6 replies to this topic

[Astronomics]

With over 17,000 units sold in the US alone this tiny wonders figures to introduce an entire new segment of people to the hobby.

Manufacturers will keep an eye on this forum, so any ideas you have about improvements to the product will not fall on deaf ears.

[abell]

Well, Meade needs to make sure they keep an eye on quality (rather than keeping an eye on this forum). I am a Meade fan - and owner of a nice LX200GPS 10"... but am a bit shocked at the quality of the MySky. I purchased TWO units at the same time - both are inoperable. I upgraded to the new firmware after a few frustrating hours of no GPS acquisition and freeze-ups.
After upgrading to v1.2tc, BOTH units are freezing at the "Starting MySky" page. I have to remove batteries to restart - no resets! Firmware v1.2tc
At least I could run the demo with the old software!
Cheap buttons, China made.
Come on Meade!

[Starlighter]

I owned A My Sky. After working well for a couple of months it went south when the year changed. I now refer to it as My Sky Y2K. Tonight I took delivery of a Sky Scout. I followed the instructions to the letter. Problem is after successfully gaining its GPS, it kept telling me there was magnetic interference which made it act goofy so I kept moving around until I was out in the middle of the street! It still had interference. So I decided to try walking around the neighborhood. Still showed interference. I packed it up and I'm shipping it back for a full refund. These devices are not what they're cracked up to be. I'm back to relying on a very dependable star chart. It doesn't require batteries. It doesn't have fits when there's magnetic interference and it's not hampered by not being programmed to work when the year changes.

[pops]

I gave the MySky a try and right out of the box there were instructions to download new software. However, the only PC I had access to does not have a DVD drive - which is required for the new software download. There is nothing I could find on any dealer's site indicating this so it went back. You mention that 17,000 were sold. If I were to guess that may be all that have been manufactured and they just sell, return, sell, return . . .
A good idea gone way bad and cost way more than what the price tag. In fact, I don't remember reading much good anywhere about them. It would be my suggestion they all be recalled until the problems would be resolved.

[WirelessDude]

After reading the preceding comments, I wanted to add my experiences with the mySKY since receiving mine back in mid-January 2008 as a freebie with my refurbished 12" RCX400 (both for $5,500)...

Right out of the box, GPS acquisitions were very difficult. All was fixed going to the latest firmware v1.2tc...

Since then, I have been extremely happy with the performance of this device. I am a newcomer to astronomy/astrophotography and have maximized my learning of the night sky in the shortest amount of time with the help of mySKY! It is also a nice alternative to the Autostar GOTO capabilities. There's something about pointing at an object in the sky with a "gun" and having the scope go there is an instant after "pulling the trigger"!

With 17,000+ of these devices out there, I feel this is a case of only hearing about the bad reports and assuming that the "cricket sounds" are happy customers too busy utilizing their tools during the night!

Clear skies!

[New Mexico Craig]

I don't get it. The original post from Astronomics refers to "this tiny wonders" (is that singular or plural? One or both?) and "the product".

But this forum is for both MySky and SkyScout. So which is supposed to be the subject of this particular thread?

craig

[WirelessDude]

My assumption is that it is a discussion of both the SkyScout and mySKY products as it has been the case all along in this thread. I guess the messages here need to be disseminated into separate topics below the initial "Welcome" message.

Clear skies!