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SkySafari 5 Pro | Skywatcher Synscan EQ5 Connection Fail Using Prolifici USB2Serial But Works With KeySpan USB2Serial (Answer: Get KeySpan!)

I just downloaded Skysafari today as an upgrade from Stellarium. However, Skysafari refuses to connect to the EQ5 mount. I find this strange since Astroplanner and Stellarium both have no issues in connecting and controlling the telescope. I'm using a MacBook Pro, High Sierra (10.13.3), with a Prolific Technology, Inc. USB2Serial converter and serial cable to mount. 

In the communication logs I see that the telescope is responding to the commands issued by Skysafari, but somehow it thinks that the scope is not-responding. Is there a way to dive deeper into how Skysafari communicates?

The Skysafari communication log is as follows:

Sent ASCII at 2018/03/19 00:07:11 with error 0:
V#
Received ASCII at 2018/03/19 00:07:11 with error 0:
032
Sent Binary at 2018/03/19 00:07:11 with error 0:
116 
Received Binary at 2018/03/19 00:07:11 with error 0:
55 48 
Sent ASCII at 2018/03/19 00:07:11 with error 0:
e
Received ASCII at 2018/03/19 00:07:11 with error 0:
5#

 

The Astroplanner log shows:

Logging started at: 18/03/2018 23:41 
App Version: 2.2 
Platform: Mac OS X 
Protocol: Skywatcher: SynScan Go To 
Serial Port: usbserial 
Time Response Action To Scope From Scope From Scope (Hex) Result 
==== ======== ====== ======== ========== ================ ====== 
0,000 Connecting... 
0,018 Serial port "usbserial" opened 
0,035 Check communication... 
0,051 
0,091 Get R.A. e 4EED7100,F6909E00# 34 45 45 44 37 31 30 30 2C 46 36 39 30 39 45 30 30 23 07:23:58 
0,175 Initialise mount... 
0,207 Connected 
0,239 0,006 Set Tracking Enable (T) T{2} # 23 
0,336 0,067 Detect Mount V 03 30 33 
0,384 Detected OK 
1,472 0,099 Get R.A. and Dec (T) e 4EECEF00,F6909C00# 34 45 45 43 45 46 30 30 2C 46 36 39 30 39 43 30 30 23 07:23:57, -13°16'05" 
3,553 0,090 Get R.A. and Dec (T) e 4EECDD00,F6909B00# 34 45 45 43 44 44 30 30 2C 46 36 39 30 39 42 30 30 23 07:23:57, -13°16'05" 
5,661 0,097 Get R.A. and Dec (T) e 4EECC800,F6909A00# 34 45 45 43 43 38 30 30 2C 46 36 39 30 39 41 30 30 23 07:23:57, -13°16'05" 
7,753 0,090 Get R.A. and Dec (T) e 4EED7300,F6909900# 34 45 45 44 37 33 30 30 2C 46 36 39 30 39 39 30 30 23 07:23:58, -13°16'06"

Any suggestions?

Kind regards,

 

Lodewijk

 

Date Votes

18 comments

  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith

    Hi Lodewijk,

    When you say "Skysafari refuses to connect to the EQ5 mount" what do you mean?  Is there an error message, and if so what does it say exactly?

    Also, when you select connection type are you choosing "USBserial"?

    Thanks!

  • 0
    Avatar
    Lodewijk Bonebakker
    The error message provided:
     
    Connection Failure
     
    The scope is not responding.  Make sure it is connected and powered on.  Also check that your scope type is correct.
     
     
    This is indeed though USBserial (just as Stellarium and Astroplanner).
     
    With "SkySafari refuses to connect.." I mean that Astroplanner and Stellarium both work fine, I can see the communication between the telescope and SkySafari in the log, but somehow SkySafari does not interpret this as being connected, hence the remark. 
     
    Could it be that SkySafari expects tighter timings on responses than the other programs?
     
    Kind regards,
     
    Lodewijk
  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith

    Are you choosing "SkyWatcher SynScan" for the Scope Type?

    Did you align the your scope before trying to connect SkySafari?

    Thanks!

  • 0
    Avatar
    Lodewijk Bonebakker

    Indeed I am using the "SkyWatcher SynScan" as Scope Type (I've tried the Orion, Celestron and Meade versions too, but none work).

    The scope is not aligned when I'm trying to test the connection, but the mount is tracking. I'm not sure this makes a difference looking through the communication logs. Both SkySafari and AstroPlanner/Stellarium issue similar commands ('V', 't'), somehow SkySafari is interpreting them differently.

    In the meantime I borrowed a KeySpan USA-19HS USB-Serial adapter to check for any cabling issues and this one connects just fine in the same setup. Unfortunately the KeySpan is no longer for sale (I'm in Europe) and all the other USB-Serial adapters I can find all use the Prolific Technology chip.

    What I can do is provide communication logs for both serial devices (Keyspan and Prolific) following the same steps.

     

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bill Tschumy

    I believe SkyWatcher is one of the scope types that *must* be aligned before yo can connect to it.  Please try a fake alignment before connecting.  The SkyWatcher code has been pretty bullet proof for many years.  I don't think it is an error in the code.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Lodewijk Bonebakker

    Wouldn't the *must* be aligned requirement be disproven by the comparison with the KeySpan?  With the KeySpan I can connect, with the Prolific I can't, but in both cases Stellarium and AstroPlanner do connect.  It's seriously odd...

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bill Tschumy

    Sorry, I was reading to fast and didn't see it worked with KeySpan.

    Are you sure you have installed the drivers for the Prolific device?  We have found the Prolific adapters to be somewhat flaky.  KeySpan has always been our recommended adapter.  I'm surprised to hear it is not for sale in Europe.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Lodewijk Bonebakker

    All the drivers are installed, latest versions. I don't know if the Prolific drivers are flaky or not. What I'm trying to understand is why Stellarium and Astroplanner work without problems through the Prolific device, while SkySafari doesn't. This is why I checked the difference between the KeySpan and Prolific devices. Only SkySafari is having issues...

    The KeySpan adapter is hard to get in Europe, some wholesalers still have it but I haven't found any retailers that still carry the device. The wholesalers don't sell to end-users.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith
    1. You said: "KeySpan USA-19HS USB-Serial adapter to check for any cabling issues and this one connects just fine".  Does this mean it works with SkySafari and allows you to control the scope?  If yes, then the issue is with the Prolific USB.  If not...
    2. Where do you have RS232 plugged into the mount?
    3. You said: "Wouldn't the *must* be aligned requirement be disproven by the comparison with the KeySpan?"  Please just try "fake" aligning the scope so we can eliminate that as a possible origin of the issue.  Say yes to all the alignment questions.  And then try connecting with SkySafari.  Assumptions (however logically) are the bane of tech support.  We test to know for sure.

    Thanks!

     

  • 0
    Avatar
    Lodewijk Bonebakker

    Ad 1. : SkySafari with KeySpan USA-19HS works fine. Stellarium and AstroPlanner also work fine.  AstroPlanner and Stellarium with Prolific work fine, SkySafari with Prolific doesn't...

    Ad 2. The RS232 is connected to the handset, there is only an auto guider or handset port on the mount

    Ad 3. I aligned the scope to make sure, KeySpan+Skysafari works, Prolific with SkySafari doesn't. Stellarium and AstroPlanner work with both KeySpan and Prolific.

     

    The frustration here is that I have no issues with the Prolific driver with AstroPlanner or Stellarium, the only program that gives issues and requires the KeySpan to work is SkySafari. As mentioned, the KeySpan is at this point in time hard to get in the EU (not impossible, but I already have USB2Serial devices from Prolific that generally work just fine).

     

    It is clearly the combination of SkySafari + Prolific that is running into issues....

  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith

    Where did you get the Prolific driver?  It must be compatible with High Sierra (10.13.3).  That is likely the issue here.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Lodewijk Bonebakker

    I downloaded the driver from Prolific itself, it is the latest version, which supports 10.13:

    PL2303_MacOSX_1.6.1_20171018.zip 2017/10/18 1.6.1

    Is there anything I can run by way of test that helps us debug this issue more?  What can we do to zoom into the discrepancy between Stellarium and Astroplanner working with the EQ5 without issues using the Prolific driver while SkySafari thinks the telescope is not connected. Is there a python script or something that I can run to collect additional data?

    I'm quite aware of the bad reputation the Prolific chips have and the great number ('prolific') of fakes, but the USB2Serial cable works with the mount. I can even talk to the mount using 'screen /dev/tty.usbserial 9600' and issue commands to control the mount. 

  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith

    From the website, did you see this:

    NOTE: Mac OS High Sierra 10.13 introduces a new feature that requires user approval before loading new third-party kernel extensions. Go to System Preferences - Security & Privacy and click Allow. 

  • 0
    Avatar
    Lodewijk Bonebakker

    Yes, I did see it. I clicked it. My setup of my laptop+SkyWatcher EQ5 would otherwise not work with Stellarium and Astroplanner. It does not work with SkySafari.

    I have tested this extensively. Borrowed a Keyspan from the local observatory to see the differences. As mentioned before, with the KeySpan USB2Serial, AstroPlanner, Stellarium and SkySafari all work. With the Prolific USB2Serial device, Stellarium, Astroplanner work, Skysafari doesn't.

    Is there something we can do that helps test the differences?  I still have the KeySpan device (no clear nights recently) so I can run things to test the differences between the two SB2Serial devices.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith

    The Prolific driver is dated: 2017/10/18.  And OS X 10.13.1 came out on 2017/10/31.  There has also been the release of 10.13.2 /10.13.3 /10.13.4 with no further update from Prolific.  So, the driver is not necessarily compatible.  You are welcome to troubleshoot the issue further.  But, we don't have any debug scripts for you to run.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS_High_Sierra

  • 0
    Avatar
    Lodewijk Bonebakker

    With all due respect, can we forget about the versioning of the driver. The most recent Keyspan driver is from 2017/09/26. 

    Please zoom into the fact that this mount works fine with the Prolific USB2Serial device under Stellarium and Astroplanner, but not with SkySafari. With the KeySpan device Stellarium, Astroplanner and SkySafari work. 

    So what can we do to better understand this discrepancy? What requirements does SkySafari have of the USB2Serial driver that the Prolific does not meet but are within range of the KeySpan?

     

  • 0
    Avatar
    Keiron Smith

    If you ask the right questions maybe you will get the right answers.  But, the answer, if any, will come from Bill, if he has the time and energy to research this issue.  

    We operate in a world of version numbers.  So, no we do not just forget about them.

    Thanks!  

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bill Tschumy

    It is not clear if we will be able to fix this but we can look into it a bit more.  Can you capture a scope log file (using the option in the Telescope Setup panel)?  If you still have the KeySpan, capture one using that as well.  Please email both to bill@simcur.com.

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