You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar

Telescope Specific Forums >> Meade ACF/RCX / LX / GPS Previous   Index   Next   Threaded

Pages: 1 James Cunningham Carpal Tunnel Reged: 08/07/10 Loc: Maryland Alignmaster with Meade classic Ascom       #5362949 - 08/11/12 07:47 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Anyone using Alignmaster with their classic Lx200 Ascom drivers. I have an Lxd mount and I cannot get Alignmaster to recognize my Ascom drivers. If anyone else had this problem, how did you solve it? Thanks. Jim Post Extras:       MikeCMP super member Reged: 07/12/11 Loc: Chardon OH Re: Alignmaster with Meade classic Ascom [Re: James Cunningham]       #5363007 - 08/11/12 09:05 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   If you are using a USB to serial adapter, double check you are using the correct com port. The align aster error message is kinda vague, at least in 1.7. If you plug the USB to serial adapter in a different USB port it will often switch com port numbers on you. Just go into the device manager to see the com port number. Then in align master, you will click setup for the ascot driver, and select that same com port. Hope that helps, Mike Post Extras:       James Cunningham Carpal Tunnel Reged: 08/07/10 Loc: Maryland Re: Alignmaster with Meade classic Ascom [Re: MikeCMP]       #5363025 - 08/11/12 09:16 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I cannot even get to the screen to put the com port in. I have the Meade classic Ascom driver and it shows up in telescpe chooser but when I hit properties, I get a big whit error mesage saying that it cannot load the Meade EX driver. I have reinstalled the driver several times but it makes no difference. Post Extras:       MikeCMP super member Reged: 07/12/11 Loc: Chardon OH Re: Alignmaster with Meade classic Ascom [Re: James Cunningham]       #5363246 - 08/11/12 12:01 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   You have the ascom platform installed right? Mike Post Extras:       James Cunningham Carpal Tunnel Reged: 08/07/10 Loc: Maryland Re: Alignmaster with Meade classic Ascom [Re: MikeCMP]       #5363248 - 08/11/12 12:03 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Yes, platform 6 is installed. I can connect through Astro Planner, the Autostar Suite and Stellarium. Post Extras:       budman1961 scholastic sledgehammer Reged: 02/25/11 Loc: Springfield, MO Re: Alignmaster with Meade classic Ascom [Re: James Cunningham]       #5363804 - 08/11/12 07:22 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I used Alignmaster last night, for the first time with my LX200 Classic. I select Meade Classic and Autostar 1 ASCOM as my scope choice. I generally use POTH, so that I can attach other devices to ascom also. I hope this helps. Andy Post Extras:       James Cunningham Carpal Tunnel Reged: 08/07/10 Loc: Maryland Re: Alignmaster with Meade classic Ascom [Re: budman1961]       #5363813 - 08/11/12 07:28 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   So you can use either Poth or Meade to connect? Post Extras:       James Cunningham Carpal Tunnel Reged: 08/07/10 Loc: Maryland Re: Alignmaster with Meade classic Ascom [Re: James Cunningham]       #5363856 - 08/11/12 08:13 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I just reinstalled Ascom 6 and the Meade driver and now it works! My Ascom 6 must have been corrupted. I might even try Poth. Thanks. Jim Post Extras:       budman1961 scholastic sledgehammer Reged: 02/25/11 Loc: Springfield, MO Re: Alignmaster with Meade classic Ascom [Re: James Cunningham]       #5363909 - 08/11/12 08:48 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Sounds like you are on the right track! Andy Post Extras:       MikeCMP super member Reged: 07/12/11 Loc: Chardon OH Re: Alignmaster with Meade classic Ascom [Re: James Cunningham]       #5364491 - 08/12/12 09:59 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Good glad t worked. I like align master quite a bit, when I double check my polar alignment with pempro, it's always very close. Once even less than an arc minute, whic I thought was spectacular fr how quickly it worked. The author does respond to emails, so if you have any questions fill out the form on hs site. Mike Post Extras:       James Cunningham Carpal Tunnel Reged: 08/07/10 Loc: Maryland Re: Alignmaster with Meade classic Ascom [Re: MikeCMP]       #5364567 - 08/12/12 11:12 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   How many times did you do the align with alignmaster? The instructions say that to do it twice for even better alignment. Does POTH also work with the Meade mount? Thanks. Jim Post Extras:       MikeCMP super member Reged: 07/12/11 Loc: Chardon OH Re: Alignmaster with Meade classic Ascom [Re: James Cunningham]       #5364756 - 08/12/12 01:42 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I think I have done two iterations, did the third just to see the remaining error and decided it wasn't worth bothering. I then checked with pempro. Pempro prolly can get you the last 5%, alignmaster can get you most of the way though. Was good enough to start snapping pics at least Mike Post Extras:       Hollywood member Reged: 07/04/12 Loc: San Diego CA. Re: Alignmaster with Meade LX200GPS 8" [Re: MikeCMP]       #5558090 - 12/06/12 07:01 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Hey group, I just got alignmaster recently to use with my Meade LX200GPS 8" and was wondering if it works in Polar/eq mount? I ask because last night I finally got AM to respond and recognize com ports.(I was jazzed) My alignmaster routine as follows.... I put my scope into the home polar position on a wedge and I do a rough polar alignment..i.e. Typical polar eq setup just before if one were to use a one or two star alignment with hand controller. I then pick the best 2 star setup recommended by alignmaster but when I press the "goto" it slews the ota downward "dec" and to the right but as soon as it slews down I can hear the motors strain when they hit the stops. it should have slewed to the left and up????(where stars are) Am I missing something? Please any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again. Mark Edited by Hollywood (12/06/12 07:08 PM) Post Extras:       MikeCMP super member Reged: 07/12/11 Loc: Chardon OH Re: Alignmaster with Meade LX200GPS 8" [Re: Hollywood]       #5558231 - 12/06/12 08:38 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   You have to do the normal alignment prior to using alignmaster. Until you actually align using the handbox the scope has no idea where it is pointing. Just do a normal alignment just like you are going to use the scope to observe. After the scope is aligned as usual, then you can run through the alignmaster routine. I'd recommend using a reticle eyepiece to make it more accurate. Mike Edited by MikeCMP (12/06/12 08:40 PM) Post Extras:       Hollywood member Reged: 07/04/12 Loc: San Diego CA. Re: Alignmaster with Meade LX200GPS 8" [Re: MikeCMP]       #5559838 - 12/07/12 07:12 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thank you Mike. another question, When making your adjustments in alignmaster to the first set of stars should both star adjustments be done by adjusting the mount only and not by the hand controller? if so I dont see how alignmaster can determine the difference in error. by using the handcontroller I could see. Sorry but these directions are a bit confusing and I really do appreciate your help. Thanks Post Extras:       MikeCMP super member Reged: 07/12/11 Loc: Chardon OH Re: Alignmaster with Meade LX200GPS 8" [Re: Hollywood]       #5561717 - 12/08/12 11:55 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Right. When you pick your stars in alignmaster, it will instruct you to hit the goto button. On my gps scope the Autostar slews, then beeps when the slew is complete. Alignmaster will then tell you to center the object using the hand controller. Once the star is centered, hit next, and repeat on the second star. After getting both stars centered alignmaster will ask if you want to correct azimuth, if you hit yes, it will slew the scope to a new position, adjust the azimuth on the wedge until you get the scope back on the star. Then hit next, and it will do the same thing in altitude. I do this twice, and am pretty close. Mike Post Extras:       Hollywood member Reged: 07/04/12 Loc: San Diego CA. Re: Alignmaster with Meade LX200GPS 8" [Re: MikeCMP]       #5575620 - 12/17/12 12:24 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thank you Mike. Post Extras:       MikeCMP super member Reged: 07/12/11 Loc: Chardon OH Re: Alignmaster with Meade LX200GPS 8" [Re: Hollywood]       #5577724 - 12/18/12 06:23 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Manage to get it to work? I find that alignmaster significantly improves my goto accuracy by getting my polar alignment spot on. Mike Post Extras:       Hollywood member Reged: 07/04/12 Loc: San Diego CA. Re: Alignmaster with Meade LX200GPS 8" [Re: MikeCMP]       #5608727 - 01/06/13 04:10 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Hi Mike and Happy Holidays! Sorry I just read your reply and a matter of fact I tried it last night.... I did get it to work (I think) There was one issue I quite did not understand. After polar alignment and centering with alignmaster...AM will ask you if you want to correct Az. I choose yes and it slews abit and ask me to make AZ correction and center star. I tried but could only adjust the star to come back to the center line of my reticle ep though not get it dead centered. I would need to adjust alt also to accurately center the star(i did adjust this). This is the same with ALT procedure too. not sure if this is how it should be?. Thanks for any help. Mark Edited by Hollywood (01/06/13 04:13 PM) Post Extras:       Pages: 1

Previous   Index   Next   Threaded

Extra information 1 registered and 6 anonymous users are browsing this forum. Moderator:  Starman27, Chris Erickson  Print Thread Forum Permissions       You cannot start new topics       You cannot reply to topics       HTML is disabled       UBBCode is enabled Thread views: 1586 Jump to *Announcements and News* -----   Cloudy Nights Announcements   Discussion of CN Articles, Reviews, and Reports   Celestial Events*General Astronomy* -----   Beginners Forum   General Observing and Astronomy   Outreach   Light Pollution*Equipment Discussions* -----   ATM, Optics and DIY Forum   Binoculars   Binoviewers   Cats & Casses   Classic Telescopes   Equipment   Eyepieces   Mounts   Observatories   Reflectors   Refractors    Video and Electronically Assisted Astronomy*Astrophotography and Sketching* -----   Beginning and Intermediate Imaging   Film Astrophotography   DSLR & Digital Camera Astro Imaging & Processing   CCD Imaging & Processing   Solar System Imaging & Processing   Sketching   Astro Imaging/Sketching Contest *Observing* -----   NEO   Planetary and Solar System Observing   Lunar Observing   Deep Sky Observing   Double Star Observing   Solar   Variable Star Observing and Radio Astronomy*Telescope Specific Forums* -----   Celestron NexStar    NexStar GPS / CPC Telescopes   Questar Forum   Meade ACF/RCX / LX / GPS    Meade ETX*Speciality Forums* -----   Arizona Science and Astronomy Expo   NEAF (Northeast Astronomy Forum) and NEAIC (Northeast Astro Imaging Conference)   AstroArt   Astronomy Clubs and Star Parties   Astronomy Software & Computers   AstroWebsites   Science! Astronomy & Space Exploration, and Others   Space Rocks   Stellar Media*Swap and Shop* -----   Shop and Swap Audio Components*CN Feedback and Vendor Announcements* -----   Vendor and Group Announcements*International Year of Astronomy 2009 - Forums are now closed.* -----   IYA Archive Info

CN Forums Home