Connecting my laptop to Celestron 6se - issues

[spathira (Sumith)]

I have been trying to connect my laptop to 6SE using a usb serial rs232 converter cable. I always get "unable to communicate with the telescope".

The port I have for the serial cable is 17 but I do not see that on nexstar menu. So I cannot correctly identify the HC. The ports I have on the computer are com13, com15, com16 and com17. pl. see the attached screen dump.
pl. help.
Sumith

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

Which serial/ usb adaptor are you using?
On my Keyspan adaptor you can change the Comm port to suit...ie switch from comm 15 to say comm 2 or 3.

[spathira (Sumith)]

Hi,
It is called newlink usb serial adaptor ordered through online. Some info are below. I just noticed that its usb 1.1 version compliant. I am not sure whether it makes any difference. I can't change the usb port in there.

"How to find a lightest way to contact your PDA to the USB port on your PC? USB Serial Converter operates as a bridge between one USB port and standard RS-232 Serial port. You just easily hook the cable into PC or Hub’s port, and it can connect any RS-232 devices, such as PDA, scanner, printer…etc.
Features

Compliant with the USB 1.1 version specification

Supports RS-232 serial Interface

Supports 500 kbps data transfer rate

USB suspend condition

Plug & Play compatible

USB host device drivers available

Draws its power from USB connection – no extra power adapter required

Supports Windows 2000, XP, Vista 32/64-bit , Windows 7 and Mac10.x"

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

In the Device manager (under XP) you should see the adaptor, click on properties and see if there's a tab which allows you to change the comms....

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

First read http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315539 to start device management with everything displayable.

Unplug your newlink cable.

As in your screenshot, open the "View" menu and turn on "Show hidden devices".

You will probably find a stack of other COMxx reservations for devices you are not using. Delete the one for COM17 and some you aren't using.

Under "Action" run "Scan for hardware changes".

Plug the cable back in and let the device get readded. With a bit of luck you'll get a COMxx less than 17 and the Nexstar will find it.

[spathira (Sumith)]

Thanks to Andrew and Ken for your suggestions. Just today I managed to connect my laptop - nextremote and telescope control through stellarium. The main problem was specifying the correct com port number. It should be a small number - less than 6. I always had 18 or 19. I disable my bluetooth ports and ran the usb serial driver again to get a lower number. They all worked fine and I need to test this outside. If anyone needs any help I can tell you what I did in detail.

I could not have done this without your help because I could not find the instructions written anywhere.

best
Sumith

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by spathira

Thanks to Andrew and Ken for your suggestions. Just today I managed to connect my laptop - nextremote and telescope control through stellarium. The main problem was specifying the correct com port number. It should be a small number - less than 6. I always had 18 or 19. I disable my bluetooth ports and ran the usb serial driver again to get a lower number.

You should be able to readd the Bluetooth ports. Just do it while you have the USB-serial cable plugged in.