Terry Hancock wrote: > On Sun, 29 Jan 2006 15:25:43 -0800 > RayS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > (about LX200 module) > > Sounds interesting, but I don't actually know what an LX200 > is. I considered buying one of the Meade computer controlled > telescopes (there is a very inexpensive one that has been > marketed through Walmart. Ordinarily, I would steer clear of > a "department store telescope", but I was intrigued that > they were selling a name brand telescope). >
Very wise. But I think even Meade's cheapest offering would be worth having. They don't make really crap scopes. > But the box is very uninformative -- it seems as if there's > some kind of fixed catalog of objects that the scope will > find, with no way to just enter coordinates. It seemed like > maybe it would be *too* automated. But if in fact it's > possible to interface to one of these with a little Python, > that would make things a lot different. Do they have some > kind of serial or USB port on them? > > Of course, you may be talking about an entirely different > telescope! > I think they all support goto by RA and declination in addition to the more common goto Mars or goto M51. The planets are actually star #901-#909 but skipping #903. You have to be careful to get the scope alignment right, though. This normally involves centering two stars after the scope is turned on. My old LX200 has a nasty habit of pointing straight at the house and saying "centre Altair", you can re-align on stars that you _can_ see any time you like. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
