ZWO Seestar 50

[MalcolmP]

21 hours ago, Jim Smith said:

Has anybody got stuck on the "Activation failed" message? I tried the app on both my Pixel 7 Pro and my iPad and neither could complete the activation.

Hi, have you managed to resolve this ?
Have you seen this post earlier in the topic by @cimh? May give a clue to what is going on.

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/408991-zwo-seestar-50/?do=findComment&comment=4426860

There are a few other reports. across the web. of problems as well. so it is making me reconsider my order. I dont have a smart phone and my Andoid tablet is old so I had expected to replace the tablet with a new one at some stage anyway if necessary, but it would be daft to end up with two bits of new astronomical problems ! Perhaps they will do a windows version at some stage, so far they just say they are 'investigating' it !
 

Edited November 2, 2023 by MalcolmP

[Jim Smith]

2 hours ago, MalcolmP said:

Hi, have you managed to resolve this ?

Yes. I discovered that in order to activate successfully on my Google Pixel 7 Pro I had to have "Mobile Data" set to "ON" even though the phone was already connected to the internet via Wi Fi. I have no idea why that should be necessary!

[DaveL59]

45 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

Yes. I discovered that in order to activate successfully on my Google Pixel 7 Pro I had to have "Mobile Data" set to "ON" even though the phone was already connected to the internet via Wi Fi. I have no idea why that should be necessary!

Ahh that's likely because once the phone connects to the WiFi of the SeeStar it no longer sees the internet via your home WiFi network. 

[powerlord]

The one on ebay sold for £780 @!!!!/

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/145386923967

 

Madness.

Edited November 2, 2023 by powerlord

[powerlord]

18 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

Ahh that's likely because once the phone connects to the WiFi of the SeeStar it no longer sees the internet via your home WiFi network. 

Just to be clear, it would see Internet if you'd joined it to yer home WiFi. I assume u mean if you'd not done that and were just connecting direct to seestar hot-spot. Then, yeh depending on phone settings, yer phone may lose Internet at that point. I can't remember how activation works, but it may be that once added seestar, you can flip back to home WiFi to activate app, thrn flip back if yer phone can't use mobile when no WiFi Internet (as I think that was quite a new android thing ?)

[DaveL59]

12 minutes ago, powerlord said:

Just to be clear, it would see Internet if you'd joined it to yer home WiFi. I assume u mean if you'd not done that and were just connecting direct to seestar hot-spot. Then, yeh depending on phone settings, yer phone may lose Internet at that point. I can't remember how activation works, but it may be that once added seestar, you can flip back to home WiFi to activate app, thrn flip back if yer phone can't use mobile when no WiFi Internet (as I think that was quite a new android thing ?)

Yep, you can only connect to one WiFi at a time so without mobile data turned on you aren't able to see the internet. Of course once you get the S50 onto your home WiFi then the phone uses the home WiFi to connect to it, problem solved.

Not sure you could do that tho if you haven't yet registered...

Edited November 2, 2023 by DaveL59

[Elp]

On 24/10/2023 at 15:38, Elp said:

I wonder how high the one listed (easy to find) will go for considering the demand.

Anyone sitting on the fence as to whether they'd buy it and regret it, not for them purchasers, I've seen two sell recently for 40-50pc higher than RRP, crazy.

[DaveL59]

1 minute ago, Elp said:

Anyone sitting on the fence as to whether they'd buy it and regret it, not for them purchasers, I've seen two sell recently for 40-50pc higher than RRP, crazy.

Supply and demand I guess, with a bit of ebay bidding fever lobbed in.

[Elp]

As is the course for this product. Eb is a funny thing. You list an item at buy it now even with offer provision and no one bites, list it as an auction and everyone looses their minds.

Edited November 2, 2023 by Elp

[DaveL59]

16 minutes ago, Elp said:

As is the course for this product. Eb is a funny thing. You list an item at buy it now even with offer provision and no one bites, list it as an auction and everyone looses their minds.

So true, tho with cars I've seen a few go for several thousands above what they're worth and of course the listing ends and the buyer never pays up so it gets relisted. Easy to understand why many don't allow bidders with less than a certain amount of feedback etc. Seen too price getting to above what new + post would have cost, my ex did that a few times till I pointed that out to her, and she used to go on about how "money smart" she was... 🙄

[Jim Smith]

5 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

Ahh that's likely because once the phone connects to the WiFi of the SeeStar it no longer sees the internet via your home WiFi network.

I don't think the phone ever connected to the WiFi of the Seestar. If it did it didn't ask me first and the phone always showed that it was connected to my usual home WiFi router,

[Cosmic Geoff]

21 hours ago, MalcolmP said:

There are a few other reports. across the web. of problems as well. so it is making me reconsider my order. I dont have a smart phone and my Andoid tablet is old so I had expected to replace the tablet with a new one at some stage anyway if necessary, but it would be daft to end up with two bits of new astronomical problems ! Perhaps they will do a windows version at some stage, so far they just say they are 'investigating' it !

My old Android tablet refused to download the Android app, let alone connect to the Seestar.  But with my iphone 7, I followed the basic instructions, set the permissions asked for and had no trouble at all.  It also updates the software when within range of the house wifi (to which the phone is connected) with no issues.

You shouldn't hesitate to order the Seestar because of connectivity issues.  Many Android users have clearly connected successfully.  If you are obliged to buy a smartphone for the purpose, used iphones are very affordable.

[DaveL59]

some more tips n tricks

 

[cimh]

4 hours ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

My old Android tablet refused to download the Android app, let alone connect to the Seestar.  But with my iphone 7, I followed the basic instructions, set the permissions asked for and had no trouble at all.  It also updates the software when within range of the house wifi (to which the phone is connected) with no issues.

You shouldn't hesitate to order the Seestar because of connectivity issues.  Many Android users have clearly connected successfully.  If you are obliged to buy a smartphone for the purpose, used iphones are very affordable.

Hi it might be worth repeating from my entry on p31 here that my android 9 phone downloaded the app fine but it could not save images of the sun or scenery to the phone as it had not created the seestar folder in DCIM so I gave up with it. don't know if that was because of the old android 9 or the phone, a motorola. I have the app working on my lenovo tab running android 10. Although I read on the net that many tablets which do not take a sim use GPS for their compass rather than a compass sensor. So the app thinks my tablet does not have a compass. This prevents me pointing the tablet at the sky in the sky atlas, but it does not stop me doing anything else so I have taken brief images of M31, M45 and M33 without issues. It is worth noting that the app works much faster and without any issues on my iphone 12. But I use that phone for goto on my 8 dob with PSalign Pro, while the Seestar is doing its thing hands free. The other thing to note with some older phones is they might not have 5G wifi and Seestar defaults to this. That can be overcome by connecting with a 5G compatible phone and changing the wifi settings of the seestar to 2.4g. then an older phone will see it and connect.  

[LDW1]

Here is another question / issue that I might have missed, has anyone found or have a water / moisture proof cover / hood for the SS or D2 scopes ?  Something just the right size with a draw string or velcro fastener. Just to protect it before or after a session, I don't mean leaving it out in a rain storm.

[powerlord]

46 minutes ago, LDW1 said:

Here is another question / issue that I might have missed, has anyone found or have a water / moisture proof cover / hood for the SS or D2 scopes ?  Something just the right size with a draw string or velcro fastener. Just to protect it before or after a session, I don't mean leaving it out in a rain storm.

plastic bag ? I mean, why over complicate it.

[LDW1]

8 minutes ago, powerlord said:

plastic bag ? I mean, why over complicate it.

You are correct, I used to use a reusable shower cap over the bottom of my dobs, I just ordered an oversized, elastisized one from Amazon for $15 C. Thanx !  PS:  One of these days they will come out with a cover specificly for the smart scopes, no doubt but at a premium price.

Edited November 3, 2023 by LDW1

[roelb]

4 hours ago, LDW1 said:

You are correct, I used to use a reusable shower cap over the bottom of my dobs, I just ordered an oversized, elastisized one from Amazon for $15 C. Thanx !  PS:  One of these days they will come out with a cover specificly for the smart scopes, no doubt but at a premium price.

https://www.benl.ebay.be/itm/225836226276?hash=item3494e356e4:g:hmMAAOSwIAdlPFcf&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwMB8LCQE221nTZUURjQwZUBg95WbCFjlj%2BasKz0GDuCz3KB58%2FCX%2FR%2F%2B2ANf9xBAfjzaz9uoQ7VHI7XMED4PMs4qMJ6fYqVaQIEWp8Ktqosn24eB9btagljrJ9%2Bz77RLnT%2F9LoIsl1Anls%2FzcYwxjnEEstBkngGicGOo6OfiaWBRptiL6gieHPTUIvqsclFcDYh87CP3Fo5k4dHRuV%2BNNX9s6HajDos2hPA4LthDESqR3svmHXuIXNrosAUaw4zeOQ%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR8CvyP_wYg

[LDW1]

1 hour ago, roelb said:

https://www.benl.ebay.be/itm/225836226276?hash=item3494e356e4:g:hmMAAOSwIAdlPFcf&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwMB8LCQE221nTZUURjQwZUBg95WbCFjlj%2BasKz0GDuCz3KB58%2FCX%2FR%2F%2B2ANf9xBAfjzaz9uoQ7VHI7XMED4PMs4qMJ6fYqVaQIEWp8Ktqosn24eB9btagljrJ9%2Bz77RLnT%2F9LoIsl1Anls%2FzcYwxjnEEstBkngGicGOo6OfiaWBRptiL6gieHPTUIvqsclFcDYh87CP3Fo5k4dHRuV%2BNNX9s6HajDos2hPA4LthDESqR3svmHXuIXNrosAUaw4zeOQ%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR8CvyP_wYg

Thanx but I already have these save for the mask !

[Giles_B]

Just updated to the latest firmware (1.79) last night before continuing my multi-session capture.

Seestar now saves a master dark in the SeeStar/DarkLibrary folder - I'll be interested to see how this affects manual postprocessing.

Edit - just a quick update on this having had a chance to start messing around - very annoyingly, at least for doing my multi-session stacking, the Naxis 1 and 2 variables are switched around by the update - i.e. old images are: NAXIS1  =  1080 / NAXIS2  =   1920, and new images are NAXIS1 =1920 / NAXIS2 = 1080 - this means that images from older sessions are not compatible with newer sessions in Sirilic.

I'll have a hunt on google when I get time, but on the off chance does anyone know of a workaround?

2nd edit - having investigated a bit more, it is only the master dark that is switched around - the images since the update have the correct rotation. This means the fix is straightforward - open the master dark, rotate it 90 degrees and then save it. This allows stacking to work for multi-session with the master dark included.

Edited November 4, 2023 by Giles_B

[Giles_B]

15 hours ago, cimh said:

Hi it might be worth repeating from my entry on p31 here that my android 9 phone downloaded the app fine but it could not save images of the sun or scenery to the phone as it had not created the seestar folder in DCIM so I gave up with it. don't know if that was because of the old android 9 or the phone, a motorola. I have the app working on my lenovo tab running android 10. Although I read on the net that many tablets which do not take a sim use GPS for their compass rather than a compass sensor. So the app thinks my tablet does not have a compass. This prevents me pointing the tablet at the sky in the sky atlas, but it does not stop me doing anything else so I have taken brief images of M31, M45 and M33 without issues. It is worth noting that the app works much faster and without any issues on my iphone 12. But I use that phone for goto on my 8 dob with PSalign Pro, while the Seestar is doing its thing hands free. The other thing to note with some older phones is they might not have 5G wifi and Seestar defaults to this. That can be overcome by connecting with a 5G compatible phone and changing the wifi settings of the seestar to 2.4g. then an older phone will see it and connect.  

And just to +1 this - my Honor 9 phone is Android 9 and has no problem working with the SeeStar.

[Giles_B]

Last update for today - there has been a new version of the app released for android and iphone - the newest app version 1.10.1 is available for download from the ZWO: https://www.zwoastro.com/downloads/seestar

Feature:

Added Auto-center feature in the Solar & Lunar Mode.

Added Full-screen preview feature.

Added Advanced Feature: Compass Calibration.

Added Advanced Feature: Adjust Level.

The max-record time of the Time-lapse is changed to 1000min.

The visibility time of the objects is changed to the current altitude.

Automatically use the result of the last preparation when preparation for image enhancement fails.

Increase the step size for manual focusing.

Optimizations:

Optimized text and UI.

Fixed known bugs.

Edited November 4, 2023 by Giles_B

[LDW1]

Tonite skies in my backyard, in town, are going to be clear and Bortle 4-5 so out comes the SS at about 7:30 to let it have some fun after a good 2 weeks of poor conditions. As a change I am going to compare the photos of some objects ie galaxies using my 2" Burgess Optical CX-4 Contrast Filter to none save for just the built in filter. It will be interesting !

 

 

 

[DaveL59]

3 hours ago, Giles_B said:

Last update for today - there has been a new version of the app released for android and iphone - the newest app version 1.10.1 is available for download from the ZWO: https://www.zwoastro.com/downloads/seestar

 

Seems to be on the google play store already for droid too 🙂 

[LDW1]

Last night about midnight the skies were getting pretty humid and the quality was dropping, the Orion Neb was about 10° off the horizon and it was peeking around the side of my shed but I gave it a try anyway and sure enough it took it even though it was cut off  !  This SS is amazing, I did a little touchup in Lr, just the basics.   PS:  This was a 4 min. enhance, can you believe it, thats because my battery voltage dropped below 15 % the dew heater uses a lot of power !

 

Edited November 5, 2023 by LDW1