Hi Jakob,
Thanks for the post.
Firstly thanks to Barry on the follow-up.
One of the features of Argo Navis is that one can select from a variety of
telescope protocol emulations to run on either of the independent Argo
Navis serial ports.
Using the MODE SETUP, SETUP SERIAL menus, one can select a serial
port and assign a communications rate to that port (i.e. BAUD rate). The Baud rate
should match that selected on the planetarium program on the PC. One can also select
what we refer to as a STARTUP command, which is a telescope protocol
emulation.
For example, one of the telescope protocols that Argo Navis provides is an emulation of
the Meade LX200 protocol. Since just about all known planetarium programs
provide support for Meade protocol, Argo Navis can be interfaced to all known
planetarium programs.
A quick look shows that at least some Eee PC's come equipped with USB ports.
By using an USB Serial Adapter with an appropriate Linux driver, one should
be able to obtain a serial RS-232 interface. The Keyspan USA-19HS USB Serial
Adapter comes with a Linux driver but one would need to carefully check whether
the Eee PC Linux kernel is configured to accept a loadable driver.
By the way, the ASCOM interface will be of no use on a Linux platform as it
is highly dependent on features in the Windows OS.
However, as mentioned, if Stellarium supports Meade protocol, then there
is no need for ASCOM.
I've never run Stellarium and certainly never on an Eee PC. However, I have just
downloaded a copy of Stellarium onto a Linux machine here and I will have a
look at it for you some time during the day when time permits. Stellarium requires
a software graphics layer called OpenGL and again one would need to check
whether the Eee PC as configured comes with OpenGL support or if there is
an option to load it.
Are you in possession of the Eee PC as yet or is this something you are simply
considering?
Almost certainly when the other technical matters mentioned above are considered,
a 1GB memory space would be more than enough to run an application such as this
under Linux.
Best Regards
Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Phone +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au