Meade #506 Cable Connector Kit with Software
by Meade
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Our Price: $39.15
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Category: Digital Camera
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Digital product summary information
Manufacturer: MeadeModel: 04513
Product features:
- Recommended Minimum System For Installing Autostar Suite: PC running Windows 98SE with 64 MB and 200 MB free disk space.
Digital camera reviews of Meade #506 Cable Connector Kit with Software
Digital camera Review: Interface cable is fine, software leaves much to be desired
Summary: 3 Stars
I purchased this to control my DS2114AT-TC from a laptop. It was literally plug-n-play with Linux and Kstars. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the supplied AstroFinder software.
I use a cheap USB to serial converter to provide RS-232 connectivity on my laptop. The AstroFinder software failed to work with the XP assigned COM9 port, so I forced it to COM1 under the hardware advanced tab settings. When that failed to work, I set the Windows program compatibility option to Windows 98/ME. After a few more reboots, the program finally started to work.
(Technical note: If you are trying to debug the serial interface with an external RS-232 monitor, be aware that the AstroFinder software does not appear to initialize any hardware handshaking lines.)
Compared to Kstars, the AstroFinder software was archaic and very slow. The graphical interface was reminiscent of an older DOS application. Browsing the sky can only be described as "painful" when compared to the speed and user interface of Kstars.
Perhaps my biggest software complaint is that the top menu buttons only show up as relatively small icons. There are no pop-up windows describing their function, requiring one to consult the PDF documentation, or click on the icon to see what happens.
The ONLY reason that I even bothered booting up Windows XP and installing the Meade software was to simplify the update of the satellite Keplerian elements. Even that was a time consuming hassle. I found that it was far faster to just enter the data manually from the telescope.
Overall, I am pleased with the quality of the proprietary serial interface cable, but I will likely never again use the AstroFinder software. I will consider this as the purchase of an interface cable with a bloated demo-ware application included as a teaser. This is fine with me as the cable, Kstars, and Slackware Linux work extremely well controlling the DS2114 from my Dell Mini-9.
Summary of Meade #506 Cable Connector Kit with Software
For use with ETX-60/70/80 OnlyTelescope Accessories
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