Beginner mistakes to avoid with your new Celestron Nexstar 6/8SE

[Aschro]

Still good advice! My new 8SE was misbehaving so badly that I could have sworn the electronics were fried, but it turned out once I plugged it into AC power it worked like a charm. I had crazy slewing / reversals, inverted alignment (e.g., it suddenly thought Polaris was in the south), and this with 2 different sets of brand new duracells. Everything cleared up once I plugged it in. Now the question is, will Li-Ion battery packs supply enough power? I'm leery after my AA experience.

Surprised that Celestron doesn't include an AC adapter by default with these scopes. They are very cheap & when you're first setting up and trying to figure out how to use the thing the last thing you need are power related misalignments etc. This has probably caused more than one person to return an otherwise fine scope to the store!

[sctb78]

Noob 6SE owner here, thanks for all the tips. Great advice.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[timtomxf]

I agree woih all your said Tim, (especially the RTM bit! I am a sucker for dashing out at the earliest opportunity, rain or whatever, only to be disappointed)

Now, I realise this might be a bit 'lazy', but I have found 2 excellent accessories that have meant I can enjoy the sky, and all it's wonders, WHILE I am learning my way around it properly. these magical devices are:

- Celestron StarSense (aligns the telescope for you)

- Celestron GPS unit (inputs EXACT coordinates and time, so you don't have to guesstimate it)

These might not be to everyone's taste I realise, but, for me, I have seen marvellous things (I am getting a big fan of globular clusters, the Hercules cluster is mindblowing through a good eyepiece, as is the Orion Nebula). As a rank beginner I have found these two accessories invaluable, I have found myself slowly but surely becoming orientated to the night sky, recognising stars and 'pointers', to find way way around, and am starting to feel like a 'prper' astronomer, but only starting to! My intention is to buy a CG5 mount and transfer my 8SE OTA (and it's attached wizardry) to this new mount, with the aim of doing some DSO iimaging, but tht's a long way off yet.

So, in closing, I have also found this site a fantastic resource, it's where I go first thing if I need to find anything out about a piece of kit, or a new idea, so my tahnks to the hosts and those who manage the site, it's a credit to you!

Tim

PS: Any resemblance to an advert for Celestron is purely unintentional!

Staffordshire/Shropshire Border

Celestron 8SE, Telrad

Baader Hyperion eyepieces (set)

Apogee refractor i/c EQ2

Celestron StarSense

Celestron GPS

Celestron Eyepiece set

Orion StarShoot Autoguider

Orion StarShoot DSO CCD Camera

Celestron advanced GT mount

[We_Can_Breathe_In_Space]

Thanks for the tips everyone, just got 8se and the info was just what i needed. Now waiting for clear skys!!!

Sam

[jonnydreads]

when you fit the OTA to the arm is there a certain distance to how far along you fit it before you clamp it on? I'm wondering as last night when I pointed the scope almost vertical the eyepiece got caught on the tripod, I would imagine there Is less room with a camera attached?

[des anderson]

Yep!!! I`ve been down  that road, first time i used the 6se I used battery`s big mistake, so my wife invested in a 17hr pwertank  that solved the problem then a mate suggested a Tracer battery and i`ve never looked back. 

Starsence are quite cool, and the sky tour is the best button on the handset, give it a whirl you might be surprised. Des

[jonnydreads]

Do you find the eyepiece hitting the mount when looking up vertically with your 6se? I have the 8se and am never sure how far along to clamp the tube 

[Gator1976]

I am new to having my own equipment and chose the Celestron NexStar 8SE. I’m learning by reading and trial and error. I have the Starsync and also the Starsense options. I’m having trouble getting an acceptable alignment. Any pointers, tricks or advise would be appreciated. 

[Gator1976]

On 10/01/2019 at 04:35, jonnydreads said:

Do you find the eyepiece hitting the mount when looking up vertically with your 6se? I have the 8se and am never sure how far along to clamp the tube 

I have to move the tube to where the mounts match end for end on the right side. So the tube is moved forward of center. 

[Cosmic Geoff]

On ‎10‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 09:35, jonnydreads said:

Do you find the eyepiece hitting the mount when looking up vertically with your 6se? I have the 8se and am never sure how far along to clamp the tube 

Push the tube as far forward/up as it will go in the clamp, like in the stock sales photos.  Much of the weight is in the back (spherical mirror ) end, and anyway it does not need to be balanced like on an equatorial mount.

[Dan J]

I just purchased an 8se a short while back. Found this post to be extremely helpful for I am new to this hobby as well!

[Suwy]

I just installed my celestron, but if I look through it I can’t see a thing??

any advice?

[beka]

1 hour ago, Suwy said:

I just installed my celestron, but if I look through it I can’t see a thing??

any advice?

Hi Suwy,

You need to give some more information - like what is the model of your scope and what steps did you take when you "installed"?

Best