Hi Folks,
I have some successes with my device, but also some problems.
(1) The telescope gets confused finding the moon, even when I locate the moon manually,It wanders, looking where the moon isn’t, then gives up. This happens despite repeated compass calibration and leveling and mounting on a stable tripod.
(2) The telescope is crooked. Regardless of the tripod mount (on a flat surface), the device reports that it needs to be leveled; a screenshot of the app reports that it is 5.6° away from level, while in fact the SEESTAR mounted on the original tripod standing on a flat surface (on which water pools and does not flow). It doesn’t matter what tripod I use; I get similar results.
I used coins as shims to level the SEESTAR. I approximated a level device with a tack of coins 17.6 mm high under the front right leg, and the device reported that it was 1.1 ° away from level. This is obviously crooked but the device thinks that it is level.
The worst aspect of this is that the device thinks it needs leveling over and over again. Last night, I switched between targeting NGC 597, Spica, and the Moon. The SEESTAR just could not find the moon even when I positioned the moon in the middle of the frame.
Yet I was able to get a fine image, theresult of 35 stacked images of NGC 597. Why can it find this, but it gets lost looking for the moon? I suspect this is related to its incorrect internal level sensor.
I gave up on getting the occultation of Spica by the Moon, and settled for a long series of Andromeda, which ran for 234 minutes and gave a nice image as a result.
I purchased this early this year. Right now, with a device that had problems like this I would be writing a very negative product review. But I am willing to try again.
These problems are getting worse. The device has never been dropped. It has never been subject to harsh conditions. It has never gotten wet. Firmware has been updated regularly. Why are things bad? What are they getting worse?
I am at a complete loss.
Please, what should I do to get this thing to function correctly?
—
Jim in NH, USA