TheSkySearchers-Welcome!

I installed an equatorial wedge to my Nexstar SE-8. Now the motor focuser does not appear on the starsense hand control menu. I'm sure I've used it since I got the starsense (firmware 1.20+). Maybe it's the cord. I'll try to get the same one at BestBuy tomorrow. This is the first partly clear night in weeks. StarSense worked well in aligning and calibrating last time I used it. Was hoping It would do the same with the wedge. But I have questions about my installation. I got conflicting info on YouTube. Does the latitude adjustment knob point north or south? The whole scope now is useless though unless I fix or remove the focus motor. Thanks in advance for any help.

I don't know where I saw it was pointed south. So I'm already to go except for the focuser. Best buy didn't have RJ12 cords and didn't even know what they were even though I had it with me. So I ordered on Amazon. The starsense camera is recognized using the aux port but not the focuser. It said "...Init, please wait". And it stays like that forever. I doubt if it's still under warranty. Hope the wire is the problem.

I meant North. It is supposed to point south.

It sounds like a cable issue. Hopefully the new one will fix the problem. If not make sure you have the most recent update for the controller software.

The arm of your one-arm-bandit mount should point north. If I recall correctly, the 8 SE does not work well on a wedge at your low latitude. But this shouldn't stop you from trying.

I have been hassling with connectivity issues for a while. I assume the focus motor is connected via USB, so some of my experience might be applicable.

It is easy to find out that USB allows for 127 devices. Easy and misleading. 127 is a theoretical upper limit. In practice, it will crap out long before you get near that number. So check how many USB devices you have connected. If you have a lot, disconnect anything non-essential. I found that removing a security camera and my sky camera improved the USB reliability considerably.

Check how many hubs you have between the device and the computer, and minimize the number. An active extension cable is a hub. A seven-port hub is two 4-port hubs connected in series. Four of its output ports are one hub farther from the computer than the other three. There are probably several hubs inside the computer.

KathyNS wrote: ↑Tue May 24, 2022 12:33 pm I have been hassling with connectivity issues for a while. I assume the focus motor is connected via USB, so some of my experience might be applicable.

It is easy to find out that USB allows for 127 devices. Easy and misleading. 127 is a theoretical upper limit. In practice, it will crap out long before you get near that number. So check how many USB devices you have connected. If you have a lot, disconnect anything non-essential. I found that removing a security camera and my sky camera improved the USB reliability considerably.

Check how many hubs you have between the device and the computer, and minimize the number. An active extension cable is a hub. A seven-port hub is two 4-port hubs connected in series. Four of its output ports are one hub farther from the computer than the other three. There are probably several hubs inside the computer.

Little clarification: USB protocol can handle 127 devices (HUBs are devices too), and all devices need to be known to the USB host (master, the devices are slaves), and usually the host can't handle nearly that many devices. The OTG USB is capable of changing roles (device can become host and vice versa), but the device count stays. The only solution is connecting some devices to another USB host, that can talk to the computer via, say, ethernet.
Something of this kind https://www.digi.com/products/networkin ... ifications.

Hooray, I'm getting somewhere but the focus motor still is kaput. The new cable didn't change anything so I thought I'd call Celestron on Monday. But I know they'll ask me to make sure the firmware is updated. I finally figured out how to have the CFM screen last more than half a second. Open the extracted CFM.jar file from the location it is extracted to. Do not move it. It found 3 updates for the Starsense HC and camera and focus motor. It downloaded and installed 6 files, but the last one was so fast I'm not sure what happened to it really. Later I checked the version info for the HC and it had updated. The starsense camera already had the latest but the focuser motor firmware was not to be found. And still I couldn't find the focus motor itself in the menu. So I'll call. It's still under warranty. Anybody else have trouble getting them to respond to msgs on their website by getting a ticket or whatever? Also my pw doesn't work anymore and I found it too onerous, nay, impossible to get a new onee.

If you have ASCOM installed, you could use it to check if the focus motor really is kaput.
Also even plugging it to your computer and checking with the device manager, you could see if the computer found an unknown new USB device. The USB VID is probably 19B4.

[edit]
"The USB VID is probably 19B4."
Or then not. It looks like Celestron hasn't use their VID much. It's probably something else.
Maybe you could ask the VID (Vendor ID) and PID (Product ID) numbers from Celestron?
The computer uses those numbers to match the USB HW and the appropriate driver.

If you have something else Celestron that you can connect to your PC via USB,
there is a good chance that those parts have the same VID.
At least you can check if an unknown USB device emerges in the device manager, when you plug the focus motor, and disappears when you unplug it.

If you have Linux, you can use "lsusb" console command. (I guess it works for Macs too.)

Example...

Thank you for the response. I don't have ASCOM. I viewed 3 UTubes about it. It is beyond me right now. Everything I have is Celestron anyway. The starsense camera and the foclus motor are connected (via a reverse splitter?) to the aux port on the mount. I hooked up the HC to a computer (Win11) USB port and looked at device manager. DM doesn't show "other devices". The only difference after I plug it in is "Ports (com & lpt)". When I expand that I get "Prolific PL2303GL...". Today, Monday is a holiday so I'll call Celestron tomorrow. Thank you again.

That Prolific is an USB-serial adapter. The same kind of thing you find in USB-serial adapter cables. Looks like the HC is actually serial device, but an USB-serial adapter has been added in-between, because today's computers don't have serial ports anymore.
Actually those adapter chips can be used for many different USB-adapters - even USB-JTAG, but they are mostly used as USB-serial (RS232, 5V or 3.3V) adapters.

Well...I spent all morning on the phone with the Celestron tech guy. We did the things again that I'd done 3 or 4 times. Then we tried other things. He answered my call within a minute and he was real patient with me. I'm quite satisfied. But... he figured the problem is with the mount so I have to send it in. First I had to come up with a proof of purchase. I called B & H Photo and they sent a copy of the invoice right away.

Haven't been here in awhile. They sent back the fixed mount but I still couldn't find the focuser on the menu. So they told me to send the focuser back and I got a new (or fixed) one. Menu still didn't recognize it ... unless ... I hooked its cable directly to the mount instead of thru the splitter. That fix didn't work earlier before I got the fixed mount and new (or fixed) focuser back. So I got a new splitter and everything is fine now. So ... we earlier couldn't figure out the problem because there was more than one. I am not known for my patience but I handled it well. Anyway we've only had 2 or 3 rather clear nights in the backyard in all this time. And I have a direct view over the fence of the Honolulu city lights 8-10 miles away. I'm sure I"ll be coming back here crying with other concerns. Thanks again.