Telescope is not working.

[MattieHa]

Hi,

Have just bought a Celestron SkyProdigy 130 computerised telescope. Not sure if it's faulty or I am doing something wrong. Keep getting this message on the handset....

HC Trap Occurred..\Source\align\align.c Line:540.

Any help you can give to resolve this problem will be much appreciated!

Matt.

[spaceboy]

Is that not one of those scopes that takes all the work out of finding night sky objects ?? Thought it had to be to good to be true. Technology is such a nightmare at times !!

I can only assume it wants to know the time and date or if your in the North / Southern hemisphere. Failing that in one of the sub menus there will be a factory rest option, give that a try ??

[nightfisher]

What spaceboy said ^^^^

[Demonperformer]

Hi, Matt. Not sure about the previous two posts. This would be true of the standard skyalign procedure, but the skysense auto align should require "absolutely no user involvement" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1Zv1oKcA4o

I would suggest, if the instruction manual is not providing the answer, you contact the dealer from whom you purchased.

HTH

[MattieHa]

I have tried to reset it but now it won't even start up. Can't even see the menu and error message now.

[spaceboy]

What power source are you using. The GT mount is heavy on batteries so I would imagine these mounts are even more so. Most GT mounts require a good reliable power source for them to work accurately and in some cases at all. I now this seems obvious but if you were to use some Tesco own brand batteries you would be surprised how quickly the mount would drain them while out in the cold.

[VigdisVZ]

Yeah see if you can connect it to a better powersource.

[MattieHa]

I'm using a power tank.

[spaceboy]

Anyway of trying it of the mains ?? Double check the voltage first but I think most mounts are 12V.

[spaceboy]

Or try a car cigar socket. Just illiminates the PT as being at fault.

[spaceboy]

I tried the net for a solution and came up with this http://www.fixya.com...n_skyprodigy_70

[knobby]

Can you get it into firmware upgrade mode? Check their web site... Long shot but good luck

[MattieHa]

Thanks. I plugged it in and the light on the handset comes on and it says it is loading (like before) only nothing happens. The error message and menu have both gone since I pressed factory reset.

Thanks for the link. I will look through it and try everything.

Good thing is I got a 10 year guarantee with this scope, so if something is up I can always get a replacement.

[MattieHa]

I emailed Celestron for advice on what to do earlier today. Am hoping they will get back to me in the next few days if all else fails.

Matt.

[spaceboy]

Here is the manual. http://www.celestron.com/c3/images/files/downloads/1311634416_skyprodigy.pdf Maybe someone might better advise you than I can ?? I'm sure it is something simple.

HC Trap Occurred..\Source\align\align.c Line:540 Would suggest to me off the bat that there is a fail safe to stop the Hand Controller getting trapped or wrapped around the mount ????? but I would have thought a reset would resolve that ?? I assume you have tried both the HC port and AUX port just on the off chance ??

[spaceboy]

I take it you are trying it outside under the stars ?? Not sure how these mounts work but I'm guessing they might get a little confused if you were to turn it on in front of the xmas tree lights lol

[Cornelius Varley]

If the telescope is new you should take it back to the retailer.

[MattieHa]

I tried the aux port too. The error message is back and I could get to the menu again when I pressed the top three buttons simulateously (as before). I ran restore successfully this time but the same error message and problem still exists.

I've read on the Internet that a lot of people have had trouble with faulty Celestron hand controllers.

I have contacted the retailer (John Lewis) today and they are happy to replace or refund it.

[MattieHa]

@SpaceBoy,

"HC Trap Occurred..\Source\align\align.c Line:540 Would suggest to me off the bat that there is a fail safe to stop the Hand Controller getting trapped or wrapped around the mount ????? but I would have thought a reset would resolve that ?? I assume you have tried both the HC port and AUX port just on the off chance ??"

Yeah, that would make sense. Sadly, the reset doesn't seem to have resolved the issue.

[knobby]

You are outside aren't you... It uses its camera to find stars that it recognises?

[spaceboy]

1. Start out by facing the front of the telescope towards an

unobstructed part of the sky, free of any bright lights.

2. Make sure the cap is removed from the camera lens.

3. Press the ALIGN button on the hand control to begin the

alignment process.

Although SkyProdigy will essentially align itself after pressing

the ALIGN button, the following is an overview of the StarSense

alignment process:

• SkyProdigy will automatically start moving to its “home

position”. With the telescope pointed at a clear part of the

sky, it will slew (move) upwards, away from the horizon

about 25 degrees.

[MattieHa]

I was outside, yes.

Thanks for all the info everyone. Much appreciated. I will try it all again tomorrow evening and let you all know how it goes. I am expecting a reply from celestron in the next few days about the problem, so I'll let you know how that goes too.

It's really frustrating as I just want to get out there and start gazing up at the stars. My parents bought it for me as a Christmas present but sadly I haven't had the chance to use it yet. I'm sure it will all get sorted out very soon one way or another. The retailer told me over the phone that they are more than happy to replace it if a solution to the problem isn't found.

Matt.

[MattieHa]

Thanks, Spaceboy. I'll go through everything mentioned on here (and the links) again multiple times tomorrow. With a bit of luck, the problem will be resolved!

Matt.

[Capricorn]

That is a trap condition in the code, fairly standard to prevent invalid parameters geting passed into the code. Sort of an angle is defined as greater then 360, or a drive rate is out of limits, equally likely that some data is missing such as Lat/Long or an acknowledgement from the camera.

The options are hand back to the retailer and leave it in their hands, or reflash the firmware and hope that the firmware is loaded correctly. If you reflash the firmware then I suspect you invalidate any guarantee. You could not prove that it was not your attempt at reflashing that caused the fault.

What you are getting is a simple code fault report that a developer has written in and had it output to the handset for debug purposes. Searching round it occurs a few times recently.

[breezy]

Sorry mate just browsed this post , as Capricorn said its throwing up an error code for whatever reason , I saw John Lewis mentioned and I'd suggest just taking it back to them , they are known for customer service and I'm sure will replace / refund with no probs . Pretty frustrating tho when all ya wanna do is get out and use it