Skywatcher synscan update

[Sabre415]

As a newbie I am looking forward to learning as much as I can and would like to ask the forum for some advice. I have a Skywatcher Synscan controller and read it should be updated. I tried reading the manual (online) to see how I do this and also looked at YouTube clips. The trouble I’ve discovered is you need to be a computer wizard to understand cables/ transfers/ data etc. 
I don’t have a RS232 communication port on my laptop, but do have USB slots. The manual at this point lost me and I would have probably blown the house up trying to carry on 😣 

So I’ve looked at the bottom of the handset and the side of the laptop and looked on Amazon, to which I found this item: 

D1-DNTO7A  D1 DNTO8A Mega - Fabs D1 Servo Driver cable FTD1 USB RS232 to RJ11 RJ12 6P6C Adapter. (Sorry for the long description)

I will be grateful for any advice and steerage to what would work please

Thanks

[Seelive]

Does your controller currently do what you want it to do? If so, why bother updating the firmware?

If your handcontoller isn't the version with a USB type B connector (in which case you'll just need a standard USB-A to USB-B cable) then it should have come with a RS232 to RJ12 cable, so you would just need an USB to RS232 converter (get an FTDI one). Unless you are sure that RJ12 connector signals exactly match those of the handcontroller then you risk causing damage.

[malc-c]

Do not get that adapter, you have no idea how the pins are wired and you could end up damaging the handset

If your handset lacks a USB port then you'll have to go old school

The sysnscan should have come with a Skywatcher serial cable that is a long grey cable that looks like a telephone cable but with a 9 pin D type plug on it. Like this

You then need a USB to SERIAL adapter to connect the cable to a PC. like this

 

BUT - as stated above... unless there is a problem with the handset then there is no need to update the firmware.  

[Seelive]

If it helps, you can find the Mega Fabs D1 Servo Driver datasheet here https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.hiwin.us/wp-content/uploads/d1_drive_user_manual.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwi7j7zT0u_zAhVwQkEAHV4nDXEQFnoECAgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3HtitA10MWa2Un4qlj4zj5 and compare its RJ11 signal connections (page 36) with the SkyWatcher RJ11 signal connections shown here https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://inter-static.skywatcher.com/downloads/Synscan_V4_Hand_Control_Manual_SSHCV4-F-161208V1-EN.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjKq8TD2e_zAhVjnFwKHbUlCHoQFnoECAUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3JjXThEGFPoTDdouJALv6s (page 48).

[malc-c]

Nice bit of research there...

At least on the face of it the two follow similar protocols, other than pins 1 and 6 not being used (which may be a problem as the handset is expecting 12v on pin 6) and we assume that the common on the handset pin 4 is also ground 2 and 5 being the RS232 TX and RX pins.  But don't forget the handset is expecting true RS232 voltages on those pins, ie +/- 12v as it has the MAX232 chip inside that drops that to 5v TTL serial.  The D1-DNT07A D1 DNT08A MEGA-FABS D1 Servo Driver Cable will more than likely operate at 5v TTL levels (or possibly 3.3v depending on the chipset used) as its essentially a FTDI USB to 5v(or 3.3V) TTL cable terminated with an RJ11/12 plug.

 

[Seelive]

12 minutes ago, malc-c said:

Nice bit of research there...

At least on the face of it the two follow similar protocols, other than pins 1 and 6 not being used (which may be a problem as the handset is expecting 12v on pin 6) and we assume that the common on the handset pin 4 is also ground 2 and 5 being the RS232 TX and RX pins.  But don't forget the handset is expecting true RS232 voltages on those pins, ie +/- 12v as it has the MAX232 chip inside that drops that to 5v TTL serial.  The D1-DNT07A D1 DNT08A MEGA-FABS D1 Servo Driver Cable will more than likely operate at 5v TTL levels (or possibly 3.3v depending on the chipset used) as its essentially a FTDI USB to 5v(or 3.3V) TTL cable terminated with an RJ11/12 plug.

 

As a guess, I would expect that the 12V on the SW RJ11 plug is actually supplied by the handset as I'm not aware of any 12V supply being available from the standard RS232 9 pin D interface.

The Servo Driver interface appears to be intended to directly connect to a standard PC RS232 interface that would use the +/- 12V levels so I would expect the USB to serial converter to output true RS232 levels rather than TTL levels (certainly what my FTDI CHIPI-X10 USB to RS232 converter does).

[Cornelius Varley]

15 minutes ago, Seelive said:

As a guess, I would expect that the 12V on the SW RJ11 plug is actually supplied by the handset as I'm not aware of any 12V supply being available from the standard RS232 9 pin D interface.

Depending on the version of the handset the power to the handset for firmware updates is either an external source (v3), the mount (v4) or from usb (v5)

[Seelive]

1 hour ago, Cornelius Varley said:

Depending on the version of the handset the power to the handset for firmware updates is either an external source (v3), the mount (v4) or from usb (v5)

My query was referenced to what is the source of Vpp+ on pin 6 of the multi purpose port (on all versions?). My assumption is that it originates from the hand controller, independent upon the hand controller version, and I also assume it will be 12V when the handset is connected to the mount (or external PSU for the V3 version)?

Edit: Having re-read my instruction manual, pin 6 on the multi-purpose port is a power output (with a voltage equal to 0.7V less than the power supply voltage (12V?) at 100mA max) so I've answered my own question.

Edited October 29, 2021 by Seelive