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Skysafari 5 pro IOS freeze up

Bill

 I am running your Oct 11 2017 version of Skysafari 5 pro on my Ipad air 2 , connecting to a Celestron Evo 9.25, (newer system with stronger WiFi)

Starsense HC,  Ver 01.19.17280, BLD Oct 17 2017,  Starsense Camera: Ver 01.02.113343, Motor Control MDL: Evolution  Azm Ver : 7.13  Alt Ver: 7.13

 

It has been a few weeks since I used the software with the scope . Maybe before the Oct 11 update.

Last night I had no problem connecting to wifi on scope , ran Starsense Auto Align with no problem.

After a few minutes of GOTOs Skysafari would freeze up.

   No blinking Circle on GOTO object, No jog response, no time or coordinate updates.

  This would last for 10-15 seconds then SF pro would start responding, updateing normally again.

Everything would then work normally again for 10-15 minutes then freeze again.

Wait 10-15 seconds then back to normal.

Thanks for any help on this.

 

17 comments

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    I really have no idea what this could be.  You didn't do an alignment using the hand controller did you?

    All I can do is ask Celestron if they have any ideas about this.

  • 0
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    Skaiser3

    Bill

    i have been testing out derik’s new beta release starsense sw ( ASPA) polar alignment, on the hand control.

    when I ran the SS pro software I did a scope power down and then used only SS pro to connect and perform the auto align. Even the jogging was only done through SS pro. 

    Thanks for looking into this.

     

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    Celestron is looking into it but they are also unfamiliar with this behavior.  If you haven't done so, you might try a reboot of the iPad in case it is in some wonky state.

  • 0
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    Skaiser3

    Ok. Thanks bill.

    i will give the reset a try and let you know.

    take care

  • 0
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    Skaiser3

    Bill

     ok tried a reset on the iPad.

    evo scope connection was solid for about 10 minutes, then Skysafari froze.

    noticed Celestron Wi-Fi connection had dropped out.

    reconnected to scope Wi-Fi 

    tried to connect via skysafari . 

     It reported it could make a wireless connection but scope was not responding.

    i noticed the Wi-Fi And power indicator lights on the evo scope were blinking in unusual way. Blinking together. Not normal.

    disconnected Wi-Fi on iPad from scope and tried reconnecting, same error, 

      reported it could make a wireless connection but scope was not responding.

    turned off scope and restarted 

    everything back to normal.

    did note the lights on evo scope (power and Wi-Fi) are normally steady on.

    not sure why this acting up now unless beta sw from Derik has caused issue.

    let me know what you think.

    take care

     

  • 0
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    Skaiser3

    I'm going to try skyportal and see how it does. I will let you know.

  • 0
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    Skaiser3

    Ran with skyportal yesterday afternoon for about 30 min. No lockup’s or drop outs that I noticed.

    then last night I ran with skysafari for 3-4 hrs of astrophotography.

    I didn’t have any dropped connections but I did notice a few times where skysafari would freeze, then came back live after 10-15 seconds.

    this did not adversely affect my photography since it always came back live.

    will be back out tonight, weather permitting and let you know.

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    The latest SkyPortal and SkySafari on iOS *should* be running the exact same code.  They were both built with the most recent Celestron code.

  • 0
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    Skaiser3

    Weather did not cooperate last night.

    Bill, From our previous conversations I thought you had mentioned both were based on the same code .

    I will try running some more tests today with Skyportal to see if I can spot the same kind of lockups I'm seeing in Skysafari. It's a little hard to see the lockup when it occurs at random times and resumes by itself. Easier to spot a problem if it disconnects.

    I'll update you.

    Thanks 

  • 0
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    Skaiser3

    Last Night 28th and tonight 29th Skyportal ran solid again no issues . 3 hrs run time each night.

    Skysafari 5 pro, Froze up twice, crashed out completely one time  and had to restart, all in 6 minutes run time.

    I am going to delete skysafari  from my Ipad and reload to see if that helps.

    Some other questions

    1. is it normal for Skyportal and skysafari to "disconnect" from the scope if you switch to a different app.?

        Note: It does automatically reconnect when you switch back to the sky..... app.

    2. Should skyportal and skysafari be "centered" on the same star if you switch between the apps after disconnecting.?

    Thanks

     

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    1. On iOS, SkySafari and SkyPortal does disconnect while the app is in the background.  It should reconnect when brought to the foreground.

    2. No, each app maintains it's own alignment model.  You cannot just switch between them without doing a separate alignment on both.  To be honest, I'm not sure I've ever tried it.

    Can you provide any information about when SkySafari froze or crashed.  Were you doing anything in particular?

  • 0
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    Skaiser3

    At the time , I had just setup the scope and was getting ready to do a "align using starsense Manual" .

    I have been a little worried it had something to do with Derik's Beta ver Starsense software I have been testing, but with Skyportal running solid that should not be the case.

    OK. I have reloaded the Skysafari software on my Ipad , gone through all the setup screens, and had it connected to my Evo for the last hour or so.

    I have not watched for freeze ups, but it has not dropped out or crashed .

    I have done multiple connect/disconnect operations and it still seems solid.

    Weather permitting I will setup tonight and run through a complete align , camera calibration and run the scope for a few hours .

    Thanks for your time on this.

    I will let you know how it goes tonight.

    take care

  • 0
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    Howard

    Hi, back in May a problem with Celestron Evolution wifi mount causing SkySafari 5 to freeze was identified and Celestron issued a code fix (SkySafari 5.3.3). Did that code fix make it into SkySafari Pro ver. 5.4.1.0? I took the Evolution telescope out observing tonight for the first time since June and SkySafari 5 was again freezing up every minute or so when connected to the Evolution telescope similar to what was happening in May before the June update.

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    Bill Tschumy

    Howard,

    Yes, any changes Celestron made should be in 5.4.1.  If you try using SkyPortal, do you see the same problems there?  Also, you haven't aligned using the hand controller have you?   This can cause all kinds of problems.

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    Howard

    Bill, tested it again this morning. 

    Downloaded the newest version of SkyPortal. It does not seem to have the problem.  SkySafari 5.4.1.0 does have the problem.

    I connect using Celestron Wifi  and within a few minutes it will freeze SkySafari for 30 seconds and then unfreeze and work for a a time and the freeze up again.  If it is slewing when it freeze then it will continue slewing until it unfreezes. During the freeze, the cross hair stops blinking and the seconds on the clock stop ticking. 

    It seems to be related to "Tilt to Use Compass".  If I turn that off in the settings then I can't reproduce the problem.  Turn it back on and the problem returns.

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    Just to clarify, you mean "Tilt to Use Compass" and not "Tilt to Slew" correct?

  • 0
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    Howard

    Yes Tilt to Use Compass.

    From testing, it freezes for exactly 30 seconds quite frequently when connected to a Celestron Wifi scope and Tilt to Use Compass is enabled. Tried several times toggling between enabled and disabled and could never get it to freeze when Tilt to Use Compass is disabled.

    Oh and to answer your earlier question.  No, I've never aligned with a hand controller.

     

    Sky Safari Pro 5.4.1.0

    iOS 10.3.3 iPad Mini 2

     

     

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