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Problems Aligning Celestron Evolution WiFi + StarSense (Solution: Update Your Mount And HC Firmware Using The Latest Celestron CFM Updater And Everything Should Work - Read On!)

 

Total frustration, please help!

History first:

2 night ago I was having complete success doing manual, three-star alignments with my Evolution WiFi using SkySafari 6 Pro, but couldn’t get close enough to target objects (at least 3-5 degrees off target). Tried numerous calibrations, nothing helped.

Celestron advised me to go to the Starsense HC and restore the Starsense Camera (i.e., reset AIS camera). Also, Celestron said that my trying to calibrate on Polaris was a problem.

Yesterday, I reset AIS Camera and also, for good measure, on the Starsense HC I restored defaults (don’t know if this was a mistake). After the restore, I reset the time zone to -5 (Eastern United States) and daylight savings. (Note: I didn’t do anything with the original Evo HC, should I have checked the time zone, etc. on that HC?)

Last night, I could not achieve a manual, three-star alignment (one exception is noted below). Typically, I would get two stars to align and then get a failure notice, i.e., “Alignment pointing error too large, please try another alignment.” I tried this both in Skysafari and Skyportal—same results. After numerous other attempts (perhaps 15 tries), Skysafari froze (wheel kept spinning). Then, went to Skyportal and somehow managed to get three of three stars aligned!!! I pressed “done.” After all this frustration, I decided to see if, in fact, I had finally achieved any kind of substantial alignment. I targeted Polaris on my iPad, hit Go-To, and wound up pointing more toward Cassiopeia rather than Polaris!!!

I simply can’t imagine what else to do….

Date Votes

199 comments

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    Joseph,

    Does the StarSense work if you use it entirely from the hand controller?  

    I'm afraid you will need to continue to go through Celestron to troubleshoot the issue with SkySafari (or SkyPortal) and StarSense.  They maintain this piece of code and support it.

  • 0
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    Joseph Luciani

    Just got off the phone with Celestron and did the following:

    1. Went to SkyQlink and told it to "forget" (guess this rebooting/refreshes things)

    2. Reboot/Revert the SkySafari settings (also guessing this refreshes settings)

    3. and (can you help me with this)  was told to insert a paper clip in the hole to the right of the Evolution WiFi scope's on-off button. I see the hole, but what is the procedure, i.e., Turn the scope on and simply insert the paper clip and press? Does this reset the mount? Is there any way to verify that the mount has, indeed, been reset? 

     

    Much thanks!!!!

     

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    Not 100% sure on #3, but generally you can only reset devices like this when they have power.  So I would say to power up the mount and then reset with a paper clip.  I believe I have reset their SkyPortal Wi-Fi dongle this way and the Evolution built-in Wi-Fi is just this same thing but built in.

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    Joseph Luciani

    Thank you again, much appreciated!!!

  • 0
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    Joseph Luciani

    I posted earlier and wanted to give this update:

    Using my Evolution 8, with StarSense and SkySafari 6 Pro, I encountered 25 error messages, "pointing error too large, alignment failed," which was followed by the app freezing/ getting hung up (wheel spinning, everything frozen...had to turn the ipad off and on to reboot and try again). In my last note I thought it might be my new ipad, but I went back to my wife's ipad that I had been using and got the same error messages, i.e., pointing error too large. I was using manual align, which I've been successful with before, but tonight was one successful alignment and 25 failures. Can you tell me what an error too large means? Is this an app problem (I had absolutely no problems the last time I observed). FYI: I tried slewing only a few degrees, I tried slewing further..i.e., I tried many combinations of "pointing" but to no avail. Quite frustrating.

     

    Thank you for any help/suggestions you may have

    Joe

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    Bill Tschumy

    Joseph,

    As I suggested last time, you should contact Celestron about this.  They are the keepers of knowledge regarding the Celestron Wi-Fi control.

    Bill

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    Joseph Luciani

    Will do, seems this problem occurs intermittently. Last time Celestron helped me change from 'direct connect' to my house WiFi....that worked fine until last night. Very frustrated.

     

    Thanks Bill 

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    Randy Smailer

    I'm having the same problem attempting to align my Nexstar 6SE with SkySense and Sky Portal. Both work fine independently, but when used together I get the "pointing error too large, alignment failed" message and like Joseph, I have gotten this message over and over again. Extremely frustrating! Any resolution yet? 

  • 0
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    Keiron Smith

    Hi Randy, 

    You should contact Celestron support about this.  If they can provide you with a solution please share it with the community here.

    Thanks!

  • 0
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    Randy Smailer

    Thank you Keiron. I did submit a ticket back on 12/26/18 (after calling Celestron directly numerous times and waiting on hold up to 2 hours or until they closed) and received the following response on 12/29/18 :

    Hello Randy,

    Thank you for contacting Celestron.

    I truly regret hearing about your frustration.Your problem sounds like a Settings issue. I assume you are updating the time, location and time zone information and most importantly, are you checking under Telescope Control to make sure "StarSense Auto" is selected? The Starsense camera needs to be connected to the arm and the SkyPortal module should be plugged to the AUX port. Nothing else should be connected to the mount.

    Regards
    Wil

    Since I already had the telescope Control set to "StarSense Auto" this was of no help. I have read posts regarding the "pointing error too large, alignment failed" message so many times, I was hoping that a solution had been found. Otherwise my purchase of SkySense, Sky Portal, and Sky Safari 6 Pro were for naught!

     

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    Randy,

    Maybe you know this, but when connecting from the mount via Celestron Wi-Fi (which I assume you are), you have to initiate the StarSense alignment from within the app.  You cannot use the hand controller to initiate the alignment and then connect via Celestron Wi-Fi.  Could that be the problem?

    Bill

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    Randy Smailer

    Thank you Bill, but I am initiating from within the app.

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    Joseph Luciani

    Randy,

    I'm going to try a CFM update, perhaps something got corrupted with SS. I haven't had a clear sky to replicate the pointing error problem since I first reported it. Celestron couldn't give me any specific fixes, other than to say they thought I should see what Simulation Curriculum might say. At this point I'm relatively convinced that I need to check all my settings (perhaps try Sky Portal to see if that works), refresh the mount, and download any CFM updates. I'll check back after I get a chance to test things out.

     

    Joe

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    I talked to my engineering contact at Celestron.  He apologized for the poor customer service.  Here is what he said:

    Sounds like there are 3 possibilities:
    1. Have him verify that he can align without StarSense. Just have him perform a SkyAlign and verify that the gotos are accurate. If this fails then his mount motors' are losing counts and it needs to be sent to repairs.
    2. Have him align the mount using the StarSense HC. Take the app out of the equation. If it continues to fail, then his camera is likely out of focus or having some other technical issues. Then that needs to be sent it to be replaced/repaired.
    3. If the above two tests still pass, then there is something going on with the app. And let me know asap. I'll be releasing an update to SkyPortal soon and I will look into that extensively.

  • 0
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    Randy Smailer

    Joe - I did the CFM update last week and still had the same problem, but let me know how you make out.

    Bill - Thank you for the suggestions! I successfully performed steps 1 and 2, so It seems like both my scope and Star Sense are performing as designed. Please proceed with your Step 3. Greatly appreciate your help in this matter. 

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    Joseph Luciani

    Randy,

    I've been waiting for weeks to have a clear sky to test things out. I did my CFM yesterday and had six updates. I didn't read anywhere whether or not you had tried a manual alignment using StarSense and SkyPortal. I mention this because I did have two, 100% perfect alignments on observing nights prior to my last 'glitch.' One thing I found last week, quite accidentally, was that my HC setting had (somehow) been set to DST rather than standard time (or that I failed to make the switch). I've made the change and will see if this was my problem although it doesn't explain why I had two successful nights prior.  

     

    Joe

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    Joseph Luciani

    I am totally, totally frustrated--one step away from putting all my equipment on ebay!  This is far beyond tolerable. I've spent perhaps 50 hours with trial-and-error attempts, numerous calls to Celestron (plus a replacement mount) and posts to Simulation Curriculum. I just don' t think there's a solution. However, before ding something I may regret, I shall once more plead for assistance.

    To reiterate: I'm using an Evolution 8 SCT with StarSense and SkySafari 6 Pros. I just updated my CFM files. I made sure in the HC that I was in the correct time zone and standard time. I then disconnected the HC

    Here's my disastrous experience tonight:

    1. First attempt (SkySafari): one star aligned, tried to slew to a second star, app froze (had to reboot ipad)

    2. Second attempt: one star aligned; couldn't get a second star/image (app froze had to rebood)

     3. Downloaded SkyPortal to see if that would make a difference: one star aligned, second alignment attempt: "Pointing Error too large."

    4. Third attempt with SkySafari: one star aligne, second star app froze (had to reboot)

    5. Next attempt (after an ipad reboot) app wouldn't connect to wifi (I'm using my home wifi with a powerful signal, not direct access)

    6. Rebooted once more: last attempt: wouldn't even do one star; tried to slew scope, nothing! app foze.

    I do wish there was an answer, I'm beginning to feel this is futile. (I'm copying this to Celestron Support)

    Thanks for ANY suggestions!!!!

    Joe

  • 0
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    Randy Smailer

    Joe - I can align without Star Sense and I can align with Star Sense. What I can't do is align using Star Sense AND Sky Safari 6 Pro together. I will either get the "pointing error too large, alignment failed" error message or the "3 alignment attempts have failed, no more attempts can be made" message. I have also updated my CFM files.

    Bill Tschumy - There must be an error with the app because that's the only piece that doesn't function properly! I agree with Joe and am extremely frustrated. There are so few clear nights for viewing and I am spending them performing trial and error tests with my telescope instead of looking through my telescope.

    Please help.

    Thanks

    Randy

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    Joseph Luciani

    Randy,

    I've never tried to use SkyAlign, that will be my next effort. Assuming that will get me aligned, then I will lean in the direction of thinking my StarSense camera is faulty. As to why the SkySafari app freezes up all the time I have no clue. For now, I will disconnect StarSense and hope someone comes up with a fix/solution.

    Thanks much Randy,

    Joe

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    Joseph Luciani

    Things are getting worse....if that's possible! I went out tonight and disconnected my StarSense, thinking I could do a SkyAlign. Started out okay, got two stars, but then the slew buttons on my ipad became unresponsive (scope wouldn't move). I trieed a second and third time, same thing, slew buttons wouldn't move the scope. I plugged in my StarSense and tried an auto align, which failed. Then I tried a manual align and the slew controls on the ipad stopped working (scope wouldn't respond). I deleted the SkyPortal app thinking it might be interfering with the SkySafari app. Same thing, the slew buttons did nothing. Plain and simple, I'm defeated.

    Can this get any worse??? If there is anyone who can possible help, please offer advice...I would do anything to figure this out.

     

    Joe  

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    Joseph Luciani

    Additional information: 

    This morning I tried to use my iPad (new version 12.1.1) and the slew buttons would not work, I then tried my wife's iPad and the slew buttons did work! I've deleted SkySafari from my iPad and I'm reloading it now, perhaps the program got corrupted (if that's possible), I'll check back after the up-load. My basic question remains: how can the slew buttons on the iPad stop working?
     
    Thanks,
    Looking forward to trying to get to the bottom of this,
     
    Joe
  • 0
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    Joseph Luciani

    Sorry to be posting incrementally, but just deleted the SkySafari app from my ipad (version 12.1.1) and re-loaded it. Slew buttons seem to be working (we shall see!!!) Could the program get corrupted?  Confused how this could happen in the first place (it was slewing okay initially and then quit)

    Joe

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    Bill Tschumy

    I have asked my Celestron contact to read over this thread and make some suggestions. 

    Joseph, if this is not working without the StarSense being used, I'd suspect a problem with the Wi-Fi module in the Evolution.

  • -1
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    Bill Tschumy

    No, the program itself cannot become corrupted.  It is possible that some of the data could be but that seems unlikely to me.

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    Randy Smailer

    Bill, as I mentioned above, (1) I am able to align without Star Sense and (2) Star Sense functions fine as a standalone. Sky Safari 6 Pro receives time & location data from Sky Portal when they are used together. However, as soon as I attempt to use Star Sense with Sky Safari 6 Pro I get the "pointing error too large, alignment failed" error message or the "3 alignment attempts have failed, no more attempts can be made" message. Hopefully, there is something going on with the app.....

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    Joseph Luciani

    Thanks Bill, a problem with the Wi-Fi module makes sense. I'm also following up with Celestron. It's got to be something other than gremlins.

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    Bill Tschumy

    Randy,

    My Celestron contact was going to test things later this week to see if he can reproduce any of your issues.  This software was mostly written by Celestron and I don't have any knowledge of its internal workings.

    Bill

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    Randy Smailer

    Thank you Bill!

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    Joseph Luciani

    Bill,

    Wondering if you heard anything from Celestron (I'm still waiting for a reply). Last night I encounter the same two problems, 1. pointing error too large, and 2. the app constantly freezing. There has to be a reason why the app freezes. I'm going crazy.

     

    Joe 

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    No, I have not heard anything.  I will check with him again on Monday.

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