G'day all, I am looking at buying a notebook to connect to my Meade lx200 classic 12 inch.
Could you please let me know the do's and don't's of what not to buy and what I need in being able to connect it to the scope. I would like to be able to view what i am observing from notebook and also control it from the notebook and capture all my pictures onto it also. At first it will mainly be just to connect to it and use it as a goto with a program of starry nights
I don't have the scope you have but as a general rule you don't need a powerful computer. Things that are useful however and that are becoming rare on new computers are dedicated serial and parallel ports. Many of the older scopes use serial connections and parallel ports are used on modified webcams and older CCD cameras. Also using the notebook outside in the cold and dew is'nt great for expensive new laptops. I have had the hinges freeze up on my first expensive laptop and eventially the hinge broke off.
You can use usb to serial converters etc but these seem to be problematic sometime. I got my laptop from these people with win2000 and a parallel port (that I needed for my CCD).
I'm sure there are other choices also.
Normally i dont push these things but to look at this deal from aldi. scope control and being able to process your images and such - it is bang for buck!!
17" Premium Design MD96420 Notebook - High Performance Entertainment
ea $ 1499 *
Intel® Core™2 Duo processor T5450 1.66 GHz,
512MB NVidia® GeForce® 8600M GS Graphics Card
Huge 250 GB hard disk for up-to 50,000 digital photos or 50,000 MP3 music tracks (4MB each) or up to 170 hours TV recording (at 20MB/min.)
17" TFT WXGA Widescreen Display, 16:10 cinema format, 1440 x 900 pixels
Wireless LAN IEEE 802.11 n-Draft with up to 300Mbit/s, b/g compatible
Massive 3 GB memory
Express Card DVB-T TV-Tuner incl. RF remote control (depending on whether you can receive a DVB-T signal at your location)
Bluetooth® 2.0
DVI & HDMI Digital AUDIO/VIDEO out
Integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam with microphone
8x Multi-Standard DVD/CD Writer
6-channel audio out (analogue + S/P-DIF ) only with external speaker set (not included)
4 in 1 Memory Card Reader
2 Multimedia Speakers + subwoofer
Fast Ethernet 10/100 Mbit/s onboard
V.90 Modem incl. modem connection cable
Dedicated numeric keypad
Comprehensive Software Package*
OEM versions preinstalled and/or on CD/DVD
Windows Vista® Home Premium
Microsoft® Works 9
Accessories Included
Express Card DVB-T TV Tuner, DVB-T Antenna, Remote Control, AC Adapter, DVI Adapter, Notebook Carry Bag, USB Scroll Mouse, Li-Ion Battery
Connectivity
4 in 1 Memory Card Reader for SD, MMC, MS & MS PRO, 1x Express Card Slot 54, 4x USB 2.0, 1x DVI out, 1x network (RJ45), 1x Modem (RJ11), 1x HDMI, 1x Microphone**/line in**, 1x line out**, 6-channel audio out (analogue + S/P-DIF)**
**(these connections will only be active if specific software supports them)
†If for any reason your purchase proves to be unsuitable, return it as good as new with all the packaging, accessories, instruction booklet and proof of purchase to your nearest ALDI store for a full refund within 60 days from date of purchase.
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G'day all, I am looking at buying a notebook to connect to my Meade lx200 classic 12 inch.
Could you please let me know the do's and don't's of what not to buy and what I need in being able to connect it to the scope. I would like to be able to view what i am observing from notebook and also control it from the notebook and capture all my pictures onto it also. At first it will mainly be just to connect to it and use it as a goto with a program of starry nights
thanks in advance.
Harvey Norman, Officeworks have some good prices on laptops (new) that can be used for telescope control. The USB/Serial converter that I use has never caused a problem. Camera control / autoguiding can also be done with USB ports instead of dedicated serial ones. The problem with a new computer will be Vista - make sure all the drivers you need to use for telescope control, guiding, camera are up to date and Vista compatible.
I have had problems with StarryNight and Vista, but Rob (CoombellKid) has suggestions for overcoming these.
If it's only for telescope control and imaging, get yourself an OLD secondhand laptop. They will have REAL serial and parallel ports, will generally run XP. Depends on how deep your pockets are.
Downsides are that you might struggle with things like firewire availability, and be limited to USB 1.1 speeds onboard. You can get decent USB2.0 and firewire combo PCMCIA cards though to overcome this. This is a damn sight easier than trying to get a proper parallel port, and the whole USB<->serial converter issue is russian roulette (I killed my firmware on my LX200GPS doing this with a USB<->Serial converter, and had to dig up an old laptop in order to reload the firmware properly).
Main advantages are that (a) they're cheap (maybe a few hundred bucks off ebay or some of the notebook stores), (b) you won't worry too much about them being outside and getting damaged.
Main disadvantage outside the above-mentioned items is that batteries for them will normally be hard to find/won't hold a charge. You might be limited using them with AC power, or need to get the innards of the battery replaced (there are places that do this) so they hold a charge for a while.
The only other things to watch out for are:-
- small hard drives (20Gig was BIG back then) - won't hold much in the way of planetary AVIs, and the drives were slow.
- CPU grunt might be a problem if you have a lot going on (ie guiding with a webcam and trying to do something else at the same time)
- Can't really use them for processing images either - they were normally VERY limited in memory (my old laptop maxed out at 192Mb)
In the end, I got a laptop about 2 years ago, but it was nearly impossible to get something reasonably fast and still have a PCMCIA slot (nowdays they appear to have been replaced with ExpressCard slots and good luck trying to find a proper parallel port for that yet)
Amusingly yesterday I discovered that my current laptop has a real serial port. I'd gotten so used to using a USB to serial converter that I never noticed the port when I made the switch over a year ago!
It is a Dell D620. I'm not certain what other laptops Dell makes that don't need a docking station for serial. I know my D610 had parallel but needed a dock for serial.
Apparently some stores still have a few stocks left, mainly the $498 version. Which is still a very good performer and a whole lot more power packed than something like the ASUS EeePc.
Phoning around some stores may find you one of these little gems.
Edit:
forgot to say baring that MSY is about the cheapest place for Laptops.
And... if your scope needs a RS232 port (serial port) then maybe a lappy that has one...which is probably not easy to find a Lappy with one these days. In any case you can use a RS232 to USB converter. I'm using one from Jaycar and it works fine.
Last edited by wasyoungonce; 20-03-2008 at 06:31 PM.
