Celestron Nexstar 11 GPS owners

[bloodhound31]

Does anyone know which one of the ports I can use on the back of my laptop, to upload updates into the PC port of the Telescope? I know there is a RS232 cable available through Celestron, but it looks different to the ports on the back of my laptop.
Here's three pics of the only ports available on the back of my laptop.

HEEEELLLLLLPPPPPP!!!!

Baz.

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

You need a Serial to USB adapter to go into the USB ports on the back, that Blue one with the 15 holes in it is for an external Monitor.

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

The 1394 one is Firewire I am lead to believe.

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

looks like this http://www.gpsoz.com.au/usb.htm

[bloodhound31]

Thank you very much Astroman! Most helpful! I have a connector for the telescope end, the four wire data cable on it, bare wires on the other end, and an old web cam with a usb plug on the end. Do u think a cut/join/solder would suffice?

Baz.

[netwolf]

you can not cut and paste the cable as such. you will need to purchase a usb serial port adapter. The adapter converts the signal from RS232 to USB format. I have seen quiet a few cheap ones for about 20-30$ at the computer markets around Syndey.

Staticice.com.au is a good search engine for finding cheaper computer parts.

http://staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/sear...b+serial+port+

[g__day (Matthew)]

Either that or you buy some length of 4 pin cable (its like 30 cents a metre) and at one end you attach (by crimping) a 4 pin connector (DB9 head that will go into your hand controller - they cost about 15 cents each) and to the other you attach a 8 pin connector - basically looks like the end of a standard blue lan cable - they cost about 18 cents each) run the four wires to the centre of the 8 pin plug as per the manual.

You also need a crimping tool - they look like pliers buy you can seat any of the clear plastic 4, 6, 8 or 10 pin connectors into thier specific heads into the crimper and when you close them hard they push the wire onto the connectors leads. At around $49 crimping tools aren't cheap - borrow a friends if you can). A $10 multimeter is recommended to check your wiring is fine and lastly you need a 8 pin to serial port convertor (they are about $6 at Jaycar) you just have to know which 3 of the four coloured wires you need to plug into the serial convertors holes (pins 2, 3 and 5 from memory) and you push those colour coded wires into the appropriate holes).

Reading the online instructions and testing it with a multimeter it took me an hour and $70 to make my first 15 metre cable and serial convertor and $10 and 5 minutes to make my second and third and a minute to make the second serial convertor. Its a skill and equipment worth having.

I've done it for a Celestron CG5 mount and I'd expect its the exact same set up for the Nexstar 11 hand controller. The 4 pin connector goes into the bottom of your hand controller, the 8 pin goes into your serial convertor straight into your serial port.

As well as flashing your hand controller you can use Nexstar software to run your mount from a PC.

[bloodhound31]

Aha!!!! I have just found out that the cable in question is NOT the celestron serial cable with the 9pin serial to 4pin phone connector!

It is the celestron PROGRAMMING cable with the 9pin serial to 8pin phone connector.

It plugs into the pc port of the telescope, not the hand control port in the fork arm. Why they complicate these things is beyond my comprehension. As if these scopes arent complicated enough!!

Maybe I should have spent those big dollars on a simpler scope with twice the aperture!!!

[g__day (Matthew)]

Well done,

I've found documentation with these scopes to be very limited. For instance nowhere in the set-up procedure manual do they tell you the clock doesn't start until you finish entering the date 4 screens alter.

Nowhere do they tell you with a equatorial goto mount that only the goto - not the tracking (RA + Dec motors), corrects for your cone (polar alignment) errors. Why after a 3 star align when they know all your pointing errors they don't fix it I don't know.

Finally if you want to align to adjust said error - it forces you do do it on the faintest, most undistinguished star in the night sky - Polar Australias in Sigma Octans, rather than any really bright star at all - which seems the dumbest of the lot to me. They know your pointing error but won't slew to say Antares, then after say 20 seconds slew past it to show your pointing errors, and allow you to manually correct both axes on said really bight star.

Daft!

[bloodhound31]

Yes I must admit that I am a very disapointed and unhappy customer of Celestron. The thing cost me nearly ten grand less than five years ago and it is a piece of electronic garbage! Unfortunately I have spent the money on it, cant sell it because of its many problems so I need now to spend more money on it to correct the problems.

The clutch drive on azimuth now groans and slips when it is mounted on the wedge, a problem I had fixed 3 years ago and was told would not happen again.

The thing is a bugger to collimate and keep collimated.

The manual and the hand controller functions and menu's do not match up either.

Its pointing accuracy is pathetic.

Celestron support is terrible.

And now, I find out that I have to sent the scope up to the only authorised repair agent in aus, in QLD, to get its guts ripped out and replaced with updated hardware. This thing isnt even 5 years old and has been out in the field less than two dozen times!

The thing needs all kind of accessories to keep it updated via downloadable updates, that should really be includes in the box on purchase. Whats a 20 dollar programming serial cable when you just paid ten grand!!?

GRRRRRRRRR

I could go on and on. I hear you all saying, "Please dont".

[Rigel003 (Graeme)]

Sorry to hear about your frustrations. I also have a nexstar 11 which I paid top dollar for a few years back when the AU$ was riding low. By contrast I've been happy with it and have constantly taken it out to dark sky sites. I use it exclusively in altaz and appreciate the ergonomic design & ease and speed of set up - unloading from the car, assembling and alignment routine takes 10 mins max. Goto is pretty good - always in the field of a 150x eyepiece, and I've found Steven Boyle at Extravision to be supportive & helpful. Hope you can sort out your problems.

[casstony]

If it's going to cost a lot to transport and repair the N11 GPS, have you given any thought to putting the OTA on an EQ6 instead?

Tony