thanks for that. will check it out.
meanwhile, i found a null modem emulator that creates virtual com port pairs.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/com0com/
so the software connects to one port, and I can use the serial mon software to monitor what goes over the serial port.
atleast thats the intention.
will post results.
I'm not trying to develop any software, just use the lx200 as the telescope in stellarium or cdc and interface it to the picaxe and drive the steppers by translating lx200 commands to subroutines in the picaxe code.
i'm using a quadrature decoder chip, the htcl-2032, that stores absolute position values from an encoder, upto a 32bit value.
i've also developed a mathematical method of translating that absolute value to a degree, minute second value, so once I interpret move commands from the software, i can translate that to absolute positions that the picaxe can move the stepper to.
there is encoder feedback to the picaxe so it knows where the RA shaft is at (encoder is on RA shaft).