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SkyBT and Meade LX200 GPS

Dear Simulation Curriculum Team,

the SkyBT Telescope Controllet has arrived. Unfortunately I can`t get a connection to my 14" Meade LX200 GPS Telescope. When I connect my Samsung S7 edge phone using SkySafari 5 Pro I get the following message:

"SkySafari Pro can make a wireless connection to the scope, but the scope is not responding. Make sure the scope is powered on and connected correctly. Also make sure you selected the correct scope type."

When I use Starry Night pro plus at the same telescope port everything works fine. I tried different cables, connectors and also tried out all the different dip switch positions. Do you have any idea what I am doing wrong?

Regards from Germany

Rainer

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16 comments

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    Rainer,

    The common problems with SkyBT are:

    1. Not pairing the SkyBT with your phone.

    2. Using the wrong serial cable.  If you are using the same cable as is working with Starry Night, then that is not the problem.

    3. Not star aligning the mount before trying to connect.

    4. If "Set Time & Location" is ON in the Telescope Setup settings, try turning it off.  I think we have resolved issues with that, but it is worth a try.

     

    When you try to connect, do you see an change in the blinking lights on the SkyBT?  If we are actually taking to the device, you should see a change.

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    You should not mess with the DIP switches.  Have them all pushed towards the red ON/OFF button.

  • 0
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    Thor

    Hi Bill,

    the mount is aligned and the SkyBT is paired with my phone. "Set Time & Location" is turned off. I tried rechargeable batteries as well as external power supply. When I try to connect, the yellow LEDs are blinking 2 - 3 times for a very short time.

    I tried the DIP switches because I had tried everything else before. Now they are all back in their initial position towards the red button.

  • 0
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    Thor

    Last night I tried a different Autostar 2 Handbox. The result was the same...

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    In the LX-200 you plug the serial cable into the mount, not the hand controller.  I don't think the hand controller should have any effect.

    Just to recap:

    1. You have the serial cable running from the SkyBT directly into the mount (not hand controller), right?

    2. This is the exact same cable you used with Starry Night (with the exception that you probably have to use a USB-toSerial adapter with the computer), right?

    3. You definitely have the mount star aligned before trying to connect, right?

    4. You have chosen "Meade LX-200 GPS" as the scope type, right?

     

     

  • 0
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    Thor

    Hi Bill,

    4x yes. I also tried both RS323 plugs at the mount and in addition to "Meade LX-200 GPS" I tried every other scope type aswell. Just in case.

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    Hmmm, I'm running out of ideas.

    When you say the yellow LEDs are blinking for a short time when trying to connect, I just want to make sure you mean the yellow LEDs as opposed to the lime green ones that blink before connecting.  Some people think the lime green color is yellow.

    When using Starry Night Pro, is this from a Windows computer of a Mac.  The Mac version of Starry Night uses the same scope control code as Android.  The Windows version uses ASCOM.

  • 0
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    Thor

    Hi Bill,

    I mean the yellow LED. The green one flashes about two times a second before it is connected to the phone. Afterwards it flashes about one time every two seconds. The yellow one is located between the green one and the red one.

    I use a Win7 prosessional Windows computer via ASCOM.

    This is kind of a deja vu to me since it took ages to get the telescope control running with Starry Night. It finally turned out that the german Autostar 2 Software did not work with that ASCOM driver. When I changed the Autostar to the latest english version everything was fine.

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    OK, then we are definitely talking to the SkyBT.

    I'd like you to capture a scope communication log file.  This is explained in the Help under "Settings Help > Scope Setup Help" (near the bottom of the page).  Perhaps that will tell us why this is failing.

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    Attach the log file to your response here.

  • 0
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    Thor

    Hi Bill,

    for whatever reason I am not able to copy and paste the logfile here. So I copied it in Paint and saved it as a jpg picture. I hope it is of any use for you. Otherwise I can Email it to you.

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    Please email it to "bill at simcur dot com".  You are right that they only seem to allow you to attach images.

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    Thanks for the log files via email.  The commands being sent look correct but we never get a response from the mount.  The log shows that no successful communication is happening at all. 

    So I can think of two possibilities:

    1. There is a slight mismatch in the size of the pins on the SkyBT and the cable you are using.  I have never seen this on a SkyBT but several years ago we had that problem on a SkyFi 2.  But you said you tried different cable's, right?  That would tend to run that out.

    2. The SkyBT could just be defective.  It is pretty rare but we have had 1 or 2 failures right out of the box.  Did you order it from us or one of our retailers?  We can certainly replace it if need be.

    I'm really sorry you are having this problem.  I know it can be very frustrating.

  • 0
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    Thor

    Hi Bill, Thanks for your reply. I use the same cable to connect the scope via Starry Night without any problems. I tried three different cables and two USB to serial adaptors and they all work with Starry Night. The funny thing is that I get the same result if I don`t connect any cable at all.

    Yes, I did my order with you.

    Regards Rainer

  • 0
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    Thor

    Hi Bill, thanks for your reply. I used the same cable that I use to connent my PC to the scope via Starry Night. I tried three different cables and two different USB to serial adaptors which all work with Starry Night.

    The funny thing is I get the same message when the scope isn`t connected at all. To me it looks like the SkyBT seems to be the problem.

    I did my SkyBT order with you.

     

    Regards Rainer

  • 0
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    Jerome Womack

    I had the same connection problem with my LX90, and I finally solved it by trying different telescopes in the SkySafari settings. It finally connected on one of the Meade LXD's. Once it connected I returned the setting back to LX90 and I've never had problems since.

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