I've noticed a thread on the Sky Safari Android section about plate solve failure when using Starsense align. I think I've noticed the same behaviour when using an iPhone and iPad. Does anyone know if this Starsense plate solve failure also affects iPhone/iPad? It sounds like part of the problem is Celestron updating the motor firmware so I wouldn't be surprised if iOS has the same problem.
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Woody James,
Sorry, can't help. I don't have the Celestron focus motor. With my C6/Evo setup I have a FeatherTouch microfocuser, but no motor on it. With my CPC-1100 Deluxe system I also have a FeatherTouch microfocuser, but that one has the Optec FocusLynx (same as FeatherTouch Boss system) focusing system.
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Robert Willis Hi James, and thanks.
Running all updated version of SkyPortal and SkySafari 6 Pro on latst versions of IOS for iPad and iPhone. The Hand Controller will *not* do a successful alignment either. I'm wary to try any other software as I would think that 3 different alignment options would have resulted in at least one successful alignment. But every alignment I have tried since July 2019 has failed.
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Steve Wright james schultz: It would be nice to have those presets! I will make a feature request.
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Woody Robert,
It sure sounds like our old friend the "StarSense bug". But the latest Celestron/SkySafari/SkyPortal fixes seem to have solved the problem for most of us. The fixes solved my problems.
Your problem might be in your SS HC. They do fail. My first one failed within a week. Celestron replaced it.
I suggest you do a Factory Reset on your HC (I don't remember how, but I think there's a setting inside the HC to reset it to factory defaults). If that fails, I'd take the problem up with Celestron. You might have a bad HC.
Do you have a friend or somebody in your astronomy club who has the same StarSense HC that you can try? That's often the best and fastest way to determine problems -- swap out components. I'm lucky there. I have two complete identical SS systems.
And if you do swap HC's make sure the firmware in the "new" one is compatible with the firmware in your mount. They have to match or things won't work. If you connect all the cables as per Celestron's instructions (including the SS Camera) and run Celestron's CFM, it "should" update everything in the HC, SS Camera, and mount so they're all compatible. Don't just update the HC or just the mount. Make sure all the SS components are connected properly for firmware updates.
And when all else fails, contact Celestron. You could have a bad SS HC.
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james schultz Robert,
I had an issue in the past with my date and time and location settings check those, if they are wrong it will not work. you may also just for testing purpose disconnect the starsense camera and try and multi star manual alignment, skysafari will automatically run in that mode if you upplug the camera. I think it requires a 4 star alignment 2 east and 2 west. the HC is much more difficult to run this as you have to pull the star names off a list and if you get one you select cannot see it is a do over.
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Robert Willis Thank you for your helpful and informed responses, Woody, James.
I have previously been in contact with Celestron Tech Support and they replaced the StarSense unit. So I am on my 2nd StarSense and unless I am very unlucky, I have had 2 defective units in a row!
I'm quite isolated where I live so trying a known, good HC would be tricky.
I have tried a Factory Reset on the HC and used CFM to download and update all components. CFM found all devices in my setup and seemed to update without issue.
I confirmed the date/time/location on the HC and even purchased a GPS device to help with setup. Obviously, without luck. You can see why I'm so frustrated!
Will take your advice and contact Celestron again with the hope that if they replace the StarSense unit again, 3rd times a charm! Fingers crossed!!
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Woody Robert,
Note that when you use the StarSense HC with either a CPC mount (which have built-in GPS), or a Celestron mount with the optional SkySync GPS attached, the mount doesn't get time/date/location data from the GPS for at least a minute. It usually takes a minute or two for the GPS to lock onto enough satellites to get a fix. And only after it gets a fix does it send the data to the SS HC. So if you try to do a SS auto-align before the HC has the proper time/date/location data, things probably won't work.
On my systems (CPC-1100 Deluxe w/ built-in GPS and Evolution with external SkySync), I watch the HC's display to make sure it's received the GPS data before pressing the final ENTER button to start the auto-alignment. You can tell this by looking at the very top right of the HC's display. When the GPS is searching for satellites and trying to get a fix, there's a flashing "G" at the top right of the display. When the flashing "G" goes away, the HC has the correct time/date/location data. Then you can press the final ENTER to start the auto-alignment.
Also note that you need to set the HC to look for a GPS. The default is to NOT look for an external GPS signal. There's a setting in the HC that instructs it to look for an external GPS signal. If that setting is OFF, the HC won't look for a GPS signal and will just use the last time/date/location data it had the last time it was used.
Also note that unlike other mounts, Celestron mounts and HC's don't have batteries to hold time/date/location data. Instead they use a "Super Capacitor." That super capacitor holds enough energy to hold the last time/date/location data -- but only for a month or so. When that capacitor no longer has enough energy to power the memory, the mount and HC get totally "dumb" and no longer know the time/date/or location -- not even the last time/date/location data the mount or HC was used.
So after a month or so, the mount and HC have to be told the current time/date/location again. You can either manually enter this into the HC, or you can instruct it (through the HC's settings) to get time/date/location data from an external GPS source (being from a CPC mount's built-in GPS, or the external SkySync GPS).
Of course if you're using SkySafari and Celestron WiFi with a StarSense system, the time/date/location data comes from the phone or tablet SkySafari is running on. And that's usually instant because the phone usually knows where it is and what time it is. So you don't need a mount with GPS when StarSense auto-aligning using SkySafari and a Celestron WiFi connection.
Hope that helps and leads you to a solution.
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David Fercho As recently as 2 weeks ago, I was successfully doing Starsense auto alignment on my Celestron AVX mount with SkyPortal wifi adapter, via SkySafari 6 Pro on an iPad Pro running iOS 14. Then this last week it started failing with exactly the error described in this forum - Starsense error: Could not plate-solve the image. Will retry at new position. First position always finds a solution, but after that it's unable to plate solve other positions. It will sometimes plate-solve a second image only if it's on the opposite side of the meridian, but it can never complete all 4 positions. Starsense auto align with the hand controller is plate-solving and completing the alignment with no issues at all. The problem is only occurring with SkySafari. I have done factory reset on the HC and firmware update on all component (HC, SkyPortal Wifi, Starsense, AVX. All devices show the latest firmware versions from Celestron. I also uninstalled the SkySafari app from my iPad and downloaded/installed from the App Store. SkySafari 6 Pro version is showing 6.7.6.2.
It seems possible that this issue started with the most recent iOS update on the iPad. iOS version is 14.2 build 18B92.
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james schultz I still get the same issue with CGX and star sense, It will work for days then it will fail to plate solve, I can switch to CPWI and it will solve on 4 reads.. I can go back a few hours later and sky safari will work again, Almost like it is a bug due to time of day, My biggest issue is disconnect from the sky portal wifi and then it will give me the message "sky safari pro can make a wireless network connection to the scope, but the scope is not responding. most of the time unplugging the skyportal and plugging it back in clears the issue.
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Conrad Sanders When I had this problem a few years ago, I turned out to be a problem with the Celestron Software. Sky Safari is an enhanced product of the Celestron Sky Portal and that's where the bug was introduced by Celestron.
I would suggest contacting Simulation Curriculum and open a case that's how my problem got resolved. I have used Sky Safari with my Telescope for a while.
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Nora Vetarius Have encountered this issue two nights in a row. I have an Evo 9.25 with StarSense and tried to align using both an iPhone and iPad running iOS 14. I tried SkySafari 6 Plus and SkyPortal. Could not get beyond solving one plate. I'm going to stick with using the StarSense HC for now. I'm really disappointed that this cool technology isn't working.
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james schultz Nora, I also have the Evolution and just used it a few weeks go with starsense, I know a couple setting to check. Make sure you do are set to ALT/AZ for scope type and have Wedge enable turned off, other wise it will never solve a second plate because it will function as a German EQ mount. Also run CFM and make sure you have updated the firmware for the camera and the mount celestron has updated the the way they handle plate solving and it will cause issues if not current. You will need to connect the cables to the HC and the Camera to update both. I hope this helps you out.
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