Taking the next step beyond the S30

After taking my first steps into astrophotography with the Seestar S30 (I wrote about that journey here: https://www.andreastimm.com/my-first-steps-into-astrophotography-a-new-journey-begins/), it became clear very quickly that I wanted more. The S30 opened the door, but I wanted to dive deeper—and so I ordered the Celestron Origin Mark II.

Unboxing day finally arrived. The scope was very well packaged, and setup was surprisingly quick—about 20 minutes from cardboard to ready-to-go. Hardware-wise everything feels premium, solid, and intelligently designed.

But then came the firmware update.

And that part was… let’s say less premium.

How I finally solved the firmware update problem

The update eventually worked for me, but I changed several things at once, so it’s hard to know which step was the decisive one. Still, here is exactly what I did—maybe it helps others too:

1. Turned off the Origin completely.
2. Connected it directly to my router using an Ethernet cable.
3. Turned the Origin back on and waited long enough for it to fully boot.
4. Connected my iPad to the same network, but via Wi-Fi.(Important detail: my iPad has no 5G, unlike my iPhone.)
5. Restarted the Origin app, and inside the app I switched back and forth between beta and stable firmware channels.
6. After that, the updates finally started—and completed.

I was able to install both stable and beta, and even downgrade from beta back to stable. I’m now running stable 1.2.5282.

Honestly… I didn’t expect to deal with Ethernet cables and USB sticks on a brand-new device that is not inexpensive. My much cheaper Seestar S30 made firmware updates trivial. I’m new to the astro world, but this feels very familiar from 3D printing world:

Fantastic Chinese hardware, absolutely top-tier software—versus Western companies that still struggle especially on the software side. Something to think about.

Ready for first light

With all updates finally installed, the Origin Mark II now runs smoothly and feels ready for action. All I need now is clear skies—and I can’t wait to see what this smart telescope can really do.

📸 Photo Gallery – Impressions from the Unboxing

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Useful Links

• Celestron Origin product overview: https://www.celestron.com/products/celestron-origin-intelligent-home-observatory
• My first astrophotography article (S30): https://www.andreastimm.com/my-first-steps-into-astrophotography-a-new-journey-begins/
• Astrotreff Forum: https://www.astrotreff.de/