12 replies to this topic

[spongebob@55]

I was out last night.  Clear, 27 degrees.    I was using the StarSense Explorer through SkySafari Pro.  Loaded fine and worked fine for the first 10 minutes and a few targets.  My iphone was fully charged and was hooked up to a power source.   Went in for a minute and came out and the green bullseye target was gone.  I tried 2 other targets and although it directed me to the correct area, the various bullseyes never showed up.  So I closed the app and started again.  Worked well for about 10 minutes, then the bullseyes never showed.  Closed the app for a 3rd and 4th time and it repeated.  

This doesn't happen when I just use StarSense Explorer App by itself, so must be related to the connection with SSPro????

Has anyone else had this problem?

 

Also, SSE is very bad with anything at or near zenith.

SB

[Neanderthal]

Guess they could call it "StarSense's Hole" (Dobson Hole) as well, lol. I agree, StarSense Explorer gets a little wonky up around 85°.

[spongebob@55]

Went out again last night.  Connected easily and observed Jupiter for a minute or two, then swung around to M42.  Then chose Jupiter and got the arrows pointing in the right direction.  Got closer and had no expanding background area and no target appeared.  Restarted.  Same thing.  Went back to plain old StarSense Explorer

App and it worked fine for the rest of the night.

  

Anyone else having this SkySafariPro StarSense Explorer Mode interface (or whatever its called) problem?

 

Bob

Edited by spongebob@55, 26 February 2024 - 05:32 PM.

[Neanderthal]

Sounds like a bug in the integration part. Glad I still have 6 Plus installed. 

[spongebob@55]

It doesn’t work with 6. Only 7 pro and plus.  And I think in iOS only for now.

 

Is there a site for Simulation Curriculum that these things are reported?

 

Later,

Bob

Edited by spongebob@55, 26 February 2024 - 05:35 PM.

[spongebob@55]

Evidently, its a problem.  But I found this, perhaps it'll help. 

 

'The problem with the targeting circle disappearing happened to me too and I found that if one of the existing scope display or Telrad display settings is active it can interfere. Make sure all scope display field of view options are turned off.

Also, if multiple devices are being used with SkySafari, the scope display Settings interfere with each other due to cloud backup syncing. If that's happening, put the device running SkySafari in airplane mode during your observing session and it won't automatically sync the scope display Settings to any other device'

 

I'll try it as soon as it clears (LOL, could be some time)

 

Regards

SB

Edited by spongebob@55, 26 February 2024 - 05:58 PM.

[spongebob@55]

I have submitted a Simulation Curriculum ticket #77983.   I'll let you all know how it goes.

Bob

[spongebob@55]

I received a fast response from SC.  It asked for information on the iphone model, ios level, app level and a video.  So I went out a few nights ago to get the video.  But before I did that, I turned the phone to airplane mode.  To my surprise, it worked fine the rest of the night.   I haven't been out since to duplicate this success. 

However, the other issue I noticed is that SkySafariPro running SSE is somewhat less sensitive to find and point to a target.   For example, it could not find Pons-Brooke's location, didn't expand the fov or form a target.   So I went back to just the SSE app and it worked like a charm.  All the way down to my totally light polluted bortle 8 horizon (probably5-10 degrees high).  

I filled out the contact form with this information and returned to SC.  I'll post if I hear something.

Regards

SB

[Neanderthal]

How are you supposed to take a video of what happens on the screen when the phone is in the cradle? I guess this assumes you have a spare phone to make the video, or a separate video camera?

[spongebob@55]

How are you supposed to take a video of what happens on the screen when the phone is in the cradle? I guess this assumes you have a spare phone to make the video, or a separate video camera?

Hey Neanderrtha,

My wife was going to video it as I narrated and pointed to the issues. 

Regards

Bob

[spongebob@55]

Hi all,

I went out for the first time in 6 weeks 3 nights ago with my 10" ES f/5 and SSE again wasn't working properly.  It kept telling me that it couldn't find the scopes sky location, yet gave me arrows to the object I was looking for. I had it on 'airplane mode' per above.  Additionally, it wasn't showing any of the bulls eye's or zooming it as it got closer to the target. I was in a bortle 3/4 sky and it took forever to recognize that it was dark.  Constantly telling me it couldn't find its location in the darkness yet it was giving me push to directional arrows.  At one point it had the wrong time in the upper left hand corner of the screen.  Huh?  I rebooted, nothing.  Tried the SSE app by itself, and then SS Pro, and SS Plus separately and all had the same issues.   Yet when I first got the app, it worked great, with barely dark skies.   I decided to delete the app, and try again.  Now I'm getting 'you've used all your unlock codes, contact customer service' .  I'll be calling Celestron to get another unlock code later today.

I guess I'll have to wait for another clear night and take some videos and submit to SC.

Bob

Edited by spongebob@55, 03 June 2024 - 10:02 AM.

[spongebob@55]

Hi all,

I went out for the first time in 6 weeks 3 nights ago with my 10" ES f/5 and SSE again wasn't working properly.  It kept telling me that it couldn't find the scopes sky location, yet gave me arrows to the object I was looking for. I had it on 'airplane mode' per above.  Additionally, it wasn't showing any of the bulls eye's or zooming it as it got closer to the target. I was in a bortle 3/4 sky and it took forever to recognize that it was dark.  Constantly telling me it couldn't find its location in the darkness yet it was giving me push to directional arrows.  At one point it had the wrong time in the upper left hand corner of the screen.  Huh?  I rebooted, nothing.  Tried the SSE app by itself, and then SS Pro, and SS Plus separately and all had the same issues.   Yet when I first got the app, it worked great, with barely dark skies.   I decided to delete the app, and try again.  Now I'm getting 'you've used all your unlock codes, contact customer service' .  I'll be calling Celestron to get another unlock code later today.

I guess I'll have to wait for another clear night and take some videos and submit to SC.

Bob

Well I used the new unlock code on the SSE app.  I had partly cloudy conditions in my horribly light polluted skies.  It worked like a charm.  But due to time and conditions, I didn't want to try loading the new unlock code into SS plus.  I will do that sometime once the skies clear, which based on the forecast, could be at least a week. 

Bob

[spongebob@55]

Well I went out with my 10" Dob in my Bortle 8/9 sky with the moon 2 nights ago.  Spent 2 hours trying to get the system to work.  Not finding the position in the sky.  Not changing the target's bullseye.  Tried SkySafari plus and pro.  Same failures. Finally, at the end of the night went back to basic SSE app and had some success, but limited.  Was it the moon?  Was it the light pollution?  I'm about to give this up.  I will wait for a moonless night some time in the future and try it again.  

Regards

SB