Hi Alan, 
    ...Greets from my Telegram app!
What software was your friend using?
My old Bushnell model has what appears to be a phone jack, but I didn't see any cables in the box.  So.. basically, my laptop would need to either accept the RJ-11 and be able to be configured to talk RS232, or I would need an RJ-11/USB or RJ-11/RS232.  There seems to be very little information about this.  But meanwhile, I found that this software 
https://stellarium.org/ is supposed to be pretty good. 
The prospects of using such a telescope sounds appealing (even without the connection to an external computer).  I've never actually had the chance to try a telescope.
The tripod seems to be of very nice sturdy (weighted) construction.
Ciao!
 /|ug (
https://t.me/aabolins)
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