I can't get Skysafari 5 Plus to connect with my Celestron Wifi. My phone connects, but the app doesn't. Skyportal app won't connect with it either. The problem is in the phone, as it used to work but doesn't now. And it works with someone else's phone. I've tried reinstalling both apps. I've turned off notifications from all apps that let me do so. I have 28Gb of storage memory available, so that shouldn't be a problem. I'm using 1.3Gb of memory, out of 1.8Gb. I'm asking you to please tell me all of the possible problems an Android phone can have that can keep the app from connecting to the scope wifi. Are there other apps or settings that can interfere with it? The phone is a Moto E4 Plus and my provider is Consumer Cellular.
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Astrobrad43 I probably should point out that it never worked with Skysafari, as I didn't have it when it was working. It worked initially with Skyportal. I didn't have my cell service at first, I didn't get it until a few weeks after I had it all working. So I'm wondering if it stopped working when I got the cell service? Could the cell service possibly have anything to do with this problem? Seems very unlikely, but maybe worthy of comment.
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Bill Tschumy Brad,
Your best bet is to contact Celestron support about this. They provide support for the Celestron Wi-Fi code that isn in SkySafari and SkyPortal.
Uninstalling the app doesn't remove all the settings files so that wouldn't necessarily reset things. You need to find and delete the directory:
/sdcard/SkySafari5Plus or /sdcard/SkyPortal
You may need to replace the "sdcard" part of the path with something else if your phone mounts the card differently from most Android devices.
It is also entirely possible it is is a problem with the Celestron Wi-Fi hardware itself.
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bfeinner It doesn't seem to be the wi-fi hardware, I tried it with two other ones and got no connection. I also tried it on a different mount. I tried uninstalling the apps again, deleting all the settings files, then reinstalling the apps. Same result. I called Celestron, they told me to set the mount and app to factory defaults, then push the reset button on the wifi, which I hadn't tried (didn't know about it!). It didn't help. Can you peruse your code to identify things that can cause the "can't connect" message to appear? It seems there must be something the software is looking for that is/isn't happening that makes it display the message. Perhaps a developer can figure out what could go wrong so that the message is displayed. That might provide some clues as to what to look for in the phone, which is where I think the problem lies (but maybe I'm wrong about that). This is what I'm asking of you. Perhaps someone at your end could even research to find out if there are problems with Moto E4 Plus phones, or even with android phones in general, pertaining to this failure. But it would have to be something that can be changed, since it worked for a while (in Skyportal).
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Tanya Puntti Hi Astrobrad43, I've found myself that you can't be connected to more than one IOS device at a time. Make sure your WIFI on all other devices that might automatically connect to it is turned off and try again. Works for me.
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bfeinner Thanks, Tanya. I don't have an IOS device. My phone is Android, and it's all I'm trying to connect to. I have a windows PC that I used to be able to connect to, and it doesn't connect now either, but I'm concentrating on the phone and never try to connect both at once. There are usually other wifis available wherever I try this, but I make sure I'm not connected to any of them, or trying to. It seems to me that the developers probably understand the interface well enough to help track the problem down, so that's what I'm hoping will happen here. It might be something as simple as a setting or an interfering app, but I don't know enough to figure that out. If you have insights about such things, feel free to enlighten me.
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Bill Tschumy Brad,
I really doubt it is anything about your phone, however you could find a friend with a different phone and install SkyPortal on that device and see if you have better luck. That would rule the phone out. I would also keep talking with Celestron. They wrote this bit of code and they are more likely to know of potential problems.
When you say you have used a Windows PC to "connect", are you just referring to joining the network? If you are trying to connect from scope control on the PC, what software are you using?
What kind of Celestron Wi-Fi device are you using? Is this the SkyPortal dongle that you plug into the AUX port, or is it built in?
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bfeinner The wifi device is the Celestron Skyportal wifi module, which i think is/was also known as SkyQlink. It's the dongle you were referring to. There is a windows app called SkyQlinkPC that creates a com port for Nexremote to talk to so I can control the scope using Nexremote. I can also connect an app, such as Skymap, through the virtual port that Nexremote creates. I think I indicated earlier that the connection to the PC wasn't working either, but that was due to pilot error. It is now working perfectly. I can control the scope with Nexremote, or an app connected to it, via the wifi. That indicates that the wifi device is working as it should.
I already tried connecting using another phone, and it worked. That also indicates that there is nothing wrong with the wifi device, and that the problem has to do with my phone. And, as previously mentioned, my phone connects to the wifi network. That pretty much narrows it down to the interface between the Skyportal or Skysafari software that executes when you press the Connect button, and whatever is coming in via the wifi for it to connect to. If someone would look at that code and see what events or non-events can make the Connection Failure message appear, maybe that would give a clue about what's causing the problem. Does the app talk directly to the wifi, or does the Android system intercept it and do some translating? Maybe something is lost in translation? Maybe there's an IP address problem? I'm just guessing here, I need some help from developers. If Celestron wrote that piece of the code, then I'll have to take it up with them. Still, any insights you can provide will be much appreciated.
Another thing I mentioned earlier is that it all worked ok right after I got the phone. I didn't get cell service until a few weeks later, and that might be when the apps stopped connecting. So it makes me wonder if there's a way that having the cell service interferes with the wifi connection. It seems unlikely, but it's the only change I've made to the phone that I can think of, other than the installation of many apps.
That's where it stands right now. I'll probably call Celestron again tomorrow, but if you think of anything that could be causing this, please let me know. Thanks.
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Bill Tschumy It sounds like something related to networking with your phone. That is going to be almost impossible for us to debug. Any sort of firewall software running? Have you tried rebooting the phone?
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bfeinner The problem has been solved. Many thanks for your efforts. When I tried to connect my phone to the wifi, there was a pop-up that says No Internet, Tap for options. Since I don't care about internet, I pressed the button to back out. After doing that, it said it was connected. So I assumed it was, but it wasn't. That's why the apps couldn't connect. IMO, this is a very serious flaw in the Android OS. Not good to say it's connected when it isn't. I'm using v7.1.1, so maybe it's corrected in later versions. The popup also has a check for Don't ask this question again, which I selected, so it shouldn't be a problem anymore. BTW, I got the solution from Mike Swanson, the Nexstar Guru.
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Keiron Smith Thanks for sleuthing out and sharing the solution. Annoying UX issue, indeed!
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Rm I had the same problem (note9) I found by turning off mobile data, I was able to get the app to connect.
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