I attach one image of jupiter taken on 22nd august 2009 at 23. Pc software for lx200 classic meade computerized telescopes. This site is dedicated to the meade lx200 classic series of telescopes. Im working with an 8 meade lx200 classic on a recently purchased. Stargps nx for meade lx200 telescopes stargps nx for meade lx200 telescopes add gps to your meade lx200 telescopes. Software and hardware autoguiding issues with the lx200gps if youve had problems getting k3ccdtools, guidedog or other autoguiding software to successfully control your lx200gps through the rs232 port, it may not be your mistake or faulty software that is. The autoguiding software does not connect to your telescopes autoguider port. Does anyone know if this technology will be backed into the older scopes. Also the color coding for st4 compat devices matches the color coding of my meade 201xt autoguider cable. Buy so you want a meade lx telescope how to select and use the lx200 and other highend models the patrick moore practical astronomy series on free shipping on qualified orders. We have applied various strategies with different upgrades but we are now happy that the presentation here is the way to go.
Meade lx200 gps meade lx200 classic celestron cge vixen. A separate ascom driver for the rcx400 is currently undergoing testing august 2006. The meade ascom driver is compatible with all meade scopes except the rcx400. The images were taken from my 10 meade lx200 classic with tripod.
Page 1 instruction manual 7 lx200 maksutovcassegrain telescope 8, 10, and 12 lx200 schmidtcassegrain telescopes meade instruments corporation page 2 lx200 schmidtcassegrain telescopes now feature new baffle tube designs. My computer has only usb ports and not serial ports, like most recent computers. My lx200 classic started to develop the jumps, small movements in ra of 510 arcseconds sporadically over different parts of the sky. Autoguiding a telescope for deep sky astrophotography. This is accomplished by using a great piece of free software developed by stark labs. The software for the microcontroller was written by ronald gorter. A minimal set of lx200 protocol commands has been implemented only those that concern autoguiding and slewing. I initially used an sbig st7 with a built in autoguiding chip with my lx200. The result is a mechanically beefed up telescope fitted with goto electronics of equivalent performance to the lx200 classic telescopes. The meade ascom drivers handle those differences, hiding them from acp. View online or download meade lx200 classic instruction manual.
Running scope from the computer does not provide too close to sun protection. Stargps nx for meade lx200 telescopes lowest prices opt. An overview meade lx200 scts mark a new era in telescope technology for the amateur astronomer, whether beginner or seasoned veteran. I own several meade lx200 classic telescopes and i completely enjoy using them. Parking tips, park software url, advice parked lx200 in remote obs. These computeroptimized designs incorporate a series of 7 to 11 depending on the focal ratio and size of the lx200 internal. I classify a jump as anything that cause the scope to move fast enough that an image will show all objects doubled rather than any form of streak when using pec and pray. Users with the printer port st4 compatible interface cable can now command any connected mount with lx200 compatible autoguiding commands without the need for additional external hardware. Autoguiding an sct 8 inch lx200 with a orion mini guide scope. Hello,new to the fourm and fairly new to astronomy. The better your initial polar alignment, the less work the autoguider has to do to counter dec drift. Again, for more info read jim mcmillans excellent article autoguiding.
Phd guiding, free software for autoguide astronomy academy. Are there any ag technologies out there that will bolt on to a 200 and allow you to guide without using a computer. Phd guiding is a free software among the most used for autoguiding since its very easy to use. Envisage software click to download meades dsi camera control and basic image processing software. The shortest guider exposure interval that you can use. Now an employeeowned company, we pride ourselves on an unswerving commitment to best quality products, value and unmatched customer care. The advanced lx200 is a free ascom driver for generic lx200 telescope interface. Upon installation, please use serial number 783a36800007296416. Th ere are plenty of these telescopes in use, and technology is trying to make them less desirable.
So you want a meade lx telescope how to select and use. The last month ive been getting my scope, cameras, software etc. Refinement of your declination backlash can dramatically improve autoguiding performance. Lx200 emulator for autoguiding with nonlx200 telescope mounts and opto isolated canon bulb cable for canon 300d and 350d for use with imagesplus and dslrfocus or maximdslr. Autoguiding a telescope for deep sky astrophotography basic. Also compatible with lx200gps and lx200 classic preautostar. View and download meade lx200 instruction manual online. The following telescopes and mounts support the generic lx200 protocol there may be others. The solution for this is autoguiding, whereby two webcams are used and. Can anyone recommend some star mapping software for the pc that works with the lx200. The meade lx200acf brings advanced comafree acf optics within reach of aspiring astronomers everywhere. For the beginner lx200 electronics permit the location and observation of the major planets as well as hundreds of deepsky objects the very first night you use the telescope. The arrangement worked, but, was always a hassle to set up. Software and hardware autoguiding issues with the lx200gps if youve had problems getting k3ccdtools, guidedog or other autoguiding software to successfully control your lx200gps through the rs232 port, it may not be your mistake or faulty software that is causing the problem.
It was far less stressful to simply take multiple 60 second or less exposures, especially as i mainly imaged comets that moved in longer. Lx200, meade uncensored and qcuiag yahoo discussion groups, as well as. This includes many types of researchgrade telescopes controlled using astronomy command language. Last night all was running well with cartes du ciel,cdc phd guiding an. Lx200 lx200 checklist for startingup classic lx200gps. The meade lx200 classic telescope is a great older model telescope that will still serve an amateur astronomer very well, however, being produced in the late 80s and early 90s, its electronics and hand controller leave much. Is anyone here using a lx200 classic and autoguider. Meade lx200gps and lx200r combined telescopefocuser, 5.
This driver provides both telescope and focuser interfaces each of which may be used by separate programs. We have 4 meade lx200 classic manuals available for free pdf download. My goals are to hook up the lx200 and be able to control the scope via cable can anyone recomend whats needed to usb port on pc running. Lx200 autoguiding emulator for synscan, lx10, lx50, g11. This ascom driver is free and provides telescope v3 support. Jim mcmillans classic autoguiding paper recommended reading, acrobat rotated guiding of astronomical telescopes the gory details, actually covers. The system does not implement position encoders or other kinds of positional feedback. Only the lx200 guide and focus commands are implemented, so a slew or center command does not change the speed at which the scope moves. The lx200 and webcam toucam pro ii worked ok for me back in 2009. Pc software for lx200 classic posted in meade computerized telescopes. Software and hardware autoguiding issues with the lx200gps if youve had problems getting k3ccdtools, guidedog or other autoguiding software to successfully control your lx200gps through the rs232 port, it may not be. Oct 24, 2012 guide scope for lx 200 posted in lx200 series. For imaging, and to use the online star atlas, any telescope is ok.
In addition to this, commands for returning the null values of ra and dec position have been added also, as some autoguiding software relies on these to verify the communication with the device e. Are you sure i cant autoguide with my celestron or classic lx200. Thanks to bruce macleod i got information about pocket pc software blocking the use of iris and the emulator because this software took complete control of the com port. It appears that, although meades information suggests the software only controls the lx200autostar and lx200gpsautostar models, it actually works fine with the lx200 classic with only a few considerations. Lx200 classic mount and webcam guiding british astronomical. Some mounts, like the lx200 classic, cannot accept guiding corrections more than once every few seconds. Its a bit top heavy but i have a step to go up and it works. Some software for communicating with palm pilots does exactly the same. Guide scope for lx 200 lx200 series meade 4m community. In this tutorial we will explain how to set up this software using an atik titan camera but the same steps can also be made using other autoguiding cameras. Autoguiding overview you should already have seen this. It appears that, although meades information suggests the software only controls the lx200 autostar and lx200gpsautostar models, it actually works fine with the lx200 classic with only a few considerations.
These software packages give out serial lx200 style commands. A world leader in the manufacturing of telescopes, solar telescopes, microscopes, optics, binoculars, for amateur astronomers and hobbyists. The meade lx200 classic telescope is a great older model telescope that will still serve an amateur astronomer very well, however, being produced in the late 80s and early 90s, its electronics and hand controller leave much to be desired. Using this tool you can refine your mount andor software backlash settings to reduce overcorrection or undercorrection of declination autoguiding movements. I doubt they will work well for the native f6,3 classic lx200. I have read that the nsew pins are reversed so would a qhy5 sort that out. Software and hardware autoguiding issues with the lx200gps. This paper should be considered a work in progress. By using autoguiding software such as phd2 guiding, our computer can communicate with the telescope mount. This text describes a pic microcontroller based lx200 protocol compatible step motor driving system for a german equatorial mount both ra and dec axis. Astrophysics ap series, astroelectronic fs2, losmandy gemini, mel bartels controllers. This allows to connect the meade lx200 operating with rs232 to a usb port, creating a virtual port on your computer thanks to the software supplied. As i have an lx200 10 f10 classic telescope i selected the lx200 interface.
My goals are to hook up the lx200 and be able to control the scope via cable can anyone recomend whats needed to usb port on pc running software. The line is becoming blurred between dslr and mirrorless digital cameras such as those by sony, nikon and canon, and cmos sensors used in dedicated astronomical cameras such as those by zwo and qhy. Lx200 autoguiding emulator for synscan, lx10, lx50, g11 and. This project may be built for non commercial purposes under gpl licence. Autoguiding with guidedog i am always ready to try something new so i tried out to autoguide my wo zs 80 ed ii apo and atk16ic camera with my lx200 and vesta sc3 camera with k3ccdtools as imaging software and guidedog as autoguiding software i used instance 1 of k3ccdtools as imaging instance as usual, but instead of firing up the 2nd instance of. The lx200acf includes all the fieldproven features of the lx200 including gps, primary mirror lock, oversized primary mirror, smartdrive. The authors personal experience is limited to the lx200gps telescope with the orion ed80 as guide scope.
Sirius was imaged using a 10 meade lx200 classic f6. See this link for the lx200 upgrade kit that is now available from us. Autoguiding lx200 the firmament solar system and deep. Solve meade lx200 classic problem solve device problem. For the native f10 classic lx200 they are on the market but expensive. I like the idea of a standalone ag option, but i suppose some of the tech is baked into the newer scopes. It has a ccd port which in the instructions says is for a guid camera but appreciate these are old scopes. Allows connection of a meade 497 autostar or meade audiostar keypad to a pc serial port using meade autostar suite software, available for free download at. Just enable the lx200gps mode option button prior to connecting the autoguiding program and all commands will be processed as an emulated lx200gps pulseguide commands.
Windows 98 or 95 hence wont work with new hardware and software. Meade lx200 classic instruction manual 65 pages 7 maksutovcassegrain telescope 8, 10, and 12 schmidtcassegrain telescopes. The meade lx200 gps and classic are two very different systems. The meade lx200 is a family of commercial telescopes produced by meade instruments launched in 1992 with 8 20. Using large ccd detectors, the classic lx200 is no longer suitable for imaging unless an adapted corrector is used. Imagine the possiblities if your telescope could access the global positioning system.
Any lx200 compatible software with autoguiding support can now connect to the virtual serial port as if it is communicating to a lx200 compatible scope. I own several meade lx200 classic telescopes and i. Sirius at 500 fps with a 10 lx200 defocused in steps. Image taken from location 35 miles inland from cape town. Controlling a meade etx or lx200 with stellarium and stellarium scope software, part 1 duration. To achieve autoguiding without a sbig ccd, you have to buy some. Lx200 make sure no other program using the same com port is active.
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