Meade LX200GPS Mount communication issues SOLVED!

To do quality astrophotography with a Meade LX200GPS telescope (by the way, mine is the 8" model) you need to be able to use a computer program star chard, a guiding camera/scope and guiding software. You will be able to take LONGER exposures and image dimmer objects in the beautiful night sky.

However, if you have a Meade LX200 GPS telescope and want to be able to use the star chart program Cartes du Ciel AND the autoguiding software program, PHD2, you may have encountered issues with both programs trying to work together to control the telescope mount. Either one will connect or the other... but both? Good luck... especially if you are using a powered USB hub at the scope mount and another USB cable that transfers the info to your computer/laptop.

I was nearly going to defork the scope and put it on another mount... when I stumbled on to the solution... AGAIN !  It seems old age is catching up with me as TWO previous posts show: May 5, 2019 and May 11, 2019. I figured this out BEFORE! LOL!  Why the problem? Months of non-use and accidental disconnecting one of the key solutions to the problem.

All the same, if YOU are having this problem (not the memory one) THERE IS HOPE to get your scope up and running with a guide scope!

The issue is that the Meade hardware/software/driver will only allow one COM connection via a USB to RS232. Most of us use a device like this one:

It is a USB-A to Serial DB9 RS232 Adapter Cable (this one is 3 ft. long) and is know as a Keyspan (available through Amazon on this page).

with this cable (usually supplied with the telescope, or something like it):

The "phone cable connector" looking end is connected to the telescope mount here:

Here is the "fix" and solution to my problem:

You will notice, however that there are TWO RS232 ports on the telescope mount... and for good reason!

At least for me, I have to have TWO of these "Keyspan" USB to Serial DB9 RS232 adapters.

Each one is connected to the mount via the two RS232 ports and both are connected either to the computer (via the USB cable) or through a powered USB hub

Notice that BOTH RS232 ports now have an occupant!

The result is that one program will grab one Keyspan and the other can grab the other!
Occasionally I have to start the PHD2 program first, connect up with it AND then open up the star chart program and connect with the telescope with it. One might have to select which COM port the second program needs but that is no big problem to solve.

And... walla! You can control the telescope mount with the star chart program, Cartes du Ciel and have PHD2 do the fine guiding for long exposure imaging!

Hope it works for you!

The 2019 Transit of Mercury

Though the weather was mostly uncooperative (heavy fog and some clouds to boot) I was able to grab a few images of the transit of Mercury. A transit of the planet Mercury is when the planet moves between us and the Sun, making Mercury look like a black dot on the visible disk of the Sun.

I participated in a nation-wide effort called "The Citizen ToM Project" (ToM=Transit of Mercury) under the direction of Zach Stockbridge. Youtube

The goal was to recreate the experiment proposed by Edmond Halley (the great comet was named after him). He calculated that two people widely spaced on our planet timing the transit of Venus would be able to use basic geometry and calculus to figure out how far the Earth is from the Sun (the "AU" or astronomical unit). He died before he could prove it. After his death, several expeditions were launched (in 1761) to gather the data needed to determine the AU with good success.

My experience that day for the Citizen ToM Project:
The day of the transit started with heavy fog forcing me to travel about 45 miles from my home in La Pine, Oregon into the Oregon Outback. My final location was Fort Rock State Park, Oregon. I had intended to travel even more south-east to avoid the fog but that direction had even thicker fog. 

In my rush to set up the equipment in the hopes of making an early observation (using the Citizen CATE total solar eclipse project equipment) I forgot to polar align! But no need... I got lucky: my guess-timate was almost dead on! As the Sun would only peak out very occasionally (and even then it was through thinner fog) I found that I only had to barely move the scope as the Sun was always in the camera's field of view! 

I missed most of the early timings but was able to catch the egress of Mercury! Then... nothing but thick clouds over the Sun! It was awesome to have participated in this transit of Mercury experiment! - Richard Lighthill, La Pine, Oregon.



This is image is the first that I was able to make when the fog thinned enough for me to focus clearly:

If you look closely a little up and left of center you will see the dot that is Mercury.

Here is where I was located for these photographs: Fort Rock State Park:

Hours later I was able to catch Mercury

before it egressed from the Sun's disk.

(It is in the upper right quadrant of the Sun.)

Here the planet as it begins to leave the Sun's disk (cropped image)

And then it is gone!

Next time: November 13, 2032!

Clear skies and more practice on imaging the Moon

The skies cleared up well last night so I was able to practice some more Moon imaging...

November 8, 2019

LX200GPS 8" prime focus

PointGrey Grasshopper mono camera

UV/IR and medium red filter

Sharpcap

AutoStakkert!3

Post processing with GIMP

The Moon is Bright so I didn't want to Fight it................. so I IMAGED it !

A few of my first efforts at lunar photography with AutoStakkert 3.
Seeing was bad, had to keep the percentage around 15% of the best frames.
Meade 8" LX200GPS
PointGrey Grasshopper mono camera
Prime focus
AutoStakkert 3
GIMP post processing

A Galaxy and a Bunch of Nebula

M 33 Triangulum Galaxy

6 frames@ 360sec Total time: 36min  ISO 3200

Stacked sith DeepSkyStacker 4.2.2

Post Processed in Luminar 2018

Celestron 6 w/focal reducer

Canon T3i unmodded camera— from La Pine, Oregon.

 NGC 7000 - The North American Nebula (west coast side!)

3 frames@ 320 sec each  Total time: 16 min ISO 3200

w/ Canon T3i unmodded camera

Stacked with DeepSkyStacker 4.2.2

Post Processed in Luminar 2018

Celestron 6 SCT w/focal reducer

AVX mount — from La Pine, Oregon.

 NGC 6960 Western Veil Nebula

6 frames@ 240 sec each  ISO 3200 Total time: 24 min

Canon T3i unmodded camera

Stacked with DeepSkyStacker 4.2.2

Cropped Post Processed in Luminar 2018

Celestron 6 SCT w/focal reducer

AVX mount — from La Pine, Oregon.

NGC 6995 Eastern Veil Nebula

7 frames@ 240 sec each @ ISO 3200  Total time: 28 min

with Canon T3i unmodded camera

Stacked with DeepSkyStacker 4.2.2

Post Processed in Luminar 2018

Celestron 6 SCT w/focal reducer

AVX mount — from La Pine, Oregon.

IC 405 Flaming Star Nebula

4 frames @ 360 sec each @ ISO 3200 Total time: 24 min

Stacked with DeepSkyStacker 4.2.2

with Canon T3i unmodded camera

Cropped & Post Processed in Luminar 2018

Celestron 6 SCT w/focal reducer

AVX mount — from La Pine, Oregon.

M 76 Little Dumbbell Nebula

5 frames@ 360 sec each @ ISO 3200 Total time: 30 min

Stacked with DeepSkyStacker 4.2.2

Canon T3i unmodded camera

Cropped close and post-processed with Luminar 2018

Celestron 6 SCT w/focal reducer

AVX mount — from La Pine, Oregon.

All these were taken on October 29 & 30, 2019.

A Tiny Sunspot! First sunspot in 28 days!

I was alerted this morning by http://spaceweather.com/ that this tiny sunspot had broken the 28 day drought of sunspots. Since I am participating in the Citizen ToM Project (Transit of Mercury) I broke out the necessary equipment and took some short videos (20 sec) while the Sun was still less than 30 degrees above the horizon this morning, November 1, 2019 at 9:28 am PDT here in La Pine, Oregon.

The Citizen ToM Project is being featured on Sky and Telescope's website. Go here for more information: https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/citizen-tom-mercury-transit/

Normally sunspots are numbered but this one is so new and it is so uncertain how long it will last that they had not yet given it a number yet.

Here is a negative view of the same image which makes the sunspot white:

Here is a full Sun image of it. It is in the lower middle left side...

Yes, it is hard to spot!

Here is the Solar Ham website image of the same showing the locality of the sunspot:

And Solar Ham's close up of the sunspot area:

When I processed the initial image with GIMP and the Sobel filter the sunspot really popped out!

My images taken with:

Daystar 480mm scope

Lunt Solar Wedge

PointGrey Grasshopper camera 

Celestron CG-5 mount

Captured in SharpCap

Stacked with AutoStakkert

Post processed with Irfanview 

Taken at 9:28 am PDT La Pine, Oregon, USA 

See Solar Ham site: http://www.solarham.net/latest_imagery/hmi5.htm