Technical Support — Getting Started with Computer and Telescope

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The Computer Connection

We’ll assume that you already have a Macintosh or Windows computer. What you need to do is connect ScopeDriver to your telescope, and it's very straightforward and fairly economical, at around $100 USD.

Here are the three things you need:

• ScopeDriver, which costs $30.00 US, may be securely purchased here, and downloaded here.
  
  
• A USB-to-serial adapter, which costs about $40.00 US. These are made and sold by many reputable dealers. We have had good luck with Keyspan’s High-Speed Serial Adapter. Avoid the so-called “PDA Adapter” or any device that is not rated for high-speed communication.
  
  
• A telescope cable, costing about $25.00 US, to go between the above adapter and your telescope. The 505 Cable set (made by Meade) connects to most Meade LX-90 and ETX-105 models. You can usually look up your telescope model on a search engine (search for the model number and the word cable) and easily find the cable you need.

That’s really all you need to connect your telescope to your computer. And you don't even need the USB-to-serial adapter if your computer has built-in serial ports. Do make sure, however, to install the drivers for the USB-to-serial adapter so that your computer may recognize the device.

The Telescope

You can get a basic go-to telescope starting at around $300, and you generally get more telescope and often better mechanical quality as you spend more.

If you or your gift recipient has yet to purchase a telescope, the main things to consider are budget and intended use. A beginner will be well served by a telescope such as a Meade ETX (starting at about $300 US) or a Meade LX90 (starting at about $2,000 US).

With telescopes, the diameter or the main lens or mirror is an important consideration. Larger objective lenses or mirrors will reveal fainter detail and can show sharper detail, provided the atmosphere itself is stable. Most telescopes will perform well on the Moon, and any modern go-to instrument should provide satisfactory performance on the brighter planets.

ScopeDriver is compatible with all current ETX and LX90 instruments, as well as the more advanced LX200R and RCX400 series. It also works well with most other Meades, as well as the Losmandy Gemini series. Celestron telescopes are comparable to Meade telescopes, but ScopeDriver does not presently support the Celestron.

While we have good long term reports regarding the manufacturers of the software, hardware, and telescopes listed above, we can’t be held responsible for any problem any person might have as a result of dealing with any of the above-referenced companies or individuals. But that’s only reasonable, isn’t it?

Did they change prices or rename web pages without telling me again?!? Seriously, if you find old pricing or a bad link here, please let us know.

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