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Last updated: 21 March 2005
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Last updated: 21 March 2005 |
Subject: cables with dsi Sent: Monday, March 21, 2005 05:34:10 From: Peter Clipsham (prtopteam@hotmail.com) having just treated myself to a Meade DSI, the cable "#497 autostar serial cable" fits into an adaptor supplied and then into a RS232 port on a computer. On my laptop i do not have a RS232 port, but i do have plenty of USB ports, does this mean i have to fit a USB to RS232 converter cable to obtain laptop control of my telescope. Youre web site is still the best by far for info i would be lost without it. Best Regards Pete.Mike here: Yes, you will need a USB to serial converter. Meade, Belkin, and Keyspan have them. I use a Keyspan one with my Macintosh.
Subject: LPI Error message, update Sent: Friday, March 11, 2005 14:50:22 From: Ron Kinney (ronkinney@gmail.com) Upon installing the Meade Autostar Suite, I found that I kept getting a "Application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000135) Click OK to terminate program" error message whenever I clicked on images->LPI. A search for this error message on your site produces only one instance towards the beginning of 2004. Your solution was to look at the meade FAQ page and troubleshooting page. I'd like to mention that I tried everything mentioned on the Meade website, but nothing worked. However, I remember that I did not install the .NET framework during the Autostar Suite install process because I thought my system already had it (which it did). I attempted to install the Autostar Suite a second time, but this time around, I didn't skip the .NET framework install. Sure enough, the program works. I hope this helps. -Ron
Subject: Re: Autostar Suite - "No imagers" message Sent: Tuesday, March 8, 2005 14:03:54 From: Hyde, Andrew (ahyde@lehman.com) I have installed the autostar and when I select the DSI / DSI Imaging option the response is "No imagers" I have windows XP The system appears to recognise the DSI. It appears on the device manager. - However when I select the properties box on the Meade DSi icon it says "no drivers are installed for this device". - The driver tab states there is no driver version - I have a file (ver 1.06) in location c:/windows/system32/drivers/dsiusb.sys - If I plug the DSI into another USB the system does not recognise it. Your wisdom is greatly appreciated AndrewMike here: If you have not done so, update to the current version of the Autostar Suite from Meade's site. Let me know.
Subject: Using LPI over a Network Sent: Thursday, March 3, 2005 07:24:05 From: Mike Hogan (mhogansr@comcast.net) I know you can control the scope over a network with the Suite through the AutoStar, but if you select the LPI imaging function on the client computer, can you change the settings and view the image? If so, where are the image files saved, on the Server or Client? If not, are there any alternatives? I'm using XP Home Edition which does not have the Remote Desktop capability, that's only available with the Pro version. I can't test this right now since I'm waiting for Meade to replace my AutoStar that was defective out of the box (some of the keys did not work). They've had it for over 3 weeks. Without the AutoStar, you can't setup the Network Server and connect to it since it looks for a connection to the AutoStar. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.Mike here: Yes and No. You can control the Autostar Suite via the network. Which means that all the stuff still happens on the telescope connected PC.
And:
Thanks for the response. It really didn't clear up things too much, but fortunately I got my replacement AutoStar today from Meade and did some testing. Here's what I found: You can't do LPI imaging over a two computer network using the AutoStar Suite network capability. The imaging feature can only be started and controlled by the computer directly connected to the LPI. If you try to start it from the Client (remote) computer, you get an error saying no LPI found. Apparently, the imaging function is completely independent of rest of the Suite and not interfaced to the network. Even if you start imaging on the Server (local) computer connected to the LPI, nothing is sent over the network to the Client. There are at least two ways to get around this. One is to use the Remote Desktop capability of XP Pro Edition, which allows control of another computer over a network. You can start the Suite and control it just as if you were sitting in front of it. XP Home Edition does not have this capability. In this case, there is a free package available called RealVNC that does the same thing. It can be downloaded from www.realvnc.com. It takes a little computer savvy to install and configure it, but it works, as I just finished using it with my laptop, desktop, ETX125PE (with the LNT removed) and LPI over a home wireless network. I hope this helps folks that are planning to do imaging from inside on these cold nights. Regards to all.Mike here: Thanks for the additional info. That's what I meant by saying everything still happened on the telescope-connected PC. And yes, VNC works great. I use it on my Macs for many purposes.
Subject: re: Autostar Suite Question - length of USB cable Sent: Monday, February 28, 2005 21:21:09 From: Richard Seymour (rseymour@wolfenet.com) Individual USB cables have a maximum length of 18 feet (6 meters) before the signal has to be regenerated by an "active hub" (repeater) or similar. You can reach a maximum of 85 feet with repeaters and a final "normal" cable. The final link in that chain should be an externally "powered" hub, since the LPI and DSI both request a full 500 milliamps of current from their cable. So for 25 feet, you'll need at least one "active" hub, plus another 10 foot USB cable. have fun --dickAnd:
From: Tom and Lori (lortom7@earthlink.net) Thanks Mike. And thanks to your site I am receiving suggestions from others. Great site!
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