Allview Software - Defects in the latest firmware

[RobSherratt]

Allview Software - Defects in the latest firmware

by RobSherratt » Thu Oct 25, 2012 7:25 pm

The new version of AllView software, version 03.09.24 AllViewV0309AZPanoB18.zip is seriously faulty.

With the old version of software, version 3.06.xx I did the following tests
Set the mount accurately to a home position of (0 deg,0 deg)
Applied power, checked the home coordinates OK.
Set altitude rotation limits of +90 and -90
Easy Pano mode, vertical FoV 90 degrees, horizontal FoV 90 degrees
The following was the shooting sequence, comprising 16 shots:

(0,90)
(330,30)
(280,30)
(230,30)
(180,30)
(130,30)
(80,30)
(30,30)
(30,-30)
(80,-30)
(130,-30)
(180,-30)
(230,-30)
(280,-30)
(330,-30)
(0,-90)

The above is kinda logical, predictable and usable. I can generate PapyWizard XML knowing that behaviour.

Having now upgraded to version 03.09.24, the same test with the same parameters as above yields the following shooting sequence. comprising 20 shots

First row, 7 shots at altitude angle 62 degrees ...

(24,62)
(76,62)
(127,62)
(179,62)
(230,62)
(282,62)
(333,62)

Then 6 shots on the horizon. Ooh err!! what is going on!! the coordinates are different and why only 6 shots especially at the horizon where according to spherical geometry, more shots not less would be needed:

(331,0)
(270,0)
(210,0)
(150,0)
(90,0)
(30,0)

And to round it off, another 7 shots this time at an altitude angle -52 degrees. Cor blimey it's the same azimuth angles as the first row at 62 degrees.

(26,-52)
(76,-52)
(127,-52)
(179,-52)
(230,-52)
(282,-52)
(333,-52)

No nadir shot; no zenith shot ... why not?

What the heck is going on? Have the developers in Celestron/ Skywatcher tested these software changes? Do the management team in Celestron / Skywatcher believe that we can assemble panoramas from this random scattering of coordinates? Why are the zenith and nadir shots no longer taken? And why is at least one shot missing at the important horizon altitude angle?

At this point I would like to invite an "official response" from the team in Kolor who develop and market Autopano Pro/ Giga. Please advise, what is the impact on image alignment if this set of images are thrown at Autopano Giga? Does it make any sense to you why out of 20 shots, 7 would be taken at an altitude angle of 62 degrees, then 6 shots taken at the horizon , then 7 shots taken at an altitude angle of -52 degrees?

I think this controller firmware version is flawed, making the controller unusable. What do you guys at Kolor think? ALso, are you aware that a DVD with demo versions of Autopano Giga and Autopano Pro is distributed in the box with the AllView product? I guess that means you must have some kind of dialog at the top with Celestron. Please can you help us out here to convince Celestron they have made some serious erros in their software? Can you get an official response from Celestron to explain what they are going to do about it?

[RobSherratt]

by RobSherratt » Thu Oct 25, 2012 9:52 pm

I just checked the details of the previous problem report I submitted on Celestron's web site. It was marked "closed" yet no-one had contacted me. So I filed a new report today enclosing the above test data. This is a copy of the report.

Why has this request been closed without contacting me? Not good ....

Kindly note that the Firmware B18 is seriously faulty and unusable for generating panoramas. This is due to serious misalignment of angular location of images and missing shots e.g. in the horizon position and failure to take zenith and nadir shots. These faults were not present in the B16 Firmware. Please read Kolor Forums where I am now moderator for the "AllView" user forum.

See attached defect report.

Please respond on Kolor Forums as per link given in the defect report.

So - open request to Celestron - please comment in this thread, explain why the latest firmware doesn't work, and tell us what you are going to do about it? In the meantime, potential buyers beware - the controller firmware version B18 is useless!