Starry Night BlueStar Telescope Adapter
By Rob Lambert
Amateur astronomers who have previously used Starry Night Pro, Pro Plus, or some other Astronomy software to control their telescopes have probably done the Umbilical Cord Tango or other similar dance when their feet became entangled in the RS-232 cable running between their computer and their telescope. The Starry Night Bluestar Telescope Adapter developed by Imaginova and sold by Orion Telescopes and Binoculars was developed to eliminate the cable and its associated tripping hazard.
To set the stage for this review, I must tell you that I purchased the BlueStar Telescope Adapter for use with Starry Night Pro and my Orion XT10i in the heat of my new found obsession with amateur astronomy. One might argue as to whether or not a rookie amateur astronomer even needs to connect their telescope to a computer, but that’s a debate for another time. Determined to maintain my image as a devout techno-geek, the purchase was made.
The BlueStar adapter is advertised to work with most computerized telescopes and is supposed to allow wireless control of your telescope using the dynamic graphical interface of Starry Night Pro or other similar astronomy software on your computer. The adapter plugs into your telescope hand controller's RJ-11/RS-232 port with a 4-foot coiled cable and has a range of up to 30 ft. It requires a computer running Windows XP or Mac OS X that is already Bluetooth-enabled or the addition of a relatively inexpensive Bluetooth module (available at computer stores). I purchased a Bluetooth USB module from Radio Shack for about $30. The cable needed between your telescope’s object locator and the BlueStar is included in the cost of the adapter, but be sure to order the BlueStar adapter with the specific cable you require. Cables are available for Orion’s Intelliscopes and Atlas EQ-G mounts, Celestron Goto Telescopes, Meade LX200, RCX400, ETX, and LX90. (The BlueStar adapter #24041 in the Orion catalog does not work with the ETX 70 or other Meade telescopes that use the 494 Autostar Controller.) Included in the package are the BlueStar adapter, CD-ROM with driver software, installation card, and cable for your specific telescope. It requires two AA batteries, which are not included.
Installation of the BlueStar adapter is rather straight forward and simple. After inserting the accompanying CD, just follow the on-screen instructions to install the BlueStar Drivers. After installing the drivers, the BlueStar must be “paired” with your computer, which also prevents other computers from interfering with it. Again, following the on-screen instructions is very straightforward. After your BlueStar adapter is installed and paired with your computer, your software must be configured to operate using the BlueStar.
This review only addresses use of the BlueStar adapter with Starry Night Pro (SNP). SNP must know which port is being used by the adapter. The installation process provides you with this information. SNP also needs to know the resolution of the encoders. This information was not provided in the User’s Manuals for either the XT10i, Starry Night Pro, or the BlueStar. Doing a search on the web revealed the resolution for the Intelliscope encoders to be 9,216 ticks per revolution. Orion also provided this information in response to my email requesting information on the encoder resolution. (See Configuration Screen at bottom of next page.)
Once you have configured your software, it’s time to get the scope talking to the computer. In order to connect your star chart software with the telescope you must do a two star alignment. This two star alignment will be in addition to the one that your software assumes you have already completed. Yes, that’s right. After aligning your scope without the BlueStar adapter and your software, you have to complete another alignment with the adapter turned on and talking to your computer. SNP requires you to first place an Intelliscope in the 0 degree or horizontal position, then in the 90 degree or vertical position before aligning on two stars. The alignment stars you choose do not have to be the same ones you used in the first alignment of your scope with your object locator. In fact, the same two stars may not be available as choices. I noticed that Deneb and Cappella are not choices for alignment stars with SNP. After aligning with the second star, the scope and the computer should be connected and the “Connect” button changes to “Disconnect”. The first two times I attempted this second alignment, I received an error message telling me that the alignment had failed for an unknown reason and suggested retrying with two different stars. Not knowing why, after changing one of the stars, the alignment succeeded and the scope and computer were connected. If you want your computer screen to follow your scope, be sure to click the “Follow Scope” button.
Having had success at this point in connecting the scope to my computer, I began the search for the means to select an object on my computer and have the scope’s object locator tell me how to move the scope to find it. Search as I may, I could not find anything in the SNP instructions to tell me how this was to be accomplished. I also noticed that four buttons on the Telescope panel were not highlighted so that they could be selected. After several nights attempting to have the computer tell my Intelliscope how to find an object, I sent Starry Night (Imaginova) an email requesting help with my inability to get my setup to do what they had advertised in their sales information. Two days later, I received a return email informing me that unfortunately SNP could not send data to the Intelliscope Object Locator concerning the location of an object in the sky. I was further informed that this was a limitation of “push to” object locators. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed in not being able to do what I was led to believe could be accomplished with SNP and the BlueStar adapter. I have sent Imaginova another email informing them of my disappointment and suggested they change their advertisement concerning the ability of SNP to quickly and efficiently control an Orion Intelliscope. Since sending this email, I have received a snail mail letter informing me that the BlueStar Adapter is being recalled due to overheating of the units. This condition is probably the cause of another problem I noticed with the BlueStar Adapter. After 15 to 30 minutes, the connection between my Intelliscope and computer would drop. I would have to disconnect and do another two-star alignment to get them connected again. I checked to make sure the batteries in both the BlueStar and the Intelliscope Object Locator were fresh and realigned the scope with SNP. Again, after about 15-30 minutes the connection dropped. I am currently waiting on instructions from Imaginova and Orion to return my BlueStar Adapter for either a refund or replacement. Unless they are able to fix this problem, I will most likely be receiving a refund.
Bottom line: Spending $350 for SNP and the BlueStar Adapter is a lot of money just to see where your scope is pointing on a computer screen. I suggest that you buy SNP for its other inherent strengths and not for controlling your Intelliscope. As for the BlueStar Adapter, the jury is still out until they can fix the overheating problem. If you’re thinking about purchasing a BlueStar Adapter, I strongly suggest you wait until I’m able to provide you more information on Imaginova’s ability to address the overheating problem. And hopefully, Orion will read this review along with my emails of dissatisfaction and maybe address the issue of the Intelliscope Object Locator not being able to receive object location directions from a computer running SNP or any other star chart software.
To close this review on a positive note, I have been tremendously pleased with Orion’s telescope products and their customer service, and I hope they will live up to the reputation they’ve established and quickly work to resolve these issues with Imaginova and the BlueStar Adapter and Starry Night Pro/Pro Plus.
[Update]
This is a brief update on the review I provided on the BlueStar Bluetooth Adapter developed by Imaginova and sold by Orion Telescopes and Binoculars.
As I mentioned in the review, the BlueStar was recalled by Orion due to an overheating problem in some of the units. I believe that mine was also experiencing the same problem. After 15 to 30 minutes of operation, the adapter would lose its connection and I would have to reconnect my telescope through Starry Night. I returned the adapter to Orion and within 10 days of mailing it back, I had a replacement. Again, Orion’s customer service was very responsive.
The jury is still out on whether or not the overheating problem has been fixed. My BlueStar still loses its connection after about 15 minutes. I’ll be writing Orion to inform them of the continued problem I’m having with my adapter.
[Update 07.2006]
This is a follow-up to an
earlier review I did on the Starry Night BlueStar Adapter. If you remember, I
bought the BlueStar to use with my Orion XT10i Intelliscope and Starry Night
Pro.
First let me say that I am very pleased with the performance of my Intelliscope
and Starry Night Pro when they are used independently of each other. Both do
exactly what they are advertised to do separately. It is when they are used in
conjunction with each other and the BlueStar Adapter that I encounter a problem
and disappointment.
Initially, the BlueStar Adapter experienced technical problems with overheating
and a recall was issued to replace the units or refund the purchase price. I
thought the problems I was experiencing with my unit may have been related to
the overheating, so I decided to take the replacement and give the unit another
chance. After receiving two replacement units, I am still experiencing the loss
of connection problem that initially plagued my use of the Adapter.
At first, I thought the Adapter was losing its connection to the Intelliscope
and Starry Night, for no obvious reason. It would just simply drop the
connection, even when there was no activity at either the scope or in Starry
Night.
I recently noticed that the connection would drop as soon as I pressed a button
on the Intelliscope Object Locator that placed the Locator in a “waiting for
input” mode. The Locator appears to stop sending Alt-Az coordinates to Starry
Night, when it is waiting for the user to enter target ID information. Each time
I would ask the Locator to find an object, the connection between the scope and
Starry Night would drop. Explaining the situation to Orion and Imaginova only
added to my frustration. Each company felt the problem belonged
to the other. The indication from both is that Starry Night Pro and the BlueStar
Adapter are only intended to show the user where the Intelliscope is pointed.
They were not intended to actually control the Intelliscope or provide object
location information to the Object Locator.
Engineers from Orion Telescopes did indicate that Starry Night Pro and the
BlueStar Adapter are able to do more with motor-driven “Goto” scopes.