Help with celestron starsense - Forums

Topic starter

Apr 30, 2021

So I have only had my celesteon 6se for a little bit now and being so new to all of this and being in a bright city I was having trouble getting my scope aligned and getting targets. I decided to buy the celesteon starsense hoping it would help with alignment and pinpointing targets.

to goth was my first night trying it and I could not get it to align. I tried both auto alignment and manual. When viewing it on the app it appeared it was showing my scope pointing northeast even when it was point to the south or so. Every video I watch makes it seem like it should be easy to setup but I had no luck at all. I installed the camera, and installed the star sense handset.

Along with the starsense I also got the WiFi and so I updated all the firmware. I first try aligning via the handset and then after that failed a few times I tried via the app.

when doing the manual alignment I would take the first picture and it would say it was 40-60 stars but then the 2nd picture would almost always fail.

any ideas?

Howard Richard

May 25, 2021

I had a StarSense once. I could never get the thing to work. Tech support instructed me to update the firmware. I eventually sold it. I recommend returning it before the return window closes.

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Tim Hutchison

May 25, 2021

I was always able to get my StarSense working just fine. I used it with a Nexstar Evolution AltAz mount, with the Evolution on a wedge, and with a CGX. I used the hand controller, not the phone app, at first. Then I switched to using CPWI. It typically worked very well too. I would start with using the hand controller. Depending on which mount you are using, if it is supported by CPWI, I would consider switching to that once you have everything working with the HC.

Make sure that your location in the hand controller is accurate, as well as the time. Then it should just run. Start off with a StarSense auto align with 4 points. I would typically create 10 points, but best to start slow. If it does fail on a point, let it run and see if it can pick up on a different position.

I did always keep my firmware updated to the most current.

Not sure if any of that is a help, but I was always happy with it, so don't lose hope just yet.

Best of luck. Feel free to reach out if I can help.
Tim.

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Tim Hutchison

May 25, 2021

Also…If you do use CPWI, join TeamCelestron and get the beta release of it. The beta releases are typically pretty stable and they have a lot more features than the general release. I found the beta releases to be very helpful.

Tim.

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Kapil K.

May 25, 2021

I have been using starsense and it works great. I found it to be a great piece of equipment and a huge time saver. It does a great job plate solving and is fairly accurate with auto align method. Only time I had real trouble was when I tried using it with a wedge. That never really worked for me and I gave up..

Couple of minor issues I troubleshooted here and there initially. Not sure if this will help you, but still putting it out there:
1) Make sure you have sufficient part of the sky visible. Starsense requires some leeway to move around and plate solve.
2) Ensure that there is no bright light source in your yard. Try aligning when it is fully dark.
3) Double check to make sure all the details, location, time zone, etc are correct. This usually caused me most trouble initially, especially on hand controller (it is not most intuitive user experience).
4) Don’t add too much weight on the scope and ensure enough clearance is at the bottom of the scope. I have seen it act funky when I attach a dslr before aligning (once aligned it is fine to attach it back). Also dew shields caused me occasional problems (probably some obstruction of view).

Use hand controller first (to avoid any issues with app/dongle) and update the firmware for both controller and starsense just to be sure. If nothing works, it may just be a faulty piece and worth replacing it. I say it because it is incredibly simple to use and just works out of the box. It’s not supposed to give you that much trouble..

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Kapil K.

May 25, 2021

Ohh, and one last thing. Use a DC 12 volt battery connected via the 12V cable. Don’t rely on the AA replaceable batteries. They drain pretty easily and could be a reason behind scope not moving around as desired - resulting in consistent plate solve failures.

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Billmalona

May 26, 2021

Good advice. I'm hoping to get a Celestron AVX and StarSense combination soon, and a sky watcher 100ed scope for visual use. Clear skies.

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petro62

Topic starter

May 26, 2021 · Edited: May 26, 2021

After lots of great advice I have been able
to reliably get star sense to work every time. The biggest thing I did was set up the points I want it to check. That eliminates a lot of wasted time as it looked at a wall and then rotated.

I also just gave up on the app and just use the handset.

I was thinking about getting a wedge, but now I see up above someone had a lot of issues with using a wedge and start sense.

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