Hello and welcome. I'd like to state some information and ask every seastar user who has noticed the minor firmware update of the seastar. Itt turns out ZWo has changed a bit the EQ mode now after setting the seastar current altitude we have a new feature called Select scope position. Now I don't know why they needed to add this. Is this supposed to be the 3-star polar alignment? Basically, it's getting us to délelőtt 4 options to select the position of the scope, and it's a bit confusing for me. Like, I know it might be useful for those who observe from balconies and such, but like is this really necessary? I don't know. The other thing they also added is something called to when observing is happening. They added a do-not-disturb feature, or I'm not sure what this meant. The current firmware update has helped me a lot and somewhat not. The reason I say this now is because I currently have a clear night sky, and when I have tried the polar alignment, I have a successful setup. I noticed that my seastar was faced awkwardly downwards instead of upwards in the sky. It was more like it wanted to close the arm, and I didn't know why and what was wrong. Did I do something wrong again, or did Zwo just blow the EQ mode with the new changes? Has anyone encountered the same thing as me? Is there something I can do about this weird behavior?
Seastar New 2.5 Firmware Update Has Brought New Changes and Problems?
I downloaded the new update and I can tell you the 5 positions for polar alignment is huge for anyone like myself who has trees in their yard. From my deck I can see the north and northwest and the zenith so could polar align (PA) there but in the south corner of the yard where I can see from the SE to S to SW there is a large pine tree that starts at the zenith and covers from the SW past W to the NW. The Seestars normal PA would point the scope to the west of the zenith not much but right into the pine tree and it would just sit there and I couldn't do a PA.
With the new update I decided even though it was cloudy out i would see what would happen when I tried it. #3 was just like the normal PA and aimed into the middle of my tree and just sat there.
So I tried number 4 to see if that would clear the tree, nope. so 3 and 4 won't let me do a PA.
Next I tried #2 and it moved the scope lower in dec by about 20 degrees (a guess) and rotated to the SW and it cleared the tree so would do the PA, #1 went even lower in dec and would clear the pine but would in the 3rd position it would point to a neighbors tree. So #2 would let me do a PA.
Just for the heck of it I tried #5 and it went to the north of the zenith by quite a bit and would clear the pine but would hit a tree to the east.
the bottom line is that I will be able to do a PA with number 2 only.
The test was just to see what the Seestar did when I hit each position and now waiting for a clear night to see how it actually works but it looks like it will let me do a PA in my restricted space.
Since I didn't actually observe I don't know about anything else from the update.
With the new update I decided even though it was cloudy out i would see what would happen when I tried it. #3 was just like the normal PA and aimed into the middle of my tree and just sat there.
So I tried number 4 to see if that would clear the tree, nope. so 3 and 4 won't let me do a PA.
Next I tried #2 and it moved the scope lower in dec by about 20 degrees (a guess) and rotated to the SW and it cleared the tree so would do the PA, #1 went even lower in dec and would clear the pine but would in the 3rd position it would point to a neighbors tree. So #2 would let me do a PA.
Just for the heck of it I tried #5 and it went to the north of the zenith by quite a bit and would clear the pine but would hit a tree to the east.
the bottom line is that I will be able to do a PA with number 2 only.
The test was just to see what the Seestar did when I hit each position and now waiting for a clear night to see how it actually works but it looks like it will let me do a PA in my restricted space.
Since I didn't actually observe I don't know about anything else from the update.
Helpful
Jeff Padell:
I downloaded the new update and I can tell you the 5 positions for polar alignment is huge for anyone like myself who has trees in their yard. From my deck I can see the north and northwest and the zenith so could polar align (PA) there but in the south corner of the yard where I can see from the SE to S to SW there is a large pine tree that starts at the zenith and covers from the SW past W to the NW. The Seestars normal PA would point the scope to the west of the zenith not much but right into the pine tree and it would just sit there and I couldn't do a PA.
With the new update I decided even though it was cloudy out i would see what would happen when I tried it. #3 was just like the normal PA and aimed into the middle of my tree and just sat there.
So I tried number 4 to see if that would clear the tree, nope. so 3 and 4 won't let me do a PA.
Next I tried #2 and it moved the scope lower in dec by about 20 degrees (a guess) and rotated to the SW and it cleared the tree so would do the PA, #1 went even lower in dec and would clear the pine but would in the 3rd position it would point to a neighbors tree. So #2 would let me do a PA.
Just for the heck of it I tried #5 and it went to the north of the zenith by quite a bit and would clear the pine but would hit a tree to the east.
the bottom line is that I will be able to do a PA with number 2 only.
The test was just to see what the Seestar did when I hit each position and now waiting for a clear night to see how it actually works but it looks like it will let me do a PA in my restricted space.
Since I didn't actually observe I don't know about anything else from the update.
Same here in my Yard aswell. Plants surround the field, even in the garden. But unlike you, there are fewer trees around my location, so not sure which preset I use if plants are around me. Before that update, I did not have that issue, but this just made my situation even worse.
Szijártó Áron:Jeff Padell:
Same here in my Yard aswell. Plants surround the field, even in the garden. But unlike you, there are fewer trees around my location, so not sure which preset I use if plants are around me. Before that update, I did not have that issue, but this just made my situation even worse.
I would say if it worked before the update you would use #3 which I believe is the original way it did the EQ mode
Jeff Padell:Szijártó Áron:Jeff Padell:
Same here in my Yard aswell. Plants surround the field, even in the garden. But unlike you, there are fewer trees around my location, so not sure which preset I use if plants are around me. Before that update, I did not have that issue, but this just made my situation even worse.
I would say if it worked before the update you would use #3 which I believe is the original way it did the EQ mode
Yeah, I noticed that one preset works and the third one works best for me. I tried though the second one aswell and it turned out it basically droves the scope almost near the horizon. And to be honest, these preset scope settings are a bit confusing. Like, I don't know about you, but it's really confusing because you need to figure out which preset is best for you.
Szijártó Áron:Jeff Padell:Szijártó Áron:Jeff Padell:
Same here in my Yard aswell. Plants surround the field, even in the garden. But unlike you, there are fewer trees around my location, so not sure which preset I use if plants are around me. Before that update, I did not have that issue, but this just made my situation even worse.
I would say if it worked before the update you would use #3 which I believe is the original way it did the EQ mode
Yeah, I noticed that one preset works and the third one works best for me. I tried though the second one aswell and it turned out it basically droves the scope almost near the horizon. And to be honest, these preset scope settings are a bit confusing. Like, I don't know about you, but it's really confusing because you need to figure out which preset is best for you.
I did that on a cloudy night to see where the scope pointed with each one, hope to try it for real tonight
The additional positions for the EQ calibration are there because people who shoot from a balcony couldn’t calibrate with a roof over the scope. The new feature allows people with overhead obstructions to calibrate using stars away from the zenith. It’s not necessary for many of us, but it is necessary and matters to those owners who need it.
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