Meade 04513 No.506 Cable Connector Kit with Software for No.494 AutoStar Equipped Models (Black)

This cable along with the #497 Autostar hand controller (upgraded to 43eg firmware) was the only way I found to get the Skyfi wireless telescope control to connect to my Meade ETX70AT telescope using my Android Archos 80G9 turbo tablet and work properly with the Skysafari 4 Pro app. You must make sure all settings are according to the telescope you are using. I upgraded the #497 hand controller using Meade Autostar Suite upgrade software, in order to get the program to see the controller, while the program is running, turn the telescope on and click connect, do not go through the setup and alignment process, just connect. I did this with an old Dell laptop running WinXP. If it doesn't connect, check the Com port settings in the device manager to make sure it is using Com 1 and all other communication settings are set as the instructions say, this is usually the default settings anyways, but if something else is using com port 1, you have to change to a non-used port and change the com port settings in the Meade Update program as well. Any questions, feel free to ask. If you have problems connecting to an android using SkySafari, restart the app or re-boot the device. Took me months to finally figure this out, being new at telescopes and there wireless connections, hope this works for others. All I need now is a warm clear New England night.

Windows 7 professional 64 bit, right clicked the install file >properties >compatibility >check run in windows 98 compatibility mode. Once the software is installed, set your USB to Serial adapter to Com 1. It worked right away. Took control over the built in hand controller. This is very cool.

I purchased this to control my DS2114AT-TC from a laptop. It was literally plug-n-play with Linux and Kstars. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the supplied AstroFinder software. I use a cheap USB to serial converter to provide RS-232 connectivity on my laptop. The AstroFinder software failed to work with the XP assigned COM9 port, so I forced it to COM1 under the hardware advanced tab settings. When that failed to work, I set the Windows program compatibility option to Windows 98/ME. After a few more reboots, the program finally started to work. (Technical note: If you are trying to debug the serial interface with an external RS-232 monitor, be aware that the AstroFinder software does not appear to initialize any hardware handshaking lines.) Compared to Kstars, the AstroFinder software was archaic and very slow. The graphical interface was reminiscent of an older DOS application. Browsing the sky can only be described as "painful" when compared to the speed and user interface of Kstars. Perhaps my biggest software complaint is that the top menu buttons only show up as relatively small icons. There are no pop-up windows describing their function, requiring one to consult the PDF documentation, or click on the icon to see what happens. The ONLY reason that I even bothered booting up Windows XP and installing the Meade software was to simplify the update of the satellite Keplerian elements. Even that was a time consuming hassle. I found that it was far faster to just enter the data manually from the telescope. Overall, I am pleased with the quality of the proprietary serial interface cable, but I will likely never again use the AstroFinder software. I will consider this as the purchase of an interface cable with a bloated demo-ware application included as a teaser. This is fine with me as the cable, Kstars, and Slackware Linux work extremely well controlling the DS2114 from my Dell Mini-9.

It provides an interface to my EXT-60 telescope just perfect using windows 7. It is easy to use and the direction are easy to follow. Is a great tool to use with my scope.

Cables work great, tried other after market cables that didn't work, very pricey for software that you can get from the MEADE web site. I would have given it 5 stars otherwise.

It's a bit expensive for an old piece of equipment, but if you must have a way to interface with an old telescope, this is it. Works as advertised. Used it on my ETX-80 to communicate via Serial commands. Didn't touch the software.

So, this software IS OLD I don't think it's gotten a functional update in 20 years, it even says 1995 in software. It also sucks considering it is supposed to control my telescope, but the program and telescope only goes through old school serial interfaces that the last computer I saw it on in terms of laptop was my old Dell from 2001 and my last desktop from the same year. We bought the telescope in 2011.

I purchased this kit to use with my Meade DS 2090 AT-TC Telescope. I also purchased the Meade USB to RS232 Cable since my laptop does not have a serial port. I have tried multiple times to get the AutoStar software that came with the telescope to recognize the the computer without success. I called Meade's customer support and they indicated that I need to 505 cable kit even though the information on Amazon's site said that the 506 cable kit is for the DS 2000 series telescopes. The customer support person did make some suggestions that I will follow when I get home from work. The software that came with the 506 kit is not that easy to follow and unfortunately Meade does not include a written instruction manuel with the software. They could have done a better job if they had provided comprehensive instructions with the 506 cable kit. I will follow up once I try the instructions given to me by their technical support staff.

hmmmm yes I guess it does work...

testé cela fonctionne bien sous win7 64 bit avec port com via usb le top IL faut un cable port com usb .

bill is very happy with this product and it arrived very promptly

Livraison rapide et le produit est conforme à celui du site. Mais il est difficile à utiliser, car le logiciel ne reconnait pas toujours le télescope sous windows 7.

this product DOES NOT WORK ! total wash of money my telescope it doesent even recognise dont .wast your hard earned money