Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium by Celestron
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Digital camera reviews of Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium
Digital camera Review: A Revolution in Astronomy
Summary: 5 Stars
I have literally been waiting for the Skyscout all my life. I always wanted to be able to look in the sky and identify celestial bodies but just didn't have the kind of brain that could wrap itself around star charts. Nor did I know anyone who could stand there and discuss it with me on a chilly night.
The Skyscout is like no other astronomy-related device because for the first time, you can just take it out of the box, put in the batteries, wait a few seconds for it to find its location via GPS (same as a car navigation system), point at something in the sky and press the IDENTIFY button to have it identified to you. Think about that for a second. At last, you have an easy-to-use handheld device that can tell you what star or star formation you're looking at!
Or you can work the other way. Have it list celestial bodies and formations for you, press the LOCATE button, then helpful arrows in the readout will blink until you've pointed it in the right direction. And many of the entries in its database have audio accompaniment so you can learn about them through the included earphones! How cool is that? It has a slot that will eventually accept cartridges with more stuff as time goes by, but the built-in database is pretty big as it is.
And for what it's worth, because the Skyscout uses built-in GPS, you can use it to display your locaiton using GPS coordinates. I have a nav system on my car but the SkyScout is still better than that, because I can't figure out how to get that info out of the car! on the Skyscout it's just one button.
All this stuff is particularly easy to access, and even the error messages are helpful. For example, on one particularly cold Seattle night I tried to use it from inside my car. A magnet icon popped up, and an error message explained that magnetic interference by something such as the chassis of an automobile was impeding it. Slick.
The gizmos currently included with high-end telescopes come nowhere near this facility. First off, you need a telescope with you. The Skyscout is the size of a hotel alarm clock and has its own (non-magnified) viewer. Just whip this thing out of your pocket and go to town. Second, the ones with telescopes are agonizingly slow to calibrate, like half an hour or so, and must be reoriented every time you pick up the 'scope and move. Plus you have to enter all kinds of location and time information on many of them; the Skyscout just finds itself. And finally, none of them of course can simply tell you what you've pointed the 'scope at. The Skyscout can. I also need to emphasize that it neither needs nor comes with an 80-page manual like the ones that come with telescopes. It's like 1 printed sheet, and that's plenty. The UI is very, very simple.
This is a revolutionary 1.0 product. My only complaint is that goes through batteries like I eat Lucky Charms. Bring an extra set when you go out. Oh, and one reviewer said that for $400 it should come with a lens cap. Fair enough. But remember that the optics are almost irrelevant--it's just a plastic cover so you can see the lighted guides pointing you in the right direction. Get a fingerprint on it, fine--just wipe it off with any lens tissue. The unit won't be damaged, nor will its usefulness be affected in any way by a dirty lens. Your telescope has the magnfication and the useful optics. If you even brought it with you--I never have, so far!
Digital camera Review: A four-star rating with a huge WOW factor !!
Summary: 4 Stars
I ordered this yesterday morning and received it this afternoon (love Amazon service !!). The SkyScout seemed perfect to help my family locate the comet Holmes that has recently become visible in the northeastern sky. The unit I received had the latest firmware version installed. Initially I used NiMH batteries in the unit, which was a mistake (more on that later).
The SkyScout has a built-in GPS which is used to setup the unit by discovering the user location and time of day. After finding the location, extremely sensitive magnetic sensors are used to determine the direction (azimuth) and height in the sky (elevation). When I turned the unit on for the first time, it indicated an absurd location (the other side of the planet). Also, even though I was standing in the middle of an open yard, it gave an error message saying the magnetic sensors were being interfered with.
A check of the user forum uncovered the problem - my use of NiMH batteries. Apparently this battery technology generates a stronger magnetic field than normal alkaline batteries do. I swapped out the rechargeable batteries for a normal set and restarted the SkyScout. I was immediately rewarded with an accurate location.
Tonight was my first opportunity to use the SkyScout at night, and all I can say is WOW!!! I selected a star that I knew was near the comet (Mirfak) and simply followed the arrows until the star was right in the middle of the view finder. After finding the start, locating the comet was easy, it was right next to it as expected.
After everyone checked out the comet, we used the identify feature of the SkyScout which correctly identified every star we pointed it at. The more famous of which had audio descriptions which we listened to using the included headphones.
I'm giving this a four-star rating because the manual doesn't mention that only standard alkaline batteries should be used. Also the literature states that accessory "Night Sky Tours" are available on SD memory cards, but they haven't been released yet.
Easy to use and educational, this is a fantastic product that has its own place next to a telescope or pair of binoculars.
Digital camera Review: A great tool for 'senior' astronomy lovers
Summary: 4 Stars
I am very pleased with the unit. It is a great tool for those of us with geriatric memories (I'm 74). Many people have commented that it is a real battery hog. I found that to be true, but then the batteries are cheap (two AA batteries). The magnetic compass is so sensitive to metal objects that I can't use it on my astronomy tripod although the unit has a threaded hole (1/4-20) that could be used for that purpose. Perhaps the hole is only intended for attaching the optional speaker. I found that acquiring the GPS satellites usually takes more than one attempt. It takes long enough that once it is done, I am reluctant to turn it off to save batteries. Software upgrades from the internet are available with a PC but not a Mac (I use a Mac.) As delivered, the audio program list is rather short. The text scientific data is good, but missing a significant item: how far away is the object? It is very light weight (important for backpackers). It is especially useful in situations where clouds are obstructing enough of the sky to make identification of stars from location in a constellation very difficult. for those who have telescope drives without a GPS receiver, you can read out your location accurately enough from the SkyScout.Digital camera Review: A great tool for those who need an astronomy mentor on demand
Summary: 5 Stars
Back at the end of September, I splurged and picked up a Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium through Amazon.
This gadget is amazing! Once its GPS acquires your position it can either direct you to pretty much any celestial body you are interested in or you can point it at anything you see in the sky and it will tell you what it is and provide you with all manner of interesting info about it such as magnitude, composition, distance even lore concerning the object. For many items you can even listen to the description through the provided ear buds.
I had an initial issue where the unit simply would not acquire the satellites necessary to allow for a GPS fix. But updating the unit's firmware (with the tool on the included CD) corrected this issue and allowed for rapid GPS position acquisition from then on.
Note that this is not a magnifying tool. The lens on it is strictly for directing you to an object (via little arrows around the circumference of the lens) or to allow you to center an object and then press the "Identify" button.
I've been using this lately with a pair of Canon 15x50 IS Binoculars that I picked up a few years ago and the two make a terrific team.
The light pollution in my area is such that even the major constellations always seem to be incomplete and I tend to have trouble identifying what should be relatively simple objects. I have used various PDA-based star charts and they've been moderately successful in guiding me. But personal planetarium is like having a seasoned astronomy veteran next to you pointing the way to the objects you're interested in observing.
It even has a "tonight's highlights" feature to help you get rolling.
I'm hoping to try my hand at a "Messier Marathon" in the next couple of weeks.
Digital camera Review: A problem for old eyes
Summary: 4 Stars
New telescope owners--new amateur astronomers--often give up the hobby rather quickly because they cannot align their scopes. Usually that is because they do not have the foggiest where the star named Cocab, or Tejat, or whatever obscure star their scope wants to point to actually is. Well with this instrument, they can find that star. Maybe amateur astronomy will become more popular and accessible with instruments like the SkyScout.
Things I liked:
1. Easy and fast software update (I have a satellite internet connection, and the update time was less than 1').
2. Quick GPS location of observing site
3. Amazingly accurate "Identify" function
Things I liked less:
1. I find the screen a real pain to read. Black on deep red--what's with that? At night my 65 year old eyes dilate and even +3.0 diopter glasses fail to make the screen clear, but they blur the sky, thank you. I know the "night vision" paranoia runs deep, but even gray on red would work much better!
2. I have had mostly good "Locate" experiences, although not always. Sometimes it says "go up" then "go right" then "go down" then "go left." You can spend a long evening on this merry-go-round. BTW, the object was nearly centered the whole time.
3. There's no way I can find to practice indoors. My unit complains of too much magnetic interference and shuts down. This is really a minor irritation, however.
All together--I'd buy one again, without a second though!