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Bluetooth Wireless Telescope Computer Interface

Bluetooth Wireless Telescope Computer Interface. by Monroe Pattillo President, SFAAA. Goals. Eliminate cable between computer and scope Remove nighttime trip hazard of cable Reduce scope setup/teardown times Identify generic, standards based solution

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Bluetooth Wireless Telescope Computer Interface

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  1. Bluetooth Wireless Telescope Computer Interface by Monroe Pattillo President, SFAAA

  2. Goals Eliminate cable between computer and scope Remove nighttime trip hazard of cable Reduce scope setup/teardown times Identify generic, standards based solution Validate solution with existing equipment Document and disseminate solution to others

  3. Telescope Computer Interface Serial (not parallel) Asynchronous (not char. or bit synchronous) RS-232 (TIA/EIA-232E) 9600 bps, no parity, 1 stop bit No handshake (not hardware, not software) Classical three wire interface (TxD, RxD, Gnd)

  4. Standards Based Wireless Technology Choices Bluetooth (chosen for this validation) + small, inexpensive, low power - addressing, range, no Internet routing Wi-Fi (for the next solution validation) + range, addressing, Internet routing - larger, more expense, more power

  5. Bluetooth Product Selection Criteria Bluetooth version 1.1 (compatible w/2.0 EDR) Class 1 (Classes 2 & 3 are shorter range) Support Bluetooth Serial Port Profile (SPP) Power - hardware interface vs external power Adaptable to field power (12-18V DC) Product open information and availability Adaptable for telescope control

  6. Bluetooth Serial Device Adapter Telescope RS-232 Serial Interface Virtual Cable Bluetooth Application/Protocol Layers PC or PDA Bluetooth 2.4GHz Wireless Bluetooth Interface Bluetooth Interface Paired Device Paired Device SPP Server SPP Client Telescope Application RS-232 Port Virtual COM Port Driver

  7. BlueConsole BC-02 Bluetooth 1.1, class 1, SPP, multipoint w/3.7 Very small, low power (can run on 9-18V DC) Adaptable to external power (9V battery) Product adaptable to telescope control

  8. Adapting the BC-02 for use with Meade 8” LX-200 Classic Adapt BC-02’s RJ-45 to LX-200’s RJ-14 Need simple, easy to reproduce solution Need to dress it neatly to the LX-200 Approach: RJ-11 to RJ-45 to BC-02 Modify 1 ft phone cord, add RJ-45 coupler Velcro BC-02 to side of LX-200

  9. Wiring for the modified telephone cord Use a stranded wire modular cord, not silver satin (foil over plastic) Modified End Yellow, Black, NC, Red Unmodified End Yellow, Green, Red, Black Y B R N C Y G R B Green not connected as that pin is power output from the scope

  10. Bluetooth on PC You’ll need Bluetooth 1.1 or 2.0 on your PC Class 1 is long range, 2 is shorter, 3 shortest Can be built-in, USB, or PCMCIA/CardBus Install Bluetooth software on PC No Bluetooth servers needed at PC end Discover the BlueConsole BC-02 Pair with it (1234 is default pairing key) Connect to the SPP Server in the BC-02 Try to set PC virtual COM port to COM1..4 Some old telescope apps only see COM1..4

  11. The Solution Velcro mounted to side of Meade LX-200 Classic (mounted and cable tied clear of fork arms movement)

  12. Operation Connect coupler and cable to BC-02 Connect BC-02 cable to telescope Attach battery to BC-02 Mount BC-02, cable, and battery to scope Establish Bluetooth between PC & BC-02 Launch telescope control application(s) on PC Enable telescope interface to virtual COM port

  13. Icing on the Cake I own an H-P iPAQ 2215 Windows based PDA It has built-in Bluetooth I installed a copy of TheSky Pocket Edition Enabled Bluetooth on PDA Enabled scope interface to virtual COM port !!! wireless scope paddle + planetarium !!! (simultaneous PC & PDA scope control using BC-02 3.7 firmware)

  14. Contact Information BlueConsole – BC-02 www.blueconsole.com TheSky Pocket Edition (only for Windows based PDAs) www.bisque.com Monroe Pattillo President South Florida Amateur Astronomers Association, Inc. (SFAAA) www.sfaaa.com Fox Observatory, inside Markham Park Open to public Saturday evenings til midnight NW corner of I-75-N/I-595 and FL-869/I-75-S

  15. Next Projects Create a similar solution based upon Wi-Fi Improved range and addressing Possibility of Internet routing Slightly higher cost and package size Create a poor man’s StellarCam Windows PC based application and server Source agnostic (video, webcam, files) Format agnostic (BMP, JPEG, TIFF) Stack and adjust images as they arrive Result image accessed via web browser Create Wi-Fi based control and imaging solution Wired Ethernet Servers - RS-232 & Video Concentration - Wired Ethernet to Wi-Fi

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