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what I read the dongle converters dont work to well
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Some do some dont. Just for basic scope control via planetariums, most USB to Serial converters shld work. I know Belkin brand units have a bad reputation with Meades, but thats mostly in download mode.
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Isnt it time this gear came out of the stone age, or is there a valid reason
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One thing i like is that you aren't as limited by distance,
and RS232 "just works", you dont need specialised drivers for each item.
Also, handling RS232 serial in the scope end is much simpler than handling USB,hence manufacturers just keep it simple
I dont know about the other scopes, but Meades all use Motorola 68HC
cpus. To go USB, they would have to redesign the whole setup and hence start running two streams of hardware/firmware, to keep backwards compatability.
Integrated Ethernet comms would probably be nicer than USB too
Andrew