I have also found a very cheap option for an on step controller using open source code. My problem with Arduino projects is that although cheap for what they are, costs mount up and it would prolly be cheaper to buy a small used Meade, keep the controller and resell it without one. It's just my guess from the different things I have been told it can't do and the fact it has a serial interface. That makes me imagine the mount understands only which motor is specified for movement and which direction to move it in, one step. Some kind of serial interface, probably ST4, so presumably power drivers for the motors as well, but no real brains to know what to do with the motors to achieve function. What exactly is between the motors and the 6 wire rj45 port is a shape changing blob in my mind. That the worms are driven by stepper motors.
I understand they are driven by worm drives at a mere 20% efficiency. I do know my mount has100 tooth wheels thanks to the gear ratio bible here. I'm an old dog now and new tricks take more time and effort than they used to. At this point the pain in my brain became more pronounced. Unless you have an autostar II mount, the mount needs external brains above and beyond a simple protocol converter. They still need the hand controller in the middle Then I thought it was just a question of converting rs232 into ST4, trivial I thought. The mount needs more brains than that and the software writers don't bother including those brains in the program. Or plug in a WiFi to serial interface and do the same from my phone. At first I imagined I could just plug it into a laptop running one of the star programs. I acquired a bargain Meade 4504 from a charity/thrift shop as something to do with one of my friends. I don't know enough to give you a good answer. Ref folder EQG2HBX folder in the files section Andrew Johansen Melbourne Australia Thank you Andrew, that's a good question. ref "Arduino Autostar.zip" in the files section There was also one user recently who created a module that connected directly to the motor cards and spoke low level Meade speak to the motors, but then converted that so it would run using EQMod as the control app.
Anthony johansea Gday Anthony How much "replacement" are you talking about? There was one project listed in the files section here that replaced the handset, but IIRC, only got basic functionality. 14603 Clone autostar 497? Ant No Has anyone built a clone of the autostar to control a Meade mount with? I know about the one Gene built to replace the Autostar II but need to replace a 497. I have the pics but don't know how to restore them here. No edit is all messages are there even if we were just wondering what was going on with yahoo etc.
Trim is removing the duplicate of posts being answered. It's been trimmed but not edited and the pictures don't work. Here's the thread I saved from the old site.
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