Celestron se4

[nimrod 1]

Hello all, been a while, I am still very new to astronomy even though I had a telescope for a few years. I bought a celestron NexStar 4se some time ago. I bought it used on eBay, and the hand control really never worked correctly if at all. There were times when I would push a button, and nothing would happen, to the point of turning off the scope and turning it back on to make it start working again. I couldn’t scroll through menus for planet, stars or anything. I struggled through it for a while, but then frustration got the best of me, and I put the scope away, and lost interest. Well, a renewed spark of interest got me to break out the scope, only to find that I misplaced the power cord. I ended up buying a power tank, and last night was my first night back observing. Well of course the remote was acting up again, so I settled on watching the moon,which I enjoyed. Well, I started thinking of buying a new remote (handset) but then I thought I might try taking the remote apart, and seeing if I could fix it. Well, this morning I went in the garage, took the remote apart, cleaned all the contacts on the circuit board, and the buttons. I used denatured alcohol with a cotton swab. I put it back together and boy what a difference, the buttons respond immediately,I can scroll through all the menus,and the telescope moves on the mount without any hitching or jerky movements like it used to. I can’t wait for tonight, I hope it’s clear sky’s! 
As a side note, I have my eye on a Celestron 8se scope. Does anyone have any opinions on that scope? Thanks, sorry for the long winded post. 

Edited August 13, 2022 by nimrod 1

[SthBohemia]

8 minutes ago, nimrod 1 said:

Celestron 8se scope

Good scope, better if mounted on the CPC 🙂 

[Cosmic Geoff]

On 13/08/2022 at 13:01, nimrod 1 said:

I have my eye on a Celestron 8se scope. Does anyone have any opinions on that scope?

Check the Internet. Large numbers of them have been sold, and used.  In essence, the C8 SE is a fine outfit if you want a compact portable 8" scope, for visual use.  If you intend to try imaging anything with it, you want to get one of the variants which have the same OTA on a more substantial mount (as Sth Bohemia suggests).

[Peter Drew]

Very happy with my 8se, it's on the top of the weight limit for the mount but operates well if you treat it gently.  Not suitable for DSO imaging but good solar system results are possible.     😀

[Newola]

Hi, my Nexstar 8se in on its way and should be here by Wednesday. Good drills ref getting your remote working again, so many others (myself included) would have thrown it away or bought a new one. 

 

 

[RT65CB-SWL]

Even though I own a Celestron C6/SCT-xlt and a 're-modded' Meade ETX105 [image below]...
I think an 8SE would/will be a vast improvement.

A sturdy mount [and tripod] is a must.

Keep the 4SE for portability or 'grab & go'.