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Post by Dragon Man on Mar 12, 2019 6:26:52 GMT
G'day Lads and Lassies that are knowledgeable about the dramas with the Synscan Wifi unit running your mounts Houston, We have a problem. Mike (another club member) and I are having the exact same problem with our Wifi units. The Goto's are not accurate. 1. Yes, we are extremely accurately polar aligned. 2. yes, the connection is stable. 3. Yes, they are separate units, not sharing the same WiFi connection. 4. Separate software packages. Software for Mike is iPhone, mine is Android. 5. No, the two are not turned on at the same time. Everything works fantastic up to a point. The connection is quick and easy. The 3 star alignment is spot on. The problem starts when we GoTo an object. Originally, when we first got our WiFi units they were deadly accurate. ALL GoTo's were spot on. But now they aren't. The object is often below the FOV (we are at different FOV's). When it's not below the FOV it is off the the left of FOV. Sometimes by quite a lot, and I mean about 3 degrees! We check polar alignment. All good. But GoTo's are still all over the place. Switching back to the original Skywatcher Synscan Hand Controller gives us excellent GoTo's. Anyone else had this same problem with the Synscan WiFi? Is there a fix? PLEEEEEEEZ!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2019 10:02:18 GMT
Gidday Ken No ,cant help you with your problem but I can add to the list of glitches. I find the synscan still very accurate.I have 2, one for the EQ mount and another on an alt/az . I polar align with sharpcap which takes about 1 minute if I havent dismantled things after the last session. When I 2 star align with synscan it is quite accurate. I manually line up the first star and then get synscan to slew to the second star and find that the second star is almost spot on. BUT A few consistent glitches with the software. First. When I put in the messier or ngc number for a deep sky object ,it is essential to push "goto" rather than the "return" on the pop up keyboard. If I press "return" the synscan crashes to the extent that a whole reboot of the ipad (not just synscan) is necessary. Second. If I dont manually disconnect on synscan after turning off the mount after hitting "hibernate",then the next time booting up the mount is exactly 90 degrees out with the scope thinking the south celestial pole is facing east. (I dont hibernate anymore,electing to startup and manually align the first star.)
So ,Ken, cant help with your problem but it appears anything is possible with the synscan software. cheers Paul
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Post by Dragon Man on Mar 12, 2019 10:53:51 GMT
THanks Paul.
For a device that has been on the market for a couple of years now it has an an amazing amount of bugs and glitches!
From their own article (Skywatcher), when pressing the OK button after centering each object it acts as a 'Synchronize' feature supposedly making consequent Gotos more accurate. Well, I can attest to it that the feature doesn't work. After I finally find each object and centre it I then hit the OK tab, but nothing improves. The next object is out of the FOV again.
I keep checking my Polar Alignment and it is perfect in PSD2 Polar alignment procedures and good old fashioned Drift aligning.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2019 12:21:29 GMT
I am still finding them very accurate. I will be very peeved if that changes. I have an older Orion Starseek WiFi which is quite clunky and more difficult to use . If the Wifi's dont work and I have to go back to hand control it means I have to work crouched down in the pod rather than the comfort of a bungalow. Gettin' a bit old for that. cheers Paul
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elpajare
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Post by elpajare on Mar 13, 2019 7:59:01 GMT
I use the Synscan with Skysafari + Skyfi + mini Mac. Sometimes there are connection problems, probably because of the humidity but it works well.
The Synchronize option also suits me if I make the approach to the reference star with the Right / Up buttons. After a couple of synchronizations it works fine. I do 1 star alignment.
I'm sorry I can not help and I hope you solve the problem
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Post by Dragon Man on Mar 15, 2019 14:08:47 GMT
Thanks Carlos. Well, here's an update. Last night we set up Mikes gear again, Polar aligned his mount twice just to make sure it was perfect. Did a 3 star alignment which went well. Went to the first object, M42, It was 3 degrees off. Centred and Synchronised it. Went to second object, Carina Nebula. It was just over 3 degrees off. Centred and Synchronised it again. Went to third object, Sombrero galaxy. It was EXACT!!! Synchronised it again. Went to fourth object, NGC 3628 in the Leo Trio, which is in the Northern sky. The mount took off and first headed SOUTH!! then pointed the scope to the ground!! then kept rotating around so all the cable were wrapping around the mount (never seen that before!) then slammed the scope into the tripod leg! Something is really wrong with the software so Mike is going to uninstall and re-install it and we'll try again Saturday night. Once we get his sorted then we have to fix mine too
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2019 23:14:36 GMT
The mount took off and first headed SOUTH!! then pointed the scope to the ground!! then kept rotating around so all the cable were wrapping around the mount (never seen that before!) then slammed the scope into the tripod leg! Gidday Ken, That happened to me 2 nights ago. Everything had been going well with synscan as long as I didnt repeat the sequences I know cause trouble. So far I have found synscan goes crazy after certain sequences. I havent found the sequence for that one. 2 star align For the last few weeks my 2 star align has been 1 Achernar and 2 Rigel. No problem. 2 nights ago I was going to get Carina Nebula so I reversed the sequence 1 Rigel and 2 Achernar..no problem .Then I plugged in ngc 3372 and synscan did exactly what you describe. It headed for the ground. I loosened the scope and stopped it hitting the mount thinking this nonsense would stop after about 90 degrees (which is what it has done a couple of times before)... but it kept going. So I switched the mount off. I switched on again and did the original 1 Achernar and 2 Rigel sequence and then had no problem getting to Carina. It is all very weird. But now when I slew I make sure I am next to the mount rather than 5 metres away in the bungalow. I dont want the Rasa being belted against the tripod. I have 2 synscan wifi with one controlled by an iphone and the other by ipad but I mix them around a bit. I am trying to work out if that has anything to do with it. One thing for sure ,I must disconnect on synscan when I turn the mount off otherwise I am in big trouble next time I use it. Yeah,Ken, there are a lot of glitches. BUT, when it doesnt go crazy, it is still pretty accurate. AND why are we the only ones reporting these problems ? cheers Paul
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Post by Dragon Man on Mar 16, 2019 1:49:26 GMT
The mount took off and first headed SOUTH!! then pointed the scope to the ground!! then kept rotating around so all the cable were wrapping around the mount (never seen that before!) then slammed the scope into the tripod leg! Gidday Ken, AND why are we the only ones reporting these problems ?cheers Paul Maybe the Aussie ones are a bad batch? We both got ours from Ozscopes. If a crook batch came to Australia that means there should be more Aussie complaints, unless other Aussies, like some Americans and Europeans I read about in CN, simply got fed up trying to sort it and gave up, threw the device in a box and forgot about it. But, in saying that, I really doubt the fault is in the device. All it is is a receiver that activates the motors. The problem is most likely in the software. But you might be onto something Paul. With Mikes we did do different stars for the alignment. Only because it was later in the night and I don't like using stars at Zenith for alignment, so we chose others. Canopus, Achenar, Rigel Kentaurus (Alpha Centauri). With mine I use 'Resume' from Home position. We shall see how it goes tonight. Hopefully all this bushfire smoke might clear away by then.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2019 3:31:42 GMT
I agree,I think it is the software. I wasnt aware others on CN were having problems. I was one of those who had a few problems last year and threw them in a box. When I bought the first one ,I thought it was great and bought another only to develop problems later that I was pretty sure were related to software upgrades. Good luck tonight. cheers Paul
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elpajare
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Post by elpajare on Mar 16, 2019 8:03:01 GMT
Windows updates are killer. I never update my computer with W10 where I have the Risingcam software, with the Atik Infinity software I had problems continuously with the updates.
That's why I use Mac ... haha
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Post by Dragon Man on Mar 16, 2019 13:56:35 GMT
Carlos, we are not using Windows. We are using mobile phones. One is HTC running Android, one is Samsung S8 running Android, and one is Apple iphone 6s plus running ios12.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2019 14:01:04 GMT
It has been a disaster tonight with synscan. Everything seemed ok when I 2 star aligned but when trying to slew to an object it would head downwards and keep going. After repeated attempts on both iphone and ipad, I just gave up. cheers Paul
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Post by Dragon Man on Mar 16, 2019 14:49:06 GMT
That is a real bummer Paul. Tonights trial: Mikes setup (HEQ5, 120mm f8 Achro, Iphone running ios12) was a lot better eventually, but every GoTo is 3 degrees out! Even after syncing each object. Isn't that weird. Every object was 3 degrees out in the same direction. It is as if it is out by the space of a changeover from Daylight Savings to normal time, yet the location, date, and time are all correct by the phone itself, not by human error input. Mine on the other hand decided to operate properly tonight BUT!!!!! . . . a very interesting thing happened, and not once but twice! While Mike was slewing to Rigel Kentaurus for his 3 star alignment it also slewed mine to Rigel Kentaurus even though they are using different Synscan Wifi IP addresses Right while I was doing a drift alignment You can imagine my amazement when my drift star suddenly 'drifted' rapidly off to Rigel Kent But, back to Mikes problem. Does anyone have an idea what would make all of his Goto's go 3 degrees out in the identical direction?
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elpajare
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Post by elpajare on Mar 16, 2019 18:34:33 GMT
I'm sorry to read these erratic synscan behaviors
Maybe the soft for the Southern Hemisphere has an error. It would be necessary to test your devices in my backyard to see if they work well here, hahaha
Excuse the joke
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Post by howie1 on Mar 16, 2019 20:26:41 GMT
5 metres away from the mount? 10 metres? 20 metres? A cheap solution. LOL
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2019 22:44:34 GMT
Maybe the soft for the Southern Hemisphere has an error. It would be necessary to test your devices in my backyard to see if they work well here, hahaha I think you are right Carlos.I think synscan gets confused in the Southern Hemisphere. How many spare bedrooms have you got? The problem seems to be that crossing the zenith the mount tries to flip under rather than over.Does that make sense ? I have been playing around with synscan this morning and it works fine until it needs to cross over and then it goes under. Howie ,I have 2 setups. One in the pod with EQ6 and I have a laptop which is hard wired to the network.The HEQ5 is connected to a desktop in the shed which is hardwired to the network also. So , cameras are controlled via teamviewer in the bungalow.No problems there. The synscan wifi is very responsive at 5,10,15 metres and controlled by iphone and ipad with no facility to hard wire it. The wifi works fine at 15 metres. It is a software problem. cheers Paul
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Post by howie1 on Mar 17, 2019 3:15:33 GMT
I recall the Celestron StarSense unit didn't work for either hemisphere for about 12 months, then when they proudly announced it was fixed .... it was only fixed for the Northern hemisphere with those in the South having to wait a further year or so before finally it was working for us. I suppose astronomy is a niche market so we should expect poor craftsmanship and poor quality control. Still sucks though. I feel your pain Paul and Ken.
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Post by Dragon Man on Mar 17, 2019 3:38:19 GMT
5 metres away from the mount? 10 metres? 20 metres? A cheap solution. LOL A cable for what Howie? We got the WiFi to Replace our cables, that we already had and used for umpteen years (and the added bonus of not having to do date, location, time, and star alignment at the start of every new session) Paul, that is a very interesting observation you made with the Meridian Flip. I wonder what Skywatchers Program writers would say about it.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2019 5:44:45 GMT
Thanks Ken...Meridian Flip ..thats what I meant to say . More than just crossing the zenith. cheers Paul
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2019 11:57:23 GMT
So, tonight I had no problem with synscan. Crossed the meridian numerous times.. it behaved itself ... no trips "downunder". cheers Paul
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