Warning! RainbowAstro RST-135 users (ASIAIR v1.3 Beta)

w7ay

If you are currently running ASIAIR v1.2 (Firmware 2.61) on iOS, do not download the TextFlight v1.3 Beta (Firmware 3.16). It has the same bug as ASIAIR v1.2.1 (Firmware v2.64).

The v3.16 firmware is changing the "Speed 2" mount speed in the hand controller, and in the Home window, the mount speeds show up as 1x, 2x,...128x, 256x, instead of as Guide,Center,Find,Max (the four speeds that are set by the user in the hand controller).

ASIAIR v1.2.1 (Firmware 2.64) had the same behavior, and with v1.2.1, Guide calibration also faied (wrong calibration stepping speed causing a guide star to fly off the FOV).

ASIAIR v1.2 (Firmware 2.61) had the correct behavior and auto-guiding worked very well in that version.

I am waiting for a clear night (perhaps in 36 hours) to see if ASIAIR v1.3 Beta (firmware 3.16) can guide properly in spite of this issue. Even if guiding works, after using ASIAIR, you will need to go back and reset "Speed 2" in the Hubo-i hand controller so that you regain the speed that you had originally set it to.

Chen

w7ay

Skies are suffiently clear to do some guiding tests with ASIAIR v1.3 Beta (Firmware 3.16) using a 9.7" iPad Pro running iOS 12.4.

In spite of the hijacking of the "Speed 2" mount speed in the Hubo-i hand controller, auto guiding does work (hallelujah!), so this is an improvement over the release version v1.2.1 with firmware 2.64, which cannot auto guide the RainbowAstro RST-135 mount.

Here is the comparison of the 5 most recent ASIAIR releases ("proper guide speed" means the four RainbowAstro speeds are not altered by ASIAIR):

App version ..... Firmware version ..... Proper guide speeds ..... Auto guide Calibration

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ASIAIR 1.1 .......... 2.28 ..... Crashes with RainbowAstro mounts

ASIAIR 1.2 .......... 2.61 ..... Yes .....Works

ASIAIR 1.2.1 Beta ..... 2.61..... Yes ..... Works

ASIAIR 1.2.1.......... 2.64 ..... No ..... Fails

ASIAIR 1.3 Beta ..... 3.16 ..... No ..... Works

ASIAIR 1.2 with Firmware 2.61 is still the best release so far for the RainbowAstro mount.

ASIAIR 1.3 seems to work as long as you can tolerate ASIAIR changing Speed 2 in the hand controller behind your back.

v1.3 Beta has new GOTO functionality (which has moved from the Telescope Settings window to a popup in the Home window). I have not tried a goto a planet, nor the iterative goto yet. It is definitely more logical to move the goto interface to the same window that plate solve is performed, but the Preview wondow is sure getting more cluttered :-).

My current workaround for the hijacking of the hand controller guide speed is to settle for 128x as Speed 2 ("Find" speed, which I used to set to 100x) *and* set the ASIAIR speed slider to 128x before I power down the ASIAIR app. This way I end up with 0.5x for Guide, 10x for Center, 128x for Find and 1500x for Max when I am manually controlling the mount after using ASIAIR.

I have not yet tried Polar Alignment on v1.3 Beta, but ASIAIR PA has never been a problem with the RST-135.

Chen

w7ay

Polar Alignment works fabulously with v1.3 Bet , as before.

Even though the release notes on iOS TestFlight for ASIAIR v1.3(2) mentioned planetary data, I could not find a GUI to it in the Beta app itself.

Chen

w7ay

After using ASIAIR Beta v1.3(2) (firmware 3.16) from iOS TestFlight for a number of nights in the past week, it felt so stable that I have since downloaded the Beta to both my primary iPad and the backup iPad. I have not even once switched back to Firmware 2.61 since using the Beta.

With the RST-135, you need to remember to replace Speed 2 on the hand controller when you use other programs, or when you use the hand controller manually. Not a big hassle when compared to the functionality of Beta 1.3.

Thank you, ZWO team.

Chen