Celestron Star Sense

[Malc Spring]

Hey folks,

Just a quick one regarding the above. It has probably been done to death, but I've been out of the game for a long time, so please indulge me lol.

Is it worth my while investing in this, or do I need to get back to basics again?

I've just bought a Celestron Nexstar Evolution 8 and that is loaded with tons of electronics already. With a little bit of time and effort with the new scope perhaps I won't need the Starsense?

Is it geared towards total newbies?

Would be interested to hear the views of people who own it.

Thanks

Malc😀

[Cosmic Geoff]

Do you mean the Starsense Autoalign camera system?  I have one attached to a Celestron C8SE in a quick-deploy setup.  I just have to carry the rig outdoors, power it up, enter the date and time and let it autoalign while I carry out the accessories.   The Starsense saves me having to do an annoying manual alignment procedure.  

If one has a setup that takes a long time to erect, and has GPS, the time saved by using a Starsense will be a smaller proportion of the whole, and may not seem worthwhile.

So whether you find the convenience of Starsense worth the cost is entirely up to you. You don't need it.

I would not say it is geared toward total newbies.. Newbies might well find it convenient, but they are the same class of people who might have trouble getting it set up in the first place. 🙂 It is one of the few astro devices likely to really benefit from firmware upgrades - not always an easy task.