skysailor
journeyman
Reged: 11/10/07
Posts: 8
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Hi,
I have just gotten a MySky. Must say it has been nothing but trouble so far.
It worked out of the box which was great. Then I thought I should upgrade it to make sure I have the latest firmware etc. After upgrade many things would no longer work. Tried everything to get it to work to no avail. Eventually I got a copy of the 1.2l version from a friendly member of this forum and installed that. It was working agian. Then I upgraded to 1.2q and it is finally back to how it was out of the box.
The biggest problem I have now is that it will not acquire a GPS lock. I have tried it so many times and it has only evert gotten a lock once. It will often get 4 or 5 bars and then they ill all disappear in one or two seconds. Most of the time it shows one bar or none. Any ideas anyone?
When I set the time and location manually it also seems to be wrong. Orion is unmistakenly right in front of me and it shows something completely different. Hmmm.
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Armand
journeyman
Reged: 09/19/07
Posts: 6
Loc: Utah
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Sounds like a defective unit. I have one that works great with the same version which is the latest from Meade.
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Armand Whitehead
Professor Emeritus
"Bugdoctor"
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skysailor
journeyman
Reged: 11/10/07
Posts: 8
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I sent the unit back to get replaced. It took a month to get a new one!! But the new one now gets a GPS fix fine.
But it has other problems!
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Starlighter
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/07
Posts: 4820
Loc: Sunny California
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After working perfectly for three months, my unit failed to acquire GPS and would freeze up with an hour glass showing up with the red sights lit. Attempting to manually input the info only made it freeze up when I set the last parameter which is the date. I'm returning it to Meade for repair. But I'm now wondering if a new one will end up developing the same or other problems.
This is a very sophisticated software-driven computer device that could have a number of internal bugs that don't show up right away. Now I wish I saved my money or spent it on something else, say a nice Tele-Vue eyepiece.
Best advice. Don't buy these exotic toys. I've had enough bugs with my Nexstar to keep me busy for the rest of my life.
From now on give me simple stuff. Mechanical devices that can be easily tinkered with.
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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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Starlighter, try changing the batteries?
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Starlighter
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/07
Posts: 4820
Loc: Sunny California
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Batteries weren't the problem. I tried two fresh sets of double A's. The battery indicator on the unit told me the batteries I used originally were almost to the top of the scale.
I was fortunate in that I was allowed to exchange it for a brand new one.
Anything electronic that's complex tends to be buggy. The more complex, the worse it is. Sometimes my laptop will act up, but it goes away. Not true with the My Sky unit I had that went bad. And it seems this is a problem they're having, not just some isolated incident. Returns have been high for a new product. But then I understand Meade's Sky Scout was fraught with problems that were later ironed out. One thing to remember with these gadgets. Their life expectancy isn't very long. Either they'll become quickly obsolete or fail at some point when parts are no longer available. Where I live, companies are only required to stock parts for consumer electronics for seven years. After that when something fails, it's into the trash can. I can still get an old tube radio fixed from the 1940's. Not so with modern equipment. I had a very nice 8mm video editing deck go south and discovered it cannot be repaired. No parts.
--------------------
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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Smolder
journeyman
Reged: 10/04/07
Posts: 5
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I am having exactly the same problem. Unit was working fine but now will not get lock exactly as above. Any suggestions?
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dundas
journeyman
Reged: 01/19/08
Posts: 8
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I have the same problem also. The MySky has worked perfectly since I bought it in October. The batteries recently wentt down. After I swapped in new batteries this month, I could no longer get a GPS fix nor could I enter my location manually as the unit locks up after entering the date and gives me this hourglass screen. When I enter a date up to Dec. 31, 2007, the unit starts to work fine again (albeit with the wrong date and hence rendering the locating feature of the unit worthless. I bet the same thing is happening when it tries to get a GPS fix. Once it recognizes a "2008" date, it freezes up. I'm sure many users will be experiencing this same problem as their batteries run down this month and they have to reenter the current 2008 date. I can't believe that they wouldn't have tested this for years subsequent to 2007. I will attempt to contact Meade to see what they have to say. If anybody else has this problem, please keep us all posted.
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dundas
journeyman
Reged: 01/19/08
Posts: 8
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There seems to be a new firmware update from the Meade site dated December 2007. I'm not sure if it addresses the "freeze up with 2008 date" problem. When I updated my SD card with this newest update, the MySky will not turn on. During power up, the 3 sighting lights on the top of the unit just flash for a few seconds and then the thing turns itself off! Anyone know if I'm something wrong in the update process or maybe it's a problem with the newest firmware? I didn't use the original card that came with the unit because I didn't want to lose the version that sort of works (that is, if you're stuck in the year 2007). I used a new Sandisk 256 MB SD card.
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Paul_C
member
Reged: 01/19/08
Posts: 65
Loc: Ireland
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Does the MySky come with battery sleeves? If so you should use them.
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http://profile.imageshack.us/user/pj30something/
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dundas
journeyman
Reged: 01/19/08
Posts: 8
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What's a battery sleeve and how might that help?
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dundas
journeyman
Reged: 01/19/08
Posts: 8
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I found out what a battery sleeve is. No, the Mysky didn't come with one and it had worked fine without one until the year 2008 hit!
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gillmj24
Post Laureate
Reged: 12/06/05
Posts: 4564
Loc: PA
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My 1.2q firmware still worked in 2008
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dundas
journeyman
Reged: 01/19/08
Posts: 8
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Have you tried removing the batteries for a while in 2008 and then trying to get a GPS fix or manually entering a 2008 date? From my experience, the unit will work okay in 2008 until you change the batteries and have to enter a new location. Please let us know if this is the case with you or if only some units are affected. The Meade website under "Mysky" also makes reference to this issue.
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Jon Risch
newbie
Reged: 01/23/08
Posts: 1
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Sounds like a lot of us are having the same troubles with the My-sky thing. I just had my original replaced and so far it seems to work fine, (so did the original till I started to use it for real however.). I tend to agree with those that say, "Stay away from these 'miracle" electronic devices. They are great right up to the point where they lose their mind!) This is a great idea for us beginners but perhaps it is too good to be practical.
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Starlighter
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/07
Posts: 4820
Loc: Sunny California
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I got rid of mine. Never again! I'm back to using a simple planisphere. It doesn't require batteries, has no computer chips and when the year changes it could care less.
--------------------
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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Alan Pryor
journeyman
Reged: 12/30/07
Posts: 6
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The problem is a bug in the firmware. To fix it you will need to download and install the latest Updater Program. Then use the new Updater Program to download and install the latest firmware. My MySky had the same problem as above, and this fixed the issue.
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Stephen S
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/21/07
Posts: 509
Loc: Evansville, IN
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Alan, thanks for the firmware upgrade tip. I was having the same problem every above has been discussing. I just did the firmware update and now my MySky is working great. I tested it on a few know items and it is dead on accurate. You have saved me much frustration. Thanks for the tip.
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Various Telescopes and Eyepieces
Not enough time to enjoy them all
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Starlighter
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/07
Posts: 4820
Loc: Sunny California
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I wonder what will happen on January 1, 2009!
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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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Quote:
I wonder what will happen on January 1, 2009!
 This is like the dreaded Y2K bug with the nuclear missiles thing every year!!
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