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Celestron SkyPortal WiFi Module and SkySafari 5 Plus Alignment Errors

Andy Beaton

October 17, 2017 20:04

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I've been having problems with alignment using a Skyportal widget I bought this summer and Sky Safari 5 Plus, running through a Celestron CGEM mount.

Half of the time, my alignment process works fine. The other half of the time, once I've aligned to my first two stars, I pick a third star and the alignment goes haywire, looking for overhead stars below the horizon or somewhere else hopelessly wrong. Is this a known problem, and if so, is there a fix for it? 

Thanks

      -Andy Beaton

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8 comments

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  Keiron Smith October 17, 2017 20:15

  Hi Andy,

  "...haywire, looking for overhead stars below the horizon or somewhere else hopelessly wrong" is not a description that we can troubleshoot. 

  Please describe the issue specifying exactly what is happening; i.e. your time & location, how you are performing the alignment, exactly what stars you are aligning, any error messages, etc.

  Thanks!

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  Andy Beaton October 17, 2017 20:27

  Sure:

  October 16,2017, 23:15 EDT in Toronto.

  First alignment star: Capella

  Second alignment star: Aldeberan

  Third alignment star: Deneb - alignment failure, pointed roughly north and below the horizon

  (Could it have been looking for Denebola?)

  No error message received. Sky Safari was reporting the telescope pointing a few degrees away from Deneb. This was not the case.

   

  On a previous attempt, (around 10:45) the stars were Algol, Aldeberan and Deneb, and this time it was pointing in the vicinity of Altair (more or less) behind a building.

  There is a small possibility that I misidentified Algol in this case. Not likely, but possible. 

  Thanks for your help

       -Andy

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  Keiron Smith October 17, 2017 21:10

  Hi Andy,

  1. When you say "alignment failure" are you saying that although SkySafari completes the alignment process successfully, you disagree with the end result?  Or, is there an interruption at some point?
  2. What happens if you align with the scope's hand controller and then connect with SkySafari?  Is everything ok then?

  Thanks!

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  Keiron Smith October 17, 2017 21:12

  Actually, regarding my second question, I believe that if you align first with the hand controller and then try to align with SkySafari you will run into issues, just like what you are describing.   Is that what's happening?   You are aligning first with the HC and then with SkySafari?

  Thanks!

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  Andy Beaton October 17, 2017 21:20

  The alignment failure I am seeing is that for Star 3, Sky safari reports that the telescope is pointing near Deneb (just west of the Zenith) but the telescope is physically pointing far to the west and south, or north and below the horizon.

  After the first problem, I reset the telescope and software and started again from scratch. After the second failure, I gave up and reverted to the hand controller (which had been sitting in my kit box until then - it was no part of the alignment process).

• 0
  
  Keiron Smith October 18, 2017 03:26

  Comment deleted.

• 0
  
  Keiron Smith October 18, 2017 03:51

  Hi Andy,

  Please confirm that the 3 star alignment process works properly with the hand controller.

  Thanks!

• 0
  
  Andy Beaton October 18, 2017 03:59

  Confirmed after I gave up with SkyPortal last night - alignment with the hand controller was successful.