About two and a half years ago I started working on a little project to build myself a bluetooth interface for my Celestron Nexstar. I succeeded in doing so, and designed a small device around the JY-MCU bluetooth board that can be bought cheap on the web, for between $2 and $6, depending on where you buy it. One parameter for my design is that I wanted it to draw power from the mount, rather than have to plug it in to a wall wart or use a battery.
I thought about taking it commercial, but in the end I had too many other things on my plate so I set it aside. For those of you true hackers and tinkerers, here's the schematic. It's dirt simple to make, and a lot cheaper than the commercial stuff out there (I think this can be built for under $10). This particular version is for Celestron hand controls but can be easily adapted to any other mount that provides power and has a serial port interface. Enjoy.
Remember to test it before plugging it into your mount. I don't take responsibility for any smoked mounts. And yes, it can probably be improved... The schematic is free to use for non-commercial purposes.
Juan
P.S. I'm surprised Meade, Celestron and other manufacturers don't build this functionality into their mounts. It's not rocket science and would only add a few bucks to the cost...
Edited by FlyBD5, 09 December 2015 - 04:24 PM.