lx200 to The Sky ver4 usb

Roger Hamlett

2008-04-27 20:20:13 UTC

On Sat, 26 Apr 2008 21:46:53 +0100, Andrew Bellamy

Post by Andrew Bellamy
I am trying to connect my new laptop to my LX200. I have an original
10" Lx200 (1998) and The Sky version 4 level 2. This works perfectly
on my old laptop with a serial port. My new laptop only has usb ports
so i have bought a serial port to usb adapter which seems to work ok.I
am connecting using the rs232 port on the lx200 but the software
settings in the Sky software only lists com ports 1-4 and baud rates.
I have tried these but with no success. Has anyone tried to connect
using this version of the software by usb ?.Any idea on settings?.
Andy.

You need to change the Com port number of the USB device, to be in
this range.
By default, USB serial adapters are normally assigned 'high' com port
numbers (above 4). Windows will also not use com port numbers that it
thinks are already (or have been in the past), 'in use' on the system.
On modern systems, things like bluetooth adapters, commonly appear on
the low com port numbers.
Hence you will quite commonly find a USB serial adpater, being given a
number like com15, when the machine has no real com ports...
Now, you need to find one of the low addresses that is not in use
(turn off bluetooth, and anything else using these addresses). If you
still want to use everything that is using these low addresses, use
Device manager, and change the address of one of the low devices, up
to a high port number that is not in use (Control Panel, System,
Hardware, Device Manager, Ports Com&Lpt, Select the device, Port
Settings, Advanced. Then the port this used, though still flagged as
'in use', can be assigned to the USB serial device using the same
route.

Best Wishes