Seestar v2.4 has been released!: Page 3

Seestar v2.4 has been released!

Jeff P

Support@Seestar
When making a plan, frame of Seestar FOV seems oriented according to current time of day in ALT/AZ mode. Is there a way to do plans based on EQ mode framing?

Support@Seestar

Jeff P Yes, in ALT/AZ mode, the FOV frame is oriented based on the current time of day, which can cause a shift in the framing when you're planning observations. However, in EQ mode, the framing should be more stable since it's aligned with the celestial coordinate system, which is not affected by time of day.
To make a plan based on EQ mode framing, you can follow these steps:

Switch to EQ Mode: Make sure your Seestar device is in EQ Mode before planning your observation.
Select the Target: Once in EQ mode, select the celestial target (like a star, galaxy, or nebula) you want to observe. The software will automatically adjust the framing according to the equatorial coordinate system.
Plan Your Observation: After selecting the target, you can proceed with your observation planning.
This approach ensures that your framing will stay aligned with the sky's equatorial coordinates, not influenced by the local time of day or the altitude/azimuth position.

AstroMello

Support@Seestar hi for EQ mode what part of the sky is used for horizontal calibration? My north and northwest are mostly blocked by trees and buildings.
I like the app changes. Great job, wow.

satch984

starnet59

So seestar does plate solving only towards zenith? Because my balcony is blocked on east side

21Hk60qO

Hello Seestar Team!

First off, THANK YOU for the highly anticipated release of EQ mode! I have been anxiously awaiting it and was able to test it out first time last night and it worked like a champ! In over three hours of imaging at 30sec exposures I think I have maybe 5-10 rejected images! AMAZING!

I do have one question and possibly a suggestion if this isn’t already a thing. Maybe I am just missing something. In planning mode there doesn’t seem to be a way to get the target framing box set to EQ mode which makes pre planning an EQ session for later tonight almost impossible.

I currently have my Seestar powered off and charging and it being daylight I couldn’t correctly polar align it anyway. I noticed last night that when imaging in EQ mode and searching around the skyatlas for targets, the app correctly displayed the reference target framing box as rotating around the celestial pole. That said, I would like to make a plan for later tonight. The issue is in the planning feature, even if you set the grid to EQ, the “Target” rectangle remains in same orientation as if you were trying to plan an Alt/Az session and does not rotate around the celestial pole as it would, should, and did during EQ imaging. (See attached photo of me trying to pre plan an EQ session using the Pleiades as an example)

I can sort of try and rotate the target framing box to match the grid lines manually using the framing tool, however this is going to be very inaccurate and I would have to redo it for every target I try to add to the plan.

Again this makes planning an EQ session in advance basically impossible. Please correct me if I am wrong but it seems it would be a doable software function to have the “Target” framing box on the skyatlas rotate around the celestial pole when the grid is selected for “EQ” mode so that proper pre planning can be done for EQ sessions.

Other than this so far I have I had no issues setting up EQ mode last night and the imaging session went spectacularly well! Your team has done a great job!!! And the in app instructions and onscreen guidance to get proper alignment is brilliantly done and couldn’t be easier. Took less than five minutes to get up and running last night. Other than the planning mode function discussed above I couldn’t be more pleased at a first go of trying things and can’t wait to get back out there. CLEAR SKYS and thanks again ZWO Seestar Team!

starnet59

21Hk60qO I strongly agree, the planning mode tool should include an option to specify whether the S50 will operate in Alt/Az or EQ mode. The Alt/Az image frame is useless anyway, because it reflects the orientation at planning time, not at run time. Aligning the image frame to the EQ coordinates would make much more sense. The solution to this problem is actually quite easy, since now you can display either Alt/Az or RA/Dec grids (great feature, by the way), the planning software can assume that the grid you are using will also be the mode the capture will be made, Alt/Az respectively RA/Dec. In Alt/Az mode the rotation of the frame should match the date and time when the capture will be made, not when the plan is created. In RA/Dec EQ mode, just align the frame with the grid, this way, what you see is what you get in both modes. This would greatly increase the usability of the planning mode.

Another thing, against my better judgement I decided to give another try to framing mode, this time in EQ mode. Not only I wasted another hour or so of clear skies, but in EQ mode the grey rectangle that indicates the frame in SkyAtlas is rotated relative to the actual captured frame. In Alt/Az mode they were aligned, so this is a new bug introduced by the EQ mode. I am just mentioning this for those interested in framing mode, I am still unable to complete even a single image in framing mode and my interest for this function is still zero. If I were ZWO I would focus any improvements on planning and EQ modes.

21Hk60qO

@support@Seestar

Hello Seestar team,

I am re-upping my previous comment to see if there are any thoughts on a resolution for the sky atlas in EQ mode and planning functions. Thanks! 😊

Fivos

Just a quick heads up about a new and probably unintended Android app behavior:

When I exit the app via the "double back" action, the app doesn't really close anymore. It stays open in the background, the Seestar notification stays there, and the only way to close it is via the "active apps" panel.

In the previous version, the app closed properly.

Seestar_S50

Fivos Yes same here, app remains open and has to be forced closed to exit. Must be a bug.....

Support@Seestar

Brille This line is due to the satellite track and is recommended to be addressed at a later stage.
The image is affected by light damage, but waiting for the flat field function to come out is not a big problem.

Fivos
The application's reminder notification icons are there to ensure that the device continues to work and to remind you of things to do. Turning off the Driver notification icon will not affect the actual working of the device, but if you don't want the app to be active at all times, you can try the following steps:

Disable notifications: On your tablet, go to Settings → Notifications, find the Seestar app, and you can choose to disable notifications. This way, even if the app is running in the background, the notification icon will not be displayed all the time.
Exit the app completely: Make sure you have exited the Seestar app completely, not just closed the interface. In some cases, the app will run in the background and show the notification icon even if it is closed.
Check your system settings: Make sure that the option to allow apps to run continuously in the background is not turned on, this will prevent the Seestar app from staying active and showing the notification icon.

Osbojo

Congratulations Seestar team (and Alpha and Beta testers). Very easy to set up and allign, you couldn't have made it any simpler. I did a quick 10X30s acquisition on the Monkey Head nebula last night while imaging another target on the SCT and processed it in a quick Pixinsight session and was astounded.

ys1XAG05

It appears the names of nebulas and galaxies have been removed from the sky atlas. No more searching for Horsehead or Markarian's Chain. Even clicking and opening a target doesn't always say the name, leading to a trip to google.
For beginners such as myself who don't have the star catalog memorized, this doesn't make it easier.

Would it be possible to add the names back?

Support@Seestar

ys1XAG05
We'll fix it.

carl.kies

Thank you ZWO for a great new version! Question, is the AZ bearing OK to handle operations at acute angles other than the normal az/el mode?

Seestar_S50

Manofkent Very depressing in the UK grey skies again, cloudy nights....

GERARD7744

GERARD7744
Après avoir posé la question de la mise à jour que je n'avais pas eu, depuis hier cela a été effectué et je n'ai plus qu'à faire un test lorsque j'aurais la cale équatoriale. Merci.

裕沼尻

There is a problem when using Framing in EQ Mode.
When photographing a celestial body away from the meridian, it is rotated at an angle that is off the north-south direction, even though no rotation is specified.
Also, when specifying the rotation and trying to adjust it to match the north-south direction, adjustments can only be made in increments of about 20 degrees.
I'm sorry, but could you please check?

裕沼尻

Here's an image to clarify the issue with Framing in EQ Mode.
This is a star chart taken in EQ Mode of a nebula past its highest point in the sky, with Framing set to 180% and no rotation.

The captured image was positioned at an angle, and the periphery was also captured through framing.
The frame on the star chart and the center position match, but the rotation angle is different.

9qTXgfu8

While waiting for a night without clouds, I am playng with the GoTo in the Atlas section of the App and I discovered that trying to GoTo to the zenith (while in EQ mode) leads to the alert (typical of the AltAz mode) "you can't go over 85 degree" ... This should be a bug !
Contrariwise, I have verified that I can point to objects on the horizon with the arm quite closed (but I am at 41° ... I am non sure that at lower latitudes they can achieve it).

Support@Seestar

9qTXgfu8
Please submit a log the next time this problem occurs.

9qTXgfu8

This s my setup for SeeStar 50 in EQ mode :-)

Artsivirhe

I have a problem with Seestar S50 android app, i downloaded newest v2.4.0 apk to my phone OnePlus12 and also my tablet Samsung Galaxy Tab A9, also updated Seestar S50 firmware, in both phone and tablet app crashes after it finds location, i can use app if i quickly connect app to my seestar, but if seestar s50 is not on and i try to use app example to make plan, i cannot use it because it stops all the time. With previous version that i used v2.2.1 i did not have any problems. I have tried to uninstall and install app again several times.

Artsivirhe

Artsivirhe Now app is working fine suddenly and i did not do anything.

Yesterday it was behaving same way with three different android devices that i have, OnePlus12, Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 and Xiaomi mi 10 Lite 5G,

with all of them, app crashes right after my location was found, i noticed that weather info was not loaded, do not know if that has anything to do with it.

scopesnc

Well done on the addition of Equatorial mode. Much improved system now with no dropped frames.Saved a lot of time not having to watch it drop more than half the frames. Out of 6 targets I went to last night with 15 minutes on each I saw only one dropped frame. It was very simple to polar align and set up too.

My only issue which I do not know if it is a bug or not was the goto's hang up. I'd go to a target and sometimes it would just sit there after slewing and do nothing. I'd get that round circle on top of the target X and nothing would happen. It would sit there like that for 5 or 10 minutes, doing nothing not a thing. The only way I could fix this issue was to shut down the See Star App and start it up and connect again. When I did so the target image would be right in the middle were it was supposed to be. It did this on about every other target . I did not have this issue in Alt AZ mode ever.
One major change or future update wish for me would be on the AI Denosie. Talk about image killer WOW. The AI Denoise is way to harsh. It makes a blur of the image and a lot of detail is lost. Gives us some control of this. Maybe a Mild Denoise , a Medium Denosie and this Max Denoise like it is now. I found I was better off not using it at all. It was over kill on the images and blurring them and the details out to much.
Over all it's a great update. Well done ZWO See Star team.

sthscan

Brille i'm getting a vertical band as well in my only EQ pic so far.

As seen in Siril with histogram in the pulldown view box to emphasize the band. Background extraction seems to minimize it.

Support@Seestar

talktogreg
Yes, the SUN and MOON GOTO functions, along with tracking and auto-entering, do work in EQ mode, but there are some considerations for optimal performance:

Polar Alignment in EQ Mode
Polar alignment is still important when using the SUN and MOON modes in EQ mode because these modes rely on a properly aligned equatorial mount to track the celestial objects accurately.
If the mount is roughly polar aligned**, the system can compensate for small errors, but a more precise alignment will improve accuracy, especially for tracking and GOTO.
Tilt-Head/Wedge Considerations
If you are using a wedge or tilt-head, you will want to ensure that the EQ mode is active so the mount correctly accounts for the tilt.
If you are switching between Alt/Az and EQ, you may need to remove the wedge or tilt-head and return to Alt/Az mode for proper tracking of the SUN and MOON.
In Q mode the system calculates the movement along the RA/Dec axes, which requires that the tilt-head or wedge is properly positioned for accurate tracking.

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