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# LX200 Telescope interface

From the menu: Telescope

### Telescope connection

This interface can be used with LX200, Autostar, Magellan I/II and other systems using the LX200 protocol.

Please refer to the manufacturer information to connect the telescope to the computer and power on the telescope. Also perform now the initialization procedure for your telescope, this must be done before to connect to the program.

Then use Setup → General → Telescope to select the LX200 interface and open the Control panel. The following window is displayed :

For the first time use you need to provide some configuration information, see below.

Click the “Connect button”, the light must change to green and the telescope coordinates are displayed at the top of the screen.

You can now close the interface window by clicking the “Hide” button. Refer to the main menu Telescope to learn how to show the telescope position on the chart or to use the Goto facility.

Remember you can refine the local precision by using “Sync current object” on a nearby star at any time.

You can also use the virtual pad to move the telescope around, be careful the select the right model in the configuration before to use this function.

If you use a LX200 with the high precision pointing mode the button to continue the slew is also here.

### Interface configuration

Select the telescope model you use, if your model is not listed consult your documentation to find a compatible model, if you find none select the LX200 model if slewing is supported or Magellan II if not.

The Refresh Rate is the amount of time (in millisecond) that elapse between two position query to the interface. Use a smaller value for a smoother cursor movement if your telescope accept that and if your computer as enough power. Use a larger value to use less computer resource or if your telescope as a limited output rate.

Select the precision used to transfer the data between the telescope and the program, this may help to solve some communication problem. Select if you want to use the LX200 High Precision Pointing, this can be checked only after you connect to the telescope.

You don't need to set the observatory coordinates as this is automatically done from the location defined in Skychart.

In the case of problem with the interface you can trace the protocol to a file by checking “Record protocol to a trace file”.

The last check box let you choice if you want this window always visible at the top of the other.

### Communication port configuration

Select the serial port where the telescope is connected (COM1,… on Windows; /dev/ttyS0 or /dev/ttyUSB0 on Linux; /dev/tty.serial1 or /dev/tty.usbserial-xx on Mac).

Set other options (speed, data, parity and stop) according to the manufacturer informations. Generally LX200, Autostar and Magelan II use 9600,8,N,1 but you may change to 1200, 8, N,1 and Timeout: 500ms for the Magelan I.

Change the timeout values only if you encounter communication problem and after identifying the problem with the trace file. Do not set the timeout to a value greater than the refresh rate in the preceding screen.

Click the Save Setting button to keep your configuration for the next run. Also save the default options in Skychart menu to keep your interface selection.