Here is another SeeStar app issue

starnet

A couple of nights ago I tried to image C33, the East Veil nebula, here is its visibility:

I know that targets very high in the sky and/or close to the meridian are problematic to track with an Alt/Az mount like the S50 (which is why we keep asking for an Equatorial feature, but ZWO doesn't seem to be interested in that).

Anyway, the SeeStar app will not even go to a target higher than 85 degrees, which is fine, but there is nothing preventing or warning me about targets close to the meridian, when filed rotation is highest. So the S50 goes to C33 no problem, identifies the star field without issues, then it gets stuck in Enhancing mode at 00:00:00 forever, failing to stack even a couple of images. For hours, it is worse than watching paint dry. Basically, from 20PM to 22PM (C33 peaks and crosses the meridian at 21PM) enhancing does not work at all. I had to wait until past midnight to be able to image the target, and then I fell asleep phone in hand because no scheduling feature of course.

My question to ZWO is this - is the behavior normal and to be expected (then why even enter enhancing mode if it is not going to work anyway) or just yet another bug. I cannot be completely sure but I do not remember encountering this issue before the latest software/firmware update and I have done targets very high in the sky before. From my point of view this has been a major step backwards, there have been a few nice cosmetic features but many basic functions are working now worse than they did in the past. And of course, there is no way to revert to earlier firmware.

I am still impressed by the S50 hardware and do not regret getting it 10 months ago but the SeeStar app, I could live without. Right now I am looking forward more to the Dwarf 3, which I ordered and should arrive by Christmas, rather than an improved SeeStar app or an S50 Pro or whatever ZWO might or might not come up with. After waiting for 10 months for any type of meaningful improvement, I am starting to lose interest in the S50. I think ZWO is falling behind big time in what will become a very competitive market.

starnet

And maddeningly so, I just tried the same thing tonight, I am running the same C33 at the same time, just after 9PM, it is crossing the meridian as I type this and it works perfectly. The problem is not even reproducible!

marvindj

Have you opened a ticket and provided the logs from your system?

starnet

This seems like a very one way street to me. We are paying customers who are expected to act as beta testers. On the other hand ZWO overpromises and underdelivers. Are you happy with the latest version of the app and firmware? If so, how many tickets have you opened?

marvindj

starnet Several. All answered promptly but not related to any code changes. If something is "important" to me, that is the route I'd take (ticket plus logs). But I'm also not an advanced user and have not stumbled into a usage scenario that causes me concern, yet. And if I did, I'd absolutely do my best to provide them, and myself, a means to track the issue (ticket number) and diagnostic data to aid in debug. Plus I'd nag. But not on this forum. Privately.

For this particular issue, how would you expect them to debug this issue if they don't have potential diagnostic data of the problem? Have a development resource spend hours/days/weeks trying to reproduce it? Add to that, if I understood the problem correctly, this is an edge case (zenith). So the next question to ask is how many customers will this issue affect? Probably not many (maybe I'm wrong).

Your expectations for this product and the support behind it obviously don't meet your needs. For $500, you should have expected that. Try Celestron products instead. They charge much more, and from my experience, have a larger development group for support. Of course, you have to pay for that capability.

Have fun!

starnet

OK, fine. What about this one? How would any logs help? I am not an expert in celestial mechanics but I am pretty sure no star other than Polaris behaves like this. Not Alderamin and not at 62 degree altitude (my latitude is 44 degrees):

I said this earlier, the S50 hardware is outstanding, especially for just $500 and I am not complaining. The SeeStar app on the other hand is not a serious product and it gets in the way of enjoying the $500 I spent on the S50. And it gets worse over time, instead of getting better.

Gulyas K

starnet Is your location set up properly? I see the exclamation mark next to the wifi sign. So I guess you have no internet connection and connected directly to Seestar. If you haven't set up the location manually, Seestar does not know where you are.

starnet

I use both modes of WiFi connection and they are both flaky. When the S50 manages to connect to my house WiFi, which is about 50% of the time, there is no exclamation mark. When it doesn't, I connect my phone's WiFi directly to it, then I have that exclamation mark. Both are short range, and as I said, flaky, I learned to live with that.

I do not think the S50 needs Internet connection to find out its location, I understand it gets that from the phone's GPS. Like I said, I have used the S50 a lot during the last 9 months or so, both with and without that exclamation mark next to the WiFi symbol and this is the first time the visibility curve is flat. I am pretty sure the S50 thinks it is at the North Pole, that would be the only rational explanation. Although the visibility function is broken, I can still take pictures with the telescope the usual way, which shouldn't work if the geographic location was wrong. Let's call it a mystery to avoid stronger words.

Gulyas K

starnet As for the location, Seestar does not get that from the phone's GPS in my opinion. I have a tablet with no GPS inside and Seestar knows the location if connected to the Internet.

Seestar_S50

The ! mark only means you have no Internet, as during the Seestar setup process it would have asked for your location. Check you level after you have slewed the unit from horizon to horizon you may find that it says it's not level. In the advanced menu you can zero the level once you have manual zeroed it, and the try slewing again and see if that has improved things.

ollamh

Starnet wrote:

"So the S50 goes to C33 no problem, identifies the star field without issues, then it gets stuck in Enhancing mode at 00:00:00 forever, failing to stack even a couple of images. "

I've been dealing with this since Firmware 2.95 and App 2.0 updates. Has no problem with GOTO the objects. Identifies the star field and centers no problem. Then in enhancing modes never adds a singe frame nor gives any type of error messages. Never had these issues before the firmware update. Have opened several bug reports and added screenshots of the issue. Nothing been resolved. Unit will still locate, track and image solar but deep sky is broken.

Cheers

Tech@ZWO

ollamh Could you please take a video to record the operation? thanks,

ollamh

Tech@ZWO

Next time weather cooperates will video the entire operation. Where should I post the video?

Tech@ZWO

ollamh
You can submit a ticket here for more convenient service
https://support.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/