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Must I Get The Meade #497 Hand Controller In Order To Control My Meade ETX-60 With SkySafari + SkyWire On iOS? (Answer: Yes)

I have a Meade ETX-60, and it currently has the Meade #494 controller. I want to purchase the SkyWire Lightning Serial Accessory so that I can control the telescope from my iPhone and/or iPad using SkySafari 6 AR. The info page for SkyWire says that the #494 doesn't have a serial port to connect to SkyWire, and so I need to buy the #497 controller to replace the #494. However, my ETX-60 has an "AUX" port, and Meade has a #506 "AUX to Serial" connector cable kit. So my question is, is the #506 "AUX to Serial" cable ($40) sufficient to work with SkyWire's serial connector, or do I HAVE to get the #497 controller ($160) for SkyWire to work? Both of them are discontinued / hard to find.

8 comments

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    Keiron Smith

    Hi Nicholas, 

    You must get the #497 hand controller because the it has a star database in the hand controller.

    Thanks!

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    Nicholas Williams

    The #494 controller also has a star database in the hand controller. I can spend 15 minutes browsing through objects on the controller, select one, and it will go find it in the sky. It couldn't do that without a star database in the hand controller. 

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    Keiron Smith

    The #494 does not have the right kind of database.  The #497 has the numerical keypad, 0-9, and being able to input the those command prompts is necessary.

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    Nicholas Williams

    Okay. That makes sense I suppose. I'm not familiar with the #497 controller ... Does it have a serial port built into it, or do I ALSO need to buy the #505 Cable Connector Kit (RS-232) that's designed for the #497? I'm guessing I ALSO need to buy the #505, since I don't know why the #505 would even exist if the #497 had a serial port built into it.

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    Nicholas Williams

    Okay, I think I understand now. The #494 and #497 both communicate with the motorized base over a 6P6C (RJ-25) serial connector. The motorized base has an AUX port that is a 4P4C (RJ-22) serial connector. The #497 controller (only) also has its own AUX port that is 6P4C (RJ-11) serial connector. The #505 Cable Connector Kit includes 4- and 6-pin cables and a 6-pin-to-RS-232 adapter. So I need both the #497 and the #505, because the SkyWire is expecting RS-232.

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    Keiron Smith

    Sorry, Nicholas, you need to contact Meade to get the correct answer here.  I believe that the #497 hand controller port is all that you need, along with a Meade-specific serial to RS232 cable.

    SkySafari 6 Plus/Pro > SkyWire > Meade-specific Serial to RS232 port > #497 Hand Controller port.

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    Nicholas Williams

    "along with a Meade-specific serial to RS232 cable."

     

    Yes, that's what the #505 Cable Connector Kit is. It's the converter that goes from Meade's 6P4C cable to RS-232.

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    Keiron Smith

    Excellent, Nicholas!  Enjoy!

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