Learn how to set up your StarSense AutoAlign with your telescope using our Celestron SkyPortal WiFi module and the SkyPortal App. Once you have your StarSense up, you can navigate the sky with your mobile device.
The explanation was easy to understand and it was very helpful. The English you speak was too fast for me as a Japanese, so I played the video at 0.75x speed and I was finally able to understand the content.
I recommend plugging the Wifi module into the hand controller port, and the StarSense module into the Aux port. I've also found that in Australia you can align quickly by first aiming your eyepiece at Rigel Kentaurus (the farther pointer to the Southern Cross/Crux) and calibrating to it.
@@davidcurrie6955 with only two ports, what I have found works is: 1) Starsense camera connected to Aux with HC connected to HC. Although inconvenient and cumbersome to set the date and time every power-up, but aligns efficiently. I can't justify spending hundreds on a GPS module just to skip that hassle. 2) WiFi in Aux, Starsense camera in HC: a) Unreliable via Smartphone Skyportal - Autoalign resets whenever screen turns itself off. b) Reliable via Win 10 laptop running CPWI c) Skyportal on iPad: Aiming to test upon next good viewing night. 3) WiFi in Aux, HC in HC...use HC slew controls only, apps to set 3-point alignment: Testing in progress - resituated finderscope aligned to OTA to aid course alignment, bu up to figuring out best method for fine alignment.
They say to plug in the skyportal to the aux port but I plugged it into the other and put the starsense on the aux, then I got lights. I couldn't connect wifi with my Microsoft Surface Studio or my Microsoft Surface Duo. But worked like a charm on my Ipad. Go figure. I will go out when it's dark and align and calibrate and then we're off to the races :)
I am in no way able to use Starsense with Skyportal. For me, Starsense only works if I use hand control. When I use SkyPortal it starts to do the alignment and in the second point SkyPortal starts pointing to the wrong places, as if it were outside the visible horizon and pointing to the ground. It is as if the telescope points to one place and SkyPortal to a completely different one. Is it possible that it is because I use SkyPortal with the handheld still connected?
So this cannot be used unless your mount has Wifi like the Evo mounts? I have a CPC 925 HD edge. Maybe they should have made this Star sense with Wifi so I don't have to spend more money to get the Wifi Dongle.
When I try to use Star Sense and the SkyPortal Wi-Fi device I am connecting to my iPhone through the Wi-Fi coming from the SkyPortal device. How do I get StarSense to recognize the GPS location,time, date etc from the cellphone? I am using SkyPortal app.
Can you use the telescope without internt/only with the hand controller? Want to buy one, but the price goes up and up and up... could make it without some extra items, hopefully...
Great video and very helpful , but i seem to be "stuck" because i pressed the calibrate button instead of the go to ,and now its not aligning correctly ,can i re start aligning , does the previous alignment stays in memory?
Great Video I have a couple of questions 1-is it necessary to input time and location every time I use the telescope and 2- Do I have to re-calicrate if I move the telescope to a new location ( miles away) and 3- after I enter time and location do I need to have the hand controller connected
Hi Celestron Team, Few questions; 1- Can I use SkySafari Pro with StarSense instead of SkyPortal App? 2-Do I require Aux Port Splitter with CGEM-DX mount? or so what is the best connection configuration?. 3- Can I use SkyFi Wireless Telescope Controller with StarSense instead of the Celestron Skyportal wifi model? Thanks
1. SkySafari will work with StarSense as long as you use our SkyQLink adapter plugged into your scope. If you are using the wifi adapter that SkySafari supplies, the answer would be no. Assuming you are using the SkySafari wifi adapter, you would have to use the hand control to align the scope, then you would be able to control it using SkySafari. If you use our wifi adapter, you can align and control the scope using StarSense directyl from the SkySafari app. 2. No you don't need a splitter for the CGEM DX mount as an AUX port is on the mount already. 3. Your best bet to get full compatibility is to use our wifi adapter and not SkyFi. Plug it directly into the mount's AUX port and he's good to go.
I have a couple of questions. (1) How many different objects should I calibrate starsense on. I have used one but when I goto another object, its not central to the eyepiece. Is this normal? (2) Is there any limitation as to how many calibrations you can do?
funziona benissimo sul mio mak 127 slt ma solo se collegato tramite modulo wifi skyq link all'app skyportal , se collego l'hc alla montatuta va tutto in blocco e non funziona ne manualmente ne tramite wifi , per fortuna c'e' skyportal e posso usarlo cosi' ma quando non c'e' connessione non posso fare nulla , ho inviato un ticket all'assistenza celestron spero mi rispondano
During the alignment process, the connection keeps dropping. I've tried everything including deleting the home wifi from my phone, and repeatedly reconnecting. Very frustrating.
Robert, it does not need to be recalibrated as calibration occurs between the OTA and mount, irrespective of the physical location of the mount. Assuming your in the USA, simply take your scope to a new location and point the mount roughly North.
As long as you leave the Star Sense bracket on the OTA, then you will not need to re calibrate but Star Sense will need to do iots Auto Align. You do not need to point your mount north if you are using an altazimuth mount.
Hello, Sorry to hear about your device acting up. Please message our technical support team for them to assist you: www.celestron.com/pages/technical-support
Hi Steve, My mount did that quite a few times and it has to do with the hand controller. All I did was factory reset my hand controller and it fixed that, Sadly it does it too often; at least for me it does.
Either is fine, but since you have a NexStar Evolution there's no need to use the hand control since you can control your telescope using your smartphone or tablet. You can unplug it.
I recently calibrated and aligned Starsense using the hand controller. When I use the wi-fi to align using an ipad, do I have to do another calibration? You mention that this has to be done in the app. Therefore, is my hand controller calibration not valid when first using the app?
The calibration is kept in the camera, not the controller. If you use a hand control to calibrate, then later use a WiFi device to align the telescope, no calibration would be needed. The only time re-calibration is required is if you move the StarSense Accessory to a different telescope.
I just got a star sense autoalign for my nexstar 6se telescope. I'm having an issue with connecting the camera to the telescope. I do have an aux port and I plugged it in to it but the remote says error: telescope not fully initialized on. What do you think is wrong?
Do i have to point the telescope to one of the poles?(north ,south ect..)? and i must be doing something wrong because i have to aligned it every time i set up , help ,thank you
Hi just got this for my newly acquired 6SE, may sound like a dumb question but do you need to align(aligned not calibrated) every single time you take out your telescope? Thanks!
If you are using Star Sense - as in this video - then Star Sense will Auto Align itself each time you start a new observing session (but only need to calibrate once if the bracket is left attached to the OTA)
It's unfortunate the standard travel case doesn't have room for the Starsense camera. I can't ever use my telescope at home - too many obstructions. But when I drive locally, I put the OTA in my car front seat, Starsense camera up, and secure with the seatbelt. This preserves the calibration and works well enough for my situation.
Beautiful day for me to finally set this up only to find out that it doesn't work with my Celestron mount until I shell out another $80 for the correct splitter, as the one it ships with won't work. Not happy at all. Should sell it with the option for the correct cable. Be aware that Tom Fota is posting incorrect information. You could cause damage to your mount if you take his advice. For my Celestron mount I was required to buy cable (93923) which is much more expensive.
@@sburgos9621 My 6SE, SkySense AutoAlign, SkyPortal WiFi module, and Celestron Aux Splitter all arrived yesterday. Everything worked together without a problem. The splitter I referenced above is the only Celestron Aux Splitter listed on Amazon and it's $23.95, so this is current info.
@@TomFota Well I hope it is the correct cable since I was told by someone who works for Celestron that the cable mine came with would eventually cause damage to the unit if I used it and recommended I buy the cable I mentioned in my original comment..
@@sburgos9621 Please provide a part number and a link for the splitter to which you are referring. As far as I can tell Celestron only makes one "AUX Port Splitter". It's the one that I referenced and its the only one found on the Celestron website. It's the same one that is mentioned on all of the astronomy forums and blogs that I've read. No one has mentioned anything about different splitters, particularly one that shouldn't be used.
The Sky Portal app is useless with star sense, I tried relentlessly at the weekend with my new star sense & Evolution mount & every time the alignment failed. the reason it failed is because it does not take the GPS coordinates from the app......... I gave up & went the older less accurate route time, date & rough location & guess what one attempt & alignment worked. still have to align the star sense to the centre of the scope but at least I know it points in the correct direction where as the app will not & is always way off.
The explanation was easy to understand and it was very helpful.
The English you speak was too fast for me as a Japanese, so I played the video at 0.75x speed and I was finally able to understand the content.
Nice Work!
I recommend plugging the Wifi module into the hand controller port, and the StarSense module into the Aux port.
I've also found that in Australia you can align quickly by first aiming your eyepiece at Rigel Kentaurus (the farther pointer to the Southern Cross/Crux) and calibrating to it.
@@davidcurrie6955 with only two ports, what I have found works is:
1) Starsense camera connected to Aux with HC connected to HC. Although inconvenient and cumbersome to set the date and time every power-up, but aligns efficiently. I can't justify spending hundreds on a GPS module just to skip that hassle.
2) WiFi in Aux, Starsense camera in HC:
a) Unreliable via Smartphone Skyportal - Autoalign resets whenever screen turns itself off.
b) Reliable via Win 10 laptop running CPWI
c) Skyportal on iPad: Aiming to test upon next good viewing night.
3) WiFi in Aux, HC in HC...use HC slew controls only, apps to set 3-point alignment: Testing in progress - resituated finderscope aligned to OTA to aid course alignment, bu up to figuring out best method for fine alignment.
They say to plug in the skyportal to the aux port but I plugged it into the other and put the starsense on the aux, then I got lights. I couldn't connect wifi with my Microsoft Surface Studio or my Microsoft Surface Duo. But worked like a charm on my Ipad. Go figure. I will go out when it's dark and align and calibrate and then we're off to the races :)
I'm a little confused. Do I need to go through the auto alignment on 3 separate stars or just one
Can I still use the hand control to manually slew around while star hopping (as opposed to using GOTO)?
What if you have the GPS module installed. Do you still need the wifi dongle to use SkyPortal to work?
I am in no way able to use Starsense with Skyportal. For me, Starsense only works if I use hand control. When I use SkyPortal it starts to do the alignment and in the second point SkyPortal starts pointing to the wrong places, as if it were outside the visible horizon and pointing to the ground. It is as if the telescope points to one place and SkyPortal to a completely different one.
Is it possible that it is because I use SkyPortal with the handheld still connected?
So this cannot be used unless your mount has Wifi like the Evo mounts? I have a CPC 925 HD edge. Maybe they should have made this Star sense with Wifi so I don't have to spend more money to get the Wifi Dongle.
I have to calibrate every time. I do the Auto-align but it's way off every single time so have to calibrate
Incredibly helpful, thanks!
If want to take 60 second or longer images will this work? Or do I need to do a polar alignment? Thanks.
When I try to use Star Sense and the SkyPortal Wi-Fi device I am connecting to my iPhone through the Wi-Fi coming from the SkyPortal device. How do I get StarSense to recognize the GPS location,time, date etc from the cellphone? I am using SkyPortal app.
Can you use the telescope without internt/only with the hand controller? Want to buy one, but the price goes up and up and up... could make it without some extra items, hopefully...
hi i have purchase celestron powerseeker 60az can i fit this feature in my telescope & will it work
Great video thanks ,,,Question. Can you do the AutoAlign with SkyPortal WiFi Module without having the StarSense
Hi, what is "Roughly polar aligned"? Would pointing the mount at Polaris using the polar fnderscope be classed as "roughly"? Thanks.
Great video and very helpful , but i seem to be "stuck" because i pressed the calibrate button instead of the go to ,and now its not aligning correctly ,can i re start aligning , does the previous alignment stays in memory?
Great Video I have a couple of questions 1-is it necessary to input time and location every time I use the telescope and
2- Do I have to re-calicrate if I move the telescope to a new location ( miles away) and 3- after I enter time and location do I need to have the hand controller connected
no only have to recalibrate if you change telescopes
Hi Celestron Team, Few questions; 1- Can I use SkySafari Pro with StarSense instead of SkyPortal App? 2-Do I require Aux Port Splitter with CGEM-DX mount? or so what is the best connection configuration?. 3- Can I use SkyFi Wireless Telescope Controller with StarSense instead of the Celestron Skyportal wifi model? Thanks
1. SkySafari will work with StarSense as long as you use our SkyQLink adapter plugged into your scope. If you are using the wifi adapter that SkySafari supplies, the answer would be no. Assuming you are using the SkySafari wifi adapter, you would have to use the hand control to align the scope, then you would be able to control it using SkySafari. If you use our wifi adapter, you can align and control the scope using StarSense directyl from the SkySafari app.
2. No you don't need a splitter for the CGEM DX mount as an AUX port is on the mount already.
3. Your best bet to get full compatibility is to use our wifi adapter and not SkyFi. Plug it directly into the mount's AUX port and he's good to go.
Looks wonderfull, but all this Celestron's easy-way devices doesn't work properly.
If my phone locks or I minimize the app, Skysafari disconnects from the scope and I have to reconnect/realign again. Is there a way around this?
I have a couple of questions. (1) How many different objects should I calibrate starsense on. I have used one but when I goto another object, its not central to the eyepiece. Is this normal? (2) Is there any limitation as to how many calibrations you can do?
General rule = more the better. You can do a maximum of 10 calibrations (as of 2020)
funziona benissimo sul mio mak 127 slt ma solo se collegato tramite modulo wifi skyq link all'app skyportal , se collego l'hc alla montatuta va tutto in blocco e non funziona ne manualmente ne tramite wifi , per fortuna c'e' skyportal e posso usarlo cosi' ma quando non c'e' connessione non posso fare nulla , ho inviato un ticket all'assistenza celestron spero mi rispondano
During the alignment process, the connection keeps dropping. I've tried everything including deleting the home wifi from my phone, and repeatedly reconnecting. Very frustrating.
This would solve all the problems i'm having with aligning my red dot finder. Does StarSense work in New York City?
Works everywhere as long as it can find a couple of stars
Does this work with the built on Star Sense camera on Skyprodigy scopes?
Hello i own te he Nexstar evolution 9.25 with the "wedge" and the starsense, How can i "roughly polar align" thanks!!!
Does it need to be recalibrated if you take the scope on the road to a location away from where the original calibration was done? Thanks!
Robert, it does not need to be recalibrated as calibration occurs between the OTA and mount, irrespective of the physical location of the mount. Assuming your in the USA, simply take your scope to a new location and point the mount roughly North.
As long as you leave the Star Sense bracket on the OTA, then you will not need to re calibrate but Star Sense will need to do iots Auto Align. You do not need to point your mount north if you are using an altazimuth mount.
Do you have to enter your location and time using the SkyPortal app like you do with a controller
No, phone does it for you.
Star Sense is not auto aligning, asking me to find bright stars manually. What do I do?
Hello, Sorry to hear about your device acting up. Please message our technical support team for them to assist you: www.celestron.com/pages/technical-support
This may be a silly question, but do you need to go through this process every time you move your telescope to a new location?
Thanks
No, just the alignment process. Calibrating is only needed when the camera is bumped, jarred or rotated.
Why is that after doing the first part of the alignment my scope keeps pointing at the ground looking for stars to do the second part of the alignment
please reach out to our technical support team for them to assist you with this: mail@celestronsupport.com
Hi Steve, My mount did that quite a few times and it has to do with the hand controller. All I did was factory reset my hand controller and it fixed that, Sadly it does it too often; at least for me it does.
@@tedwilliams3875 try updating mount, starsense and controller firmware. You will have no issues after that. Google the process
What if your telescope only has one port?
Using Starsense and SkyPortal with an Evolution mount do I leave the hand controller connected or unplug it from the mount?
Either is fine, but since you have a NexStar Evolution there's no need to use the hand control since you can control your telescope using your smartphone or tablet. You can unplug it.
I recently calibrated and aligned Starsense using the hand controller. When I use the wi-fi to align using an ipad, do I have to do another calibration? You mention that this has to be done in the app. Therefore, is my hand controller calibration not valid when first using the app?
The calibration is kept in the camera, not the controller. If you use a hand control to calibrate, then later use a WiFi device to align the telescope, no calibration would be needed. The only time re-calibration is required is if you move the StarSense Accessory to a different telescope.
I just got a star sense autoalign for my nexstar 6se telescope. I'm having an issue with connecting the camera to the telescope. I do have an aux port and I plugged it in to it but the remote says error: telescope not fully initialized on. What do you think is wrong?
please reach out to our technical support team so they can assist you with the StarSense Autoalign. mail@celestronsupport.com or 800-421-9649
Do i have to point the telescope to one of the poles?(north ,south ect..)? and i must be doing something wrong because i have to aligned it every time i set up , help ,thank you
Altazimuth mounts do not need to be polar aligned
Gimme gimme gimme I need I need!
good
Hi just got this for my newly acquired 6SE, may sound like a dumb question but do you need to align(aligned not calibrated) every single time you take out your telescope? Thanks!
Yes. You Auto Align every time out
If you are using Star Sense - as in this video - then Star Sense will Auto Align itself each time you start a new observing session (but only need to calibrate once if the bracket is left attached to the OTA)
i just buy a 127SLT, can this starsence use on it?
yes
Celestron thanks
🚀
1
So you have to leave scope uncased to leave camera on as it won't fit in case,otherwise you have to recalibrate everytime, pointless then.
Pointless?? Hardly! In any case, you clearly haven't watched it properly.
It's unfortunate the standard travel case doesn't have room for the Starsense camera. I can't ever use my telescope at home - too many obstructions. But when I drive locally, I put the OTA in my car front seat, Starsense camera up, and secure with the seatbelt. This preserves the calibration and works well enough for my situation.
Beautiful day for me to finally set this up only to find out that it doesn't work with my Celestron mount until I shell out another $80 for the correct splitter, as the one it ships with won't work. Not happy at all. Should sell it with the option for the correct cable.
Be aware that Tom Fota is posting incorrect information. You could cause damage to your mount if you take his advice. For my Celestron mount I was required to buy cable (93923) which is much more expensive.
The Celestron Aux Port Splitter, Black (93919) is available on Amazon for $23.95, less than half of what you indicate.
@@TomFota There are several of them. The cheaper one doesn't work with this unit. Either it is that one or the price has dropped significantly.
@@sburgos9621 My 6SE, SkySense AutoAlign, SkyPortal WiFi module, and Celestron Aux Splitter all arrived yesterday. Everything worked together without a problem. The splitter I referenced above is the only Celestron Aux Splitter listed on Amazon and it's $23.95, so this is current info.
@@TomFota Well I hope it is the correct cable since I was told by someone who works for Celestron that the cable mine came with would eventually cause damage to the unit if I used it and recommended I buy the cable I mentioned in my original comment..
@@sburgos9621 Please provide a part number and a link for the splitter to which you are referring. As far as I can tell Celestron only makes one "AUX Port Splitter". It's the one that I referenced and its the only one found on the Celestron website. It's the same one that is mentioned on all of the astronomy forums and blogs that I've read. No one has mentioned anything about different splitters, particularly one that shouldn't be used.
lol 2
The Sky Portal app is useless with star sense, I tried relentlessly at the weekend with my new star sense & Evolution mount & every time the alignment failed. the reason it failed is because it does not take the GPS coordinates from the app.........
I gave up & went the older less accurate route time, date & rough location & guess what one attempt & alignment worked. still have to align the star sense to the centre of the scope but at least I know it points in the correct direction where as the app will not & is always way off.
Try updating your firmware, it may help