NexStar Resource Site

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How to Upgrade Motor Control Firmware
Evolution, Astro Fi, AVX, CGX and CGX-L

Linux users, Sascha Peilicke has an excellent how to article here and Mike Clements has an excellent how to article here.

Beginning with mounts designed in 2014 and later, the motor control firmware in the mount is now updated with Celestron Firmware Manager (referred to as CFM for the rest of this document).  Download CFM from Celestron's web site:

https://software.celestron.com/updates/
Click the CFM folder and download the "zip" file and follow the directions below.

OR

https://www.celestron.com/pages/drivers-and-software
Click the Drivers and Software category link, then Show More towards the bottom of the page and search for the Celestron Firmware Manager.  Download the "zip" file and follow the directions below.

CFM uses Java (download the latest from www.java.com) to work on Windows, macOS and Linux.

Updating your scope also requires a connection between the port on the bottom of the hand control and your PC or laptop.

The current NexStar+ and StarSense hand controls (all those manufactured since April 2016) have a USB port on the bottom for connections to a PC/laptop.  This port is actually a connection to a USB-to-serial adapter inside the hand control.  For details on the cable required, read this.  You must connect this cable between a USB port on your computer and the port on the bottom of the hand control. You will also need to load a driver, read this for more information  (also, if you are using a Mac, see the note at the bottom of that page about approving third-party kernel extensions).

NexStar+ and StarSense hand controls manufactured prior to April 2016 have an RS-232 port (looks like a phone jack).   You will need the Hand Control RS-232 Port Cable that plugs into the bottom of the hand control.  For details on the cable and sources to purchase one, read this.  You must connect this cable between a serial port on your computer and the port on the bottom of the hand control.  If your PC does not have a serial port, you will need a USB-to-serial adapter available at most computer stores.  See PC Control on this website for more information and options regarding computers without a serial port.

Alternately, if your scope has Celestron WiFi (built-in on the Evolution and Astro Fi, available as an add on for many mounts by using the Celestron SkyPortal or SkyQ Link WiFi module), you can connect your PC to the scope's WiFi network and connect without cables.  Then change the connection method in CFM's Options/Connections menu to WiFi.

After downloading CFM, you must then "unzip" or "extract" it to a folder on your computer.  Don't lose track of the location of this folder as you will need to navigate to it to start CFM later.

Upgrade Process

  • Connect your PC/laptop to the port on the bottom of the hand control or the scope's WiFi network.
  • Open the folder where you unzipped and double-click CFM icon.  There might be two CFM icons - only one will open the orange CFM program window.
  • CFM will automatically scan the computer's serial ports or WiFi connections to locate the connected mount.  After locating it, the top section of CFM will state it has identified your telescope.
  • CFM will also automatically download all packages (firmware) in the center section.  Note that this can occur without being connected to the scope - for example, if your scope is out in an observatory without Internet access, you could start CFM while your laptop is connected to the Internet and later take the laptop out to the observatory.
  • Once the download is complete, click the Update button in the bottom section to load the firmware into the motor control (and other CFM compatible devices if necessary).

Additional Notes

  • If you have problems getting CFM to load the firmware, close CFM, look in the folder where you unzipped CFM and delete the Packages folder.  Start the process again.  Note it will take a few minutes for CFM to download all the packages via the Internet.
  • If the update process seems to have problems on an Evolution mount, you might find it is no longer responsive to the hand control or WiFi control.  CFM may even have problems connecting to the mount.  In this case, press the reset button located below the two AUX ports on the side of the fork arm and retry the firmware update using CFM.
  • If you experience problems during or after the firmware update, read this.

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