Guide Port Converter for Takahashi Mounts Item #: GPCNV-TAK

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jeffweiss9
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Guide Port Converter for Takahashi Mounts Item #: GPCNV-TAK

Post by jeffweiss9 » Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:35 pm

Hi, I have this product from 6 or 7 years ago and used it successfully with my Takahashi EM-200 Temma2 mount since I bought it. However, it seems to have stopped working as I get "No movement in RA" when I try to calibrate the autoguider. I have tested the RJ-12 cable to be good but I measure some strange pinouts between the RJ-12 cable through this product to the MINI DIN connector:
MINI DIN RJ-12
1 --> 1
2 NC (to 6?)
3 2
4 4
5 5
6 3
Are these the correct pin connection or is my converter GPCNV-TAK now broken and I should buy a new one?
Thanks,
Jeff

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Re: Guide Port Converter for Takahashi Mounts Item #: GPCNV-TAK

Post by dpanderson » Sat Apr 13, 2019 7:43 am

I use a mirror-imaged pin numbering scheme on the DIN connector, but other than that you have the correct connections, so I don't think anything is broken. You might try flexing the cable a bit while testing continuity, just in case it is an intermittent connection.
Doug Anderson
Shoestring Astronomy
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Re: Guide Port Converter for Takahashi Mounts Item #: GPCNV-TAK

Post by jeffweiss9 » Sat Apr 13, 2019 9:49 am

Doug-
Thanks very much for the prompt response. I will try flexing and reseating the cable next time. This may lead me to suspect that at the same time this happened I also switched the driver of my autoguider camera (Orion SSAG) to its ASCOM driver because I had gone from a Win7 to a Win10 computer and TheSkyX Pro's driver for the SSAG only supported Win7. So I'll also try reinstalling the driver, although it did seem to work except for the small (zero) RA movement in calibration which seemed like a cable/connector problem. It is great to know that the pin connections are correct.
Thanks again.
CS/Jeff

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Re: Guide Port Converter for Takahashi Mounts Item #: GPCNV-TAK

Post by jeffweiss9 » Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:53 pm

Doug-
I gave up on my Starshoot Autoguider since in subsequent retesting with TheSkyX, it wouldn't even connect reliably. I think it is clear that the Orion SSAG ASCOM driver does not work with TSX in Windows 10. I have now replaced it with a StarlightXpress Lodestar X2 that was recommended to me by two astro buddies plus praised on the Software Bisque forum as working well with TheSkyX.
Connecting the Lodestar X2 through the new Lodestar X2 USB cable (mini to std USB 3.0) to the computer (industrial grade USB hub) and the new Lodestar RJ-12 autoguider cable connected to my OLD Shoestring Takahashi EM-200 Temma2 adapter (bought in 2010?), as far as my testing goes, everything now works just fine. Connection to TSX is stable and reliable, the images quality (darks only) are far superior to the SSAG images and, testing by using the buttons on the Autoguider tab that say they work through the Autoguider Camera Relays, I see that RA+, RA-, Dec+, Dec- all work triggered through the Lodestar X2 and the described cables. That is, I can hear the EM-200 Temma2 RA or DEC motors either speed up or slow down with higher/lower audio level, as I expect.
So I think I'm ready to get back in the field with this system, however, I don't understand exactly what you mean by "a mirror-imaged pin numbering scheme on the DIN connector, but other than that you have the correct connections, so I don't think anything is broken". Can you explain exactly what you mean by that, as I would like to understand it, My pin-out is so different than years that I am puzzled and the mirroring certainly isn't just reversing the + and - of the RA and Dec.
Thanks very much.
CS/Jeff

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Re: Guide Port Converter for Takahashi Mounts Item #: GPCNV-TAK

Post by dpanderson » Sat Apr 27, 2019 6:21 pm

Didn't mean to cause confusion. As far as I know, this type of connector does not have a standardized way to number the pins. Thus, the way I number them and the way you did are different, but the end result is that the physical/electrical connections are correct. Glad to hear you have everything running now.
Doug Anderson
Shoestring Astronomy
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Re: Guide Port Converter for Takahashi Mounts Item #: GPCNV-TAK

Post by jeffweiss9 » Mon Apr 29, 2019 8:22 pm

Thanks very much, Doug-
CS/Jeff

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Re: Guide Port Converter for Takahashi Mounts Item #: GPCNV-TAK

Post by jeffweiss9 » Sat May 04, 2019 4:46 pm

Doug-
I tried my new Lodestar X2 autoguide camera, instead of the SSAG that appeared to have problems with its drivers and TSX and Win10 in that it would not calibrate (motion +x too small). People told me the X2 had no problem with TSX or Win10. I tested it on the bench that the camera relays could increase or decrease the RA and DEC motors and then took it into the field. Unfortunately I had exactly the same result that I had with the SSAG: TSX would not calibrate the mount for +x motion too small; once or twice +y motion too small. This was with two new cables than used previously for the SSAG camera - except that I am using the same Guide Port Coverter GPCNV-TAK purchased years ago and with the strange pin-out that I reported at the top of this post chain. So either that pin-out and cable is bad or the miniDIN on the EM-200 Temma2 is bad or something else is wrong with the EM-200 mount. SHOULD I BUY A NEW GPCNV-TAK TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THE OLD ONE THAT I HAVE IS THE CULPRIT? I'm inclined to do that if you think that makes any sense under the conditions I describe above.
Thanks,
CS/Jeff

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Re: Guide Port Converter for Takahashi Mounts Item #: GPCNV-TAK

Post by dpanderson » Sun May 05, 2019 7:59 pm

Yes, please do. It's certainly possible that the GPCNV-TAK has failed.
Doug Anderson
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Re: Guide Port Converter for Takahashi Mounts Item #: GPCNV-TAK

Post by jeffweiss9 » Sun May 05, 2019 11:21 pm

ordered it.
-Jeff

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Re: Guide Port Converter for Takahashi Mounts Item #: GPCNV-TAK

Post by jeffweiss9 » Mon May 06, 2019 12:57 pm

Doug-
Actually I've learned now that I can Pulse Guide my EM-200 Temma2 through TSX so I think I am going to try to get this working without the ST4 output of the Lodestar X2 and no cable into the Temma2 autoguider MiniDIN. I found there were a few settings in the TSX driver for the Lodestar X2 that I had wrong, as well as leaving the ST4 cable plugged into the Temma2 while trying to pulseguide. So I actually don't think I need the replacement GPCNV-TAK that I just ordered. Can I please cancel that order? I may still have electronics problems in the mount itself but I don't think I've shown that yet and I do now understand that, with a working Temma mount, I should be able to go without the ST4 output of the Lodestar as many people do and say it works fine.
Thanks very much for your help and support.
CS/Jeff

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