GPS unit for losmandy

[telecasterguru]

Am thinking of getting a GPS unit for my G11 as I want to take it to dark places.

Any one have any information about them or where they are available and how much?

Are they easy to set up and use?

Thanks

Frank

[DavidU]

Here. 3/4 down the page.
http://www.telescopes-astronomy.com.au/losmandy-mount-telescope-astronomical-dovetail-pricelist.htm

[multiweb]

I'd get one for the car if I were you. Or use it if you've already got one. Rather than getting a dedicated one for the mount.

[telecasterguru]

David,

Thanks for the link.

Marc,

How would you use a car GPS? I don't have one so would it connect to the mount or would I just get the data off it and program it into the mount?

Thanks

Frank

[el_draco]

Been thinking about it myself. The unit is plug and play. Some Garmin handhelds can be directly plugged in but they need the appropriate adaptor. Gemini detects it, uploads the data and then away you go.

I have a Magellan handheld for bushwalking which is not compatible but I just have to stand next to the controller and type in the info. Is spending a couple of hundred bucks worth the conveinience? Dunno. I'd need to do a lt of remote work for that I guess. :shrug:

[multiweb]

Absolutely. All you need to do is enter the lat and lng in you Gemini when you boot and you're done. You can even program the different locations into the GCC. I mean how many different locations are you going to image from. We're not talking 100s here. Same $200.00 IMHO and spend it somewhere else.

[telecasterguru]

Thanks Marc. Sound advice as usual.

Frank

[Octane]

Was going to get a StarGPS, but the iPhone provides latitude, longitude and has an inclinometer as well as compass with both true and magnetic north. I have been pretty much dead on except once!

H

[telecasterguru]

H,

I have an Itouch, will it do the same thing?

[mithrandir]

You remove all those potentials for transcription error. "Ooops I meant S not N."

About 60 secs after I've powered my mount up it knows where it is to within a few metres and what the UTC time is to within a second. Faster if it has not been off for more than a few hours or moved a significant distance.

I have another three GPS units. A Magellan in the car. A Globalstar Compact Flash in one of the iPaqs. A DG-100 for geotagging photos.

I'm a firm believer in using the right tool for the job.

[multiweb]

:thumbsup: I'm not that acurate. One I've plonked the mount in the grass, levelled it as best as I could and roughly polar aligned I think the errors I've introduced overwhelm any discrepencies there might be in my physical location. ;)

[mithrandir]

:lol: I didn't say it would do the leveling or the polar align. If it did that it would be absolutely the coolest thing.

Are you suggesting in the process of plonking, etc you've moved it so far the coords you got off the GPS are wrong? Even with SA off GPS accuracy is only a few metres. DGPS, WAAS or averaging improves that a bit. (Google Earth opinion and my WAAS location in the back yard are within 50cm.) With SA on and without a DGPS it is more like 50-100 metres.

If you were to say I can be obsessive, you would not be the first. :P

[multiweb]

Not at all. I don't think you're obsessive. :) You're right it's very convenient to just power up and have all this automated vs. having to do manual input. At $200.00 for me it is a bit steep. That's all I was saying. On occasions I have forgot to re-enter the location between Ilford and Sydney and it didn't make that much of a difference, a little on the GOTO maybe but not guiding. That's what prompted me to say that the location is less important than the alignment. In my experience anyway. :shrug:

[Dooghan]

Is it just a serial connection between the GPS and G11? If so the Garmin Etrex H (yellow one) is only about $130 and still has a serial connection. You can get then from Dick Smith or boating stores.

[allan gould]

I have the stargps for losmandy. Works perfectly and it's worth the money for the convenience despite what others say.

[Exfso]

I second what Allan says, I also have the Star GPS on my Gemini Equipped G11, it works a treat, no punching in lat an long, the gemini picks it up directly on bootup, great in my opinion. Here is the page for Star GPS with all the prices.

http://www.stargps.ca/index.html

[wasyoungonce]

OEM Garmin GPS from Ryda (http://www.ryda.com.au/Garmin-GPS-18-GPS-Receiver-Bare-Wired-p/gps18lvc.htm?Click=21519) for $92 Aust.

Just make up the appropriate cables for it to get pwr (from Gemini) & plug into the Gemini. Or just get the Serial version.

I guess (with this version receiver...the LVC) you could even make a serial connector adaptor for it was well & use it on a computer serial port as well.

Or even cheaper...Ebay. (http://cgi.ebay.com/Garmin-GPS-18-LVC-OEM-Series-GPS18LVC_W0QQitemZ180426947025QQcmd ZViewItemQQptZGPS_Devices?hash=item 2a0248b9d1) $USD though.

[el_draco]

Dead right. You can get them cheaper on eBay but why? If you have a GPS in car or handheld, like me, or can access a Google map reference, you'll get plenty accurate as it is.:shrug:

[mithrandir]

Finally someone selling an LVC in Australia for a sane price. The US shops are not allowed to export them.

I can have my own stratum 1 NTP server in a couple of weeks.

uber :cool:

[ejcruz]

I've been playing with EQMod and purchased a Globalsat BU-353 GPS which connects to my laptop through USB it intergrates nicely with EQMod, total costs including freight A$95.50 from WA to Sydney. It comes with drivers and software which allows you to run the software on your laptop without connecting to your mount to get your LAT, LONG, and atomic time. The software has a nice function to sync the atomic time to your laptop time. EQMod does not require Globalsat software. Here's a link to the product: http://www.octapc.com.au/prod3799.htm

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Eddie

[tlgerdes]

The iTouch doesnt appear to have a GPS, but does your phone?

I use my Blackberry to give me GPS co-ords and then type that into GCC as a new location rather than use the handcontroller.

My PC gives me pretty accurate time as it NTP syncs every day when at home. So no need for a full time GPS for me.