to finally find this little difference. Now it works pretty stable on my EQ8 (I soldered about 3 of this cheap PL2303HX with different length of Cat6 cables and they all are working without any problems - about 2€/USB EQDir -Thank's Dave!!!!)

CS Dieter

Thanks for pointing that out !

The cheap chinese copy I got is such a soldering mess that I don't trust it to be used with my mount anymore. I understand where people are coming from when they want to make their own cable, but in my case, I don't want to worry everytime I plug my cable and my peace of mine is worth the price of an Hitech Astro cable

Again, I am not judging people who feel like making their own cable as it is a really easy job, my only advice would be to stay away from chinese copies and buy genuine FTDI chips

Edited September 15, 2015 by Vox45

[Pompey Monkey]

I recently bought the Hitecastro unit and it doesn't work, despite spending hours faffing with drivers and support from the vendor.

Today I spent ten minutes crimping an RJ45 connector (based on the EQMOD website instructions) onto the cable of one of these ftdi adapters: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301820203340?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT and it worked first time.

Prolific vs ftdi? Go figure! lol.

[WbRaDy]

Hi Guys, im looking to try this cable on a EZ eq6 mount and was wondering if anyone can confirm that THIS is the right cable? wiring looks the same on EQMOD site..

Appreciated

HEQ5 / AZEQ6-GT

You will need to splice an RJ45 cable to the flying lead of the TTL232R. Connect as follows: 

Solder Pin 4 of the RJ45 to the Black wire (GND) 

Solder Pin 5 of the RJ45 to the Yellow wire (RXD)

Solder Pin 6 of the RJ45 to the Orange wire (TXD) 

Appreciated

[WbRaDy]

That would be AZ EQ6 

[Viktiste]

Old thread I know, but Kudos to the OP for this! I just made a spare EQDIR cable for my HEQ5pro.

I bought a "FT232RL 3.3V 5.5V FTDI USB to TTL Serial Adapter Module for Arduino Mini Port" on e-bay for next to nothing. Made sure the jumper was set to 5V. Crimped a RJ45 connector to a piece of CAT5 cable and wired them together.

Here is the finished cable. I 3D printed a case for the Serial adapter board:

 

Inside the box:

 

Wiring:

 

👍🙂

 

 

 

[GTom]

The Ugreen USB to serial cable might be a good, though a bit pricier solution: https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-20210-Converter-Connecting-Controller-grey/product-reviews/B00QUZY4UG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewopt_kywd?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=1&filterByKeyword=guiding

[malc-c]

8 hours ago, GTom said:

The Ugreen USB to serial cable might be a good, though a bit pricier solution: https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-20210-Converter-Connecting-Controller-grey/product-reviews/B00QUZY4UG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewopt_kywd?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=1&filterByKeyword=guiding

The one thing missing from the review is the model of Skywatcher scope.  The ONLY mount that has a DB9 connector for the handset is the older EQ6.  In theory this cable could be used between the EQ6 and a USB port on a PC.  For all other mounts that uses an RJ11 plug for handset connections an EQDIR cable or the wi-fi/BT dongles would be the ideal way forward.

The device on Amazon uses the Prolific 2303 chipset, and in the past Prolific drivers can be problematical.  They are not part of windows installations by default and need to be sourced form the manufactures website

[GTom]

On 18/02/2021 at 19:52, Viktiste said:

Old thread I know, but Kudos to the OP for this! I just made a spare EQDIR cable for my HEQ5pro.

I bought a "FT232RL 3.3V 5.5V FTDI USB to TTL Serial Adapter Module for Arduino Mini Port" on e-bay for next to nothing. Made sure the jumper was set to 5V. Crimped a RJ45 connector to a piece of CAT5 cable and wired them together.

Here is the finished cable. I 3D printed a case for the Serial adapter board:

 

Inside the box:

 

Wiring:

 

👍🙂

 

 

 

Great job, time allowing I'll copy this one! For the time being picked up a more realistically priced EQdir variant from Amazon.