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SkySafari Pro + SkyFi 3 + LX200 Classic With Meade Audiostar Hand Controller Upgrade

I have an LX200 Classic which has a 3rd party upgrade to support Meade Audiostar control.  The telescope type set in Audiostar is now "LX200astar".
 
I have successfully connected and can control the scope as follows:
  • Physical connection - My Audiostar handset is connected to the SkyFi 3 with a Meade #505 serial cable. SkyFi is on firmware version 1.3.3
  • Audiostar handset - I have the telescope model set to the default LX200astar
  • SkySafari 5 Pro - I have the scope type set to Meade LX200 Classic
 
My questions are:
 
1. Should I set the scope type in SkySafari as above (the scope is really no longer an LX200) or should I be using some other Meade scope type that supports Audiostar?
 
2. Since everything appears to be working, perhaps the same driver in SkySafari supports multiple scope types?
 
3. If I continue to use the LX200 Classic in SkySafari are there options/features which I am missing out on?
 
Clarence
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3 comments

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    Clarence,

    I'm not really familiar with this 3rd party upgrade and what you should expect.  We only use a pretty small subset of all the features available in the LX-200 or AudioStar command set.  I doubt you would be missing any features when controlling the scope from SkySafari.

    Was just the hand controller updated or did they update the internals of the mount?

    You might ask the 3rd party what scope type should now be used to control the scope from an external program.  However, if it seems to be working then you probably have it set correctly.

  • 0
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    Clarence Holmes

    Bill,

    Thanks for the response.  The upgrade (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/LX200Autostar/info) consists of replacing all the internal circuit boards with one upgraded board that supports the Autostar/Audiostar handset.  The 3rd party has not used SkySafari and SkyFi, but suggests that the telescope type should be set to ETX or LX90 since those scopes support Autostar, whereas the LX200 classic does not.

    My current thinking is to continue with what is working, but also do some testing with the other scope types when I can.

    Clarence

     

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    Try them both and see if you notice any difference.  It can't hurt anything.

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