Firmware Update History
Go Back to Software & ManualsThis page provides an overview of the changes to our firmware. This applies to the application code in our hand controllers, mounts, and accessories. It does not fully describe updates to boot loaders or databases. Release dates are approximate.
This document covers only those devices whose firmware can be updated using Celestron Firmware Manager (CFM). The latest releases for CFM and this document can be found at URL below. Download Celestron Firmware Manager (CFM)
Celestron recommends that you always use the latest version of the firmware in your devices
| Product | Version | Release Date | Updates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced VX (AVX) | 7.15.8270 | November-2018 | Retuned feedback loop. Improves tracking slightly and slewing at rates 2 - 6. |
| Reduced drop error at the end of a goto operation. | |||
| 7.13.7075 | April-2017 | Bug Fix: Tracking now turns back on when you back away from a RA slew limit. | |
| Feature: When mount hits a slew limit it decelerates smoothly to a stop | |||
| Feature: When mount hits a slew limit it posts a warning to a NexStar+ HC. Requires 5.29.6225+ of the NexStar+ HC | |||
| 7.11.5056 | March-2015 | Bug Fix: AVX compatibility with newer HC firmware and possibly GPS. | |
| Support for Hardware changes in AVX update (8pin header, K10 MCU etc.) | |||
| 7.09.4155 | July-2014 | Bug Fix: Toggling up and down quickly causes anti-backlash to moved too far. | |
| 7.08.3065 | March-2013 | Bug Fix: Version number not reported correctly. | |
| Bug Fix: With slew limits are disabled, you can’t slew east. | |||
| 7.07.2356 | January-2013 | Initial release. | |
| AMW007 WiFi module (3rd generation) | 1.2.0.10 | February-2018 | Initial Release |
| Astro Fi | 7.17.00310 | April-2020 | Bug Fix: Data corruption on SSA camera when used with internal Gen3 WiFi |
| 7.15.9120 | July-2019 | Bug Fix: WiFi would lock up if user lost connection to WiFi attempted to reconnect | |
| Bug Fix: Improved reliability of CFM updates over WiFi | |||
| 7.15.8160 | February-2018 | Bug Fixes: Performance updates. | |
| Feedback loop retuned to make slewing at rate 2-6 smoother. | |||
| Reduced drop error on goto operations. | |||
| 7.13.6110 | March-2017 | Bug Fix: Tracking command sent during slew caused mount slew forever. | |
| Bug Fix: A rare “No Response” error associated with the WiFi module. | |||
| Bundled with boot loader update which makes WiFi updates more reliable. | |||
| 7.13.6055 | May-2016 | Initial Release | |
| CGX | 7.17.0031 | April-2020 | Eliminate switch failure false alarms |
| Bug Fix: Data corruption on SSA camera | |||
| 7.15.9120 | July-2019 | Bug Fix: USB to auxbus passthrough glitch | |
| 7.15.8270 | November-2018 | Fixed bug introduced in 7.15.8160 | |
| 7.15.8160 | August-2018 | Retuned feedback loop to reduce “buzzing” heard on some mounts. | |
| Reduced the drop error when doing a goto operation. | |||
| Known bug: this version caused unexpected slews during alignment. | |||
| 7.13.7070 | March-2017 | Support for PecTool | |
| Reduce false alarms on RA and Dec sensors | |||
| 7.13.7018 | March-2017 | Reduces power consumption during high speed slews. | |
| 7.13.6223 | October-2016 | Changed default guide rate to 90% sidereal | |
| 7.13.6162 | September-2016 | Initial Release | |
| CGX-L | 7.17.0031 | April-2020 | Eliminate switch failure false alarms |
| Bug Fix: Data corruption on SSA camera | |||
| 7.15.9120 | July-2019 | Bug Fix: USB to auxbus passthrough glitch | |
| 7.15.8270 | November-2018 | Fixed bug introduced in 7.15.8160 | |
| 7.15.8160 | August-2018 | Retuned feedback loop to reduce “buzzing” heard on some mounts. | |
| Reduced the drop error when doing a goto operation. | |||
| Known bug: This version caused unexpected slews during alignment. | |||
| 7.13.7070 | March-2017 | Support for PecTool | |
| Reduce false alarms on RA and Dec sensors | |||
| 7.13.7018 | March-2017 | Reduces power consumption during high speed slews. | |
| 7.13.6350 | February-2017 | Initial Release | |
| NexStar Evolution | 7.17.0098 | April-2020 | Bug Fix: Version number not reported correctly. |
| Bug Fix: Wifi config error introduced by 7.17.0031 | |||
| 7.17.0031 | April-2020 | Bug Fix: Data corruption on SSA camera when used with internal Gen3 WiFi | |
| 7.15.9215 | August-2019 | Bug Fix: Retuned feedback loop | |
| 7.15.9120 | July-2019 | Bug Fix: WiFi would lock up if user lost connection to WiFi attempted to reconnect | |
| Bug Fix: Improved reliability of CFM updates over WiFi | |||
| 7.15.9088 | April-2019 | Bug Fix: Internal 3rd generation WiFi module caused SkyPortal to lock up when used with StarSense Accessory camera. | |
| 7.15.8262 | August-2018 | Tweaked Goto’s to make them more accurate | |
| Reduced power consumption when power switch is off. | |||
| Bug fix: WiFi light was flashing when switch was off but battery charging. | |||
| Fixed buzzing sound when mount stationary | |||
| Added support for 3rd generation internal WiFi modules | |||
| 7.13.7125 | February-2018 | Bug Fix: Settings were reset to factory defaults if you plugged in the mount when it was switched off | |
| Feature: Low battery warning on NS+ HC (requires 5.29.xxxx in the HC) | |||
| Bug Fix: Some mounts were reporting the battery voltage/charge status incorrectly. | |||
| Feature: If left plugged in indefinitely, the charger will keep the battery topped off. | |||
| 7.11.6165 | August-2016 | Improved tracking performance. | |
| 7.11.5100 | May-2015 | Reduce battery consumption while slewing. | |
| Stability enhancements when updating over internal WiFi module. | |||
| 7.10.4188 | September-2014 | Reduce power consumption while switched off. | |
| 7.10.4109 | August-2014 | Initial Release | |
| Motorized Focuser Accessory | 7.16.9300 | December-2019 | Mitigation of potential damage caused by user attempting to use wrench to turn focus motor while powered on |
| 7.15.9120 | July-2019 | Bug Fix: USB to auxbus passthrough glitch | |
| 7.15.8240 | April-2019 | Initial Release | |
| NexStar+ Hand Control | 5.34.2160 | July-2022 | (Released for GEM only) Bug Fix: GEM mounts were misidentified as Evolution after entering setup menu |
| 5.34.2065 | February-2022 | Bug Fix: Menu items missing from CGEM and CGEpro mounts | |
| Bug Fix: Bold mode not persistent after power cycle | |||
| Bug Fix: Asian font not displayed correctly | |||
| Added home menu item to AltAz mounts | |||
| Activated mount slew controls while using 6/9 buttons to move focuser | |||
| 5.33.1335 | December-2021 | Support for Dew Heater. | |
| Restored User Objects menu to GEM builds | |||
| 5.32.1029 | April-2021 | Bug Fix: Quick tapping on buttons sometimes caused mount to "run away" for half second. | |
| 5.31.9200 | August-2019 | Patch: Account for additional modules, including those that failed after April 6th. | |
| Bug Fix: Patch in 9104, could fail on August 17th for some modules. | |||
| 5.30.9104 | May-2019 | Patch: Account for GPS modules that failed the April 6th Week Number Rollover. | |
| 5.30.9015 | January-2019 | Critical Bug Fix: The “Get RA/Dec” bug and other issues introduced in 5.30.9009. | |
| Known Issue: User Objects was removed from the GEM build for technical reasons, but it will return in the next release. | |||
| 5.30.9009 | January-2019 | Fixed erroneous database pointers detected in 5.30.8333 | |
| Bug discovered after release: GEM version didn’t work with Get RA/Dec. Alignment may also be affected. Alt-Az seems unaffected. | |||
| 5.30.8333 | January-2019 | Support for Motorized Focuser. | |
| Bug Fix: Due to database corruption, some languages did not show all menus | |||
| Bug Fix: dates/times with uninitialized time zones do not read as “local” which caused many people to believe their GPS modules were not working. | |||
| Feature: When selecting a time zone, the HC will try to pick a close one based on the longitude | |||
| Known Issue: While waiting to acquire GPS, the time shown is erroneous until the GPS is fully linked up and the location is computed. | |||
| Bug discovered after release: Some city names printed incorrectly | |||
| 5.29.7137 | July-2017 | Bug Fix: If time in the 12 o'clock hour (between 12pm and 12:59 pm) was entered, the date was incorrectly incremented. | |
| Bug Fix: Returns immediately with error after receiving MTR_UNRECOGNIZED_COMMAND without trying 4 times again. | |||
| Bug Fix: Switch calibration had a sign error | |||
| Bug Fix: CGX(L) offered Tandem Mode erroneously | |||
| 5.29.6226 | February-2017 | Bug Fix: CGX-L mount reported as “CGX”. No functional changes. | |
| 5.29.6225 | September-2016 | CGX support. | |
| Bug Fix: LED settings not initialized at power up. | |||
| Support for warnings messages, e.g. “slew limit reached”, and “battery low” | |||
| Support for error messages, e.g. “CGX hardware switch failure” | |||
| Note: Errors and warnings require MC support. Currently CGX only. | |||
| 5.29.6111 | March-2016 | Support for Astro Fi | |
| Fixes restores ASCOM. | |||
| Corrects problem discovered in 5.28.5183. | |||
| 5.28.5300 | November-2015 | Bug Fix: RS-232 “h” command failures | |
| Bug Fix: Language resets | |||
| Bug Fix: Incompatibility with GPS modules | |||
| Known Bug: Completely breaks ASCOM | |||
| 5.28.5183 | August-2015 | Feature: New RS-232 command “y” : last alignment | |
| Half hour and quarter hour time zone support | |||
| Updated and expanded the city database | |||
| Known bug: lock ups occur when polling with ASCOM while using the MENU tree. | |||
| 5.27.5150 | July-2015 | Korean Language support | |
| 5.26.5080 | March-2015 | Bug Fix: User Objects getting smashed when new units added. | |
| Bug Fix: Factory reset does not reset Language setting | |||
| Boot Loader 3.1.xxxx improves support of old HC’s with old WiFi modules. | |||
| 5.25.4320 | December-2014 | Bug Fix: ASPA doesn’t work in southern hemisphere. | |
| Official Support for WiFi updating. | |||
| Bug Fix: RS232 commands Side of Pier and Desired SOP. | |||
| EVO: Japanese and Russian support | |||
| 5.24.4200 | September-2014 | Bug Fix: Peripherals menu showing in non-Evolution mount. | |
| Improved CFM support for WiFi updates — still failing for some users. | |||
| 5.24.4182 | August-2014 | Support for Evolution mount: peripherals menu, controls and monitors for battery, WiFi module, etc. | |
| Beta support for updates via WiFi module. | |||
| Bug Fix: Long messages on the aux bus, could crash the HC. | |||
| 5.23.4110 | May-2014 | Support for COSMOS (TM) mount. | |
| 5.22.3100 | June-2013 | Support for hardware changes to the PCB and the LCD | |
| 5.21.2336 | December-2012 | Bug Fix: Display not correct contrast | |
| Bug Fix: Moon not showing in Solar System Align (since 5.21.2014) | |||
| AVX: supports RTC 2.0 protocol. (fewer glitches near hour/date rollovers). | |||
| AVX: improved meridian sweep. | |||
| Holding button 0 at power up, leads to Factory reset for HC. | |||
| 5.21.2200 | September-2012 | Support for Advanced VX | |
| Support for Orion StarSeeker | |||
| Bug Fix: Camera menu showing up in mounts other than SE 4/5. | |||
| Bug Fix: Custom Rate9 support not showing in SE 4/5 | |||
| Support for half width characters in Asian languages | |||
| Bug Fix: Scrolling characters overwrite information on LCD. | |||
| 5.21.2102 | April-2012 | Support for Costco 2012 mounts | |
| 5.21.2064 | March-2012 | Bug Fix: Alt Az mounts when Dec < 0. | |
| Bug Fix: erroneous “No items in database” error during 2-star alignment | |||
| Bug Fix: rare alignment failure on Alt-Az mounts due to math library error. | |||
| Bug Fix: Soft Sync when tandem mode set. | |||
| Bug Fix: Land objects in the south (north in the SH). | |||
| 5.21.2014 | January-2012 | Hand control menu added. | |
| European Language support (French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian) | |||
| Asian Language support (Chinese, Japanese) | |||
| Bold, Contrast, LED brightness settings | |||
| Bug Fix: Set Mount position when median mode active | |||
| Bug Fix: Hard Sync failure when OTA orientation west. | |||
| 5.21.1236 | December-2011 | Corrected “Direction Button” polarity bug | |
| CPC_Deluxe support | |||
| Bug Fix: NCG objects greater than 5462 | |||
| Bug Fix: Blinking on View Time/Site page | |||
| 5.21.1180 | September-2011 | Initial release | |
| SkyPortal WiFi Accessory (3rd generation) | 3.1.9120 | July-2019 | Bug Fix: WiFi would lock up if user lost connection to WiFi attempted to reconnect |
| Bug Fix: Improved reliability of CFM updates over WiFi | |||
| 3.1.8234 | August-2018 | Initial Release | |
| StarSense Accessory Camera | 1.2.13343 | January-2014 | Support for changes made in 1.09.13346 of the Hand Control firmware. |
| 1.1.13285 | November-2013 | Support for changes made in 1.06.13287 of the Hand Control firmware | |
| 1.1.13201 | September-2013 | Initial Release | |
| StarSense Accessory Hand Control | 1.22.21333 | December-2021 | Support for Dew Heater controllers |
| 1.21.21217 | August-2021 | Bug Fix: HC will no longer lock up when used with the StarSense SkyWatcher Interface box (SSI box) and one of the AZ-EQ-# mounts | |
| 1.20.20244 | September-2020 | Feature: Feature: Added Peripheral menu similar to NS+ for mounts like Evolution and AstroFi | |
| Bug Fix: Communication to the mount/accessories is more reliable during the first 15 seconds while waiting for the SSA Camera to wake up (was causing short run away slews) | |||
| Bug Fix: StarSense HC can now be updated over aux bus (e.g. WiFi or PC port) | |||
| 1.20.20162 | July-2020 | Wake from hibernation was modified It is now more clear when the GPS has correctly update the system clock so that it is safe to continue with wake from hibernation functions. | |
| We rearranged some of the top menus more quickly, but it will be more obvious that slow booting accessories like GPS and the SSA Camera are still active in the background. | |||
| If GPS is not linked, user can update location and select Manual time source from Align menu. GPS Linking will not block alignment. | |||
| Other minor bug fixes | |||
| 1.20.19207 | August-2019 | Patch: Account for old GPS modules that failed the Week Number Rollover. | |
| Allow camera to boot in the background while you begin your alignment or use the menus to setup other items. | |||
| 1.19.19003 | January-2019 | Support for Motorized Focuser. | |
| 1.19.18006 | January-2018 | Recreated All Star Polar Align routines. It now works on Wedge mounts. GEM mounts should see faster convergence to the pole. | |
| Known bug: Sometimes slows to “final approach speed” when the mount is still some distance from the target. Also found in 1.18 and earlier releases. | |||
| Bug Fix: reduced frequency of the bug where the HC would freeze up displaying “Acquiring Image” during alignment. | |||
| 1.18.17055 | May-2017 | Bug Fix: Custom Rate 9 not working (CGEM and others) | |
| Bug Fix: Cord wrap feature not re-enabled after hibernate | |||
| Feature: Clear Alignment data with LOGO + BACK | |||
| Bug Fix: RS-232 sync past meridian now syncs with correct position. | |||
| Bug Fix: J2000 bug on RS-232 sync command. | |||
| Bug Fix: SSI box compatibility restored. | |||
| Bug Fix: Partial repair of support with SSI + SkyFi + SkySafari. | |||
| 1.17.16291 | March-2017 | Known Bug: Incompatibility with StarSense Interface Box (MotorMenu.c line 170 trap). | |
| Bug Fix: Custom rate 9 entry showing impossible values | |||
| Bug Fix: After Hibernate cordwrap was not engaged | |||
| Feature: Alignment save Data will warn if used with wrong mount. | |||
| Feature: Aligment Clear Data clears entry. LOGO+BACK clears alignment data | |||
| Bug Fix: RS-232 Sync past meridian not working | |||
| Bug Fix: J2000 bug on RS-232 sync commands | |||
| 1.16.16055 | March-2016 | Support for StarSense Interface box and SkyWatcher mounts | |
| Bug Fix: Wake from Hibernate not reenabling cordwrap | |||
| 1.15.15178 | August-2015 | Bug Fix: Custom Rate 9 cannot be enabled/disabled | |
| Bug Fix: Still using J2000 in RS-232 sync command | |||
| Adds support for updates via WiFi accessory | |||
| 1.14.15019 | February-2015 | Feature: you can now back out of ASPA at any time. | |
| Bug Fix: RS-232 now uses JNOW | |||
| Bug Fix: Solar System object pointing degrades after UTC midnight | |||
| Bug Fix: View/Goto position still showing J2000 instead of JNOW | |||
| 1.13.14356 | January-2015 | Feature: JNOW is used for all objects, but J2000 remains an option. | |
| Bug Fix: Southern Hemisphere wedge pointing | |||
| Bug Fix: ASPA gives bad values if plate solving fails. | |||
| Bug Fix: Turning tracking off, switches to RA + Dec tracking. | |||
| 1.12.14318 | December-2014 | Bug Fix: All Star Polar Align feature doesn’t work | |
| Bug Fix: DB object declinations between 0 and -1 show up as with positive dec. | |||
| Bug Fix: Solar system objects positions drifted long after alignment. | |||
| Bug Fix: GPS screen allows you to leave before it was fully linked. | |||
| Bug Fix: Pointing when using a wedge and Full auto not always working | |||
| 1.11.14176 | August-2014 | Bug Fix: pointing to Solar System objects broken in 1.11.14164 | |
| 1.11.14164 | August-2014 | Improvements to menus | |
| data entry and display is now more intuitive. | |||
| Feature: Solar System Align and Quick Align work without camera | |||
| Bug Fix: User Auto Align not working with more than 4 alignment references | |||
| Bug Fix: SAO DB indexing not always correct | |||
| RS-232 sync: does Hard Sync rather than add align reference | |||
| Known bug: Breaks pointing on a wedge with Auto Align. | |||
| 1.11.14142 | June-2014 | Filter Limit and Slew Limits separation | |
| Bug Fix: Allow Sun not saved to EEPROM | |||
| Feature: User Auto Align | |||
| IC Catalog added | |||
| Bug Fix: EQ mounts not properly initialized at power up. | |||
| Bug fixes: User profiles not reliable | |||
| Custom Rate 9 option added | |||
| 1.10.14008 | February-2014 | Bug Fix: RA only mode | |
| 1.09.13346 | January-2014 | Bug Fix: Year read out incorrectly on GPS and RTC devices | |
| Bug Fixes: Southern hemisphere working (except Solar system align) | |||
| 1.07.13311 | December-2013 | Reduced power up delays. | |
| Bug Fix: Hibernate/Wake locking up. | |||
| 1.06.13287 | November-2013 | Bug Fix: Calibration not always working | |
| Feature: added Local Sidereal Time | |||
| Improved clarity of error messages | |||
| Feature: User profiles | |||
| 1.06.13246 | October-2013 | Support for mounts with switches | |
| random lock ups | |||
| 1.06.13201 | September-2013 | Initial Release | |
| StarSense Interface Box For SkyWatcher Telescopes | 1.0.6032 | March-2016 | Initial Release |