Celestron starsense explorer

[mistac]

Hi, first post as a Newby. I’ve been doing a little bit of basic research as I’m interested in getting a telescope. As I’m a complete beginner I was thinking of getting one of the celestron star sense explorer models.
 I was looking at either the LT114 or LT127. However the LT127 which I assume is a slightly better model appears to be out of stock everywhere but there are a few LT114 ‘s about from what I can see.
I believe that these models have a bird Jones lens and have Seen mixed reviews from more experienced persons  ibut the general reviews I’ve seen from users seem to indicate indicate this is a good starting Telescope.. If anybody’s got any views on this or any alternative beginners models please let me know. Ideally I want something that’s easy to use but still gives me a little bit of room for manoeuvre as I get more experienced.

Cheers

[Cosmic Geoff]

You should pay attention to the reviews from "more experienced persons" rather than those from novice users who have not had the experience to compare it with anything else.

Beginners' telescopes have been exhaustively discussed in this forum. Or see forum sponsors FLO's list of telescopes for beginners.

[mistac]

17 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

You should pay attention to the reviews from "more experienced persons" rather than those from novice users who have not had the experience to compare it with anything else.

Beginners' telescopes have been exhaustively discussed in this forum. Or see forum sponsors FLO's list of telescopes for beginners.

Thanks - in which case I would be interested to know views from those "more experienced persons" regarding the starsense explorer range? FLO's list only shows one of the starsense range and that model is listed as unavailable so I cant gauge much from that?

 

Edited June 18, 2020 by mistac

[mistac]

Thanks - Just an update - I have had the scope for 10 days ish and initially had an issue with the red dot finder (RDF) being loose - now resolved that but no matter what  I try I cant get the app to work/link with the scope. I bought this model as a complete beginner and it looks pretty idiot proof on reading the instructions and viewing stuff online it appears straightforward. I have aligned  the rdf with the scope several times, have aligned the app with the mirror etc and followed the instructions to the letter. I have also deleted and reinstalled the app with no joy. What happens is that the app tells me where to move the scope then says it is locked on (goes green) but it is no where the target. I tried to find the moon on several occasions and the app directed me approx 180 degrees away from it!  It seems to works as a standalone scope in tandem with the rdf, but the whole reason I bought it was for the app/ease of use. I did get if from a respected dealer but they are still mainly online sales so I am waiting for their advice as I not sure whether it is faulty or me doing something wrong (but I cant see what). Does anyone have any advice what I can try?
Many thanks 

[Cosmic Geoff]

I have a Nexus 7 tablet on which I installed a couple of apps which in conjunction with the built in digital compass are meant to show a map of the sky aligned with the real sky. The performance was rather hit and miss and I often had to twirl the tablet around in an effort to get the app to align itself with the sky.  Based on this experience I would not expect much of the app system you have bought.

None of these devices are going to align with any great accuracy. Any ferrous metal on or near the scope could affect it, for instance.

[DeathWarpedUp]

On 03/07/2020 at 17:58, mistac said:

Thanks - Just an update - I have had the scope for 10 days ish and initially had an issue with the red dot finder (RDF) being loose - now resolved that but no matter what  I try I cant get the app to work/link with the scope. I bought this model as a complete beginner and it looks pretty idiot proof on reading the instructions and viewing stuff online it appears straightforward. I have aligned  the rdf with the scope several times, have aligned the app with the mirror etc and followed the instructions to the letter. I have also deleted and reinstalled the app with no joy. What happens is that the app tells me where to move the scope then says it is locked on (goes green) but it is no where the target. I tried to find the moon on several occasions and the app directed me approx 180 degrees away from it!  It seems to works as a standalone scope in tandem with the rdf, but the whole reason I bought it was for the app/ease of use. I did get if from a respected dealer but they are still mainly online sales so I am waiting for their advice as I not sure whether it is faulty or me doing something wrong (but I cant see what). Does anyone have any advice what I can try?
Many thanks 

I don't know if this is the same as other gotos, but have you ensured the date/time location are correct. Also the daylight savings time is correct. Straight out of the box my old celestron goto was defaulted to california.

Also take a look for a video or two on Yt, I saw a few set up guides there. If it is as you say, it seems to logically point to  an issue with your location/time ect. 

Edited July 5, 2020 by DeathWarpedUp

[mistac]

Without realising it, the app was set up on demo mode! It is now turned off and I thought that would solve things but although the scope continues to function as a standalone device, I still cant get the app to "talk" or link up correctly - even finding the moon on the app is not working! Still don't know whether it is me or the app and dealer says persevere etc but you tube and other reviews seem to indicate  that the app should just work once aligned correctly etc. so I am getting quite frustrated with it all! any advice appreciated

[Starwatcher2001]

Is the date the correct way around? It's probably US format MM/DD/YY?

edit: Sorry, misunderstood your post.

Did you get a user manual for the scope or app? I've tried looking it up and can't find anything.

Is this your telescope? It looks like there's no drive or electronics in the scope or mount, and the app is supposed to be standalone.

https://www.highpointscientific.com/celestron-starsense-explorer-lt-114az-newtonian-reflector-22452

 

Edited July 29, 2020 by Starwatcher2001
My fault

[Cosmic Geoff]

If Mistac is still with us, perhaps he could clarify what he has bought?

"Starsense" is familiar to us as a 300 UKP accessory which automatically aligns a GoTo telescope.  So far as I can make out, the same technology is being applied here as a smartphone app via the built-in camera to recognise the piece of sky the smartphone is aimed at.

Then what? I assume the telescope has to be manually moved so that it is pointing at an object of interest. How exactly does that work?

And is this scheme really any good? There are reviews on Amazon, but nobody has written it up on this forum and I am not aware of any of the specialist astro retailers stocking it.

[Bob uk]

Hi , i have just bought a Celestron Explorer LT 80, it came with the Starsense Explorer app which  I can't get to align my iphone.

I go thru the procedure on the iphone and all goes well until the '' drag image to align crosshairs with eyepiece view'' at this point all that is visible is the crosshairs on a black screen! no image!

any ideas please

 

thanks Bob  

[Second Time Around]

Mine was fine to start with but has developed the same problem. 

This was the reply I got from Celestron via the UK distributor who has now closed down:

"If the customer has gone through all of the camera alignment processes – has he checked the advanced camera controls, the issue can be located in advanced camera controls menu of the app. Make sure he is focused is set at infinity. On the Starsense app have him go to the Menu by tapping on the lower left corner (3 vertical lines) and check "Camera Setup Assistant" and "Advance Camera controls" and to follow the prompts which will take him through the phone's camera setup and aligning it to the telescope eyepiece.

Please send him these videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h3NsSzyx4U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY929ih9-7Q"

 

This didn't work and then came this suggestion:

"For more in depth troubeshooting
We will need a lot more information from him. We have his phone model and OS already. what is his Starsense App version? If Android, is Advanced Camera Settings turned on? How about Focus and ISO settings? Please have him send us the logs and image files as instructed below.

Retrieving Images & Logs - Android
If you have turned on “Save Images & Logs” from the Menu, then after you use StarSense Explorer at night there will be images and log files which will be stored on your Android smartphone. Accessing them will require connecting your smartphone to a computer. Follow these steps to retrieve the files:
1. Connect your Android smartphone to a computer with the appropriate USB cable.
2. Open the File Explorer on your computer, and the smartphone should appear
3. Select the device, then select “Phone”, then select “Pictures”, then “StarSense Explorer”
4. Select all of the files shown in the “StarSense Explorer” folder and copy them to your computer in a folder.

Retrieving Images & Logs - iOS
If you have turn on “Save Images & Logs” from the Menu, then after you use StarSense Explorer at night there will be images and log files which will be stored on your iOS smartphone. Accessing them will require connecting your iPhone to a computer which has iTunes on it. Follow these steps to retrieve the files:
1. Connect your iPhone to a computer with a USB Lightning cable.
2. Open iTunes on your Computer
3. Click on smartphone icon in upper left side of screen
4. Select “File Sharing”, then select “StarSense”
5. Select all of the files shown in the “StarSense Documents” section and copy them to your computer in a folder."

 

I haven't tried this yet.  If you want to try this yourself (I take no responsibility!), this data needs to be sent to Celestron via www.celestron.com/pages/technical support.   Alternatively, you could just  open a new support ticket with Celestron.

Either way, I'd be interested in how you get on. 

[AlexK]

On 26/01/2021 at 13:05, Second Time Around said:

Mine was fine to start with but has developed the same problem. 

This was the reply I got from Celestron via the UK distributor who has now closed down:

"If the customer has gone through all of the camera alignment processes – has he checked the advanced camera controls, the issue can be located in advanced camera controls menu of the app. Make sure he is focused is set at infinity. On the Starsense app have him go to the Menu by tapping on the lower left corner (3 vertical lines) and check "Camera Setup Assistant" and "Advance Camera controls" and to follow the prompts which will take him through the phone's camera setup and aligning it to the telescope eyepiece.

Please send him these videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h3NsSzyx4U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY929ih9-7Q"

 

This didn't work and then came this suggestion:

"For more in depth troubeshooting
We will need a lot more information from him. We have his phone model and OS already. what is his Starsense App version? If Android, is Advanced Camera Settings turned on? How about Focus and ISO settings? Please have him send us the logs and image files as instructed below.

Retrieving Images & Logs - Android
If you have turned on “Save Images & Logs” from the Menu, then after you use StarSense Explorer at night there will be images and log files which will be stored on your Android smartphone. Accessing them will require connecting your smartphone to a computer. Follow these steps to retrieve the files:
1. Connect your Android smartphone to a computer with the appropriate USB cable.
2. Open the File Explorer on your computer, and the smartphone should appear
3. Select the device, then select “Phone”, then select “Pictures”, then “StarSense Explorer”
4. Select all of the files shown in the “StarSense Explorer” folder and copy them to your computer in a folder.

Retrieving Images & Logs - iOS
If you have turn on “Save Images & Logs” from the Menu, then after you use StarSense Explorer at night there will be images and log files which will be stored on your iOS smartphone. Accessing them will require connecting your iPhone to a computer which has iTunes on it. Follow these steps to retrieve the files:
1. Connect your iPhone to a computer with a USB Lightning cable.
2. Open iTunes on your Computer
3. Click on smartphone icon in upper left side of screen
4. Select “File Sharing”, then select “StarSense”
5. Select all of the files shown in the “StarSense Documents” section and copy them to your computer in a folder."

 

I haven't tried this yet.  If you want to try this yourself (I take no responsibility!), this data needs to be sent to Celestron via www.celestron.com/pages/technical support.   Alternatively, you could just  open a new support ticket with Celestron.

Either way, I'd be interested in how you get on. 

Thank you for sharing that info, Steve!
Good to know CSSE (CelestronStarSense Explorer) app internals.

A quick question: have you tried the CSSE cradle with the scope on a GEM? Just curious if it worked for you when the phone's top is not parallel to the horizon? (There is a controversy about the possibility to use it on anything but Alt/Az mounts).

For the "black screen and cross only" issue try to move the scope downwards, so the camera could pick up some bright terrestrial target. Older phones cannot show anything in the night sky on the camera preview screen but the Moon (some could even refuse to focus at infinity with nothing in the view, so even if there is actually something it's not focused and thus even less detectable on the screen). In that case, they must be aligned on that "cross screen" with some distant terrestrial target instead. After that, they will employ stacking to reveal hardly visible on the screen stars just fine for the plate solving to work.

[DaveL59]

I've tried it out on the TAL-1 GEM and it was fine but I expect that may also depend on the phone you are using and the quality and type of sensors fitted inside it. I's using it on a note-10 plus and it seems to work fine. This is with a DIY mount using a prism too rather than the OEM phone carrier.

[AlexK]

Thank you, Dave! A sub-question then:
The performance on a GEM depends only on the plate-solving algorithm implementation used in the CSSE app. There are several ways it could be done. Theoretically, as they require you to align with a target first, they are most likely using one of the straight-forward math approaches (Ha/Dec <-> XY mapping). However, some folks are reporting consistent failures on their GEMs and on a Ball scope. Which are capable of tilting the phone at significant angles from having the screen sides close to the vertical on Alt/Az mounts. So that's could be the culprit (application code bug or a purposeful limitation).

So the question is: can you tell that you've been starting or ending the pointing with the CSSE with the phone orientation being obviously not close to the vertical?

Surely it depends on your DIY mount-point as well, but the idea is that if you start with the phone vertical the algorithm will be tolerant to the subsequent side tilting (simply works), but if you start from an awkward angle it will fail. Or in reverse instead. Knowing that could help other folks considering moving the CSSE cradle (or getting another one) to a better telescope to decide their options.

[DaveL59]

I've had the phone almost vertical on its side edge and it seems to have carried on working ok. That said I have the phone holder on a tube ring near the front so when I rotate the scope to get the eyepiece at a more usable angle then that'd re-orientate the phone closer to flat/horizontal of course.

[Second Time Around]

22 hours ago, AlexK said:

Thank you for sharing that info, Steve!
Good to know CSSE (CelestronStarSense Explorer) app internals.

A quick question: have you tried the CSSE cradle with the scope on a GEM? Just curious if it worked for you when the phone's top is not parallel to the horizon? (There is a controversy about the possibility to use it on anything but Alt/Az mounts).

For the "black screen and cross only" issue try to move the scope downwards, so the camera could pick up some bright terrestrial target. Older phones cannot show anything in the night sky on the camera preview screen but the Moon (some could even refuse to focus at infinity with nothing in the view, so even if there is actually something it's not focused and thus even less detectable on the screen). In that case, they must be aligned on that "cross screen" with some distant terrestrial target instead. After that, they will employ stacking to reveal hardly visible on the screen stars just fine for the plate solving to work.

No, I'm not have a GEM for over 40 years.  So sorry, I can't comment.

Thanks for the suggestion.  However, I may just possibly have found the problem.  In the advanced camera controls it's set to the default.  Then, day and night, only a black screen shows.  Changing the shutter speed and the gain (ISO) shows an image indoors.

I now just need a clear night to test this.  Tomorrow is supposed to be clear for a time, but I've been disappointed time after time recently.  Even on the odd occasion when it's been sunny all day, thick cloud has formed just after dusk.  In fact, I've had only one clear night since Xmas!  

[markse68]

On 16/02/2021 at 20:14, Second Time Around said:

No, I'm not have a GEM for over 40 years.  So sorry, I can't comment.

Thanks for the suggestion.  However, I may just possibly have found the problem.  In the advanced camera controls it's set to the default.  Then, day and night, only a black screen shows.  Changing the shutter speed and the gain (ISO) shows an image indoors.

I now just need a clear night to test this.  Tomorrow is supposed to be clear for a time, but I've been disappointed time after time recently.  Even on the odd occasion when it's been sunny all day, thick cloud has formed just after dusk.  In fact, I've had only one clear night since Xmas!  

Hi Steve, did you get it sorted in the end?

Mark

[DaveL59]

10 hours ago, markse68 said:

Hi Steve, did you get it sorted in the end?

Mark

you having issues with the app as well then, mark?

Paul on another thread found that manually firing up the camera app before starting the explorer app got him going, hopefully.

 

[markse68]

8 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

you having issues with the app as well then, mark?

Paul on another thread found that manually firing up the camera app before starting the explorer app got him going, hopefully.

 

No not at all Dave- worked fine on my iphone last time i tried. Good to know how to work around any issues that could arise though

Mark

[Second Time Around]

11 hours ago, markse68 said:

Hi Steve, did you get it sorted in the end?

Mark

It works fine on my wife's Pixel 4a 5g, and this is what I now use.

The recent huge increase in the number of DSOs is a great help.  It looks as though it may include all the objects in the Sky Safari Plus database.  

[Second Time Around]

I'd add that it doesn't work on my Pixel 6 despite being on Celestron's list of compatible phones.

From a bit of searching in the undergrowth there seems to be a problem with the gyros. This is affecting other aspects of this model, that uses a new type of processor.  Hopefully it will be fixed by a software update.