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First RS-232 to dock connector interface controls telescope

by Victor Agreda, Jr. Nov 4th 2010 at 10:00PM

In the video on the next page you'll see a demo of the SkySafari app from Southern Stars. It's a great app for astronomy buffs, complete with gorgeous renderings of the night sky and an illustrated astronomy textbook in one neat little package. You'll also see a product called SkyFi, which is a WiFi dongle that connects to telescopes using an RS-232 port (sometimes old school is the best school, yes). Finally, you'll see a first: the very first 30-pin dock connector-to-RS-232 port cable used by SkySafari to control a telescope. It's called SkyWire and seeing an iPhone control a telescope is a treat. We're told the cable starts shipping in December and will be sold as an Apple-approved, Made For iPod product. (Editor's note: SkyWire is currently in the final stages of Apple's certification process.)

While SkySafari is awesome, I'm kind of hoping to see this cable put to more uses, like robotics or electronics hobbyist tools. The RS-232 port has been around for a long time, and while newer technologies have surpassed it in speed, it's an accessible tech for the amateur electronics buff. Check out SkySafari for iOS on the App Store or try the Lite version here. Both are on sale during the MacTech conference (ending November 5).

Please note the picture above is of a prototype unit.

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In the video on the next page you'll see a demo of the SkySafari app from Southern Stars. It's a great app for astronomy buffs, complete...
 

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Jeff

Too bad the video for the iPhone accessory is in a format that doesn't work on the iPhone.

December 31 2010 at 12:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bill Tschumy

Hi, I'm the developer at Southern Stars in the video. I thought I'd answer some of you questions:

Wonderboy: There is a WiFi solution. We've been shipping SkyFi for some time. This sets up a wireless Ad Hoc network your phone (or computer) can join to control the telescope.

gnomad: Don't know abut the UART. I will try to find out. You could also check with "Redpark Product Development". They're the company that made SkyWire for us.

folymik: Yes $79 does sound expensive for a cable. But this is not just a basic cable. It is a smart cable with electronics to convert what is coming out the iPhone port to RS-232.

Erik: What you see coming out of the iPhone in the video is a development prototype. The actual production connector is not nearly so large, maybe the size of a book of matches. It is not more likely to damage your iPhone dock port than is you normal cable.

November 05 2010 at 6:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Erik

Maybe I'm missing something, but why do they need a Dock connector to RS-232 adapter? Aren't there already USB to RS232 adapters out there? Does it really matter whether the signals are re-routed before or after they pass through the cable?

I just think I'd rather not have a bulky adapter plugged into the base of my iPhone/iPod touch where an accidental bump of the adapter or yank on the cable could potentially damage the Dock connector port.

November 05 2010 at 10:48 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Erik's comment
timmyd

Yes, there are USB-to-RS-232 adapters out there. But the iPhone dock connector is not a USB port. And an iPhone-to-USB cable won't fit any existing USB-to-RS232 adapter (they both use the same "male" host connector.) Even if they could somehow be physically connected, the iPhone OS doesn't have the drivers to support them.

I'll give you a hint, though. The folks at Redpark Product Development who engineered this accessory are the same people who designed the Keyspan series of USB-to-serial adapters. Keyspan's are, by far, the most reliable and highest quality USB-to-serial adapters on the market. That is a big reason why we chose Redpark's design over any number of cheaper alternatives.

November 06 2010 at 10:53 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
foleymik

I LOVE SkySafari... It's an incredible app. But $79 for a RS232 cable???

If I could get the cable for $20 and a terminal emulator that supported it, I'd be in heaven.. (well, maybe not heaven but certain I'd be totally geeked out)

November 05 2010 at 10:10 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to foleymik's comment
timmyd

I'm the owner of Southern Stars. To clarify:

SkyWire isn't just a dumb cable that connects the serial rx/tx pins on the dock connector to a DB9. Our product has its own UART, and a separate IC which negotiates the external accessory interface required by Apple. That - and the certifications required by Apple - are what makes it a true "Made for iPod" product.

Yes, there are cheaper "iPhone serial cables" out there - in fact last week MacTech reported one being developed by a guy in Australia for $50. But all of these force you to jailbreak your phone to use them. And as app developers we can't support any solution that requires jailbreaking.

So it's up to you - save $30, and jailbreak your phone (and possibly have it bricked by the next iOS update), and end up with a cable that most app developers won't support anyhow. We think that the additional $30 is a pretty good value proposition for most users. I've spent a lot of time working with Redpark's cable. The quality is very good. I think you'll be very pleased with it.

November 06 2010 at 10:17 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Gnomad

Does anyone know if this device uses the serial pin on the dock connector (internal iPhone UART) with an RS-232 level convertor, or whether it contains its own UART?

November 05 2010 at 9:41 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
dave.healey

Finally we will be able to use iPads to flash firmware etc in RS232 only equipment, save karting a laptop to sites perhaps!

November 05 2010 at 4:10 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
peter

I have gosky app very similar presentation does skysafari have more omph when are we going to see the baptism of 'you are here' singularity
the moon demo was good but wifi does not work without maybe mifi

November 05 2010 at 3:02 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
am

I've been waiting for this -- Sky Safari is a great app, and I'm very happy with my SkyFi. The folks at Southern Stars do very nice work, I've been a fan of theirs for years.

November 05 2010 at 1:21 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

This is the kind of stuff that I've been waiting to see since Apple announced back in iOS 3.0 that developers would have access to the dock connector.

Expect to see more iPhones and iPads as remotes for a ton of cool things. And probably some dumb things too.

November 04 2010 at 11:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Chris's comment
Brett

I don't have any experience with this kind of thing, but why isn't there a wi-fi receiver with an RS-232 connector to allow any wi-fi device to act as a remote?

November 05 2010 at 8:38 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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