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Does SkySafari Pro 5 rely on Wi-Fi / a 'phone signal for positioning?

Hi

I am travelling to a fairly remote area in Wyoming to observe the Total Solar Eclipse on 21st August. I am hoping to use my SkySafari App on my iPhone 6plus to polar align my tracking mount.

This works brilliantly at my current location, but I am unsure whether it will still work out in the field.

Does the App rely on there being a Wi-Fi or mobile/cell-phone signal, or does it work independently of those connections? I doubt that there will be any Wi-Fi or phone signal where I plan to be.

Rex Forrester

London UK

2 comments

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    Robert Nielsen

    Rex,

    Works great without any network connection ... but there are a few things I would setup beforehand:

    First, figure out the latitude and longitude of where you will be observing, and enter it as a user-defined site.  Since SkySafari uses the Apple (and I guess Android) services for geographic location ... and those are less accurate without a network ... it would be better to just figure out the coordinates and have them available when you are out in the wild.   Just select the location from Settings->Location->User Defined Location when you get there.

    Second, Let SkySafari update the solar system data (comets, asteroids, etc) a day or so before you leave when connected to the Internet.   Just open the Settings->Solar System tab and they will automatically update.

    There are other things that won't work when not connected ... like downloading DSS photos, but all of the functionality of SkySafari is there.   I've done it many times.

    Enjoy,

    Robert

  • 0
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    Rexforr

    Excellent!

    Thank you very much

     

    Rex

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