SEESTAR S50 REVIEW (VIEW) FROM A VISUAL OBSERVERS PERSPECTIVE.

[paulastro]

There are many reviews and comments re the S50, but there are many, what appear to be, discrepancies between them.  Of course this is not surprising as the writers have many backgrounds.  It's not surprising that experienced imagers may look more critically at how good the images it produces actually are.  

This is fine, but the S50 was designed so just about anyone can use it to get some good images with the least effort - and including people with little to none experience of imaging, observing or even astronomy.

My views are those of an observer of over fifty years with no experience of imaging apart from occasional prime focus images on undriven altazimuth mounts.

I'm not going to  cover the setup of the S50, there is plenty of Information available in other reviews, u-tube videos and comments on SGL and other places.

Your experience will differ primarily according to how competent you are using a smart phone.  I'm just about competent and read lots before buying my S50 which arrived on Dec 20th.  Anyone with just a little more savvy than me will probably have it running in little more than five minutes.  

I think the interface is great and very easy to navigate around.  Some people have indicated some info is somehow hidden away and they had to 'discover' it themselves.  Not so in my view.   There's nothing you can't find out by looking online.  I suggest people actually check out the brief instruction leaflet that comes with it, as well as the tutorials on the app.  The company also have a good video 'manual' on utube which tells you where to find just about everything - though it moves along quickly and like me you might want to pause it to make a few notes.

Since Dec 20th, when my S50 arrived I didn't have any clear periods to try it out on deep sky imaging until last Saturday morning when it cleared to a hard frost at 1am.  The images below are some that I produced.  All of the exposures were 5 mts or less except for M51 (19mts) and M3 (10mts)  The Orion Neb was only 2mts and the Horsehead 3mts.  I would have taken longer exposures but these two were very low down and about to disappear.

I  did a little additional processing using the photo processing software that comes with the camera on my Samsung A52s.  Too much on the Horsehead as 3mts was way too short.

As a non imager I sadly have to confess I'm over the Moon with them!  I'm not daft enough to believe they are anywhere near what my imaging colleagues can produce - but for an aging technophobe they meet my requirements.

Hopefully they may assist others to decide if they will suit them.  Of course if you are an imager you can stack all the individual images yourself and produce really nice images - and longer exposure make a huge difference.

I haven't mentioned the Scenery, Lunar and Solar modes, only because they are so straight forward it's unlikely you'll go wrong!

 

[Carbon Brush]

Thank you Paul for posting.
Like you I have only been able get the scope out for a short time. On a very moist night with a rising (almost full) moon.
The sort of night you usually stay indoors.
However, it found M31 and quickly produced a half decent image. It was invisible to me using binoculars.

[Ricochet]

As a visual observer how much did you find yourself using it as an EEA device, sitting there watching the image appear on the screen, compared to using it as an imaging device where you would set it on a target and then leave it until some time later to check whether it had produced an acceptable image?

[DaveL59]

Only had the chance to play with mine a couple times, also being visual before buying the S50. Those couple times I've sat watching the image appear and like Paul only ran short durations since I was just testing it out at the time. Impressive, I felt, that it was able to show so much in just a few minutes on target and since my aim was more EEA and ease of use it met my expectations perfectly.

Since the later updates I can now also use my Lenovo P11 G2 tablet which will be handy. Tired eyes after working at a computer all day has meant less time at an eyepiece and my scopes don't really let me see a lot that this little marvel can expose effortlessly. Well, IF we ever get much in the way of clear skies that is lol!

[paulastro]

1 hour ago, Ricochet said:

As a visual observer how much did you find yourself using it as an EEA device, sitting there watching the image appear on the screen, compared to using it as an imaging device where you would set it on a target and then leave it until some time later to check whether it had produced an acceptable image?

It's the first time I've used it, but it won't replace my visual observing.  Mind you I'm getting older and it's very easy to carry in and out if I'm not up to getting out the 10 inch or other  scopes.  I'll also use it for different reasons.  Of course I can image things I can't even 'see' through the 10, or not as well.  As you say, it will be easy to observe visually and take pics at the same time.

 

Edited January 7 by paulastro

[Gonariu]

Surely these small fully computerized telescopes are very beautiful. However, this must be said: given that they cost quite a bit, if I bought it it would be to go beyond beautiful photography and to do something that begins to be of a certain level. An interesting study was done by an amateur astronomer with one of these optics on the luminous variation of a variable star. Surely there are other fields where these telescopes would easily find application.

[Geoff Lister]

On 07/01/2024 at 14:06, paulastro said:

but it won't replace my visual observing.  Mind you I'm getting older and it's very easy to carry in and out if I'm not up to getting out the 10 inch or other  scopes.  I'll also use it for different reasons.  Of course I can image things I can't even 'see' through the 10, or not as well.  As you say, it will be easy to observe visually and take pics at the same time.

My interest in astronomy really started in 1986, with Halley's Comet. I bought A Tasco 3" Newtonian, with 0.96" eyepieces, on a fork-and-rod az/alt tripod, and managed to see the comet several times. This was before Stellarium and the internet, just some star maps and star hopping to locate it. Advance about 38 years, and you get this:-

Not only do I have a record of what I "saw", but, using the "Mark" function, identified fixed points showing its exact location, magnitude 15 galaxies; and all from the comfort of my conservatory. According to "Clear Outside", astro dark had ended some 50 minutes earlier, so this was between nautical dark and civil dark, and with a full moon some 60 degrees further west. It will not replace visual astronomy, but I wish that I had my Seestar available for Halley's Comet.

Geoff

[cajen2]

On 07/01/2024 at 12:25, paulastro said:

There are many reviews and comments re the S50, but there are many, what appear to be, discrepancies between them.  Of course this is not surprising as the writers have many backgrounds.  It's not surprising that experienced imagers may look more critically at how good the images it produces actually are.  

This is fine, but the S50 was designed so just about anyone can use it to get some good images with the least effort - and including people with little to none experience of imaging, observing or even astronomy.

My views are those of an observer of over fifty years with no experience of imaging apart from occasional prime focus images on undriven altazimuth mounts.

I'm not going to  cover the setup of the S50, there is plenty of Information available in other reviews, u-tube videos and comments on SGL and other places.

Your experience will differ primarily according to how competent you are using a smart phone.  I'm just about competent and read lots before buying my S50 which arrived on Dec 20th.  Anyone with just a little more savvy than me will probably have it running in little more than five minutes.  

I think the interface is great and very easy to navigate around.  Some people have indicated some info is somehow hidden away and they had to 'discover' it themselves.  Not so in my view.   There's nothing you can't find out by looking online.  I suggest people actually check out the brief instruction leaflet that comes with it, as well as the tutorials on the app.  The company also have a good video 'manual' on utube which tells you where to find just about everything - though it moves along quickly and like me you might want to pause it to make a few notes.

Since Dec 20th, when my S50 arrived I didn't have any clear periods to try it out on deep sky imaging until last Saturday morning when it cleared to a hard frost at 1am.  The images below are some that I produced.  All of the exposures were 5 mts or less except for M51 (19mts) and M3 (10mts)  The Orion Neb was only 2mts and the Horsehead 3mts.  I would have taken longer exposures but these two were very low down and about to disappear.

I  did a little additional processing using the photo processing software that comes with the camera on my Samsung A52s.  Too much on the Horsehead as 3mts was way too short.

As a non imager I sadly have to confess I'm over the Moon with them!  I'm not daft enough to believe they are anywhere near what my imaging colleagues can produce - but for an aging technophobe they meet my requirements.

Hopefully they may assist others to decide if they will suit them.  Of course if you are an imager you can stack all the individual images yourself and produce really nice images - and longer exposure make a huge difference.

I haven't mentioned the Scenery, Lunar and Solar modes, only because they are so straight forward it's unlikely you'll go wrong!

 

Nice review Paul and it's good to see some opinions from a non-APer! If I got one, I'd use it exactly in the way you describe.

Also, very good pix, especially for your first time out!

[Geoff Lister]

Android Seestar App Vs version of Android on tablet

I have 2 tablets. The "Old" one is a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, model SM-T713, running Android version 7.0, and kernel version 3.10.84-14953299, "Mon Jul 119:11:15 KST 2019". The "New" one is a Blackview Tab 60 running Android V13.

On the Tab 60, the Google Play Store loaded both the Seestar S50 and Dwarf II apps, but 2 days ago, my old Tab S2 loaded and operated the latest Dwarf app, but would not load the Seestar app, with Play Store app search informing me "Looking for Seestar This app won't work for your device".

I can understand that both apps have been developed using current software tools, but I am concerned about future proofing. With the trend for apps to update automatically in the background, when will I get a massage similar to "Update completed - your device too old for it to run any more"?

I have not found, on either the ZWO or Dwarflab sites applicable Android version ranges - others may have found something that I did not spot.

Geoff

[StevieDvd]

Dwarf app requires Android 5.0 and up,  and Seestar requires Android 8.0 and up.

The info is on the app information on Play Store if you click on the arrow next to the 'About this app' section. 

Edited January 27 by StevieDvd
typo

[Geoff Lister]

12 minutes ago, StevieDvd said:

Dwarf app requires Android 5.0 and up,  and Seestar requires Android 8.0 and up.

The info is on the app information on Play Store if you click on the arrow next to the 'About this app' section. 

Many thanks. But is this information made available on the ZWO or Dwarflab web sites, or in the advertising info on the web sites of their major UK retail outlets? The less-inquisitive are likely to have placed their £500+ order, and probably be unboxing, before locating and downloading the app.

Geoff

[StevieDvd]

26 minutes ago, Geoff Lister said:

Many thanks. But is this information made available on the ZWO or Dwarflab web sites, or in the advertising info on the web sites of their major UK retail outlets? The less-inquisitive are likely to have placed their £500+ order, and probably be unboxing, before locating and downloading the app.

Geoff

To be frank I have not checked 🙄

[Tomatobro]

On 09/01/2024 at 15:32, Gonariu said:

Surely there are other fields where these telescopes would easily find application.

I see that there is a youtube video of someone using a seestar to measure the rotation of an asteroid