bkushner
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/26/06
Posts: 1807
Loc: Audubon New Jersey
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Mine is arriving Friday, I will suss out what I can and get back to the board. Hoping for the best but expecting the worse.
brian
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Orion XT12i
Meade LX200 ACF
Ioptron Mini Tower
Orion EON80
Mallincam Hyper Plus
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gillmj24
Post Laureate
Reged: 12/06/05
Posts: 4564
Loc: PA
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With help from Brian, I got my mysky working again. It took longer than I thought for it to get a gps fix, but since I was taking the batteries out frequently to reboot it (since the firmware on the CD is BAD BAD BAD!!!) then I might have been resetting the GPS and it would need to redownload the ephemeris each time. But brian gave me his files and I got everything working again. A quick test correctly identified vega but polaris was about 10 degrees off. I was still near my car at the time, so that might have thrown off the magnetic sensor.
When the "identifying" screen came up (with the trigger), there was a "next" feature which will be useful if say, "I know M57 is near Vega, one of the stars in teh summer triangle," so I can point to one of the 3 stars in the summer triangle, identify with the trigger to see if it is Vega, then hit next for it to lead me to M57. Of course you could just pick M57 in the library too I suppose....
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bkushner
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/26/06
Posts: 1807
Loc: Audubon New Jersey
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If anyone needs the latest firmware I have the files on my server.
However I assume no responsibility for disaster.
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Orion XT12i
Meade LX200 ACF
Ioptron Mini Tower
Orion EON80
Mallincam Hyper Plus
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gillmj24
Post Laureate
Reged: 12/06/05
Posts: 4564
Loc: PA
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One note, you can't just drag the files onto the SD card for some reason. I had to update the mysky directory that was installed with the new autostar suite CD, overwriting the firmware file and the data directories with brian's files, then run the mysky updater as before, and say "NO MYSKY UPDATER, I DON'T WANT YOU TO GET THE LATEST VERSION!" (the 1.2g that caused me trouble)
All worked just great after that. My startup screen says version 1.2l (lowercase L)
Edited by Joseph Gillman (09/08/07 09:50 AM)
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Starlighter
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/07
Posts: 4820
Loc: Sunny California
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After reading about people having so many problems, I canceled my order. Life's too short to put up with such nonsense especially after plunking down $400 plus tax plus shipping. Meade shouldn't have issued it until all the bugs were worked out.
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Celestron C4-R 102mm achromat
Celeston Nexstar 6SE SCT
Meade 80mm APO Triplet
Televue NP-101
Televue TV-85
Vixen A70Lf
Vixen A80Mf
William Optics 66mm Zenithstar Patriot
Celestron CG4 EQ mount
Orion Skyview Pro AZ mount
Televue Gibraltar 5
Vixen Portamount
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prismic
member
Reged: 06/09/07
Posts: 11
Loc: Fort Collins, CO
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Quote:
After reading about people having so many problems, I canceled my order. Life's too short to put up with such nonsense especially after plunking down $400 plus tax plus shipping. Meade shouldn't have issued it until all the bugs were worked out.
I fully agree 100%. I canceled mine as well (as I said in another thread, I seriously appreciate all of the initial feedback/reports from these guys).
Kind of funny: I was #35 on the list at binoculars.com and had dropped to #30 when I canceled (with no units shipped yet). You have to wonder if these other people are also reading initial reports or...?
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bkushner
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/26/06
Posts: 1807
Loc: Audubon New Jersey
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I think there is a big problem out there that there are very few positives. In all actuality I think I'm the only one here that reported a working version and even it was having accuracy problems.
brian
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Orion XT12i
Meade LX200 ACF
Ioptron Mini Tower
Orion EON80
Mallincam Hyper Plus
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Starlighter
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/07
Posts: 4820
Loc: Sunny California
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My optical store told me that the early batch that went out was fraught with serious problems so Meade has taken extraordinary steps to ensure the next ones will be perfect. My store received some recently, but had to send them back, not because they discovered anything wrong, no, Meade recalled them all. Now the next batch is under serious quality control at Meade. I tried calling Meade to ask a few questions and was placed on automated hold for over thirty minutes and finally I hung up. That's not a way to run a company. I've called Celestron several times with questions and always gotten a nice, informed person on the phone. Longest wait was ten minutes. Shortest was about a minute. But perhaps like the Maytag repairman, the people at Celestron's service center don't really have that much to do.
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Celestron C4-R 102mm achromat
Celeston Nexstar 6SE SCT
Meade 80mm APO Triplet
Televue NP-101
Televue TV-85
Vixen A70Lf
Vixen A80Mf
William Optics 66mm Zenithstar Patriot
Celestron CG4 EQ mount
Orion Skyview Pro AZ mount
Televue Gibraltar 5
Vixen Portamount
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bkushner
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/26/06
Posts: 1807
Loc: Audubon New Jersey
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Get a Skyscout, you'll be glad you did.
Brian
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Orion XT12i
Meade LX200 ACF
Ioptron Mini Tower
Orion EON80
Mallincam Hyper Plus
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Starlighter
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/07
Posts: 4820
Loc: Sunny California
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Really? My store told me the same thing. One day a couple of weeks ago I spotted the online Discovery store selling Skyscout for $299.95 which was either a mistake or a one day special. Looking back I should have grabbed it. I've never seen one in action. I have seen it in person in a store and was surprised that it was a lot bigger than I thought.
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Celestron C4-R 102mm achromat
Celeston Nexstar 6SE SCT
Meade 80mm APO Triplet
Televue NP-101
Televue TV-85
Vixen A70Lf
Vixen A80Mf
William Optics 66mm Zenithstar Patriot
Celestron CG4 EQ mount
Orion Skyview Pro AZ mount
Televue Gibraltar 5
Vixen Portamount
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gillmj24
Post Laureate
Reged: 12/06/05
Posts: 4564
Loc: PA
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mine seems to work a-ok after I got the updated firmware from brian. it took longer than I thought to get a gps lock but then it was fine. identified vega and then it was bedtime.
i'll try to put it through its paces more next week when I am home, but you people should have some faith and not jump ship so quickly. I expected some teething problems but I seem to have a working unit now.
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Rick Woods
Postmaster
Reged: 01/27/05
Posts: 11940
Loc: Inner Solar System
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How good were the first Sky Scouts to hit the market?
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- Rick
14" LX200
Cactus Patch Observatory
"The four points of the compass be logic, knowledge, wisdom, and the unknown. Some do bow in that final direction. Others advance upon it. To bow before the one is to lose sight of the three."
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bkushner
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/26/06
Posts: 1807
Loc: Audubon New Jersey
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They were fine on release and firmware updates have only been a few tweaks and easily downloadable.
Nothing like this fiasco.
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Orion XT12i
Meade LX200 ACF
Ioptron Mini Tower
Orion EON80
Mallincam Hyper Plus
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Starlighter
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/07
Posts: 4820
Loc: Sunny California
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Can you access firmware updates using a Mac or are there strictly for Windows? That goes for either My Sky or Sky Scout.
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Celestron C4-R 102mm achromat
Celeston Nexstar 6SE SCT
Meade 80mm APO Triplet
Televue NP-101
Televue TV-85
Vixen A70Lf
Vixen A80Mf
William Optics 66mm Zenithstar Patriot
Celestron CG4 EQ mount
Orion Skyview Pro AZ mount
Televue Gibraltar 5
Vixen Portamount
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Troyce
newbie
Reged: 12/26/07
Posts: 1
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With all due respect, how about we do bash the vendor, and I can use facts. Fact: hold time for 30 minutes to find out I am supposed to pay return shipping for this piece of junk. Fact: switches broken, software locks up, has yet to point a single star. Fact: poorly designed, obscenely cheaply built, and put onto the market anyway.
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Kiwi Nick
sage
Reged: 09/17/05
Posts: 222
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Do yourself a favour and get a Celestron Skyscout.
The best item I own in all my astronomical equipment.
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LX90 8"
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Starlighter
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/07
Posts: 4820
Loc: Sunny California
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I can say the same for My Sky. Mine works flawlessly. And it's well made.
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Celestron C4-R 102mm achromat
Celeston Nexstar 6SE SCT
Meade 80mm APO Triplet
Televue NP-101
Televue TV-85
Vixen A70Lf
Vixen A80Mf
William Optics 66mm Zenithstar Patriot
Celestron CG4 EQ mount
Orion Skyview Pro AZ mount
Televue Gibraltar 5
Vixen Portamount
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Kiwi Nick
sage
Reged: 09/17/05
Posts: 222
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Quote:
I'll be curious to hear how it does on a clear night (especially after the accuracy complaints we keep reading on here about the SS).
News to me.
I bought my Celestron Sky Scout around March 2007. Since that time I've never had problems with getting a GPS fix from half a dozen different locations in the UK from Norfolk to Cornwall.
It doesn't like being too close to large metal objects though so stay away from cars etc.
It's accuracy has been spot on every single time.
Whether using the find/locate or just pointing and querying.
First time every time.
Occasionally there can be issues if I am looking at two stars that are 'very' close together but thats pretty rare.
I've changed the batteries only once in the time I have owned my SS.
Best astro toy ever in my book (well so far anyway  ).
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LX90 8"
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Starlighter
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/07
Posts: 4820
Loc: Sunny California
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Well, I get a signal standing right next to my car with My Sky. It doesn't seem to bother it in the slightest. Also, I chucked the cheap earbuds that came with it in favor of much better foam cup earphones and that hasn't disrupted its performance either.
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Celestron C4-R 102mm achromat
Celeston Nexstar 6SE SCT
Meade 80mm APO Triplet
Televue NP-101
Televue TV-85
Vixen A70Lf
Vixen A80Mf
William Optics 66mm Zenithstar Patriot
Celestron CG4 EQ mount
Orion Skyview Pro AZ mount
Televue Gibraltar 5
Vixen Portamount
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jrw11
professor emeritus
Reged: 06/09/07
Posts: 550
Loc: unknown
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I bought my skyscout this time a year ago. And, have had no problems. They have added a comet upgrade. It will find objects even if it is straight down.
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Celestron C6n -HD Reflector
dual axis drive motors added
Orion 80mm Short tube refractor
Skyscout
Early 70's Pentax 7x50
Garrett Optical 12x60
Garrett Optical 15x70
Oberwerk 20x80 Standards
Canon Rebel Ti (film)
6 Minolta Srt cameras
Mamiya RB67 Pro-s
Mamiya Universal Press
Mamiya Twin Lens
Mamiya M645 Pro
Cambo SCII 4x5 view camera
over 50 other film cameras
several eyepieces
too much stuff
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