8SE star sense and GPS

[ben_e71]

Being of a quick grab and go type of observer I am enjoying reading about the star sense accessory. It has got me thinking that that and a GPS unit so I can plonk it outside and it will pretty much set itself up ( I know it's not quite as simple as that) so what gps units do people recommend to partner the 8 SE and the starsense?

Thanks

[Paul and Chrissy]

Hi . I am on the same wave length as you with plonk it outside and go. I think that the only GPS unit that will work with it is the Celestron GPS. I have sent a technical query to Celestron about this. Will get back to you with their response. I did read that the GPS unit is not compatable, but hope this is an error in the Celestron website. It would seem a bit daft to make it easier to set up alignment with star sense at the expense of GPS positioning. A bit counter productive.

Will come back to you soon.

[paulastro]

I use a StarSense with my 8SE and it works like a dream.  I also have the Celestron CN16 GPS device.  Both the StarSense camera and the CN16 require using the aux socket, and as there is only one on the SE base the devices can't be used at the same time.

Having said that, in practice this is no problem at all.  The handset will remember the location you put when it is powered off, so it will not need to be re-entered every time if you use it at the same location.  The time and date will need to be updated every time you use it, but this probably takes less than a minute, then you can let the StarSense strut its' stuff.