LX200 and FTDI drivers

brucej

I am hoping to acquire an AIR Plus controller for a Meade LX200GPS but need to know if the proper drivers are available with the AIR Plus.

My mount cable uses a Silicon Labs FTDI chip for a USB to serial connection and works well with the PC, but I had to install drivers on the PC. Will I need to do that for the AIR?

Also, Does the AIR Plus comes with Meade LX protocol commands for mount control?

Thanks!

Tech@ZWO

brucej This is a supported list for your reference.
https://www.yuque.com/zwopkb/asiair/compatible-mounts#IrDOl

taurus81

I've used the AIR with a 8" LX200GPS with the same cable. It does the go to and also tracks well. As mentioned by Tech just select your mount. No need to install any drivers. After trying different procedures I finally found that the scope must first be polar aligned following the Meade procedure using the handbox, not the AIR. This gets the scope fairly aligned. I used a DSLR with the LX200 which gives a 0.6 x 0.42 degree FOV which is within the AIR's capability to do a PA. Because this is a small FOV for using the AIR to PA the MEADE procedure works best. Now the scope is aligned good enough for the AIR PA. Turn off the mount, move it to the home position (00 RA and 90 degrees Dec.), turn the mount back on. My scope will then do that strange RA rotation (smart drive??) so I manually move it back to 00 RA. I then use the handbox to move in Dec slightly in Both directions finally setting it to 90. This must be done before I use the Air to PA. Now I do a AIR PA. I then do a goto to a star, center it and sync. I also found out my Long. and Lat needs to be manually entered into the Air in the scope set up screen, if not it thinks I am somewhere in the southern hemisphere even after doing an AIR PA, so enter your Long and Lat before staring an AIR PA. Because my scope is portable it needs to be PA every time I set it up. I also have the scope on a wedge which is harder to PA than in the ALT/AZ set up. I tried several techniques before ending with this one. I almost gave up. Because this procedure is so time consuming I no longer use the LX200 (so sad because it is a great scope). I believe for a LX200 which is permanently mounted and on a wedge the AIR would be great. Instead I use my 4" refractor on an Ioptron IEQ30Pro which the AIR does a fantastic job. You might find a different technique works best for you. Hopefully this info will help. Let us know if you have success and if you have a different technique what it is. Good luck.