Software to control & track an LX200GPS?

[skintigh]

Question:
Is there any software that can control a Meade LX200GPS and make it track a star?

Reason:
I would love to find software to do this so I can train the scope's periodic error correction with a computer and not manually, since the last time I did it manually it took hours and the results were less than spectacular. With help from here and elsewhere I have found software that will do this for other models and brands of telescopes and even for the LX200, but will not control an LX200GPS because it uses different commands or something. I verified it's not my hardware as Meade's software will slew my scope just fine. Meade's software doesn't seem to have a way to use a webcam to guide the scope, though.

Hardware:
12" LX200GPS, upgraded with the latest firmware and Buck's gears (which have made a huge difference since the nylon gears had some mangled teeth and not meshing well), working data cable I made myself after much trial and error, Celestron Neximage, various computers.

Thanks in advance!

[skintigh]

Hmmmmm, no suggestions? :(

Does anyone know of another forum I can ask in, maybe a Meade forum?

[RickJ]

Any guiding software will guide this scope. There are many to choose from. PHD is a free one many use. It isn't anywhere as full featured as pay ones but they cost real money. Most serious imagers use Maxim D/L or CCDSoft or CCDOps. Most CCD camera's come with some cut down version of pay software or offer discounts for buying it. My main complaint about PHD is you have to constantly recalibrate your guiding. It doesn't know your declination so will over or under correct on that axis unless you recalibrate each time you move to a different declination. A pain. Better programs get this information from the scope and adjust automatically.

Note you do need a wedge so the scope is polar aligned. You can't guide in alt azimuth mode without severe rotation of field.

Also the mount will normally track for 1 minute unguided exposures. You can stack a hundred or so and get a usable image, throw out the bad ones before doing so. Guided longer exposures are better of course. Such short exposures though avoid the rotation of field problem and does allow imaging with it in alt azimuth mode. You just let alignment software rotate the individual frames as needed. Costs some field of view but does work.

Rick

Rick