Logging TheSky's Serial Communication with the Telescope

 

TheSky for Windows, Macintosh and Pocket Edition each rely on bi-directional serial communication in order to control a go to, robotic or software-guided telescope. If TheSky and the telescope cannot each send and receive commands (for any reason), then you'll encounter an error message similar to the one below.

 

Telescope Not Responding Message

 

In order to help troubleshoot telescope communication difficulties, TheSky can generate an ASCII text "log" of all the commands sent to and received from the telescope. Examining the log can help determine the cause of communication problems or failures.

 

Logging telescope data is normally only required after all other troubleshooting methods have failed.

 

Please read the Software Bisque Warranty Disclaimer and EULA before continuing.

 

 

To Generate a Telescope Log File

The table below contains the step-by-step procedure for generating a Telescope Log File for your operating system.

 

Operating System

Procedure

Windows

  1. Open My Computer.

  2. Open Local Disk (C:).

  3. Click File | New | Folder.

  4. Type SBLog for the new folder name and click Enter.

  5. Open the SBLog folder.

  6. Click File | New | Folder, type in the name of the log folder for your telescope and then press Enter.

  7. Click Start | Programs | TheSky Astronomy Software.

  8. ClickTelescope | Setup, select <Telescope Name> and then click OK.

  9. ClickTelescope | Link | Establish. TheSky will log commands sent to, and the responses received from, the telescope.

  10. If TheSky can successfully establish communication with the telescope, but produces an error elsewhere, then perform the steps necessary to reproduce the error.

  11. You can read the log file using any text editor (such as Notepad).

 

Macintosh

  1. Create a folder named My Hard Disk:SBLog:<Telescope Name>:<Telescope Name>.txt, where <Telescope Name> is the model name of your telescope. See the table below for details about what name to use.

  2. Launch TheSky.

  3. ClickTelescope | Setup, select <Telescope Name> and then click OK.

  4. ClickTelescope | Link | Establish. TheSky will log commands sent to, and the responses received from, the telescope.

  5. If TheSky can successfully establish communication with the telescope, but produces an error elsewhere, then perform the steps necessary to reproduce the error.

  6. You can read the log file using any Mac text editor.

Pocket PC (Windows CE)

  1. Create a folder named <My Device>\SBLog\<Telescope Name> on the mobile device, where <Telescope Name> is the model name of your telescope. See the table below for details about what name to use.

  2. Launch TheSky Pocket Edition.

  3. TapTelescope | Setup and then select <Telescope Name> and then tap OK.

  4. TapTelescope | Link | Establish.  

  5. If TheSky can successfully establish communication with the telescope, but produces an error elsewhere, then perform the steps necessary to reproduce the error.

  6. Terminate the link.

  7. View the file <Telescope Name> Log.txt using any text editor.

 

The table below contains the telescope-specific folder and text file name for the Telescope Log File.

 

Telescope Make and Model

Log File Folder Name

 

Windows

Macintosh

Mobile Device

Astro-Physics GTO

AP\AP.txt

 

AP:AP.txt

AP\AP Log.txt

Meade Autostar and Autostar II

 

Autostar\Autostar.log

Autostar:Autostar.log

Autostar\Autostar Log.txt

Meade LX200 and compatible telescopes (Gemini, SkySensor, etc.)

 

LX200\LX200.txt

LX200:LX200.txt

LX200\LX200 Log.txt

Celestron NexStar 5/8 and compatible telescopes.

 

NexStar5\NexStar5.txt

NexStar5:NexStar5.txt

NexStar5\NexStar5 Log.txt

Celestron NexStar GPS and compatible telescopes, including:

  • C5-SGT

  • C6-RGT

  • C8-SGT

  • C8-NGT

  • C9.25-SGT

  • C10-NGT

  • CGE 800

  • CGE 925

  • CGE 1100

  • CGE 1400

  • NexStar GPS (all models)

  • NexStar Advanced GT Series (all models)

 

NexStarGPS\NexStarGPS Log.txt

NexStarGPS:NexStarGPS Log.txt

NexStarGPS\NexStarGPS Log.txt

SkyComm Eng. Sky Commander

SkyCommander\SkyCommander Log.txt

 

SkyCommander\SkyCommander Log.txt

 

SkyCommander\SkyCommander Log.txt

Celestron Ultima 2000

 

Ultima2000\Ultima2000.txt

Ultima2000:Ultima2000.txt

Ultima2000\Ultima2000 Log.txt

Software Guided Telescopes (BBox, NGC-Max, etc.)

 

n/a

n/a

SGT\SGT Log.txt

Takahashi Temma

Temma\Temma.txt

n/a

 

Temma\Temma Log.txt

TeleAPI

 

TeleAPI\TeleAPI.log

n/a

n/a

TheSky Box

 

TheSkyBox\TheSkyBox.log

n/a

n/a

 

 

Always delete the folder named SBLog after generating the Telescope Log File. Otherwise, TheSky will continue to log all telescope commands and may degrade the communication performance.