Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

Celestron StarSense Accessory

Chris Rowland

By Chris Rowland
in Member Equipment Reviews

Recommended Posts

Monty

Monty

Posted
Posted

Used the Nexstar+ HC with finderscope and aligned in 2 minutes!

I'll be asking for my money back as the starsense is not fit for purpose and I'll purchase a nice new right angled finderscope instead.

Lesson learnt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 386
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Chris Rowland

Chris Rowland

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I've had very few problems with random failures, and I've been using it since May.  It doesn't handle seeing stars through my house but I don't feel i can blame it for that, after all neither can I.

The fundamentals seems to work, getting star fields, solving them and aligning.  I'm not saying there are no problems but it's easy to get this out of proportion, the basic functionality of alignment seems OK and it's clear that Celestron are working hard on resolving the problems.

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 months later...
M4lcs67

M4lcs67

Posted
Posted

I am still deliberating. With all these reported problems with the CG5 I want to be absolutely sure before committing myself. Was out the other night and using the standard alignment procedure that is built in, when it had finished slewing to a particular object it was invariably still out by some margin. Perhaps my fault to a degree, but is the StarSense more accurate? If the onboard camera takes in various shots of the sky and calculates the results then to my way of thinking it should be more accurate as the stars are still always in the same place. It's not like they have magically moved to different places. With this in mind and the fact that the database is very large the probability of getting it bang on is very good. In fact many people have said that it gives very accurate results so that gives me hope.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Radec

Radec

Posted
Posted

I hope to let you know very soon Malc.

It should be here tomorrow, so I will get it fitted and pray for clear sky - doubt the prayer will be answered mind!

I have also been reading and pondering for a few weeks. It seems the unit works well with the stars, but less so with the planets.

We'll see - as I read it, there is a different alignment proceedure, well, in as much as it seems the same but set for planets instead.

My only reserve at the mment is that I have great views to the East & South; a bit restricted to the West and blocked by my house to the North.

I guess it should have enough sky, but that's my main concern. Otherwise I agree with you that it should be way more accurate.

Also, if it goes a bit off during a session, it's absolutely no hassle to upgrade the alignment on the hoof, so to speak.

Radec

Link to comment
Share on other sites
hobsey

hobsey

Posted
Posted

Malc,

I'm meeting up with davedownsouth tomorrow evening to up date his firmware and for me to have ago with the SS on my CG-5.

Once I've had ago, I will report back to let you know how it goes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
hobsey

hobsey

Posted
Posted

Thats great, Anthony. I'll be very interested in your results.

So am I as I only have Jupiter to play with if its planetary its having problems with and with nearly a full moon it will be hard to pick out dso. So, it should be an interesting evening.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
davedownsouth

davedownsouth

Posted
Posted

Look forward to meeting up tonight Anthony, just hope the fog clears by them :rolleyes:.

With respect to setting up with obstructed views, when I used the SS last Sunday, I view was pretty obscure in one direction (could not see anything of Orion / Sirius) and it aligned no problem :).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Radec

Radec

Posted
Posted

Well it's here - fitted and firmware upgraded......

Just looked outside and the sky is WHITE.....

Mist & moonlight :mad:

Not the best mix for a first go methinks.

Watching & waiting as the weekend nights look pants!

It's a nice piece of kit though. Just wish they supplied longer bolts to fit the base plate, as the ones in the red-dot finder are way too short.

Luckily, I had some M4 just the right length, but a bit tight of them.

Radec

Link to comment
Share on other sites
hobsey

hobsey

Posted
Posted

Well, I've been out with the Starsense and the CG5-GT.

To the starsenses defence, the conditions were terrible, I invited davedownsouth to one of the darkest areas I know of and it just wasn't happening.

First of all there was the moon, then football practice with mobile floodlights then the mist came over and to finish it off a bonfire somewhere near by.

With the conditions it did take a while to align but got there eventually. Ask it to go for something easy like the moon and it wasn't in the FOV, but not by much. Asked it to go to Jupiter, wasn't in the FOV, so much so I couldn't even find it by panning around. It does work ok on stars though.

I reckon it may work better when the seeing isn't as bad as what they were tonight. So I will give it another go at the end of the month when there is less moon and hopefully better conditions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Radec

Radec

Posted
Posted

Well done for even trying! I kept monitoring the sky here, but no point even trying. I could see the moon, Jupiter and about 3 stars!

And then it got worse. You can see from my avatar what the LP is like and on a misty, moonlit night, it's more like daytime:-(

Glad you got some results though. Perhaps a solar system alignment followed by further calibration might improve the planets. I have heard it's not so good with SS objects, but if I'm honest, neither was the original handset.

Radec

Link to comment
Share on other sites
M4lcs67

M4lcs67

Posted
Posted

Good call, Anthony.

I have recently messaged Celestron and got their response this morning:

Hello Malcom, 

Thank you for contacting Celestron.

The equatorial mount problems have been partially resolved.  There is still an issue with the All Star Polar Alignment.  However,   the Starsense will work fine with your mount.  The Starsense is updated  before it  ships to the dealers and any future updates would have to be done through theh CFM and cables as usual.

 

Best Regards

WilG

Celestron Tech Support


================================================================
Malcolm Spring (malcolmspring@tiscali.co.uk) Posted on: Mar 11 2014 04:15 AM
================================================================
Hello,
I am very interested in the StarSense to go with my CG5 but have been aware of some glitches that have occurred with the Starsense/CG5 combination. I knew that a fix was being worked on, but don't know if it has been fully rectified yet. I also know that there is a firmware update for the controller that says that it repairs the issues with the CG5. Again is this the case?
Finally, will all future Starsense systems come pre-installed with these firmware updates from the factory or will I need to do it myself by connecting the hand controller to my computer via a serial cable?
Thanks for any advice
Malcolm 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tekkydave

tekkydave

Posted
Posted

I hope to let you know very soon Malc.

It should be here tomorrow, so I will get it fitted and pray for clear sky - doubt the prayer will be answered mind!

I have also been reading and pondering for a few weeks. It seems the unit works well with the stars, but less so with the planets.

We'll see - as I read it, there is a different alignment proceedure, well, in as much as it seems the same but set for planets instead.

My only reserve at the mment is that I have great views to the East & South; a bit restricted to the West and blocked by my house to the North.

I guess it should have enough sky, but that's my main concern. Otherwise I agree with you that it should be way more accurate.

Also, if it goes a bit off during a session, it's absolutely no hassle to upgrade the alignment on the hoof, so to speak.

Radec

I use mine on my patio where there is only sky to north and east. It aligns no problem. Make sure you do the one-off calibration step so it knows how to correct its view of the sky vs the scopes. After that it should be spot on.

Sent from my Samsung G4S using Tapatalk.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.