Synscan v3 firmware update 3.38

[den12386]

Just noticed on the sky watcher web site they have released an update for the v3 handset this year . Has anyone update there handsets to this version 3.38 ? I have v 3.37 and was wondering if it's worth updating to 3.38. 

[ronin]

Have a read and find out what the update has rectified or added. If irrelevant to you it may be a fair idea to just live with what you have. Reason for this is that the process of performing the update can be hazardous. Quite a few posts of some message saying failed and cannot connect to one thing or another.

The update problem seems to be in the USB aspect. USB is much faster then the original serial and the data can go down too fast and some is lost. That means the new firmware is then incomplete or corrupt. The old serial never performed any check or handshake so whatever came down was in effect stuffed into the memory. PC's are a lot faster then when the scope comms were produced.

Some USB cables etc seem better then others, also always a good idea to limit the USB port speed to the lowest as well, just helps.

If you have a nice old PC or laptop with a nice old serial port that could be a good idea, another might be to buy a serial card and install it. Will say that if you decide to update then likely it will be fine and you will wonder what all the fuss and warnings were about. In a way I am "fortunate" my handsets cannot be updated so I do not have to think about it.

[Cornelius Varley]

The main addition to the new version is the ability to do a daytime single star alignment on the sun.

[den12386]

Good advise ronin, I did have a little difficullty when I updated to v3.37. The first serial to usb adapter was poor quality and failed so bought a better one and that worked first time. I will leave it with v 3.37 for now as not worth risking if not much change in versions.