celestron starsense autoalign

[infinityrko]

is it worth buying a celestron starsense autoalign???

[Ruud]

Probably not.

I got a better red dot finder and use auto two star alignment. Three star alignment also works fine.

Extra precision can be achieved in three ways. In the manual, Sync and replacing alignment stars are discussed in the chapter Improving Alignment, and precise goto is mentioned in the chapter Setup Procedures. (I have a 6SE.)

[infinityrko]

ok

[Ruud]

I added some bookmarks to my manual for the telescope. Almost all have to do with aligning the thing. Check them out:

>>> NexstarBookmarked.pdf

Also, I used wikipedia to find the coordinates for the various alignment stars in the hand controller and turned the info into an Excel sheet. You can sort and filter the data, like use only stars brighter than magnitude 2 with a declination above 20°. This may be helpful to you:

>>> AlignNexStar.xlsx

And I used Cartes du Ciel to make a map to select suitable alignment stars because I keep forgetting those names!

Maybe you find this stuff useful.

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My new red dot finder is this one.  It has a different foot. I needed to buy a shoe as well (didn't pay as much though). Did you know, by the way, that centring a bright star in the eyepiece is easiest when you defocus it to a really huge donut?

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Lastly, I found this nice video describing the starsense. It's a nice tool, but quite expensive! You van get a very good eyepiece for that kind of money.

Good luck, clear skies.

[davidmclifton]

I use GoSkyWatch on my mobile phone to point at a bright star, that gives me the name and then I can pick that in Two Star Auto mode. Works great.

[Sonicfishcake42]

I personally love my SSA, one of the best things I've bought for my scope so far. Literally turn the scope on, select auto align and go in the house to collect my accessories... When I get back the scope is perfectly aligned and puts everything slap bang in the centre of the FOV. I just love the ease of use, 2 button presses and your scope is aligned in about 2 minutes.

I can understand why people would be hesitant in spending money on it, but for me having the scope ready to use in minutes with a greater accuracy than I've ever been able to achieve manual aligning makes it well worth the purchase. 

[RobRob]

I totally agree with the previous response, I wish it was also available or working with my EQ6 and 8 as well, unfortunately not...

[knobby]

If you love gadgets, you'll live it. It's a lot of money for what it does but watching it align while you put your feet up is pretty cool !

[infinityrko]

If you love gadgets, you'll live it. It's a lot of money for what it does but watching it align while you put your feet up is pretty cool !

how u finding the asi 120mc-s

[knobby]

Honestly, its no different to the non S version unless you have large aperture or bright objects ... It's nice though . My 120 is a guide can now and the S is for planetary

[infinityrko]

cool i have the celestron cgem 925 sct scope just trying to get used to the x-cel lx 7mm eyepiece

[jimbo747]

I wanted one until I was told you can't use it with nexremote. So unless there's a way of aligning and controlling an SLT mount from stellarium with it, I'm out.