RS-232 cable

[mickyjd]

Hi Brett yes i alligned the scope albeit very rough as it was still light but i would think that it was close enough for the scope to have worked i am going to give the other scope a try today.

[Brett]

Sorry if i`m not being much help here Micky do you have the latest firmware for your equipment. Also have you tried using external software just in case there is a bug in stellarium.

Regards

Brett:icon_scratch:

[mickyjd]

Ok so the usb to serial adapter came today installed the drivers hooked up the telescope configured the scope in stellarim and away we went simples.

Special thanks to brett for putting me on to astronomiser and to astronimiser themselves for their quick delivery of items.

And thanks to all for the advice

Now all i need is a webcam that will fit my scope so i can sit in the warmth of the house and observe if anyone has any suggestions they would be much apprecated thanks.

[class27]

Hi, I've just bought all cables including adapter to connect my Nexstar alt/az goto mount to stellarium. In configuration the telescope is setup ok and the com port is 3, same as in device manager. The handset is set to RS232 but the scope does not move when I click on an object and press ctrl and 1. The hand set is one that's not flash updatable, so could this be the reason it won't work? Stellarium is 10.3 and running on XP laptop. I was assured by cable supplier that it would be ok for my setup. I've also tried 10.4 with same result. I'd tried this with just the mount indoors but the scope was setup outside tonight and still didn't work with stellarium. Any ideas anyone?

Ron

[class27]

Just tried it on my Vista desktop, still no go!

Ron

[red dwalf]

yes you need to set up the hand control as you would normally do, i.e. set time date one or two star alignment until the mount says alignment success, then run stellarium and it should work ok

[Brett]

Hi Ron,

As red dwarf has said, just set up the scope and handset as normal. I don't think you need to set the handset to RS232 as I believe this is similar to PC direct mode as with my synscan handset. Can I ask where you got your cables from ? Not all USB-serial adapters will work, although stellarium will show scope as connected some USB-serial adapters are unable to send or receive commands correctly. If you haven't done so already this is the cable you need Astronomiser - Automated Astronomy and AstroImaging Solutions

Regards

Brett

[class27]

Hi, it's from here aqua-e3y. They make them up and are all tested on their setup. I assume they buy in the adapter which they say is compatible! Hope this photo works.

Ron

[Brett]

I have to say Ive not heard of these but looking at there advert it should do the trick. Maybe setting the handset to RS232 is the mistake your making. As I said before I have the skywatcher synscan handset which I believe is similar to the nexstar series which uses the nextar drivers in stellarium. I have a PC direct mode on my handset which i think is used for changing parameters within the software itself and not for controlling the mount. Just try doing the two star alignment on the scope and leave the handset as it is once aligned.

Let me know what happens

Brett

[class27]

I did the 2 star align last night and just used the handset for a while, goto was fine. Then decided to try stellarium while the scope was still running but it didn't work. I've tried with RS-232 on and off. Also tried scope on first and laptop on first. So frustrating!!

Ron

[Brett]

Frustrating indeed !!! Is stellarium showing as connected to the scope ? I'm beginning to wonder if maybe it is the USB lead you have. I can set my scope up at any time and have no issues connecting the pc at any time, everything just connects and runs smoothly. Maybe Astronomiser`s usb lead is the way to go. Astronomiser - Automated Astronomy and AstroImaging Solutions

Brett

[mickyjd]

Hi Ron i found i had a similar problem when i first connected stellarium in the configuration it sets the port automaically what i did was to keep adding till i had all ports full i.e. 1234 on mine if u do this u should see one that says connected it may not be comm port 3 it might be another one try this. And as the others say just align ur scope as normal dont set it to rs 232 and u should be up and running.

[Brett]

Hi Micky

I think Ron has checked the designated com port number in device manager and it shows up as Com Port 3. Maybe there is a conflict with com port 3 which isn't showing in the device manager or something else other than stellarium is trying to use this port.

Hi Ron it might be worth trying to change the com port number to either 1,2 or 4 in device manager and do as Micky has said and set the scope up for all four com ports in stellarium and see what happens. BTW what version of windows are you using and is it 32 or 64 bit ?

Regards

Brett

[class27]

Hi, sorry for the delay but i've been away for the weekend and just got back. There doesn't appear to be a conflict with the com port in device manager. When I look in Stellarium it says the scope is stopped but when I click on start it says it's connected! I've tried it on all coms 1 - 4, only the first scope in the list will connect on com 3. Laptop is Archos 10 on XP. There are no other com ports. I've tried everything you people have suggested to no avail. Will e-mail the cable supplier and see what they say.

I'll just stick to the handset if all else fails.

Ron

[Iris]

When I first used the RS232 link to my CG5 I had similar problems with Stellarium saying it was connected to the Scope and yet nothing was going either way.

It especially happened if I changed some setting in the configuration dialog box in Stellarium. S would indicate that the scope was connected but no dice.

In my case it was always necessary to shut down Stellarium and restart it every time I changed any setting or even simply chose to save the settings without making any changes.

I noticed that the only way I was able to get it to work consistently was to set up the scope and align it then connect the cables then and only then start stellarium - at that point the symbol for my scope would appear in the Stellarium window and would follow the scope as I moved it around or, if I chose, the scope would follow the symbol to a selected target.

[Brett]

Hi, sorry for the delay but i've been away for the weekend and just got back. There doesn't appear to be a conflict with the com port in device manager. When I look in Stellarium it says the scope is stopped but when I click on start it says it's connected! I've tried it on all coms 1 - 4, only the first scope in the list will connect on com 3. Laptop is Archos 10 on XP. There are no other com ports. I've tried everything you people have suggested to no avail. Will e-mail the cable supplier and see what they say.

I'll just stick to the handset if all else fails.

Ron

Hi Ron

From what you are saying I personally believe its the usb-rs232 connector. I was in a discussion with someone else about the very same problem and it turned out to be the adapter. He bought an astronomiser cable and everything worked fine. If stellarium says its connected then it is, but unfortunately the hardware in the adapter cannot communicate properly hence no response from the mount.

Regards

Brett

Ps have you tried it on more than one pc ?

[Brett]

Do you have the latest .net platform update for windows.

[class27]

I've tried your method Iris as I have to restart Stellarium if I change any settings. However I notice the telescope icon in the bottom flyout isn't highlighted. Should it be?

I believe my .net framework is the latest version Brett.

Ron

[Brett]

I've tried your method Iris as I have to restart Stellarium if I change any settings. However I notice the telescope icon in the bottom flyout isn't highlighted. Should it be?

I believe my .net framework is the latest version Brett.

Ron

Ive just checked on mine and it don't think it needs to be lit, this only happens when you have the configuration open. Might be worth checking your updates to see if you have .net 3.5. Other than this all i can think of is a lead issue, Ask the vendor to supply you with another set, also point him in the direction of this lobby as it may help.

Regards

Brett

[class27]

I do have .net 3.5. Have had a reply from vendor who suggests trying Nexstar updater or Nexremote and a computer with standard com port, ( Don't know if I have one though! ), so will try that!

Ron

[class27]

Hi, tried Nexstar updater but the handset doesn't show transmitting data when I hold down info and undo buttons so must be earlier model thats not updatable. Is this why it won't work with Stellarium?

Ron

[class27]

I've just connected the scope to a desktop comp running XP and with a dedicated serial port. I installed .net 3.5, Ascom platform 5 and Celestron Ascom driver. On C du C when I try to connect to the scope, ( after setting everything up ) it tells me, There doesn't appear to be a Celestron scope attached to com 1.

With Stellarium it just won't move when needed to.

I can't update with HCupdater either.

Ron

[Cornelius Varley]

Which version of the Nexstar mount do you have ? GT, SLT or SE

Peter

[Brett]

Hi Ron

Did you install the ascom 5.5 updater ? Have you checked device manager to make sure the rs232 port is com 1 ? Also there is an ascom plugin available from C du C which I think you need aswell as a C du C update package 2.76. I believe also that a normal rs232 port is slower than the usb - rs232. Im afraid I cant help with the handset update feature as I have a synscan handset. You could check your handsets firmware version and cross check this on the celestron site to see if it can be updated !!!

[class27]

Hi, have just tried all the things the cable supplier suggested, change com to 7 and above, try nexremote which can't find my mount. Version doesn't show in utilities on handset but supplier thinks it's 3. Mount is GT type. Have done the ascom updater and C du C 2.76c package. I think there's a prob with handset although it works the scope ok by itself. Might just stick to that!

Ron