paulastro

I recently bought a used phone as a spare to use with my Starsense Explorer 10 inch Dob. It's an Oppo A53, and is a supported camera and is on Celestrons approved list. (Under its model number as many of them are, not as an A54).

It sets up OK and it does work - with one caveat. When you push it toward an object, the position on the sky  on the phone's display doesn't keep up with the actual position that the scope is pointing to, and this is however  slowly you push the scope.  If the display is on the target it will indicate this is the case as it should - but if you try and push it, it's so slow to respond on the display you will be past the target before the phone display has changed virtually.

I am pretty certain it must be the phone's camera settings, since if you pretend to set it up indoors and move the phone around, the display changes as fast as it should do when the phone is moved.

I remember ages ago reading that if a certain camera setting is not switched off (or on!) it may present a similiar problem, though I may have got this wrong and I can't remember what it was anyway!

If anyone  more savvy with phone's than me (which is just about anyone!) can suggest what the setting might be I'd be very grateful to hear from you.  Of course, I can use my usual phone, but its rather irritating to me that I can't figure what the problem is.  Probably something amazingly simple 🙂.

It looks like clear sky until 3am tonight so can try it out if anyone has any suggestions. Many thanks for reading this, if there's anyone still awake!  Many thanks, Paul

1 hour ago, irandar said:

Hi paulastro, I would be glad to remove it  and put it elsewhere. Although I do not consider it to be an advert. Please tell me how to go about it. Thanks and regards

irander, I'm not sure, apart from by editing it and just deleting it that way.  I objected to it because I think it had little to do with Starsense apart from it involved the use of a phone, and it should have been posted elsewhere - it was just hijacking the post which was about Starsense.  Regards, Paul.

On 29/07/2023 at 21:14, bosun21 said:

Unfortunately I don't trust much that comes out of the BBC so it's the MET weather app for me. I've found it to be reasonably accurate over the past few years (for my area at least). I've found the map for cloud cover to be pretty accurate.

Totally agree with you.  The BBC App is toast as far as I'm concerned.  As you indicate, I find the Met Interactive Cloud/Rain map to be excellent since it was             re-vamped some months ago. 

Its useful for spotting  approachhing clear patches, and often correctly indicates clear conditions even when the map is different to the weather indicated by their own hourly weather symbols. If I just had one source of predicting clear skies, it would be this weather map.

On 01/08/2023 at 00:14, RobertI said:

The rare sight of a clear sky demands some observing, even under bright moon. 102ED plus Baader zoom (30-90x) plus Starsense atop the AZ4 made for some pleasant double viewing. Using the Astronomical League’s list of top 100 doubles in Sky Safari led to me to some really pretty doubles in Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Bootes. They were all very nice to look at, but two stood out:  the first was HR8281 embedded in the Elephant Trunk nebula (which I couldn’t see!) - this is a lovely triple, with a yellow primary and a dimmer secondary either side around 8” away, one seems bluish and the other greenish (yes I know green stars don’t exist!). The other was actually two doubles in the same field of view, Kappa Bootis and Iota Bootis, just in the same FOV at 90x but much better at lower magnification. 

 

Well done having some clear skies, excellent descripttions of double stars, and good use of Starsense.

The two 'advertisements' for FinderCam should have been posted somewhere else in my view rather than added onto my post re Sarsense.  

If any moderator agrees can they be removed please?

2 hours ago, RobertI said:

Nice Starsense setup Paul, I’m sure that will work perfectly. 👍 How do you find the 130PDS for visual? I’ve often thought about getting one to replace my Heritage 130 - I just love the size of the 130 F5 Newt, really underrated as a grab and go scope in my opinion and the 130PDS has the dual focuser too. It’s got a larger secondary than the H130 I think but I guess that is more than made up for by the better light protection and focuser?

I was out with my 102ED plus Starsense recently, and I actually managed without a finder at all, initial alignment was at the zoom’s lowest power, and then all fine from there. I did feel a bit ‘naked’ without a finder though! 😂 Like you I continue to be amazed by the Starsense app, and now I’ve enabled it in SkySafari, I can use my numerous preprepared observing lists to guide my observing sessions, and capture my observing notes too if I feel so inclined  

I must get hold of one of those orange adaptors…..

Thanks Robert; I have tried it out briefly and it works well.  Poor weather has curtailed its use but the optics look fine.  Its a good compromise with portability and aperture as you're aware. 

I don't think the secondary size will make much difference for visual observations.  I considered other 130mm Newts.  The PDS won partly because of the focuser, but also the shorter length than other f5s, I wanted an f5 anyway, solid tube, it has a proper dovetail and tube rings, a fully collimatable mirror and tried and tested optics.

The system also works well with an 80ED and C5 I have with a CF photo tripod plus AZ5 and a Scopetech Mount Zero. I mix and match mounts/ tripods depending what I'm observing and how portable it needs to be.  My Celestron 10inch StarSense Explorer is used at home.

I usually have a small finder with me, but most of the time it's  not used at all with any of the scopes.

I have Android, so will have to wait to use it with SkySafari.

I bought the 130PDS as a portable/travel scope to use with my Starsense Explorer.

The first pic shows the three components.  A small 30mm finder for the initial alignment, a multi-finder adapter (Vixen) and the Starsense phone holder and base with an adapter (the orange bit kindly provided by an SGL member) screwed into the bottom of the base.

There are other multi-finder adapters available, but found this one to be the best as it enables the finder and phone holder to be close together and both used while you can still see through the eyepiece from the same position.  Of course, once you have done the initial alignment the first time you use the Starsense, you don't really need to use the finder and could remove it if you wished.

The beauty of this system is that you can use Starsense  on any telescope that has a Vixen finder foot (or fit one if necessary) without having to drill holes into your telescope, or indeed change it in any way.

The cost of this is buying a Starsense Explorer telescope to obtain the phone holder and base, plus the multi-finder device and obtaing/making the Vixen finder foot adapter to attach to the base of the Starsense holder.  A bargain in my view.

3 hours ago, Louis D said:

Got ya beat.  I still use PSE 2.0 from 2001 for my photo editing.  It came on a CD with a scanner purchase with the activation code printed on the CD sleeve.  I have it installed on multiple machines around the house.  It does what I need and doesn't depend on online activation.  Even after 20+ years, I keep learning new ways use its features.

I do keep an old 2006 XP computer with a PCI to SCSI card for my Minolta slide scanner and a Firewire port for my old MiniDV/HDV cameras.  I've already converted all of my tapes, but my son's girlfriend just came into possession of her childhood tapes, so I'll be converting those for her with that old machine.

Sometimes being a pack-rat pays off.

Guest stuff Louis.  Yes, I submit.  It's just amazing that both of us have embraced Starsense Explorer 😅.

2 hours ago, Louis D said:

Of course, you bring up the interesting conundrum of corporate support in even 20 years.  Who's to say that Celestron will keep that particular webpage running even that long to kick out your codes to you.  It's also likely the app will no longer work on those future phones due to lack of support, so you'll need to keep your last working phone with Starsense loaded limping along on a long dead dead battery continuously plugged in to a charger.

This isn't that far-fetched.  I'm still using Sky Commander DSCs I bought way back in 1998, 25 years ago.  They're not fancy, but they still work great, and they support realign on object that Starsense does not to refine the alignment.

Yes, that's probably exactly what I will do!  I'm still using Adobe Elements 9 for all my image processing, along with an even older steam driven Dell laptop.

I'm an optimist.  Now that Starsense is here, I feel sure that it will be here for a long time - and get even better.  Its set a standard that any replacement  of its  type will have to at least match and I'm sure that's what will happen.  Technology doesn't go backwards.  I'm just glad I've lived long enough to see the like of Starsense - though I do wish it had been around over fifty odd years ago when I started using telescopes.  😏

1 hour ago, bosun21 said:

Yes I'm positive about this. For some reason when my device was updating I had to enter my Starsense code twice for it to work again. I then was told by Celestron that I had two code enteries left. They did inform me that if I ran out, I could obtain additional codes by submitting the purchase receipt.

That's brilliant news, thank you. I thought I might have to buy the cheapest Starsense scope I can find, so that my Starsense future is secured should I happen to live to be 100 years old 😊.

8 hours ago, Louis D said:

I ask because I'm used to uninstalling a license from an older machine and reinstalling it on a newer machine as with Photoshop.  Apparently, that's not how Starsense works.

I'm glad you asked this Louis, I thought as you did, that if you removed it from a phone, then you could put it on a different phone and have the same number left.

Are you sure about this bosun21 ?  Does this information come from Celestron?

I find it hard to believe that if you have bought a Starsense scope and for some reasons have used the code five times,  Celestron would say you then couldn't use your scope on another device unless you bought another scope to obtain another code.

On 25/07/2023 at 21:05, SkySafari said:

Hello,

We wanted to confirm that SkySafari Plus and Pro on iOS now have StarSense Explorer functionality.  You will need your SSE unlock code to activate the feature in SkySafari.  The below link takes you through the process.

https://go2.skysafariastronomy.com/activate-starsense-explorer

Android is coming soon.

Enjoy!

Brilliant really good news, can't wait for the Android version to appear. 😊.

Indeed good news, I thought it was only a matter of time.  I think Starsense can only go from strength to strength.

I too will have to wait for the Android version.  Still, I don't think I'll run out of objects to look out for before it does appear 😊.

Another vote for bar stool covers.  Use them on my 10inch, but there are many sizes on Amazon.  They come in a variety of materials too.  I used to use shower caps, but flower patterns and pink with white spots don't give your scope much street cred.  😊

6 hours ago, Coco said:

Dob + 17.5 Morpheus is superb isn't it! 

Yes it is, sometimes it's the only eyepiece I use depending on the objects Im going to observe. Great contrast, 76 deg field and sharp to the edges as is my 12.5mm. Morpheus.

I forgot to mention, the Saturn Obs were with my Baader binoviewer,  24mm Orthos and a x2 Celestron barlow, x200.

In the year of owning the 8inch version of this scope, I have taken every opportunity to sing its praises as a true game changer, resulting in me having the most productive and enjoyable observing year ever I've ever had - and that's over a period of more than fifty years. A large part of this being down to the Starsense location system.  I have a review  of the eight inch on this forum and so have several other members, and so I'm not going to go through it again here.

Having said all this, earlier this week I part-exchanged my eight for the ten inch version that a very good friend of mine owned.  He wanted a smaller version, I thought it would be a chance to have a little larger scope with all the advantages of Starsense, so the deal was done.

I had first light with the ten on the night of July 19th-20th, and thought I'd share some of my thoughts.

They are the same focal lengths, so the only obvious difference is their weight and tube diameter.  I was a bit concerned about the weight difference, around four kilos I think, but in use it made little difference to me. I only have to unlock the garage and move the scope a few yards, the base first then the tube. Also both scopes have some advantages in moving them around over other makes of the same size Dobs.

The side panels of the base are partly cut out, which means you can grasp the sides of it by putting your hands through each side.  This is much easier than picking it up by its handle which I find much more awkward.  The tubes have a large knob at the eyepiece end and a large handle on the tube at its balance point. It is easy to carry the tube by the handle alone, or by also grasping the knob with the other hand as well.  If you think this isn't helpful, then you can't have tried moving a dob covered with dew after an observing session.  It's skin to something like trying to wrestle with a slippery eel!

Anyway, on Monday I was out from 11.30pm to 2.25am, and it was very dewy, and not great transparency.  I observed 16/17 deep sky targets and Saturn and Jupiter. It is of course not a comparison with the eight's performance - not possible unless you have them side by side on the same evening.

The star (sorry) of the night for me was M11, the wild duck cluster.  It looked good in the 17.5 Morpheus, but with a x2 barlow it was quite stunning, The arrangement of so many similiar mag stars close together with excellent contrast giving a black background was probabley as good as I've ever seen it from home - in any telescope. It's low altiude makes  it a challenge a lot of the time from Yorkshire.

Also impressive were the E and W portions of the Veil Nebula, with a 30mm/70 Ultima Edge with the old Japanese version of the Ultra Block filter.  They were not usually observable on the eight so I was pleased to see them.

I spent a few minutes on M13 with the 12.5 Morpheus when the transparency was a little better, filling getting on for a third of the field it was very impressive - lists of expletives won't do it justice.  In a similiar vein, I had a fine view of M81/M82 at opposite sides of the field of the 17.5 Morpheus.

One other object worth mentioning is Saturn.  At its low altitude and very average seeing I was not expecting very much.  I have to say, its nice to be wrong sometimes.  In better moments it made my jaw drop.  Even with the rings at only 7%, all three main rings and Cassinis were finely displayed, as were the rings crossing the planet, a sharp limb and what was a very pale looking equatorial belt and 3/4 satellites. There were also other hints of disc detail.

All in all the scope performed as well, or better, than I expected in the conditions.  As my 8inch had, the 10 inch has fine optics, and combined with Starsense, they are both phenomenal packages in my view.

The pics below are my rather soggy ten inch after Mondays dewy session, and my eight inch after a very frosty session last Winter.

😴😴😴

JUST ADDED POST ON SAME FORUM RE  NEW 12 INCH STARSENSE DOB !!!

Just came across this on U-Tube.

Now a 12 inch Dob version.

The tripods are for the x3 tabletop Starsense solid tube dobs, in earlier post.

Price of 12 inch 1499.99  US dollars.

4 hours ago, Astro_Dad said:

I'm obviously tempted and was genuinely excited when I saw these on FLO's website today - I've long been a fan of the SW Heritage 150p  (both standard and Virtuoso GTi versions), but the frustrations and foibles of GOTO in general along with the extra hassle and need for a home made shroud and PTFE tape to fix the basic focuser on the Heritage has always led me to imagine a SS version of a tabletop "Dob". I even looked into a DIY mod to retro fit my Heritage with a SS dock at one point, but the Celestron version is finally here. I think the 5" version would make an excellent grab and go set up to complement my 8" model. Mmmm, interesting. I'd expect an 8" SCT version on a newly designed mount to be in the pipeline soon.

I should point out, it was Astro_Dad who spotted these new telescopes before I did and told me about them 😅.

3 hours ago, IB20 said:

These do look great, I must admit. I’m still hoping they start selling just the bracket and software licences.

If Celestron sold the bracket and software license for, say, £100 and people were tempted to buy them instead of the cheapest scope at around £170 to remove the bracket, they would make more money I would have thought. 

Celestron could stop making the cheapest scope(s) to save the manufacturing costs as well.  Though, I'm sure the brains at Celestron know more about marketing than I do 😊.

Mind you, there will still be people who would be unwilling to pay £100. That is despite  the fact that for purely visual observers it's by far the the easiest to use, most enjoyable, cheapest,  most versatile and quickest locating device there is.   

When you think it can be fitted on any size telescope and save the cost of buying an expensive suitably sized goto mount to put it on, it really is a no brainer.

Great to see Celestron expanding their innovative range of Starsense Explorer telescopes.

I've always said you can't have too much of a good thing!

Rather heavy showers today, but lucky to have a few breaks.

Single frame plus two crops, 12.46 am, Altair 80 ED-R, Olympus E-M5 Mk11, 1/500 at 200 asa.

Single frame and crop, 7.24am, Altair 80 ED-R, Olympus E-M5 Mk11.