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Evolution 8 and SkySafari PRO 5 on iPhone and iPAD

Mallincamusa

February 20, 2017 14:46

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Last night I used my StarSense to align my Evolution 8.  Once aligned, I went to my iPAD, joined the Celestron WiFi network, and configured SkySafari Telescope settings for an Alt-Az GoTo Celestron on the Celestron WiFi network.  The scope was aimed at Venus.  I connected SkyFi to the scope, it connected and SkySafari said the scope was aimed about 10+ degrees to the southeast of Venus.  I was able to move the scope using the SkySafari motion buttons.  But I could not use SkySafari to accurate any targets.  I had to use the StarSense hand controller.

What should I check as I would like to use SkySafari to locate targets and move the scope.

 

Jack Huerkamp

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25 comments

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  Bill Tschumy February 20, 2017 14:52

  Jack,

  If you are using Celestron Wi-Fi then you must align your scope in SkySafari, not via the hand controller.  This is true for all types of Celestron Wi-Fi connections.

  Bill

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  Mallincamusa February 20, 2017 19:44

  Bill,

  Is there a StarSense alignment option in SkySafari when using the Celestron WiFi connection from the mount to the iPAD?

  If not, if I do a StarSense alignment using the hand controller, should i then connect my SkyFi 3 to the controller and join the SkyFi network to connect to and control the Evolution 8?

  Jack Huerkamp

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  Bill Tschumy February 21, 2017 03:54

  Jack,

  If you have your StarSense camera hooked up and do a Connect & Align With Celestron Wi-Fi, it will lead you through a StarSense Alignment.

  Yes, the other option is to do the alignment from the hand controller and then connect using SkyFi 3, connected through the hand controller.

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  Mallincamusa February 21, 2017 14:09

  Bill, last night I tried doing the following:

  I did a StarSense alignment from the hand controller on the Evolution 8.

  I then connected my SkyFi 3 to the hand controller's USB port.

  I connected the iPAD to the SkyFi network.

  I started SkySafari PRO 5 on the iPAD and setup the scope as a Celestron SE and Alt-Az GoTo.

  I connected SkySafari to the mount and the target circle was close to M42 (within a degree).

  I moved the mount using the direction buttons in SkySafari so I know the iPAD and mount were communicating.

  Then the mount stopped tracking.

  I had to shut down the mount, restarted it and went to do another alignment.  I noticed that the hand controller had been changed from the Eastern Time Zone to Pacific and the date had advanced by 5 days.

  I did another starsense alignment and used the scope for the rest of the night without the benefit of the SkyFi unit.

  I think you had told me what to check in the iPAD that could cause the issue that occurred but I am away from home and do not have access to past corresondences on this problem.

  I guess the next time out I will try using the Celestron WiFi connection and do the alignment from the iPAD.

   

  Jack Huerakamp

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  Bill Tschumy February 21, 2017 15:06

  Jack,

  Before you connected, was the scope pointed exactly at M42?  For SkySafari to show it almost a degree away is not good and something is not working as it should.

  If you had "Set Time & Location" ON in the SkySafari settings, try turning it off.  That is the only thing I can think of that could have caused this.

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  Mallincamusa February 21, 2017 17:12

  Bill,

   

  Yes, the scope was pointed exactly at M42 before I connected the SkyFi unit to the hand controller.  Time and Location was set to ON.  I just turned it off.

   

  Yours truly,

   

  Jack

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  Mallincamusa February 24, 2017 06:11

  Bill,

  Tonight I eliminated the Celestron StarSense hand controller and SkyFi 3 from the mount.  I only connected the StarSense camera to one of the aux port.

  I turned on the mount and went to my iPAD.  

  I connected to the Celestron-E6 network.

   I set up the mount in SkySafari PRO 5 to Celestron WiFi and Alt Az GoTo.

  I then did a connect and alignment with the iPAD.

  For the next 4 hours all was fine except for occasionally disconnections of the iPAD from the Celestron-E6 network.  I would reconnect the iPAD to the Celestron E6 network and re-connect SkySafari to the mount.

  Then all of a sudden the mount could not connect to the iPAD.  The iPAD was connected to the Celestro-E6 network, but when I went to connect SkySafari to it, it said that SkySafari was unable to connect to the network and that I should verify that the correct network was logged into.  No matter what I did, I oculd not get the mount to connect to the iPAD.  I ended my observing session on the best night I was having over the 7 days that I have been at Chiefland Astronomy Village.

  What caused this and how do I correct it in the future?  Tomorrow night is supposed to be good for observing and I would hate to loose the ability to do so.

  Jack Huerkamp

   

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  Skaiser3 February 24, 2017 15:15

  Jack, From reading on other sites. During the time when you are not connected to the Celestron , are you using your Ipad to connect to another WiFi network?

  If So you may want to try "forgetting" the other Network during your Celestron time. 

  Regards Stephen Kaiser

   

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  Mallincamusa February 24, 2017 16:29

  Stephen,

  The iPAD has been leaving the Celestron-E6 network and joining my AT&T WiFi network.  I could "Forget" the AT&T network, but I think my iPAD needs it, at least initially, to insure that the mount gets the right location and time for the alignment.  If that is not necessary, I will forget the AT&T network and then join the Celestron-E6 network.

  Yours truly,

  Jack Huerkamp

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  Bill Tschumy February 24, 2017 18:33

  This is a question for Celestron.  There is not much we can do about the Celestron connection getting dropped and your reverting to your AT&T network.

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  Mallincamusa February 24, 2017 18:51

  I will check with Celestron to see why their wireless signal is too weak to maintain a connection at a distance of 15' from the mount.

   

  Regarding an iPAD, if it is disconnected from a wireless network like AT&T, will it maintain its location info?  If so, shutting off the AT&T network should stop the iPAD from connecting to it.

   

  Jack Huerkamp

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  Bill Tschumy February 24, 2017 19:01

  If you are not on Wi-Fi it should use the last known location.

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  Skaiser3 February 24, 2017 21:32

  Jack

  I agree with Bill. You should "keep" your local position and time on the Ipad once it is "localized".

   You should be able to test this during the day . "Forget" the ATT network. Tuen on the scope  Wifi. Connect with the Ipad and see if you maintain a stable connection. Also You can check if you have stable at 5' , 10' 15 ' from the scope. From other sites the range on the Scope Wifi is not real far. 15' to 20' may be pushing its limits.

  Good Luck

  Stephen kaiser

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  Mallincamusa February 25, 2017 04:11

  Stephen and Bill,

   

  Tonight I turned on airplane mode on my iPhone and "forgot" the AT&T network on the iPAD.  I then started the mount and connected it to SkySafari.  For the next 90 minutes the mount played well with the iPAD.  Then all of a sudden, SkySafari lost the connection with the mount and would not reconnect to it.

  I ended up having to shut down the mount, restart it and then it reconnected to SkySafari on the iPAD.  I again used the mount and iPAD for several more hours until the clouds rolled in.

  The mount was 9' from the iPAD.

  I guess that there is a problem with the wifi unit in the Evolution mount and I will be contacting OPT where I purchased the mount from and Celestron to try to determine if this mount's wifi unit needs to be replaced.  

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  Mallincamusa March 01, 2017 18:37

  Bill,

  I have given up on the Celestron Evolution internal wifi system.  I showed Rock Mallin pictures of the wifi module and its tiny PCB etched antenna mounted parallel to and just above the metal azimuth gear and inside the metal base for the mount and he was not impressed with the design.  A vertically mounted antenna inside the single fork arm would be an improvement as would be a secondary antenna.  With that in mind, I went to the following system which for the st two nights has worked perfectly:

  1.  Use the StarSense hand Controller to do the alignment of the mount

  2.  Connect the SkyFi 3 to the mount using a USB cable for power and to the base of the hand controller using a USB cable.

  3.  Turn off location services on the iPAD

  4.  Turn on the SkyFi 3 and connect the iPAD to the SkyFi Network

  5.  Start SkySafari 5 PRO and configure the telescope for a Celestro SE GoTo Alt-Az

  6.  Connect SkySafari to the mount.

  For two nights this system has worked perfectly and I have experience no loss of connections due to a weak wifi signal.

  PS:  I contacted Celestron Technical Support last Friday and still have not received a response - unlike dealing with Simulation Curriculum with almost immediate customer support.

  Yours truly,

  Jack Huerkamp

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  Bill Tschumy March 01, 2017 18:44

  Jack,

   

  Glad you found something that worked.  We have had a number of customers report connection problems with the built-in Celestron Wi-Fi.  I know they have replaced some modules and those customers have been happier.  

  I personally think connecting through the hand controller is a better solution since you can now use either the HC or SkySafari for operations with no worries that the two system will interfere with each other.  Maybe not quite as "clean" wire-wise, but it is more functional.

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  Skaiser3 March 01, 2017 21:11

  Jack

   Yes unfortunately from reading many posts elsewhere, the WiFi module in the Evo  8 seems to be very "weak" for many cases.(maybe poor placement in the system is part of the problem). A lot of people have tried many things but I think you found the same answer. A separate WiFi module.

  As far as I have read, Celestron has no fix they are claiming for the weak Evo 8 WiFi signal.   I was lucky with my Evo 925 system. They seemed to have improved a number of things including the WiFi in the scope. The only dropouts I heard about was because people were using a Android device that had some sort of setting that automatically cut the WiFi after a certain time length.   I am sure this is not the case for the Ipad version of Skysafari.

  Glad you have a solid solution.

  Stephen

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  Mallincamusa March 01, 2017 21:26

  Stephen, I will contact Rock Mallin.  In addition to building astronomical cameras, he is in the two way radio communication business.  It would be interesting if he could get his hands on an Evolution mount and come up with a solution to the inadequate system Celestron has decided to market.

  Jack

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  Skaiser3 March 02, 2017 13:41

  Jack

  If Mr Mallin could come up with a easy fix for the Evo 8 scopes , he would make many owners very happy. So far as I have read , the only solid fix has been to by a separate WiFi module like you did. People are not happy about having to buy something else to bypass a built in feature. 

   

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  Skaiser3 March 02, 2017 14:07

  Bill

   I hate to say this but last night I experienced some strange disconnects between my Ipad air (Skysafari 5 pro latest edition) and my Evo 925 scope. I had been running the scope for 1 hour or so with no issues. The I had the disconnect issue.

  This is the first time I had SkySafari report it lost the connection and then on top of that your program reported :

   "connection failure

  Skysafari 5 Pro can make a wireless network connection to the scope , but the scope is not responding. Make sure it is connected and powered on. Also check that your scope type is correct"

  When I checked  "settings" on Ipad it still showed the Celestron WiFi connection.

  I finally power cycled the scope, reconnected, and ran a "Manual" StarSense align from the pad.

  But this happened again after a few minutes of connect time. It may have happened 3 times in less than 30 minutes. Then the connection held with no problem for the rest of the evening (1-2 hours).

  I may try powering up the scope this morning , connect with the Ipad and see if anything happens.?

  Any other Ideas.?

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  Skaiser3 March 02, 2017 16:03

  Bill

   I have been running my Evo925 connected to Skysafari 5 pro this morning. Unfortunately The connection is made for a few minutes then I get:

  Connection Failure  The Telescope is not responding. You have been disconnected. Do you want to re-connect?

  If I try to "connect" I get the other "connection failure" msg.

  Skysafari 5 Pro can make a wireless network connection to the scope , but the scope is not responding. Make sure it is connected and powered on. Also check that your scope type is correct.

  I am going to contact celestron on this also.

   

   

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  Bill Tschumy March 02, 2017 16:15

  I would contact Celestron.  You might also see if it fails the same way with the SkyPortal app (it should).  Celestron is more likely to address this if you say it is their app that is getting the connection failure.

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  Skaiser3 March 02, 2017 17:11

  bill
  being an engineer who developed and debuged a lot of systems I tried something else. I connected my original nexstar hc to the scope then connected iPad via skysafari. no disconnect issues so far... I have left it running to see...later I will try the starsense again to see if disconnects continue. interesting hmmm

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  Skaiser3 March 02, 2017 21:09

  Bill

  I just love to debug of a problem that happens inconsistently.....

  After early this morning when Skysafari lost communication a couple times,  I switched to Nexstar HC.

  I had no problems with Nexstar HC connection to skysafari after 4 hours. 

  So I switched back to StarSense HC with Skyportal per your suggestion. No issues after couple hours.

  Now I have switched back to Skysafari Pro connected to Starsense, No more problems so far. 

  Not sure what is going on here.  As I mentioned, this is the first time I've had dropout issues with my setup. I'll keep monitoring what happens.Thanks for listening. 

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  Bill Tschumy March 02, 2017 21:14

  Yeah, this is a frustrating problem.  Thanks for helping to debug it.

  It is possible that there is some command that results in the dropping of the connection.  You might try a few GoTos or additional aligns.