I would like to start imaging again but cannot remember how I used to plug my SBIG 2000xcm into my LX200 for autoguiding. Do I just use the standard grey cable that came with my camera and plug that directly into the "CCD" port on the front panel of the LX200? I don't want to cause any of the electronics to fry so wanted to be sure that I plugged it into the right place before trying. I used to remember plugging two cables into the RS232 port on the LX200. I used a "phone splitter" (2-to-1) so that two cables could be plugged into the one RS232 port at the same time. One of the items that I was plugging into the RS232 port via the splitter was the cable that allowed me to control my scope via computer with Starry Night Pro. I can't remember what the other cable was for that I plugged into the RS232 port as well. Do I plug the grey SBIG cable directly into my LX200's RS232 port instead? It seems to me that I heard somewhere that the "CCD" port on the front of the LX200 was for older stand-alone autoguiders like the Pictor, etc.. Will the CCD port even handle/manage auto-guiding for the 2000 camera series if there is not a stand-alone guider involved? I have searched hard and long on the internet and even combed by original manual and have not been able to come up with a definitive answer. I would greatly appreciate any input you have if you have previously used a LX200 with your SBIG camera. I head back overseas in two days and was hoping to get my camera/telescope system up and running before then. Much thanks, Mike
Mike - I have a LX200 7" Mak. I'm assuming yours is a LX200 classic, not a LX200GPS or ACF. The CCD port on the LX200 classic is the guider input port to the mount, and works with most cameras with an ST-4/SG-4 guider output port using the standard RJ12 SBIG flat cable. The camera is not opto-isolated, neither is the mount. Some folks had a relay /isolator box that they used in between. The classic LX200's body is not grounded - it's a couple volts higher, and the ST-2000 is not at the same ground potential. So some people would use a relay box. I don't remember what I used to do. RS232 splitter - in the old days, before ASCOM Device Hub or POTH let you share a single connection between multiple applications, one serial connection went to MaxIm, and one went to Starry Night. NO !! That could permanently damage both the camera and the LX200. There's +/- 12V on that RS232 port. FALSE. The original SBIG people defined a "standard" for guider ports - the ORIGINAL stand-alone guider was the SBIG Star Tracker 4 (eg the famous ST-4) and all the cameras with guider ports since then. Meade followed that "standard" back in the 90's. The ST-7 with the internal guide sensor uses the same connection.
