Telescope Control

Telescope control is included as a standard feature with Voyager. You specify the type of telescope you are using, and the necessary parameters to control its position in the sky. The telescope's position appears as a moving cursor on the sky chart, a "celestial mouse" that records the telescope's position as it moves across the sky. With Voyager, you will spend your time viewing objects, rather than reading coordinates from a star chart in the dark. Voyager will transform your observing experience.

Voyager can display your telescope's position in multiple windows: you can simultaneously follow the telescope in a wide field as it moves through a constellation, and also see a close-up of the eyepiece field as you move from object to object. The telescope cursor can be customized and rotated to match a specific eyepiece or the dimensions of a CCD frame. And the screen display and telescope dialogs can use a "red-screen" mode for night vision. If you have a "Go-To" telescope, you can double-click a galaxy on the screen, and your telescope will slew to the selected object. You can create an observing list of selected objects, direct your telescope to each object in turn, and save the list for future use.

Telescope Connection

Most telescopes require communication through a serial (RS-232 or COM) port. If your computer has only USB ports, you will need a USB-to-serial adapter. We recommend the Keyspan line of USB-to-serial adapters.

You can also purchase interface cables for most popular telescopes from Carina Software

For a wireless connection to your telescope, consider our SkyFi Wireless Telescope Controller.

iOptron SmartStar Notes

Voyager 4.5.1 now includes support for the iOptron SmartStar mounts with GOTONova 8401 and 8402 controllers. These controllers contain their own built-in USB to Serial adapters, based on the Silicon Labs CP210 USB-to-UART chipset. In order to get Voyager to communicate with these controllers, you'll need to download and install the appropriate "Virtual COM Port" (VCP) driver software for the CP210x chipset. You can get the latest version from the Silicon Labs web site. Or, you can get a copy from our Voyager 4.5 downloads page (scroll down to the bottom of the page!)

Also, make sure that your GOTONova controller is running the latest iOptron firmware. Check the Support section of iOptron's website to download the latest firmware version for your controller.