Help Please: Vixen SXW + TP Link Router + SkySafari

[GC - South Aus]

G'day Everyone

Just bought a Vixen SXW and I am having no end of trouble getting it connected to SkySafari on my iPad.

The set up is as follows:

Vixen SXW Mount ---> Starbook ---> Cat 5 Cable (ethernet port) ---> TP Link Nano Router

I have attempted to connect the router up to the StarBook under default settings, as well as various other settings by connecting and setting up through the web browser using admin login.

When I check the StarBook information it states that the IP address is 169.254.1.1, this is different to the router that has an IP of 192.168.0.1.

I have attempted to set the SkySafari up under both Vixen Starbook and Sphinx German EQ Mounts. But neither work. I have also put both IP of router and of StarBook into IP settings at different times in SkySafari also without luck.

So far I am able to connect to the TP Link Router from my iPad through the normal IOS settings area, when I attempt to connect through SkySafari I get the following message:

"SkySafari Plus can make a wireless network connection to the scope, but the scope is not responding. Make sure it is connected and powered on. Also check that your scope type is correct."


If it’s not the settings on the router, I am starting to think that it could be the Ethernet port on the StarBook is no good/broken and isn’t communicating.

Any assistance anyone could give on this would be greatly appreciated, it is driving me crazy!

Cheers

Gav

[rrussell1962]

The IP address you need to use is the one displayed on the starbook when you click on the LAN settings after it shows connected. Not the 162...etc address of the Starbook. I only used mine on a mac and it was Port 60. Just to double check..you are connecting to the router wireless network?

[GC - South Aus]

Originally Posted by rrussell1962

The IP address you need to use is the one displayed on the starbook when you click on the LAN settings after it shows connected. Not the 162...etc address of the Starbook. I only used mine on a mac and it was Port 60. Just to double check..you are connecting to the router wireless network?

Thanks Russell will give it another go!

Cheers

Gav

[LewisM]

Several guides:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/a.../t-135652.html

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/5.../#entry7909416

Richard's original tutorial from a while ago (this is Starbook TEN but the setup is identical):

...I bought a little travel router with a built in battery. The one I got is the TPLink MR3040, but I am sure there are others that would work equally well. Go through the instructions to install and configure the router. I left the DCHP range as the defaults, type set as wisp (whatever that means!). Charge battery in router. Connect LAN port on router to LAN port of Starbook Ten. You need to use a straight through cable for this - not a crossover cable. Turn on router. Turn on Starbook Ten and do alignment as normal. Go to System menu on Starbook Ten and note the IP address, mine is something in the range 192.168.0.100 to 192.168.0.199, which is the default address range for the router. Next, open up the WiFi settings on your laptop, iPad etc, The TPLink network should be clearly visible, join the network (note password is on the back of the router if you need it.) Open SkySafari, go to Telescope>Setup. Scope Type - seems to work as either Vixen Starbook or Vixen Sphinx. Connection Type is WiFi / Ethernet. Set auto detect SkyFi to off i.e. uncheck box. Set IP address to the same as the Starbook Ten is showing. Port 80. Readout rate does not seem critical, I left mine at 10 per second. Press Connect and with any luck......Just note that you need to exit the system menu on Starbook Ten before SkySafari will control the telescope. Well, it worked for me, but obviously it's your equipment and you connect things to it at your own risk!

[GC - South Aus]

Originally Posted by GC - South Aus

Thanks Russell will give it another go!

Cheers

Gav

Right, well that didn't work.

What I have found is that the IP listed in the LAN area is the 192.168.0.1, I have tried that before and still get the same message. However, when I try that IP it literally takes one second to give the message. When I try any other (for example the one listed on StarBook as 169.254.1.1) it takes several seconds.

This leads me to think that the IP to use is the 192.168.0.1. I have also tried the following port numbers 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 90 & 100 without luck.

I am not sure what you mean by connected to the router. If you mean is the iPad connected to the wireless router through the IOS Wifi Settings - then Yes.

Gav

[GC - South Aus]

Originally Posted by LewisM

Several guides:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/a.../t-135652.html

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/5.../#entry7909416

Richard's original tutorial from a while ago (this is Starbook TEN but the setup is identical):

...I bought a little travel router with a built in battery. The one I got is the TPLink MR3040, but I am sure there are others that would work equally well. Go through the instructions to install and configure the router. I left the DCHP range as the defaults, type set as wisp (whatever that means!). Charge battery in router. Connect LAN port on router to LAN port of Starbook Ten. You need to use a straight through cable for this - not a crossover cable. Turn on router. Turn on Starbook Ten and do alignment as normal. Go to System menu on Starbook Ten and note the IP address, mine is something in the range 192.168.0.100 to 192.168.0.199, which is the default address range for the router. Next, open up the WiFi settings on your laptop, iPad etc, The TPLink network should be clearly visible, join the network (note password is on the back of the router if you need it.) Open SkySafari, go to Telescope>Setup. Scope Type - seems to work as either Vixen Starbook or Vixen Sphinx. Connection Type is WiFi / Ethernet. Set auto detect SkyFi to off i.e. uncheck box. Set IP address to the same as the Starbook Ten is showing. Port 80. Readout rate does not seem critical, I left mine at 10 per second. Press Connect and with any luck......Just note that you need to exit the system menu on Starbook Ten before SkySafari will control the telescope. Well, it worked for me, but obviously it's your equipment and you connect things to it at your own risk!

G'day Lewis

I have looked through this post previously and followed steps.

It doesn't work for me.

I note that it appears that StarBook 10 actually changes its IP to be within the range supplied by the router. Where as with this StarBook it stays as 169.254.1.1. This is why I think there is something wrong with the ethernet port on the StarBook!

Gav

[GC - South Aus]

Originally Posted by rrussell1962

The IP address you need to use is the one displayed on the starbook when you click on the LAN settings after it shows connected. Not the 162...etc address of the Starbook. I only used mine on a mac and it was Port 60. Just to double check..you are connecting to the router wireless network?

G'day again Russell

I get what you are saying now.

The IP address on the StarBook is not changing!

It stays as the actual StarBook IP of 169.254.1.1 (this is the same number even when the router is not connected).

However, the router stops flashing and gives a solid green LED light (when the mount is turned on) which signifies that there should be a connection.

Looks like I might have a StarBook with a busted ethernet port perhaps?

Gav

[rrussell1962]

OK, try connecting the cable with everything turned off. Turn on Starbook then the router. If that does not work try turning on in the reverse order. Double check you are using straight through cable and not a crossover one - crossover is only for updating Starbook.

[GC - South Aus]

Originally Posted by rrussell1962

OK, try connecting the cable with everything turned off. Turn on Starbook then the router. If that does not work try turning on in the reverse order. Double check you are using straight through cable and not a crossover one - crossover is only for updating Starbook.

Ok Russell

Thanks for the advice.

Yep using a straight through CAT 5 cable, have tried 3 different cables just in case it was faulty.

Will try the things you suggested tomorrow, as I am giving it a rest now as it is driving me nuts!

Cheers

Gav

[GC - South Aus]

I know I said I would wait until tomorrow, but curiosity got the better of me and I had another go.

Neither way made any difference, StatBook IP stayed at 169.254.1.1. So it is either the router isn't giving the StarBook an IP address or the Ethernet port on the StarBook is buggered!



Gav

[LewisM]

Just remember to restart the Starbook settings, then see if the IP changes, and THEN get out of Settings (go back to scope mode or chart mode) - this is vital in ANY of the Starbooks as NOTHING takes effect until you are back on the main screens.

If all else fails, perhaps reflashing the firmwre might be a good idea. Never had a single issue connecting that Starbook to the laptop to do updates etc.

A snippet:
b) Connection via LAN or Router

If connected to a LAN or a router that has DHCP enabled, the controller will acquire a network address from the DHCP server automatically. Use either the “About Star Book” menu option on the controller or the LAN or router administration software to determine the IP address that has been allocated. Now follow the procedure to upgrade the firmware as if using a direct PC connection and enter the automatically assigned IP address when prompted by the upgrade program.

If you are unsure of the network settings, contact your network administrator.

If DHCP is not enabled, follow the procedure for direct PC connection.

Or, just use Starbook - it does everything Skysafari and Stellarium does. In all the years I used Starbook, I never used anything BUT the Starbook itself, including imaging.

There is also a bunch of ideas you could try from Vixen themselves. Most is about the update procedure, but may give some hints, as you need to remember, these Starbooks were not designed from the outset to be WIFI driven (WIFI dongles were not even available commercially back then) - the fact they can be is a nice-to-have:

https://www.vixen.co.jp/en/at/update/sb.html

http://www.vixenamerica.com/technica...ookupdates.asp

https://www.vixenoptics.co.uk/Pages/...re_update.html

[rrussell1962]

Hi Gav, OK, 2 more things to check. On the side of the router there should be a slider that needs to be set to WISP - I don't actually know what that means but that is how mine worked. Also mine connected through port 80. You could also try aligning through Starbook first then connecting the router.

[LewisM]

I was speaking with my IT tech guy, and because I did and was continually able to update the Starbook, the port /wifi onboard the Starbook is fine. If the Starbook works with the cross-over, it most assuredly will with a straight through, and unless the router is misconfigured, will auto switch. Sounds like the router is still not configured correctly.

So there is something between the chair and the Starbook

[redbeard (Damien)]

The issue I think is the way you are setting up your IP addresses.

Different IP's simply just don't work, they have to be on the same subnet.

For example, if your router's IP address is 192.168.0.1, then you need to have 2 other IP addresses, 1 for the ipad and 1 for the skybook.

If your router is set to issue IP addresses via DHCP then most IP devices that connect to it will automatically get an IP address if the device is set to receive an IP via DHCP.

So if that is the case,
Your router is 192.168.0.1
Your iPad IP may be 192.168.0.2
Your skybook may be 192.168.0.3

Depending how your router is setup, will depend on which IP address will be assigned but they will all be on a common subnet, eg 192.168.0.x

So, what is the IP address of your iPad? Did it automatically get an IP address from the router via DHCP? If so, then you may need to setup the skybook to get an IP address via DHCP, (look in the settings and set to get IP via DHCP).

If your router is not assigning IP addresses via DHCP, then it's a manual setup.

Which means the router is 192.168.0.1, you gave your iPad a manual IP address and you need to give the manual IP address to the skybook as well.

You will also need a subnet mask when setting IP addresses. In your case it will most likely be 255.255.255.0

So is your router set to DHCP or manual? In a lot of cases, it will be DHCP.

Use a straight (normal) Ethernet cable, not a crossover.

Cheers,

Damien.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by GC - South Aus

When I check the StarBook information it states that the IP address is 169.254.1.1, this is different to the router that has an IP of 192.168.0.1.

Just looking at your IPs, one looks external and the other internal so I'd say 169.254.1.1 is incorrect. Damien's on the money.

[redbeard (Damien)]

Once you have the IP's setup, a good test is simply pinging all the IP addresses to ensure that they are all contactable, because, if they are not, no point going any further until they do. This checks that the network part is setup correctly, worry about the app setup later. The network must be correct for any devices to communicate correctly.

Cheers,

Damien.

[rrussell1962]

I am genuinely baffled by this. When I connected a wireless modem router to my Starbook Ten and Sky Safari it worked perfectly first time - and I know absolutely nothing about any of this stuff.

[redbeard (Damien)]

Me again,

Another thing to check is the router has DHCP turned on for wireless and cable connections and also check the DHCP range. It looks like some info in the manual online states that the Ethernet port might be set to manual by default.

If all else fails: You could also do a backwards check and set the router's IP address to 169.254.1.15, leave on DHCP, (in case you get stuck and your access is only wireless), and see if you can ping the starbook's IP address as all devices should be on the same subnet, DHCP for iPad and manual for starbook. Reset your iPad's wireless IP first so it gets a new IP in the new IP range.



What is your current iPad IP address?
In the router what are the settings for the Ethernet port? eg: DHCP or manual/static, range?
In the router what are the settings for the Wireless? eg: DHCP or manual/static, range?

Can you plug another device into your router like a wired PC or wired Mac to see if it gets an IP address assigned automatically on Ethernet cable? This could be a quick test that answers all!

Cheers,

Damien.

[LewisM]

It is all getting confusing now.

I never once tried connecting this via WIFI - only directly to my PC for Starbook updates (last done about 2 months ago so know the ethernet port works), so I have NIL direct experience in doing this. You need to remember, this is a third party "add on/feature" never designed for this (as the technology did NOT exist when this was made), that just happens to usually work. The Starbook does everything Skysafari/Stellarium does, so honestly, this all seems redundant to actually do. But I digress.

There are a multitude of factors to make sure this works, not to mention the simple fact Starbook simply won't do ANYTHING until you exit out of the menus and back to Chart or Scope. Even the Starbook 10 - the latest one - does this (nothing is executed or actioned until the menus are closed)

The one VITAL thing is in Skysafari to TURN OFF SKYFI searching - otherwise, it simply will NOT connect or search for anything else, period. This step is absolutely vital! Even I could not connect to the new Starbook 10 SXP I have UNTIL I made that de-selection.

Start again, doing it in the order advised by multiple persons, and make sure of all the checks and tick marks.

[LewisM]

I just ran my SkySafari.

Under equipment selection, make sure you select Equatorial GoTo (German), then in com settings, set Auto-Detect SkyFi OFF. I also note my Skysafari re-reverted to the default Port number 4030, so you need to make sure that is corrected