my first telescope and dident even try it before it died

[bhj80]

so i got a skywatch 130 p goto telescope last night .  and was playing with the setup today , when i notice my firmware was 3.09 and the new was 3.37 i thing.

i got myself af usb -serial and the loader saw my controller just fine. startet the upload and it went to 3.75%  then it failed and i tryed 100 timees now same outcome every time. and now the controller cant turn on beside the update menu with 8-0

i read some one had same problems, and solve them with using the serial port on a computer, but i iv cryed out to all my friends and there are none that has that old port in there computers anymore, so im pretty much sitting here with expensive toys that i cant use for anything :-/

dont get how they can selv things now day that support outdated hardware..

ps: i also tryed the lo - mi  setting  dident do anything either.  and tryed one 3 computers

i

[cjdawson]

The problem us that USB to serial adapeters are emulated rather than real UART based ports. This sometimes work fine, personally I never trust them with critical things like firmware updates.

Here's some options.

1. PCMCIA this is an old connection style for laptops, if you have access to one of these, you can get a converter than will go in there. These converters should be fine - I have one which I used for firmware updates.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/serial-2-port-pcmcia-laptop-card-a91fa

2. Express card. Like PCMCIA these are laptop ports. Again these should work fine.

http://www.lindy.co.uk/components-tools-c7/add-on-cards-c308/serial-c312/2-port-serial-rs-232-cardbus-card-p3351/s3493?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=2-port-serial-rs-232-cardbus-card-51334&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads&gclid=CjwKEAiA7_OzBRDA8OfT3orp51oSJACVqslIBRy6FFNBP9XBNyDvuT04qVHwKG6SikC7Darewh7swRoCm9Pw_wcB

3. PCI Express card. This is for up to date desktops. Again should be fine.

http://www.lindy.co.uk/components-tools-c7/add-on-cards-c308/serial-c312/2-port-serial-rs-232-16c650-128-byte-fifo-card-pcie-p269

3. PCI card. This is for slightly older computers.

http://www.lindy.co.uk/components-tools-c7/add-on-cards-c308/serial-c312/2-port-serial-rs-232-pci-card-p278

The links above are for illustration purposes. Once you get hold of something like what's above and flash, I'm sure everything will run just fine.

[Tinker1947]

It's likely to be the use driver I, m not here the main of so can,take give you the link to get the one I used, it has done my newt and goto dob handsets no problem, if you want to search the threads it's mention in one a couple of years back, along with a mapping serial us cable..?

[bhj80]

im saved by old tech :-)  my mom just called hey i thing i got an old laptop in the basement.. wrrrummm  out there and YES it was with a serial port.. and worked like a charm :-)

now the aligement hell i gonna be next dont got a clue :-)  but im happy

merry christmas all  and thx for the quick anwers

[cjdawson]

Yay, glad that little crisis has been averted.

Take your time to get to know your scope. Alignment is an easy process once you've done it a couple of times. Don't try to be super accurate first time out, close is good. Then after that you'll improve with practice.

I hope your scope gives you many years of joy.

[Dave In Vermont]

To create a 'Virtual Serial-Port' is quite easy. Meade Telescopes & Instruments (USA) sells these ready-made:

http://www.meade.com/meade-usb-to-rs-232-serial-adapter.html

But DON'T do that. Making one will cost you far less. You will also need PL-2303 Drivers (Search-Engine) to get this working - usually. Wait for more people to tell you here. First things first, you need to find a source for the parts to make one. I have a bag full. They're quite cheap. If I lived up the road - I'd give you a few! The 'Drivers' also can be had for free:

http://www.prolific.com.tw/US/ShowProduct.aspx?p_id=225&pcid=41

There are quite a few counterfeit PL-2303's out there, so be sure to get the real ones. Prolific is very angry about this - hence their warnings all over their website.

Hope this helps -

Dave

[bhj80]

hx for all the good advice really helps

do you thing this could be used for carrying and keeping my scoop and mount in.   

http://www.funsport.dk/bagboy-rejsecover-t600.html?utm_source=pricerunner&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pricerunner

[Astro Imp]

First off I'm pleased to read that you're up and running.

hx for all the good advice really helps

do you thing this could be used for carrying and keeping my scoop and mount in.   

http://www.funsport.dk/bagboy-rejsecover-t600.html?utm_source=pricerunner&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pricerunner

That bag looks ideal, I use something similar and have kept my scope in it for 4/5 years with no issues. I did however invest in a cheap flight case type thingy lined with pluck foam for my ever increasing collection of eyepieces.

Good luck.

[cjdawson]

For my eyepieces, I too invested in a flight case with pluck foam, however I found that the pluck foam wasn't good. So I got a block of foam that completely filled the case, then I cut specifically for my eyepieces, diagonals etc. That was about 12 years ago. I'm thinking about changing my case and will do some similar again as it worked extremely well.