Celestron Nexstar Evolution 6 Scope Review

[Warhammer40k]

I used to be a keen astronomer with a Meade ETX105, until about 6 years ago I sold it having had to move into a small flat in the middle of town, following the break up of my marriage where there was no where to keep it, and even less opportunity to use it.

6 years on I am remarried and had been thinking about getting another scope for a while as I now have a house and garden.

Quite a lot had changed in the cost and availability of astronomical scopes in the 6 years that I was out of astronomy: Lots of new online dealers competing on price with the older, established names who have been around forever, and a lot of new models of scopes - and I am sure that you get more scope for less money than you used to?

About a month ago I was seriously considering purchasing a Celestron Nexstar 6SE: A GOTO SCT was just what I was looking for: Decent performance, quick to set up and use with decent optics at a price that I could afford.

However, I noticed the new Celestron Nexstar Evolution 6: Similar to the Nexstar 6SE, but with upgraded worm gears, better accuracy, built in battery (which would save the cost of a powertank) and two eyepieces (instead of just one that was bundled with the Nexstar 6SE), and in addition to a GOTO handset it had built in wi fi to allow control from a Celestron app on my phone.

When I was looking at the Evolution they were priced at £870 at a number of dealers as they were on a promtional offer, which was just over £100 more than the 6SE, but I thought in view of the enhanced feature set that it was worth the extra money - so I ordered one from 365Astronomy.

When it arrived I was very impressed with the quality of the components, and the ease that it all went together: The OTA, mount and tripod fitted together very quickly and easily - I literally had the whole set up unpacked, assembled and working within 10 minutes.

A GOTO handset and leg bracket is supplied with the kit, but I decided to not fit them (which would have taken a second or two) as I wanted to try out the WI FI connection and Smartphone app first.

The instructions were very clearly written and surprisingly brief - as I have since found out this is simply because the scope is so simple and inutuitive to use, long complicated instructions are simply not required.

A mains charger is supplied to charge the built in battery which powers the telescope motor control, wi fi, accessory tray light, GOTO handset (If used) as well as having the facility to power your phone should it need it during an observation session. Charging is a doddle - there is an overcharge prevention function, so you just plug it in and leave it overnight knowing that in doing so you are not causing any harm to the scope. A full charge should provide 10 hours+ use.

My scope was supplied with a faulty RDF. Once reported to 365Astronomy they arranged for David Hinds, the Celestron importer, to send me an FOC replacement immediately which arrived within 48 hours: Proper customer service - no quibbles, they just simply ensured that the matter was resolved as quickly as possible.

So, what is it like to use?

To sync your phone is easy: Turn the scope on and the wifi powers up instantly. Then you just switch your phone wi fi off and then back on again - the phone will pick up the closest wifi - the scope - instantly. You then open the Celestron app up and you have complete control of your scope from your smartphone.

Now, I appreciate that some people will see the wi fi and phone control of the scope as a gimmick and technology for the sake of it. I remember similar reservations from many people when GOTO first came out, and yet now many, if not most scopes, have GOTO as standard. App control of your scope really is the next step in the evolution of amateur astronomy and make GOTO handsets seem very dated. Many people now have smartphones and are used to using apps downloaded onto their phones: Using the Celestron app is as easy and intuitive as using any other app. App control will feel like second nature to anyone who uses a smart phone, and, to my mind, is a lot easier than using a GOTO handset.

The Celestron app is based on Sky Safari 6 which has a very good reputation for features and ease of use - and deservedly so: Control of the scope's movements simply involves touching arrows on your phone screen which are overlaid onto a map of the night sky. Your phone automatically detects your location using GPS so the app knows exactly where you are and what the time and date is, adjusting the objects seen in the app to exactly suit your position. You can control every aspect of your scope using the app.

Set up for observing is simple, and will be familiar to GOTO scope users: Set the scope up level with the OTA horizontal, and then locate and align the scope on any 3 stars. Once done the scope advises that it has been successfully aligned and away you go.

The app provides all the options that you would expect from a GOTO scope: You can pick targets from a list of "Tonight's Best", "Stars & Planets", "Galaxies & Nebulae" etc, as well as having the facility to send it to any night sky object simply by tapping on that object on your phone screen.

Once an object is found with a swipe or two on the screen you can access pages of detailed information about that object.

You also have the facility to use the scope totally manually.

Optically the scope is excellent: My old Meade would never resolve stars down to a round pinpoint of light - My Celestron does. In fact in comparison with my Swarovski ATX85 Spotting Scope (Arguably the best spotting scope you can buy - an 85mm ED scope costing around £2400, with superb optics) the Celestron comes out better on night sky objects! Obviously the Celestron has a large advantage in light gathering, but in terms of sharpness, fringing, CA and resolution of stars the Celestron is better.

(Having said the above I have now ordered some new eyepieces for my Celestron as the bundled ones are ok, but I am sure that the scope will perform even better with higher quality eyepieces).

Viewing the Moon is simply breathtaking and the scope is able to resolve features extremely sharply with excellent contrast, Venus can be resolved to a crescent, and Jupiter and its moons are amazing.

My observing spot is very close to two streetlights so, to date, I have not been able to resolve any deep sky objects as anything other than a smudge, however I have little doubt that when I am in a position to use the scope in a properly dark area that the scope will perform well.

As I said previously stars are resolved to perfect pinpoints of light with no fringing.

In the future, the scope can be upgraded: The tripod and mount are shared with the 8" version, so an upgrade will just involve the purchase of a new OTA (the 9.25" has a beefer tripod and mount I understand).

Overall I cannot recommend this scope high enough to any astronomer - it scores 10 out of 10 in every area for me, and I would particuarly recommend it to anyone who prioritises high quality optics, speed of setup and ease of use over other features such as an EQ mount.

[sctb78]

Great, informative review. Thanks for sharing! I've just recently got a 6SE and loving it. I may consider the WiFi adapter for it in the future if it's the same sort of thing as on the Evolution.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[Warhammer40k]

Hi Nebula

Many thanks for your comments.

If you are able to add similar functionality to your 6SE I'd recommend it!

[JG777]

Welcome to the Evolution club! Must be an Evo thing with the dodgy RDFs as mine had a broken base and the lateral setting was completely skewed as well. With the app I can recommend upgrading to SS4 pro which has a far better database and a few other good features as well. A tablet makes the whole experience a lot nicer as well plus you might find it helpful to slow the slew rate down when doing the initial fix. Don't forget you can do a manual align as well on stars of your choice.

My 9.25 tripod weighs a ton but it is still easy to set up and use, I think you will really appreciate it if you can get away from the street lights. One of the ladies in our group has just got the 8 inch version and she was very impressed with Jupiter a few nights back.

[Helen]

Nice review  I'm really enjoying mine too.  It sounds silly, but just not having to worry about battery make life so much easier, quicker and safer.  My main use is solar, with a refractor and filters.   I'm still using the handset though as initially I had some connection challenges.  You've given me the nudge to try the wifi again

Helen

[JG777]

Agree about the battery and the ability to be able to charge phone or tablet from it. I have used my Equinox on the Evo mount as well so very useful. What connection issues are you having?

[Helen]

It was really flakey - taking many attempts to connect and then dropping out.  And I completely failed to get a windows tab to connect.  Going to have a bit more time over the coming weeks, so will experiment a bit more.

Helen

[BeanerSA]

Do you find using the app totally kills your dark adapted vision?

[graemlourens]

I also have a Evolution6, and i was excited too at first about the mobile app, but in the end never used it ever. Handcontroller was more than enough for me.

Sadly the scope is lying around never been used, since i got badly hooked in AP...

Regards, Graem

[JG777]

It was really flakey - taking many attempts to connect and then dropping out.  And I completely failed to get a windows tab to connect.  Going to have a bit more time over the coming weeks, so will experiment a bit more.

 

Helen

The connection can get flaky if the mount is nearby to another Wi-Fi, or get the device to "forget" your current connection.

[JG777]

Do you find using the app totally kills your dark adapted vision?

Tablet brightness at its lowest, night mode on SS4 on and red keyboard overlay in SS4 activated so not noticed any real detrimental effect. Might not be good enough for others though.

[Warhammer40k]

Do you find using the app totally kills your dark adapted vision?

Hi there

There is a "red mode" that is designed specially to protect your night adapted vision: At the touch of a button it changes from a normal colour display to red on black which is not only easier to read in the dark but prevents you from having to wait for your eyes to adapt: Nifty!

[Warhammer40k]

Welcome to the Evolution club! Must be an Evo thing with the dodgy RDFs as mine had a broken base and the lateral setting was completely skewed as well. With the app I can recommend upgrading to SS4 pro which has a far better database and a few other good features as well. A tablet makes the whole experience a lot nicer as well plus you might find it helpful to slow the slew rate down when doing the initial fix. Don't forget you can do a manual align as well on stars of your choice.

My 9.25 tripod weighs a ton but it is still easy to set up and use, I think you will really appreciate it if you can get away from the street lights. One of the ladies in our group has just got the 8 inch version and she was very impressed with Jupiter a few nights back.

Hi there!

Many thanks for the tip about the app upgrade: I will look into that.

I have not tried a tablet yet - but am planning to soon, although I am lucky to have a large screen smartphone so the screen that I am using is a reasonable size. A tablet would be interesting though it might be a bit more awkward when using it as a controller than a smartphone?

You are right about the intial slew rate: It is a bit quick - slowing it down is on my to do list.

The street lights are a pain, but switch off at midnight, and lights aside I have a very convenient observing spot next to some garages at the side of my house which protects me from wind & light from passing traffic as it is enclosed on three side by fences and walls to a height of about 10 feet - its just a shame thart stray light from sttreet lights can still intrude.

I am seriously considering upgrading to a larger OTA: I wish that I had purchased the 8" version in the first place - there is nothing wrong with the 6", I've just got the bug now and am hungry for more aperture!

[Warhammer40k]

The connection can get flaky if the mount is nearby to another Wi-Fi, or get the device to "forget" your current connection.

Maybe I have been lucky but my connection was worked flawlessly every time.

In all fairness my observing spot is at least 20 feet from the nearest potential source of another signal though.

Could be your phone though rather than the scope?

[damnut]

Great first review, look forward to seeing some obsy reports.

[Tonynexevo925]

I have noticed the iPad / iPhone connection suffers with response delays when the screen gets cold. At first I didn't understand why the response rate dropped and switched off all other wifi devices to try and isolate. Eventually concluded cold may be involved. When I went indoors for a coffee and the iPad warmed up the controls seemed much more responsive afterwards!

[Highburymark]

Thanks for the review - we have similar taste in scopes - only difference is I've held on to my etx105, mainly for portability when travelling, and I'm still impressed with the views that a 4 inch scope can produce. But am loving the evo. My recommendation is to consider replacing the diagonal and adding some better eyepieces - these are the weakest parts of the evo package, and new kit will transform the scope's performance - so much so that you may not have to yearn for a bigger scope.

[Warhammer40k]

Thanks for your comments.

Funnily enough two BST Starguider eyepieces arrived today as upgrades for the stock eyepieces that came with the scope (I will post a review of these soon) so I will hopefully be able to use the scope's full potential - I just need some clear skies!

I hadn't though about upgrading the diagonal though - I'll look into that : any suggestions?

[Highburymark]

I can really recommend the £75-ish William optics dielectric - beautifully made, feels like a more expensive product, but most importantly noticeably brightens and improves image. Could be argued that diagonal upgrade is more important than eyepiece upgrade as it becomes a permanent part of the scope. Can't get the full benefit of expensive new EPs if still using a second rate diagonal.

[Warhammer40k]

Many thanks for the suggestion I will definitely look into that!

[sctb78]

A new diagonal, hadn't even thought of that. My wallet can't take much more punishment..

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[toilandtrouble123]

God, I want one so BADDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!

[Chris]

God, I want one so BADDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!

Me too, the more I read about them,

Celestron have an absolute winner on their hands by the looks of it!

[gtis]

Hi

Thanks for the review I am picking a evolution 6 up on Monday

From rother valley optics

Neil

[BGazing]

What are the dimensions of the tripod (with legs in) and of the mount (when separated)?