iOptron CEM25 User Manual

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RS232 connector (female) RJ9 plug

Wiring

RS232 RJ9

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®

CEM25 with Go2Nova® 8408 Hand Controller
Firmware Upgrade

The firmware of a CEM25, including Go2Nova®
8408 hand controller, R.A. and DEC motor drive
boards, can be upgraded by a customer. Please

check iOptron’s website, www.iOptron.com, under

Support, for the most up to date firmware.

DO NOT load standard CEM25 mount
R.A. firmware into a CEM25EC (mount
with high precision optical encoder) R.A.

board. Permanent damage may occur!

To upgrade the firmware, you need some or all of
the following software/hardware, depends on the
upgrading you are performing:

 iOptron Upgrade Utility Program (Version 1.22

or higher)

 8408 hand controller firmware for CEM25
 R.A. motor drive firmware for CEM25

port to the serial port of a computer. Here is a
sample of a RS232 to RJ9 serial cable. Please do

not use other brand cable other than iOptron.
They may look exactly same but wired
differently.

If you are making your own cable, here is the
wiring instruction:

 DEC motor drive firmware for CEM25
 iOptron RS232 to RJ9 serial cable #8412

(included with the ZEQ25 mount)

 USB to RS232 converter and driver. If your

computer does not equip a RS232 port (9-pin
D-shape connector) except the USB port, you
need to buy a USB to RS232 converter, form
a computer hardware store or on-line. We

recommend using a converter with a FTDI
chipset.

Please manually set the mount to zero
position using MENU=> Zero Position =>Set

Zero Position. Otherwise, the mount may not
perform goto properly.

1. Prepare the hardware

In order to perform the firmware upgrade, as well
as to use planetarium software to control the
mount via an 8408 hand controller, the
communication between the PC and hand
controller has to be established.

Serial (RS232) Port on a Computer

The first step is to find if your computer has a
serial port (or RS232 port). The following photos
show a native (built-in) serial port on a laptop (left)
and a desk top (right). It is a 9-pin D-shaped
(DB9) connector. The assigned port number
usually is COM1. Minimum 5.0VDC output power
at serial connector is needed to ensure reliable
data transmission.

RS232 to RJ9 serial cable

The firmware upgrade and computer controller is
through a RJ9 serial port on a Go2Nova® 8408
hand controller. You need a cable to connect this

iOptron Corporation, 6E Gill Street, Woburn, MA 01801 www.iOptron.com

USB to RS232 converter

If your computer only has USB ports, like most
late PC and laptops do, or the native RS232 port
does not perform, you need a USB to COM
(RS232) converter to convert one USB port to a
RS232 port. Here are two examples of USB2COM
converters. Here are two examples of USB2COM
converters. We recommend having a converter
that uses high quality chipset, such as one from
FTDI or Silicon Labs, to ensure a reliable
operation.

2. Find the serial port (COM port) number from
your computer:

If your computer has a serial port (9-pin D-shape
male connector on the back, the default assigned
number is COM1.

If you are using a USB to COM converter to
convert one USB port to a COM port, you can find
the computer assigned COM port number.

shown in the screen shot below. Move the mouse
to Device Manager and click onto it.

Click on Ports (COM & LPT), find out the COM
number and write it down (in the following screen
shot, the assigned port number is COM3)

Set up you mount. Connect the hand controller to
the HBX socket on the CEM25 mount (NOT the
PORT socket!)

Plug the USB to RS232 converter into one of
available USB port and connect the RS232-RJ9
serial cable onto the serial port of the converter.

After install the USB2COM driver that comes with
the device, use your mouse’ right button to click
on Windows sign located on the left bottom
corner of your computer’s screen (Windows 8 as
an example). This will bring up a list of tasks as

iOptron Corporation, 6E Gill Street, Woburn, MA 01801 www.iOptron.com

3. Download software and firmware from
iOptron website:

Go to iOptron website, www.iOptron.com, click on

Support tab. Locate CEM25 under
Firmware/Software catalog and click on it. You