birdog1960

Thanks again you all. Next clear night with it in the sky, I'm gonna see the smudge of the spiral galaxy (hopefully). Andromeda with the dob actually looks pretty good when i can find it. Best eyepiece for that 12mm or add a barlow?

when I turn on Sky portal on my phone, it displays lat/longitude. Would this not be relayed to the scope via the dongle or the cable from a pc?

Thank you all for the advice. I'll try again with the current software using the tips. I live on the side of a mountain so the leveling is probably the issue (but I've used a level in the past. Sounds like there is no magic bullet. btw, the orion dob had a clunky goto feature that I never got to work either. I removed it. The Uranus comment reminded of me of this humorous but legitimate site, don't open unless you enjoy crude humor (my British wife says my humor belongs in a high school locker room but I often don't get her humour either: https://www.uranusgeneralstore.com.

Thanks. Would the dongle not add GPS and thus automatically tell the scope lat/longitude? Looking at the number of upgrades by celestron to firmware/software, I assume they have improved the system significantly over the last 5-7 years. Is this true? Many reviewers on amazon mention difficulty loading the handset firmware update and thus buy the dongle with some success.. Pretty sure I got the correct combination of cables (good lord, should have been in the original box!) to do it but before using them I'd like to know if the dongle is an easier way to "load" my scope. my understanding is that in the dongle configuration, the apps program does the work without the scope needing the algorithms therein? It amazes me that this is so difficult. I tinker with complicated audio equipment with fine and amazing adjustments (eg room correction software) without nearly the difficulty. Seems companies like Celestron are less consumer friendly than companies like Denon or even Yamaha in this regard. Perhaps the best option is carefully unboxing the dongle and using it with the free sky portal app (which i have and looks good). My understanding is that this is a stripped down version of another app from another developer. In your opinion, is that upgrade worth it? Also, does the dongle not id objects for the user during alignment? Thanks in advance.

Bump

Hi. New to the forum and hoping to get back into astronomy. Started with a 6 inch orion dobsonian and enjoyed it. "moved up" to the 5se about 5 years ago and got frustrated very quickly with goto alignment (which was the primary reason I bought it) so it has sat unused for years. Saw a software update for it, uploaded it and bought the cabling. Then saw the $100 wifi dongle which looks easier and perhaps better and it's ordered. Recently saw a $500 "automatic" celestron alignment tool. What is the best choice? All are returnable at this point. I'm just looking to make it enjoyable again without the frustration (and would rather not spend $500 -$100 is reasonable if it brings back the joy). Also it's been sitting inside with the dust cover on. Optics look good. Any special care needed there? Thanks in advance.