I decided to download the INDI code in an attempt to debug what the underlying issue might be. celestrondriver.cpp appeared to be the code for gathering the mount info and, with the help from a NexStar Communication Protocol doc, I identified the driver commands.

For the first message:

I added a couple of lines so that my AVX mount (i.e. model 20) would be identified.

For the 2nd message:the command "h" is to read the time/date from the mount. There didn't appear to be any issues with the code, so I used the UNIX "cu" command to connect to the hand controller's serial port and manually send the command and view the output. However, no matter what I did, the "h" command always timed out and left the hand controller unresponsive. My guess is "h" is no longer a valid command, at least with the version I have (5.28).

The only alternative I could think of was to remove the "h" command call from the code, and use the hard coded simulation values as the returned time/date. Doing this allowed the mount to be controlled, I was able to use the slew buttons to engage the mount motors, as well as choose objects in KStars and have the mount motors engaged to move to them. RA/Dec values were returned, though keep in mind this was only a test in my basement. I'm not sure what effect changing the code this way will have as far as the overall INDI code goes.

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