41 replies to this topic

[CylonBoomer]

Thanks for getting back to me  Dave.

 

I tried all the nondestructive settings in the SkySafari and check all the telescope settings. None of those worked.

I have two db9 adapters, both with port for plugging in the phone cord, which i looked at the pinouts and it is standard, yellow, green, red, black on the phone cord.  I have two of those cords and neither worked. My assumption at this point, is the db9 adapter isn't wired correctly.  I'll see if i can get a meter or crack it open. Thanks for the info! That helps!!!

 

Sharon

[telesonic]

Sharon, 

 

I'd bet that the cable is the issue here, not that it's faulty - I'm sure it's just wired wrong. 

 

It's easy enough to fix.... and I recall running into this exact same issue when building my cable. I think I came across 2 or maybe three different pinouts for these, back  I will link these here in order:

First, the SC pinout. Second is a pinout from another one that I'd found online. I can't link the third one, and I'm not sure if it's the same as either.... It's in my binder.

 

https://www.skysafar...yfi/serial.html

http://www.ngc1514.c...lestron/aam.htm

 

I will see if I can find my notes (if I still have them here) on which one ultimately worked. if not, I still have the cable around here in my parts pile to verify. I'm not much on trusting wire colors on this, FWIW.

 

Can you get a pic of your cable/s? Some DB9's can be popped apart and the wires swapped around easily. I'd like to see what you are working with here. 

 

 

Temp

[telesonic]

Sharon,

 

I found the cable I made for mine - and checked it with a multimeter. I've attached a picture if my crude drawing of the pinouts. The view of the RJ-11 (which plugs into the Advanced Astro Master) is facing the end, with the pins down - and the locking tab facing up.

 

 

Click to enlarge... it should be easier to see.

 

The highlighted colors are the corresponding pins on mine, I believe if yours is wired like this - it will work.

 

Please keep us advised.

Temp

[CylonBoomer]

Hi guys. I popped open the db9, and these are the pinouts.

Does this look correct?

 

Thanks!

Sharon

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[telesonic]

Hi guys. I popped open the db9, and these are the pinouts.

Does this look correct?

 

Thanks!

Sharon

 

Sharon,

Yes, those pins are in the correct location on the DB-9 connector side, so that eliminates that part of the equation. Now whether they go to the correct pins on the RJ-11 connecter is the next thing we need to figure out.

 

If you look at my drawing above - your wire colors should be as follows: (for the RJ-11 male end)

Red     =  would go to pin #4 

Green  =  would go to pin #3

Yellow =  would go to pin #2

 

I'm betting that the RJ-11 side of yours is not wired like this. 

Do you have access to a multimeter / continuity tester?

 

Temp

[CylonBoomer]

wow Thanks for all the great info.

I've got to run for a bit, but I got these pics to upload.

Is this what you wanted?

 

and the cord that plugs in, is a standard cable with the 4 wires.

 

I'll be back online later!!

Thanks so much!!!

 

 

Sharon

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

[telesonic]

Okay,

 

(edit to add:)

 

Yes, that is perfect - exactly the same as the one I was working on earlier. (on your first picture, you can see the little locking tab that holds the wiring block into the housing - so yes, this will work the same. Your reply came in as I was typing this up. 

 

 

Here goes - this is how you fix the pinouts on these DB-9 adapters, in the event that they are wired incorrectly. Note: you do not change the pins at the DB-9 connector side, you actually change them at the RJ-11 jack. This is important.

 

So, first thing is first - pop the DB-9 out of the plastic housing (as seen in Sharon's post #29 above) Now, with a small flat blade screwdriver insert it into the slot seen near the left of this image:

 

 

Now the little plastic piece with the RJ pins slides out of the housing as seen in my picture above.

These pins can be straightened out, and pulled free from the plastic block. All you have to do is rearrange them to the correct order and bend them back. The whole thing slides back in (there are little grooves on the sides) and snaps in place. Make sure the pins are nice and straight, and in the correct slots first!

 

Here I rearranged the pins on this one, to correspond to my SkyWizard 3 (same as the Advanced Astro Master) in a few minutes. It's kinda finicky keeping the pins lined up, but it worked in one shot.... I just confirmed it minutes ago with my tablet and Sky Safari. (tried NGC Max / Skywizard and Celestron Astromaster - all confirmed working.)

 

For Sharon's fix - I believe this image may help:

 

 

So the red wire was moved to RJ pin #4  - This is also the same color and location for Sharon's.

My yellow wire was moved to RJ pin #3  - This would be Sharon's green wire.

And my black wire was moved to RJ pin #2 - this would be the yellow wire.

 

Also, the RJ pin positions on these, I wrote while looking at the plastic block  - wiring in left hand, and locking tab for the plastic housing on wiring block facing down (away) if that makes any sense. If you look closely at the first picture above, you will see that there are actually an empty groove on each end near the pins, so pay attention here - just remove one, and see where it is - don't take it completely apart.

 

I believe this will get you sorted out. If not, the things are like a dollar or something online, if there is a failure. Personally, I'd just make a cable, but not everyone has the crimper for them. This just illustrates another possible method.

 

Hope this helps,

Let us know if it works for 'ya.

 

Cheers,

Temp

Edited by telesonic, 08 January 2021 - 08:33 PM.

[SDTopensied]

For the benefit of those coming across this thread at some point in the future…

 

I recently came into possession of an Ultima C11.  I was going to defork it, but took it out one night to play with the Astromaster and fell in love with it.

For those not inclined to make their own cable, Scopestuff sells a serial cable just for the Tangent boxes.

 

http://www.scopestuff.com/ss_bbx2.htm

 

-Steve

[telesonic]

Good info Steve!

I'd never checked Scopestuff - even though they are my main go to place for things. In any event, I ended up fixing up a cable for the OP's AAM unit/and Sky Safari that solved her connectivity problem.

 

 

CS,

Temp

[Gary Esterly]

Dave- Would other planetarium software work with this cabling? And if so, any recommendations for either Windows or Linux based operating systems? Thanks for diagramming this out for us, this will help a lot of us interface with the Astro Master!

Edited by Gary Esterly, 21 January 2022 - 12:38 PM.

[Gary Esterly]

So a friend of mine has built me the appropriate RJ 6 line cable to serial adapter. I have my C8 with Astro Master functioning. Since I have no ios devices capable of running the appropriate Skysafari software, I am looking for something else to act as planetarium software. I also have just been given a Pi with Astroberry. Amongst other things it has Kstars installed. I am looking at using the RJ/Serial cable with a serial/USB cable running either to the pi or my desktop running some software to use in a go-to function display. Anybody have any ideas or suggestions?

[DAVIDG]

 Stellarium with  an Ascom driver for an NGC-MAX should work and it is free.

 

 

    

              - Dave 

[Gary Esterly]

Thanks Dave. I've downloaded the ASCOM platform and digital setting circles program ( https://eksfiles.net...etting-circles/ ), and am working through the typical Windows COM issues... as for the Astro Master itself, do you know if it just needs to be turned on to communicate with my computer or does it need to be set to a specific function?

Thanks for your help!

[DAVIDG]

 The Astromaster should just need to be turned on. The baud rate needs to be 9600 8 N 1 and if you use a simple terminal program and send it a capital Q it will send back the encoder count if all is working correctly. 

 

           - Dave 

[Gary Esterly]

Thought some here would find this helpful. Its a video by Dave Ek, the C8 driver developer for use with the ASCOM Standards platform.

 

https://youtu.be/Yqo2Vh6-Bdk

[Gary Esterly]

After banging my head against the wall for months on this issue I FINALLY got the interface to function the way its supposed to- "push-to" capability that represents itself as cross hairs in Stellarium. I have to give credit to Dave Ek, the C8 ASCOM Standards driver developer who posted this helpful video detailing the setup process.

 

https://youtu.be/Yqo2Vh6-Bdk

[Astrosetz]

You could also keep the encoders and just replace the old computer with a modern one, say a Nexus DSC Pro from AstroDevices.