Wireless Serial Cable replacements

[pmrid]

Has anyone been able to get one of these devices to work? In an EQMOD setup, getting rid of another cable by using a Bluetooth serial RS-232 replacement seemed like a terrific idea. So I rushed out and bought an AIRCable from the States. My old Dell desktop that I use in the Obs didn't have Bluetooth built in so I bought a Targus Bluetooth dongle that came with the latest Widcomm drivers. All good and well. Fired up the AIRCable and it was recognised by the desktop, and seemed happy enogh - until I actually tried to establish a link with the device. I get the message on the desktop saying it was unabl to establish a connection.
Email to the manufacturer produced a single-sentence kiss-ff "REad the Manual".
So, I turned to the ever-trusty EBay and bought a dongle from Hong Kong for a third of the price of the US one. It installed, was revognised and a connection made well enough but I can't get EQMOD to link with it.
I have no doubt that it is something depressingly simple and obvious that I'm missing. But it looks like I need someone to point it out to me all the same.

Peter

[mswhin63]

Did you buy 2 x AIRCable serial3's or only 1.

[pmrid]

Only 1. The blurb said that you can pair it up with a standard Bluetooth dongle in what they call a Service-Slave relationship. If you want to couple two identical devices, you use the Cable-Slave/Cable-master settings.
it's the same with the Hong Kong device. The only difference with the HK one is that I have not found a way to enable or disable Hardware handshaking. otherwise they seem functionally the same.
Peter

[mswhin63]

I am ot sure if I had time to look at it but it seems that standard serial connections for cable replacement requires 2 units.

Whereas astronomy gear may require programming. I must admit there is not a lot of infomration I can use in the web, the application data suggests 2 units for serial cable replacement. Astronomy mounts seem to suggest a single program http://www.astromist.com/

That is the best i can do.

[ozstockman]

Peter is right. You don't need to have 2x adapters to get aircable bluetooth serial adapter working. It should be able to establish a serial link over bluetooth with any bluetooth enabled device.

Peter, are you still having problems with the aircable adapter? I have just seen your other thread about it. If you are I can try to help you with connecting to it through Hyper terminal, switching it to slave mode. I can also try to hook it with your PC where you have EQMOD installed. Send me a PM if you still need help with it.


I am the first I guess who started it doing it with aircable adapters and EQMOD so I kinda feel responsible if it doesn't work for anyone who has followed me.

cheers,

Mike

[pmrid]

Hi Mike. It's good that you acknowledge paternity like this. ;)
I have put the thing away because I couldn't get it to work. Since then, I've also put EQMOD away because it started going quite contrary on me.
I confess to having gone back to the dreaded handpad.
BUT, I can be seduced back to the dark side again.:D
I've re-aligned the EQ6 on its pier and it should now be really spot on. And I have a new ED127 APO on the mount as well so I'm ready to have another crack at it. I have to admit that when I had EQMOD working, it was terrific. GoTo's were spot on and tracking also.

I'll come back to this thread when I have it set up and ready to roll. Perhaps then, you may be able to help me with the serial dongle as well as any EQMOD issues that are still there.

Thanks mate.

Peter

[pmrid]

Hi Mike,
I've been exchanging some emails with a guy named Ken Follard in the States about a device he makes called a BluEQ. Have you heard of it?
He describes it as replacing both the hand controller of the EQ6 as well as the EQDIR from Shoestring Astronomy and the serial cable from the PC. It requires no batteries or external power and takes all it needs from the mount. It's Bluetooth based, as the name suggests, and does the job of the EQDIR and serial replacement dongle in one and instead of sticking out the side of the mount, has a short cable to a small black box (no lights or switches) so the risk of bumping and breaking off the existing devices is also eliminated. I've ordered one (he said he had 2 on hand) at US$149 plus post. It's not too bad really with the A$ at US$0.93.5.
Peter

[gbeal]

Peter,
been watching this with interest. The item you suggest isn't similar to this is it? I am waiting for one for my system. http://www.carinasoft.com/products/skyvoyager/telescope_control.html
Regards,
Gary

[lacad01]

Gary, from my reading of the SkyFi product it's a Wifi to serial adaptor so I'd assume you would still need the EQDIR dongle between the mount and SkyFi unit (if it's an EQ mount) or it could be attached to the serial port on the handpad. The item in Peter's post appears to be an all in one Bluetooth-to-serial/rs232-to-TTL signal converter thus eliminating the need for a separate EQDIR dongle.
I've been following these EQMOD threads as well as I've recently hooked up my mount using EQMOD but via the handpad and it's working like a charm. Am waiting for EQDIR dongle from Shoestring and have been tossing up the idea of going Bluetooth serial but the pricing of adaptors is a bit prohibitive unless I go for a Chinese eBay one.

[pmrid]

Be wary of the EBay ones. I was frustrated at not being able to get the AirCable working so I went to EBay and bought a $50 one. Trouble is that there is no way in the settings to control the handshaking in the setup for the serial port so I wasn't able to get it to talk to the mount either. That's why I kept looking. I have an Ipod Touch with the Carina software on it but becuse I am into imaging rather than visual, I need a serious computer in the observatory already so the Carina device would be just another computer to control. Their system would be great for someone into visual observing though.

It'll take a couple of weeks for the BluEQ to get here but in the meanwhile the guy who makes them is in these forums under the name KenFoland. Send him a PM and have a chat to him. He's a disabled vet who makes these things to keep himself active and engaged.

Peter

[lacad01]

Thanks Peter will definitely keep that in mind.

[KenFoland]

Peter,
Thanks for all of the kind words. I am glad that the BluEQ will fulfill your needs.
KenFoland

[pvelez]

Ken

can you please post the URL for your website. I'm interested in this concept as well

Pete