We got the Celestron GT 130 to talk with my laptop which was a huge win for our plans to advance forward…
Our plan for the GT-130 is to use it as the “Beach head scope” to get back to observing and also to test camera gear with it and keep a observing log with lessons learned here on the site so others benefit from our experiences.
To get into specifics, the base of the Celestron 130 GT was hooked to the Windows 10 laptop via the following:
- Plugable USB to Serial Adapter Compatible with Windows, Mac & Linux (RS-232/DB9 Female Connector, Prolific PL2303HX Rev D Chipset).
- Celestron Nexstar RS 232 PC Interface Cable
The software used for the test was Nexstar Observer List, which allows for direct control of the telescope with a very simple interface and also to allow for detailed observation plans to be constructed for a night’s observations.
This package is deceptively simple and that is the beauty of the software… I like simple and anything that makes the job easier is GOOD. Michael Swanson is the author of this software and was very helpful with our project in discussions on Cloudynights Celestron forum. He’s a great guy and an amazing resource for all things Nexstar!
The next steps are very simple but important. We need to proceed to connect Stellarium to the telescope and check that it works. If that works out, we’ll add the next item which is to check both Stellarium and Nexstar Observer List with the longest USB cable we can use to evaluate the potential for controlling the telescope outside of a building. If this works, then the next step after that is to get it out in the field on the first clear night and get some observation time in.
I will film all of this and discuss it on the Afterburner1 channel and post the video in an upcoming post here.
Until next time — Clear Skies! — Jon