StarSense for Skywatcher mounts

[jam1e1]

5 hours ago, lrt75914 said:

Would an additional calibration point near the object of interest improve the pointing accuracy, i.e. could the starsense be used as a standalone alternative to astrotortilla for framing subs?

to be honest as iapa noted its pretty much spot on last night, didnt see a need to. I do want to test a few more times for repeatability. 

The date / time / location has to be set right as above - its a bit fiddly and not straight forward as the location settings are hidden in my opinion and can easily miss step off. Also setting time is a bit of a pain as only sets time once entered set of details, not just the time - the UI could do with improvements in my view

[Big-Uzi]

I bought a starsense unit a couple of weeks ago. It sits on top of the carrying handle of my AR 152. Aligning the NEQ6 takes just a few mins. You can record the alignment and use it again in another session if you wish. Polar alignment is a lot easier now, especially with my bad back. I'm still learning how to use starsense. But it looks promising.

IMG_1114.CR2

[jam1e1]

So update on latest findings on this Starsense for Skywatcher from another session last night - in summary unit is being sent back for replacement or refund - TBC.

 

- I tried the camera in my other scope - at least on my unit , the puck is too wide for the shoe and only goes half way in - believe this to be a design Flaw - doesnt fit an OO or APM shoe

- The slew locked up when navigating up - it kept on going and wouldn't not stop regardless of what pressed on HC - had to turn off mount to prevent damaging scope from clash

- Control locked up 3 more times after 3 star manual alignment , each time had to turn everything off, back on and realign. Symptoms are mount just arbitrarily stops on goto, no longer accepts slew commands. HC still seems to function

- I went back to Synscan HC and performed fine for remaining 2 hours i was out - glad i kept it now!

 

On the positive side:

- when it does align it appears accurate (from limited use when not locked up)

- interesting observation, i calibrated it to my OO 10" scope, when moved onto 6" Frac on a different night the calibration was pretty much there (stars still in EP) and didn't feel need to recalibrate

- This does work with SkyFi 3 and skysafari (latest unit at time of writing) 

 

Im sending the unit back for either replacement or refund - ive spent more time diagnosing / experiencing issues than actually getting use from it - starting to loose faith and as can probably tell from writing im loosing my patience considering its very high price.

Will update once I know more

Jamie 

[jam1e1]

So been in contact with FLO who advised to tried a handset reset so hopefully this may sort things out - could be a software corruption not sure yet, will try to test out this weekend.

Tried a firmware update but unfortunately failed - anyone else had a go at updating? tried following procedure with PC connected via 2xUSB - to Camera and HC, whilst connected to mount. Each time I try via CFM it says SSP failed to update 

[PeterW]

Jam1e1, sad to see the StarSense not work out. I just got one as I cannot see the pole Star and 3star has never prove reliable with my <50% sky visibility. StarSense just got on with it, 3mins and it was able to go to pretty much so I asked it to go to. Seemed to freeze once; but came back to life and rebooting takes no time if needed. My only issue is I like to observe objects not in the onboard databases.... no custom catalogues and I don't want to connect a PC, interested in the skyfi option as I use skysafari quite often.

 

Cheers

 

Peter

[jam1e1]

Hi Peter

Here's the latest update:

- on firmware update, i got in contact with Celestron, there is a bug in CFM that reports an 'unsuccessful' failure of firmware update despite it being successful - they plan to fix in next release. In meantime an update with 2x USB cables should work fine

- My firmware is now up to date (they confirmed latest firmware versions that match whats on camera and handset ) so all good here

- Ive reset handset, since then Ive had a couple of indoor 'dry' runs and appears successful so far - basically haven't had it hang, so with luck the issue may now be resolved, will do a proper run when weather is good. 

Thanks to FLO for support in background also - they helped answer a couple of product queries and steer in right direction without need for replacement so far  

When it does work, it appears to work very well and is very accurate! id certainly recommend using with SkySafari - though make sure you get the latest v3 model (with red button in middle) i believe widescreen centre are one of the few UK distributors that sell, else order direct. When it all works it will be a superb setup - looking forward to tracking down some tricky DSOs over winter months

Glad yours is working well, keep us posted as if there are issues would be good to report to Celestron so can be addressed

cheers Jamie

[PeterW]

 I seem to have the latest firmware (feb16), so I don't need to try CFM and the update issues that win10 seems to make worse. Its good to be able to try to see things rather than try to find them as well. I think I will now try to see some galaxies... things hat are usually invisible under my lightnpollution.

PeterW

[iapa]

I was wondering if anyone has used the Skywatcher version f StarSense with EQMod?.

My understanding is that the handcontroller is the same for Skywatcher and also Celestron mounts

If EQMod works with the handcontrloller on the SkyWatecher, then  it would work on the Celestron mounts as well???

A Celestron variant of EQMod would be great to have.

 

[chrisshillito]

EQMOD doesn't "work" with the skywatcher handcontroller. It bypasses the hand controll all together and talks directly to the mount's motor controller. As far as I'm aware celestron mounts use different motor controllers to skywatcher and run a totally different protocol - so EQMOD will not work with celestron mounts.

Chris.

[iapa]

Hi Chris,

Shames, thanks for the reply anyway.

I don't use EQMod as I am, as noted, a Celestron person. Just aware that many people swear by it.

 

[davidcox257]

Hi there Jam1e1,

I have also just purchased a StarSense for Skywatcher and am keen to start using it with SkySafari Pro 5 so I'm pleased to see you have got it working. So to short-cut my learning curve I have a few questions for you if that's OK?:

1) What type of cable did you buy to connect the SkyFi 3 unit to the StarSense HC

2) Do you need to put the StarSense HC into "PC Direct" mode for it to work

3) What "Scope Type" do you select in SkySafari Pro 5 (I am using a Skywatcher AZ-EQ6 GT mount)

4) Do you know if it will also work with SkyWire - if so, what type of cable/connector would I need to get this working

Many thanks in advance for your advice

David Cox 

 

[jam1e1]

hi David just seen this, replied via other post , hopefully answered all questions and now working  Jamie

[jam1e1]

Brief update on usability, still having issues with Celestron Starsense for Skywatcher / AZEQ6 mount / SkyFi 3 / Skysafari 5 combo - in summary the issue is as described previously whereby the mount locks up and no longer slews after an indeterminate period of time, usually 5-20mins use. The lockup always appears to happen after a manual slew or goto initiated by Iphone. Symptoms are mount tracking stops as does any slew commands via Iphone or Celestron HC. Using the celestron HC to navigate to settings>view Alt/AZ results in alignment coords resetting all to 0. Only way to resolve is full power down and reboot / realign which is a pain.

Note power supply is sufficient (10A regulated), ive measured ~3.5amps peak during slew. Also replaced USB cables but no success. Appears to be issue with either SkyFi3 or Celestron Hardware.

I'd welcome any other users feedback to see if experiencing the same issues. Have written to Simulation Curriculum to see if there is a known issue, awaiting feedback from Celestron via them. Not been able to use successfully since bought so far  

[noah4x4]

On Tuesday, September 13, 2016 at 15:25, lrt75914 said:

Would an additional calibration point near the object of interest improve the pointing accuracy, i.e. could the starsense be used as a standalone alternative to astrotortilla for framing subs?

Yes, in the Celestron version of Starsense you can add up to TEN  optional additional alignment stars and each work like SYNC. I spread all ten across the sky and seasons and I get superb general accuracy, even on an Alt-Az with wedge.

Never thought of picking an alignment star close to a camera target. What a good idea! Use nine for general alignments and the tenth be a 'floater ' for AP in lieu of SYNC. But Starsense does also support Polar Alignment.

 

[Al.Grant]

Interested in any updates on the SSA from Skywatcher mount users.

Earlier this week I got a Celestron Starsense for Skywatcher and have managed 2 quick sessions with it on my HEQ5 with Vixen VC200L.

I did see a couple of lock up's very similar to those reported earlier in this thread by Jam1e1 here:   It only seemed to happen during the auto align when looking up at the zenith.

I then performed a Manual Align followed by a User Auto Align and not seen the lock up since.  Still have a few things I want to have a go at that should improve the goto accuracy.  Currently with just a rough northern alignment and a 'Calibrate Centre'  I'm getting goto's that are a little off centre in a 9mm eyepiece - that's without the Polar align or additional calibration stars, so I'm fairly happy with that (for visual) 

One thing I'd really like to know is if anybody has managed to use the Starsense for the initial goto and then switch over to PC control?

I have a few software packages (astroplanner, PHD2 & CDC in particular) that use ASCOM for telescope control and interested in knowing if/how I go about running this when using the Celestron Starsense HC

What I'm hoping to be able to do is get things running under the SSA and then swap over for some imaging, using PHD2 for guiding.

Not had a chance to even start looking at this yet but not clear if  it can be done or how  I go about it ....... so any input greatly appreciated!

Thanks

    Al

 

 

 

[jam1e1]

hi Al

out of interest what setup have you got? ( method connecting i.e. wifi, if so which brand etc)

Can I suggest dropping an email to Celestron support if seen issues- reason being the more people that report, hopefully higher up the priority stack to fix. I have raised this issue with them and they have acknowledged replication for my issue, though priority wise I haven't seen any ETA dates or updates as yet. Id be keen to see if many others get this issue. It is intermittent so can go ~20min or ~90min without issue then have to do full power down / setup and realign again. On positive side, when it does work, works well.

Main support site:

http://www.celestron.com/support/technical-support

You can also sign up here to potentially get early sight of beta software / fixes / :

http://teamcelestron.com

I did update software last week via CFM, unfortunately seemed to cause persistent error message on startup now (HC trap 170 error) so had to get unit replaced after chat with Celestron support - (so grateful of FLO support they have been excellent)

regards

Jamie

[Al.Grant]

Hi Jamie,

I'm using my Starsense on an HEQ5 Pro with a Vixen VC200L.

So far I've done everything at the mount via the hand controller, no wifi, gps etc involved.

I will send Celestron support an email, but will wait until after I do another run.   Even if I don't see the issue again I'll report it.

I have moved the location of the Starsense on my scope to allow for better positioning of my guide scope and also to allow me to keep my Telrad, which I'll be keeping on the scope (really useful during Manual Align).    As I have moved the Starsense I want to do a Calibrate Centre again. 

I have also changed the way I have the Starsense attached to the small camera bracket.  Initially I followed the instructions in the manual (page 9), but for some reason it always looked wrong to me and so I reversed it in the bracket.  It sits perfectly and as the new position in the bracket moves the Starsense forwards it's out of the way when I'm looking through an EP or adjusting the camera etc. 

Al

 

 

[DorsetBlue]

On 19/03/2017 at 23:13, jam1e1 said:

I did update software last week via CFM, unfortunately seemed to cause persistent error message on startup now (HC trap 170 error) so had to get unit replaced after chat with Celestron support - (so grateful of FLO support they have been excellent)

Oh, I am getting that error too.  But after a little while (about 10-20 secs) it proceeds to the alignment screen and then works fine - so I have ignored it.

[DorsetBlue]

Okay, hi all.  I have had my SS4S for about 3-4 weeks now on my bitsa SW AltAz Synscan but have had little time to play with it (dreadful cloud whenever I have a chance to go outside).  The few times I have used it, it has worked very well. I use a User Setup Align, as my view is very obstructed in several directions and that is working well.  Strangely I have never set my position (not a setting on the startup page on my handset - might be due to the latest firmware) and it seems to work fine.

So far I only have the one niggle:

I return the telescope to pointing north and flat at the end of a session. Partly from habit and also because when flat, the telescope fits better into my busy garage.  However, this means I have to manually return it to this position before hibernating - which is a minor annoyance but one never the less.  I cannot find a way to save this position as a home before hibernate (like I had on Synscan).  Is there a way to do this?