Firmware Versions on the Celestron CPC Series
Non-English Hand Control Owners - read
this. The
information below is for English-version hand controls. |
Celestron CPC scopes have two sets of processors. There are processors in
the hand control (HC) and there are processors in the base of the scope in a
section known as the motor control (MC). The MC firmware can be updated by
the owner (read
this).
There have been two versions of hand control available for the CPC:
- Hand control version 4.X. This hand control can be updated by the
owner. Read
this
for step by step instructions on upgrading the firmware.
- The NexStar+ hand control. This hand control can be updated by the
owner and began shipping with new CPC scopes in January 2012. It is
also available for purchase since February 2012. Read
this
for info on this new hand control and
this
for step by step instructions on upgrading the firmware.
For additional details about features on newer versions, check the
Manuals section of this web site.
NexStar+ Hand Control
Celestron has posted an official page detailing all firmware versions
for the NexStar+ hand control:
https://www.celestron.com/pages/firmware-update-history
Check back periodically for updates or click the link to sign up for
notifications.
Version 4 Hand Control (firmware files are named NXS)
- 4.22 - Fixes the date when the internal GPS returns a date 20 years in the
past.
- 4.21 - Fixed the RS-232 negative declination bug found in 4.20.
- 4.20 - This version has a bug - if you connect a computer/PDA/smart
phone to the RS-232 port and direct a GoTo to an object with negative
declination, the scope will instead point to +90 declination. It
is recommended you upgrade to 4.21 or higher. Fixed an error in the GoTo RA-Dec menu item. Hand Control now
reports immediately if the are communication ("No Response") difficulties at
start up. No Response errors now give a "Press UNDO to continue"
option. For mounts with a GPS module in use, changed the messages
displayed to clarify when the GPS was still attempting a link and when it
was successful.
- 4.18 - An important upgrade with many new features and fixes. The
hand control now calculates positions with respect to precession - in other
words, previously all coordinates were J2000 while this version uses JNow.
Polar alignment routine is now under the Align menu and allows alignments on
stars other than Polaris. Additionally, after polar alignment, the
scope no longer requires a new alignment. Fixes problems with Southern Hemisphere
alignments. Pressing ALIGN while in the Named Stars menu
now takes you to the Align menu. Sets slew rate to 5 upon waking from
hibernation. The Factory Settings menu item now resets all motor
control settings (as well as the hand control settings) and will force the
user to restart the system. The hand control is now locked when
performing a motor control upgrade via the port on the bottom of the hand
control. Added two PC control commands: one to undo any current
"Sync", the other to retrieve the local sidereal time from the hand control.
Fixed error when using SAO stars (selected from the STAR button) as
alignment objects. Fixes a bug which changes rate if a direction button is pressed after the
RATE button. Fixes a rare problem updating the motor control through
the hand control. Corrects Abell objects with negative magnitudes.
- 4.15 - Know to have shipped on some SE scopes at the end of 2009, this version was
never officially released by Celestron. One CPC owner has reported
that their scope was shipped with 4.15 as well. It includes all of the
features of 4.18, except the Southern Hemisphere fixes, the SAO star as
alignment object fix and the fix for the
rare problem updating the motor control through the hand control.
- 4.13 - This version allows the motor control (MC) firmware to be upgraded
via the port on the bottom of the hand control.
- 4.12 - The most significant change in this version is variable brightness
control for the display and buttons - values are from 0 (off) to 8 (full
brightness). There is also a fix that reduces (but does not eliminate)
the chance that the display comes up blank the first time you power up, a
problem much more prevalent in cold weather. The fix on those occasions
when it does still come up blank remains the same - turn off the power, wait a
couple of seconds and turn on the power again. The Version menu item has
been changed - it now displays the mount model after displaying the HC and MC
versions. This version is also the first to support the new NexStar SE
mounts.
- 4.10 - The most significant change in this version is Sync. Sync is
available both via the hand control and via PC software (TheSky, Starry Night,
etc.). This provides very accurate GoTo pointing in the area of
the sky where the Sync is performed and it allows the PC software to match
with the actual position the scope is pointed to. Other new features:
Calibrate Goto (help to improve GoTo accuracy), general pointing accuracy
improvement, a display of the polar alignment error (when EQ mounted on a
wedge) and the ability to start PEC playback and proceed with normal use of
the hand control.
- 4.03 - Original version for the NexStar CPC.
MC Versions
- 5.23 - Improvements in autoguiding, reduced final slow approach during
GoTo from about 30 seconds down to 5, eliminated "warbling" sounds
intermittently experienced on some scopes.
- 5.14 - Corrects a problem with the cordwrap prevention feature.
- 5.07 - Original version for the NexStar CPC.
Determining Versions
Use the Version
option on the Utility menu.
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