Kluson

Wow, First time I've seen the Moon through a telescope and what a sight. We had a good look at the Moon last night. It was also a chance to play around with the different eyepieces and what a difference that made. The red dot pointer was spot on after I found the little cardboard trick on you tube. Only using the 6SE in manual mode at the moment. Hopefully the cables for the firmware updates will be here today and the sky will be clear tonight. I fear that tonight will be cloudy, seems to be building up now, even looks like we may have a little rain. Looking at the moon was a little bit emotional. I am so happy we have the telescope.  One question someone may be able to help with, is there a way to make the focusing on the Celestron 6SE a little less coarse.. It's almost like we need some kind of fine focus. Don't get me wrong, the focus is great , it's just a little bit sensitive, It's almost as if it needed something with a larger circumference.

We were looking at the moon with mouths wide open in awe of the beauty of something ordinarily we take for granted. I think we are hooked into astronomy, although there is so much to learn, at least now we have the time. We are finding that we now have the urge to take pictures, and also record our observing. Do people just use notebooks for observing notes or is there some kind of  correct way of doing things

 Thanks for all the words of encouragement

D

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice, I really appreciate it

Many thanks

D

8 hours ago, Shimrod said:

if you haven't seen it, you can find a full history of Celestron firmware updates here: Firmware History

Thanks Geoff

Thanks John

Hello again everyone

Sorry for so many questions. Will i needs dew shield for the Celestron 6SE and will I then need a heater. I guess not at the moment but as thinks get a little chillier?

Many thanks

D

Thanks John

Hi Everyone

I have a Nexstar 6SE. It eats up batteries. I would like to get a power supply or two, one AC  and one DC. I have seen a few " wall wart" style power supplies, so not so worried about that. I am sure i can find a good device.  My question relates to a good DC power source.

 I thought about the Celestron 7Ah which also has the benefit of USB ports and a lamp which would be useful.

What are your opinions on a DC power source?

Many thanks

Dave

Thanks Dave

On 25/05/2020 at 10:19, Cosmic Geoff said:

Which firmware do you want to update? Despite its age, the mount firmware is unlikely to need updating for any reason. That leaves the Starsense firmware (since you have dispensed with the original Nexstar handset.)  If this is not up to date, it is probably a good idea to update it, as there have been issues with the Starsense.  People tend to assume that they 'have' to update firmware, or that updating it will cure some unrelated problem, but I always advise people not to fool with firmware unless the update is going to address some specific issue detailed in the version notes for the upgrade.  Updating can be a lot of work, and things can go wrong...

Instructions for the update should be available from Celestron or nexstarside.com.  I don't know if it works from a Mac as I have only used Windows 7 for firmware upgades.

You will need cabling with a serial to USB converter to connect the Mac to the Starsense handset, and software driver for the serial-to-USB device.

Do not try updating the Starsense camera firmware or plugging anything directly into the camera,  otherwise you may end up bricking it. I have not heard anything about the camera needing an update, and if it does, this may happen via the handset.

Is the 6SE/Starsense combination working properly? If it is, consider leaving well alone.

Hi Geoff

I ordered the cables which are on their way. We haven't used the Starsense yet as we didn't have the screws. The ones in the telescope were too short. I contacted David Hinds who told me that the screws were M4x12. I had some of those in stainless so I was able to fit the starsense this afternoon. I read elsewhere that the screws were 8-32 1/2inch. Certainly the M4's fit and didn't cross thread. I didn't overtighten them . I'll try to set it up this evening. The firmware I have is 01.07-13311. I'll do the firmware update when the cables arrive and just follow the instructions. I downloaded the Celestron Firmware Manager.

Thanks again

Hi all thanks so much for the kind words of welcome , and thanks so much to Dr Strange for his recommendation.

We are blown away, it really is amazing. We used the telescope for the first time on Sunday and we were just amazed. We didn't have the goto set up we just looked up with the telescope. It was truly breathtaking. Please forgive a beginners awe, but that is the first time we have looked through a telescope. We've had a dabble with some very low quality binoculars , but this was just amazing. will be out again tonight.

To all the fellow Hampshirians ( is that a word) , well it is now, we are not far from Andover.

Thanks again for your help, and kind words of encouragement  

David

3 minutes ago, laudropb said:

Hello and a warm welcome back to the SGL.

Thanks very much , it is a pleasure to be here.  Stay safe and well

Thanks Waldemar. Not yet, But it won't be too long

 Stay safe and well. I miss the Netherlands, I used to go there every month prior to lockdown

Hi everyone. Beginner here. We bought our NexStar 6 SE in 2012. but one thing after another meant we didn't use it. Now I have retired my wife and I have a lot more time to use the kit. I have a star sense for it and hope I can get some help to update the firmware. I posted in the right section for that I hope.

We're living in Hampshire and plan to join the Andover club, once the lockdown is over

So glad I found you all again and looking forward to using the telescope.

Stay safe and well everyone

Dave

Hi everyone

I have a Nexstar 6SE. It has not been used for 8 years. I have a StarSense for it fitted. The version of the firmware installed is 01.07.13311. I would like to update the firmware. I have found the CFM software and installed it onto my Mac. I am unsure as to what cables i now need to go from the mac to the handset. The handset socket is looking like a phone connector. the mac has usbc and usb2 ports.  what cable should I buy to go between them and update the firmware. The camera has a usb  connector on it so I will try to connect and update that firmware too. I guess there is also firmware updates for the rest of the 6SE. Can anyone offer any guidance to solve that problem too.  Really appreciate your help

Thanks very much

Dave

Fixed that too, sorry to bother you all. Waiting for darkness now, very excited 😀

Yay, done it  😀  Now the next problem.. The focusing knob is not working, any ideas how to fix this?

Many thanks

David

Hi Guys

I hope you are all staying safe and well.

All kinds of things happened and we were unable to go further with our Astronomy. However we now have time, having recently retired. Today I got our kit down from the loft. I am setting up the Celestron 6SE that we bought in 2012. I bought a Starsense for it. The problem I have is that I took out the old hand control, but cannot for the life of me get the little phone connector for the Starsense unit into the socket. this seems impossible for amnyone with hands. I tried some very small tweezers and also drew a blank with them.  Can anyone offer any advice in order to get the connector into its socket?

Many thanks and kindest regads

Dave