I have an STV Deluxe and have used it for a number of years. It provides great tracking for my mounts. I have tried over the years to get STV Remote software to talk to it to no avail. Is there any advice to share? I am using Windows 8.1 and a USB to serial adapter that I know works to drive my mount correctly. When I select the correct com port shown in Device Manager the software shows "link not established". When the other com ports are selected, it gives the message "com# not available". So, it seems to sense that something is on the com port, but wont link to it. Are there settings that need to be made in Device Manager to baud rate, data bits, parity, etc.? Will the software run correctly with a USB to serial adapter in lieu of the old serial adapter style cable to a serial port on the computer? Will the software run under Windows 8.1? Any suggestions would be appreciated. SP
Whoah... a blast from the past! The STVs were really a lot of fun to use back in the day (late 1990's). It's beyond 20 years old now. But like all SBIG products, many of them keep on running. The STV Remote software can only be configured to use COM1: or COM2: only. You can find the manual here: http://diffractionlimited.com/support/sbig-archives/ Many USB to RS232 adapters do NOT work, as they just don't do a good job of emulating a real serial port. I did help a guy make this work last year. I think we used an FTDIchip-based adapter. In the Windows Device Manager, find the USB/RS232 adapter under the list of COM and LPT ports. Right Click on it, and go into the Advanced settings, and change the port to COM1: or COM2: Also turn off Serial Enumeration and any power management settings (USB Selective Suspend). The baud rate is NOT set in the device manager. It is done in the STV Remote software and the control box. Your STV control box may have the Baud rate setting to something unexpected, and you can find it in the File Menu button on the control box. Good luck.
