Telescope is not working.

[knobby]

Could be worse... At least its cloudy!

[MattieHa]

Just a quick update.....tried everything again and it still doesn't work!

I phoned John Lewis and they said there isn't a time limit for getting a replacement, so they are happy for to spend a bit longer trying to resolve the problem. As I emailed celestron 3 or 4 days ago explaining the problem, I will wait until the end of the week for a reply from them.

Thanks again for everyone's help!

Matt.

[knobby]

Good luck Matt and happy new year

[MattieHa]

Thanks! Happy New Year everyone!

Matt.

[spaceboy]

Hope you manage to find a solution and the thread would be useful if anyone else comes across the problem in the future. Failing that you could always return it to John Lewis get a refund and get one of these instead http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-150p-eq3-2.html plus you'd end up with some change towards a star map and planisphere. Given the fuss you have already had with a scope that is supposed to "take the fuss out of setting up" you might find only having to align two stars easy in comparison.

[MattieHa]

Still haven't heard back from Celestron...though I expect they'll reply in the next week or so. I'll post any info on fixing the problem if I receive it.

I went to John Lewis today and they told me they can deliver a replacement this Monday....and pick up the one that is not working at the same time. Glad I plaid extra now for much better customer service (and a 10 year guarantee).

Thanks again to everyone on this site for their help and advice.

Matt.

[DaveHKent]

That looks like a typical software error, as it is giving a line number and a file path. I would say either the handset had a hardware fault or the firmware image is corrupt. See if you can go through the procedure to reinstall the firmware, if not then I'd take it back. If they have another one in store, you could suggest either setting it up in the store to check or just swapping a handset with yours.

[brantuk]

Save yourself time - it's a program bug and the scope doesn't work - take advantage of your warranty and just get it replaced. If the new one doesn't work then get a refund. Celestron could take weeks replying - you might get a quicker answer on their q/a forum. Among my other vices I'm a software developer and can't abide companies who mass produce software in a rush without proper QA and testing just to get a new model out in the market so they can rake in the millions.

One tip though - don't try plugging the handset into the aux port - only use the handset port on any scope. The other ports are used for different purposes and not only won't work but run the risk of wrecking the electronics. Hth

[gkec]

@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.

The trap mentioned is more likely a software trap that has detected an error condition. The align.c line 540 is the line in the source code that the error occurred.

i.e. of no use to the user.

[spaceboy]

Fingers crossed the skies are clear for you Monday Matt !!

[todick]

I know its almost a year ago but I have the same problem.

What was the outcome?

regards

[hayju01]

Just got this error on my SP 130. Sod law it would be bank holiday and first time in months that it's been clear. Have done a factory reset and holding zero when switching on scope. Anyone got anywhere with a fix?

[cloudsweeper]

Despite the error message, can the 'scope still be moved?  If so, you could use the direction buttons to aim at something and at least get some use before it gets replaced.

Just a thought.  Mine sometimes gives error messages and the GoTo fails, but I can still use it by directing it myself.

Doug.

[hayju01]

Hi Doug, 

the scope only had Alt movement, nothing in Azimuth at all ☹️

I've submitted a ticket to FLO so will wait and see on Tyesday what they can advise but I am pretty sure it's out of warranty, a shame as its only been used about 10 times and when it worked it was a great grab n go and saved me lugging the eq6/c9.25 out.

cheers,

justin

[cloudsweeper]

5 minutes ago, hayju01 said:

Hi Doug, 

the scope only had Alt movement, nothing in Azimuth at all ☹️

I've submitted a ticket to FLO so will wait and see on Tyesday what they can advise but I am pretty sure it's out of warranty, a shame as its only been used about 10 times and when it worked it was a great grab n go and saved me lugging the eq6/c9.25 out.

cheers,

justin

That's a pity, Justin.  Mine can easily be moved in alt by hand, but not azi.  (Although it's not a practice I would care to use other than in a case of motor failure!)

Let's hope you get a satisfactory outcome!

Doug.

[SmudgeDog]

Sounds to me like the software is doing as it is supposed to. I know the error message seems to be gibberish to most but a variable (reading from sensor) is either not being passed to main.c  or that variable is out of scope. Reflashing the firmware will not cure this so as said above, return to supplier.

[hayju01]

I received a response form FLO to reflash the hand controller....I can see no where on the Celestron website any firmware for the controller and as mentioned above I doubt this will work.

[hayju01]

I was unable to locate the firmware or my Celestron cable (too many boxes), so have ordered a replacement cable and the lovely people at FLO are sending a replacement handset as well. I might have since found a zip file on Celestron website that may have the correct firmware. Watch this space.....

[Scott]

23 hours ago, hayju01 said:

I received a response form FLO to reflash the hand controller....I can see no where on the Celestron website any firmware for the controller and as mentioned above I doubt this will work.

i've  seen this problem posted a few times, any update on how you're going with this?

[hayju01]

5 hours ago, Scott said:

i've  seen this problem posted a few times, any update on how you're going with this?

Replacement handset arrives tomorrow so we will see how that works out. I also purchased a replacement rj11 cable in case in need to flash some roms. Then I'll have to figure out which firmware from this page http://www.celestron.com/c3/downloads.php will keep you posted

[hayju01]

Test handset from FLO arrived but did not function as expected. Tried the update to my original handset only to discover that it won't take the update because mcupdate detects that latest version is installed. FLO are sending another handset so stay tuned....

[hayju01]

Quick update on this. FLO sent it off to Celestron who have fixed it by 'replacing the main board' and as it was just 2 months out of warranty this was free ? Great customer Service ? A big thank you to SteveB from FLO for the hours he put in to help to diagnose and then ship the scope to Celestron ????