5.0 out of 5 stars Saves time, better alignment

R.A. · 26 March 2014

First time out, seems to works well, no more fiddling about for ages finding/centering alignment stars.Magic to watch it do it all itself, much faster than you can!(Everything (location,time, mount mechanics) has to be set correctly of course.)Its a bit pricey, but there is a lot to it, and the quality is good.Note: there is no new version of nexremote (to do the pc mimic of the new handcontrol), which is a shame - i found that really useful with the original nexstar handset. However, to make set up easier without nexremote, Ive found I can set the location and time data from a laptop via the starsense handset serial port, communicating with the same command protocol as the old nexstar handset. Once aligned, Goto's etc should therefore work with stellarium etc, communicating through the serial port, but i havent tried that yet.

5.0 out of 5 stars Not cheap, but a good bit of kit and it works.

P. · 10 September 2016

I'm not sure Celestron aren't milking it a little with the separate autoguider, Be nice and would seem to make sense to combine them but I guess that's business and there may be technical reasons, perhaps. But it's a great bit of kit, I still take time to polar align as well as I reasonably can after all it's not going to hurt - and anything to get the best results. It's quick to get going and within a couple of minutes it's oriented itself and you can then further add precision by adding other stars, systematically using a more powerful lens and then precision tuning it. It's not cheap clearly but really does mean you can get viewing quicker which is even better if it's not an entirely clear night, or you only have a short time. Reassuring too as it's scanning numerous stars across the night sky. After a quick alignment I've certainly had stable 45s-1min 15s exposures.

1.0 out of 5 stars Defective product

M.S. · 6 August 2024

First I notice the fix in the box, I thought that will be a problem, after a week waiting to get clear skies to do the first test, I got the message that never ends “application init please wait”. After 10min, it still there, it supposed to be 10 to 60 seconds. Looking at internet, shows that is a defect. Returning the product. Really poor experience.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent addition to my kit.

c.t.w. · 23 April 2020

Excellent item. I use this to align my avx mount. Once calibrated to your scope setup it works great. I run it from the cpwi software an not the handset. I think I set the axis limits to 20 degrees so it won't search for stars below my fence line. The calibration to your scope is very important but is not difficult to do, an you don't have to calibrate each time you use it. Once you click the star sence auto align ,it only takes a few minutes to align it self. You can also run a polar align routine if you want to get your mount spot on, but read up an how to do it in the instructions first.

5.0 out of 5 stars Just make sure you alaigne it first

G.p. · 9 February 2025

Great piece of kit. Bit pricey but worth it makes star gazing a lot better...

4.0 out of 5 stars If you regularly have clear skies, probably don't bother. However in the UK, this unit is probably worth the cost

D. · 2 January 2018

I bought this item, to try and increase my astronomy viewing sessions - sessions which can be all too short in the UK. This is the version for SkyWatcher mounts and it replaces the Skyscan handset that came with your mount, with a Celestron handset and a multiport switch.The StarSense is not foolproof and needs to be setup well but when it is, you can leave your mount (in my case a SW AltAz unit) to align to the sky, whilst you get everything else ready. The stability and reliability of the alignment has been very good in my case and any tracking issues have been due to the mount and not the initial alignment by this unit.It is a lot of money though, for a unit that is only used once at the start of your viewing session (hopefully). If I lived in a country with clear skies for most of the year, I would not bother to be honest. However in the UK, every little helps.

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect accessory

S.H. · 17 June 2014

Without doubt, this is the best accessory I have bought for a telescope. Initial set up took a little while but was straight forward. Now I have a fully automatic scope that works flawlessly. Select the auto-align option from the replacement handset and the scope moves to various parts of the sky and after a few minutes it is done. Now select from the thousands of objects and it will put the item in the centre of a 20mm eyepiece. It makes casual stargazing in town so simple, even I can do it.

3.0 out of 5 stars Maybe a faulty one

J. · 27 March 2020

This was a christmas present. But it never worked. When it arrived the box was ripped and damaged. Put it onto my celestron 8se and got error messages I tried for ages to get it working and waited months for a clear night to first use it. But lucky Bolo was very positive and helpful. Got a telerad now stay manual.

Simplemente excelente

L. · 6 December 2019

Compré el StarSense Autoalign para simplificar la alineación de un telescopio Nexstar 8SE y puedo confirmar que funciona de maravilla. Es fácil montarlo y la fijación es muy solida. Una vez montado es muy rápido y no hay necesidad de identificar o localizar estrellas: alinea automáticamente el telescopio. Lo pones en marcha y se puede observar en pocos minutos. Es bastante mas preciso que hacer la alineación manualmente. Lo uso con un Celestron SkySync GPS que busca la hora, fecha y y la longitude y latitud de forma automática (algo muy útil si observas en sitios distintos). Es caro pero merece la pena si quieres pasar menos tiempo montando el equipo y mas tiempo observando el cielo.

Conforme

m. · 19 October 2024

Conforme à la description, fonctionne très bien !

tanta delusione

M. · 5 October 2016

premessa 1: possiedo un nexstar 6se, quindi perfettamente compatibile con l'accessorio;premessa 2: trovo l'allineamento con il cercatore in dotazione, ai limiti dell'impossibile;dato tutto ciò e leggendo varie recensioni positive, mi son fidato ed ho fatto l'acquisto dello Starsense.Risultato; dopo 3 giorni di utilizzo è una delusione, almeno per me; da qualcuno è stato paragonato ai "vetri elettrici" di un'auto....io lo paragono ai "vetri elettrici che si chiudono solo a metà in un giorno di pioggia"..... (quindi inutile.....).Il dispositivo è parecchio impreciso nell'allineamento; diciamo che punta sì la stella, ma.. "+-", con un errore anche di 10 gradi; e chi punta le stelle sa che anche una differenza di 1 solo grado rende la ricerca e visione della citata stella, in un oculare, del tutto impossibile.Così equivale a cercar un ago in un pagliaio.Oltre a questo, in modalità "auto align", va a caccia di fonti luminose dappertutto; il risultato ? a meno che non viviate in un ranch americano a decine e decine di km da un lampione, lo Starsense si "attaccherà" alle luminarie della vs strada e da lì non si schioderà più. vi scrive "acquired 100 stars" e poi impazzisce.metto 2 stelle solo perchè, montato sul nexstar, fa "figo" quando il telescopio è in casa.--- AGGIORNAMENTO DOPO VARI ALTRI TENTATIVI ---quando ci vuole...ci vuole: mi devo ricredere. Dopo AVER LETTO parecchi forum e spiegazioni d'uso in internet, ho trovato la "quadra" ed ora il dispositivo funziona benissimo; la questione è proprio questa: essendo precisissimo nella ricerca, la sequenza delle operazioni da fare (....modalità "manual align"....) per allinearlo DEVE esser altrettanto precisa; è vero, SE tutto è perfetto, in 3 minuti avete allineato il vs telescopio. Ecco perchè ora mi sento di metter 5 stelle al prodotto :)mi raccomando...CERCATE in internet la sequenza ESATTA; il manuale (esistente peraltro SOLO in inglese..... )non è abbastanza dettagliato in merito.e buona visione stellare a tutti ! :)

This is a great technology, but it suffers from insufficient troubleshooting documentation

B.A. · 25 October 2017

This is a great technology. I attached it to a Celestron 9.25" NexStar Evolution. It works very well.However, Celestron WiFi doesn't.When I tried to set up StarSense using Celestron WiFi and the SkyPortal app on iPhone (not iPad), the StarSense alignment process would align, then lose connectivity, then need to be aligned, then lose connectivity, then freeze. I have been reading several online forums for amateur astronomy, and the Celestron WiFi combined with the SkyPortal app freezing the phone is a common problem.Some users have wireless providers that use "smart" WiFi apps to bounce back and forth between WiFi and Cellular Data, shutting off WiFi on disconnect, and thereby "improving" battery life. These apps appear to conflict with SkyPortal and Celestron WiFi. I have no such app, but I did have tethering enabled, and this probably does pretty much the same thing to SkyPortal as the smart WiFi apps. I'll give it a try again with tethering disabled, but after 5 weekends of trying to get Celestron WiFi to work with SkyPortal (I also tried with SkySafari 5 Pro, where I can save and restore all kinds of settings, but SkySafari 5 Pro is just as bad as SkyPortal with respect to losing connectivity and freezing) I am pretty fed up with SkyPortal. None of this compatibility information is available from the Sky Safari folks, who are contracted by Celestron, nor is it available from Celestron. You have to go out and dig it up yourself. Celestron should have a better knowledge base, along with better unit testing and quality assurance. I know they aren't software developers, and they don't charge for SkyPortal, but I also can't charge them for all of the time I spent trying to get SkyPortal to work with StarSense. Take a lesson from Apple: to sell your hardware, you need easy-to-use software that actually works.I have found the StarSense hand controller much easier to use than SkyPortal. StarSense will do alignment provided it can find enough stars. I have never tried to align on solar system objects, and I don't even know if that is possible with StarSense. You will still need to calibrate StarSense after you've aligned it, which essentially tells StarSense how misaligned the camera is with respect to the telescope aperture. In theory, you should be able to remove the camera from the telescope and replace it without recalibration. I have never been able to affix the camera to the telescope so that recalibration can be skipped. It only takes a few seconds, but afterward, you have to align again. With the hand set, this is about a 5 minute process: align, calibrate, align. With the SkyPortal app, you may never complete this process.If StarSense can't find enough stars, use the NexStar controller together with geolocation information, sky maps, and a star finder. I know you can solar system align NexStar, because I do that in my front and back yard several nights a month using the moon or a planet, and I can even align on the sun when I have a white light solar filter attached. StarSense just gets lost in my light polluted neighborhood, with a very busy airport located 6 miles to the south putting all kinds of lights in the evening sky.I'm not sure I would recommend this item for beginning astronomers. For one thing, it costs about as much as a kid's (really nice) starter scope. For another, learning how to read and use a sky chart - and compass - is not a bad thing. It's also a good thing to know how to align your telescope to a finder scope, and how to use the finder scope to point at objects in the sky. Since StarSense gets the information it needs directly from the telescope hardware, you also don't need to know what kind of mount you have, which means that you don't know all that you can do with your telescope. Lastly, if something doesn't go right in the connection, alignment, and calibration of StarSense, you should be able to swear very loudly, remove the StarSense camera and controller, attach the NexStar controller, cycle power on the scope, and then align it yourself.

It works!

T.C. · 2 February 2025

Very slick - got to use it for the first time last night and it did just what it was supposed to in spite of the clouds and the trees. Instructions were all spot on and results were excellent.