StarSense for SkyWatcher doesn't work on AZEQ6

[Richard136]

I had the Celestron version of StarSense, worked a treat in my Celstron mount. I purchased the Interface Box to enable the kit to work on SkyWatcher mounts... it doesn't work on AZEQ6. It hangs on boot up, immediately after selecting the alt-az or equatorial mode.

I found a thread on CN about this, stating a bug in the Celestron firmware. 

Does anyone have a similar issue to me? Any fixes?

Edited January 12, 2022 by Richard136

[Shimrod]

9 hours ago, Richard136 said:

I had the Celestron version of StarSense, worked a treat in my Celstron mount. I purchased the Interface Box to enable the kit to work on SkyWatcher mounts... it doesn't work on AZEQ6. It hangs on boot up, immediately after selecting the alt-az or equatorial mode.

I found a thread on CN about this, stating a bug in the Celestron firmware. 

Does anyone have a similar issue to me? Any fixes?

There is a beta version of updated firmware that addresses this problem available on the TeamCelestron website. This introduced a separate bug (details below) which may not be relevant to you - if you are not attaching any other devices possibly this won't be an issue for you. You would need to join the website to access the beta version as the terms of the website do not allow for sharing of any of the files.

Unfortunately this change was from last August, and is the only change made last year - and there has not been a public firmware or software release from Celestron since September 2020. This was originally reported by Derik (the Celestron engineer who seems to run the website) as a staffing issue at Celestron which  I guess they are still struggling with.

 

 

[Richard136]

Thanks. I've registered for that, awaiting approval to join. 

When I do join, suspect I'll see the bug warning you refer to and get access to the Beta download.

Would like to get this working - just glad I didn't shell out for the whole unit!

[Richard136]

Is it possible to downgrade the firmware, if you apply the Beta update?

[Shimrod]

14 minutes ago, Richard136 said:

Is it possible to downgrade the firmware, if you apply the Beta update?

Yes you can revert to an earlier version  - I have read on Cloudy nights of some people downgrading to a 2019 version of the firmware that works with the AZEQ mounts.

[Richard136]

Thanks. How do you do that? the CFM programme didn't obviously allow me to select what version I update to, it just sent and trawled the internet and did it.

[Shimrod]

42 minutes ago, Richard136 said:

Thanks. How do you do that? the CFM programme didn't obviously allow me to select what version I update to, it just sent and trawled the internet and did it.

You need to run in offline mode(under the options menu) to avoid the search for latest versions of the firmware files -but you will then also need the previous version on your PC to be able to restore - all the firmware files are in packages folder within the CFM folder.

[Shimrod]

On 12/01/2022 at 23:56, Richard136 said:

I had the Celestron version of StarSense, worked a treat in my Celstron mount. I purchased the Interface Box to enable the kit to work on SkyWatcher mounts... it doesn't work on AZEQ6. It hangs on boot up, immediately after selecting the alt-az or equatorial mode.

I found a thread on CN about this, stating a bug in the Celestron firmware. 

Does anyone have a similar issue to me? Any fixes?

There is a new version of the starsense firmware on the TeamCelestron site which appeared two days ago - it contains this bug fix:

• Bug Fix: When used with the StarSense SkyWatcher Interface box (SSI box) and one of the AZ-EQ-# mounts, this version will not lock up shortly after power up.

[Richard136]

Thanks. I'm still waiting for my access to be approved to TeamCelestron

[Shimrod]

2 hours ago, Richard136 said:

Thanks. I'm still waiting for my access to be approved to TeamCelestron

I've just downloaded and run CFM from the celestron website - it looks like the firmware update has also been released for public consumption if I am looking at the right package - it is version 1.22.21333. THe firmware versions on the Celestron site appear to be out of date.

[Richard136]

From the main celestron website ? Not Team Celestron?

[Shimrod]

4 hours ago, Richard136 said:

From the main celestron website ? Not Team Celestron?

yes, from the main website  - https://www.celestron.com/pages/firmware-update-history

Of course you don't need to download CFM - you could just rerun - I just downloaded as the one on TeamCelestron mentions it uses the latest version of CFM - but as far as I can tell there it looks the same as the publicly available version.