I wonder whether anyone else has this problem or is it me (or the leads). On switching on my 8SE with StarSense, it usually does not find the camera. It takes numerous (tonight dozens) of disconnecting and reconnecting the lead (both ends) with a very firm push. Eventually it senses the camera but it can take ages just to start the software. About fifteen minutes tonight.
?
Nick Hudd. Tenterden. UK
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Re: StarSense - MARVELOUS for older viewer.
That is what I would do Jason but the layout of the 8SE does not easily allow it. Removing and re-attaching the handset is not easy on this scope, and can take a while. And storing tripod, base and OTA separately causes other issues.
?
Nick
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Re: StarSense - MARVELOUS for older viewer.
I try to keep the hand controller inside as much as possible and when being used I take two hand warmer packs and attach to the back of the hand controller.? Works great.
On Behalf of Jay Cousins
Sent from my Verizon Note Ultra 20
516-329-3438
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-------- Original message --------
From: "Nick Hudd via groups.io" <nphudd@...>
Date: 2/5/25 3:27 PM (GMT-05:00)
Subject: Re: [C14EdgeHD] StarSense - MARVELOUS for older viewer.
Thanks for your reply, Johan
?
I have now managed to input latitude and longitude. Not yet fully set up as weather has been adverse, plus other factors. Each time I try to get going properly I learn more.
?
The biggest logistic problem is that the new handset is very sluggish - I think it does not like Kentish Winters. With the 8SE on batteries, there is no display. With a lithium 12v input, the display appears after several minutes. Presumably the 12v warms
things up. I do have a warmer (dew controller) but there are enough leads trailing about already as the front element of the OTA needs a bit of warmth. Also the position of the camera is not ideal, as the OTA alone is easiest carried opposite to the fitting
arm. I am nearly 80 but fit. I bought an 8SE after checking that I could handle it. The camera position is? vulnerable with me carrying.?
?
Anyhow, tonight was forecast clear skies. They weren't. Moon, Jupiter, Mars, Venus all variably visible but only occasional glimpses of Capella and Rigel. Castor and Pollux winked at me. Experience has taught me that a camera sees objects that I cannot
but the StarSense could not see enough stars to function. It was clearly seeing some. I learnt a lot more tonight however so will ask the weather forecasters for something better.
?
Many thanks for your input
?
Nick Hudd
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Re: StarSense - MARVELOUS for older viewer.
Thanks for your reply, Johan
?
I have now managed to input latitude and longitude. Not yet fully set up as weather has been adverse, plus other factors. Each time I try to get going properly I learn more.
?
The biggest logistic problem is that the new handset is very sluggish - I think it does not like Kentish Winters. With the 8SE on batteries, there is no display. With a lithium 12v input, the display appears after several minutes. Presumably the 12v warms things up. I do have a warmer (dew controller) but there are enough leads trailing about already as the front element of the OTA needs a bit of warmth. Also the position of the camera is not ideal, as the OTA alone is easiest carried opposite to the fitting arm. I am nearly 80 but fit. I bought an 8SE after checking that I could handle it. The camera position is? vulnerable with me carrying.?
?
Anyhow, tonight was forecast clear skies. They weren't. Moon, Jupiter, Mars, Venus all variably visible but only occasional glimpses of Capella and Rigel. Castor and Pollux winked at me. Experience has taught me that a camera sees objects that I cannot but the StarSense could not see enough stars to function. It was clearly seeing some. I learnt a lot more tonight however so will ask the weather forecasters for something better.
?
Many thanks for your input
?
Nick Hudd
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Re: StarSense - MARVELOUS for older viewer.
Good day Nick
You bought this, right?
If so, the manual describes the process of changing your location on page 24.
Once I have everything connected and switched on, I would use the hand controller and select Menu | Time and Location to set the correct time and my coordinates.
The section "StarSense User Auto Align" on page 13 describes the steps to let you choose where the telescope must point automatically to do the alignment if you have many obstructions.
"StarSense User Auto Align allows you to customize where StarSense points the telescope during alignment . This is useful if there are large portions of the sky that are obstructed or inaccessible."
A belated thanks for your post, Mike. I just bought a StarSense after reading what you said. Not used it properly yet (due to weather) but it looks like just what my neck and back need. Have carried out initial calibration successfully however and it looks good. My garden has a fair bit of view restriction (houses, trees) but it seemed happy to Auto-Sense. Does anyone know how I enter my latitude and longitude please? I cannot find it at all in the Settings. I have a choice of cities and have entered London (fifty miles away). All previous Celestron handsets I have had allowed me to enter co-ordinates.
?
The handset does seem pretty cold-sensitive and needs a warmer to function.
?
Dr Nick Hudd. Tenterden, Kent. UK
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Re: StarSense - MARVELOUS for older viewer.
Glad to see activity on this group. For a while I thought it was dead. Hadn't seen any posts lately.?
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Re: StarSense - MARVELOUS for older viewer.
The scope? An 8SE, Jason
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Nick Hudd
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Re: StarSense - MARVELOUS for older viewer.
I have the same issues and your system sounds great,? but I just I would share mine.
I have tele vue red dot that has a flip mirror.? Much wider FOV. Not perfect but better.
I start? ?CPWI and then use Sharpcap to Polar align. Then CPWI allows a quick align which puts the OTA in true north.
When I GOTO, I then use plate solve for final center, 1st with finder and then main scope.?
I have a 9.25 celestron.
Best,
Don
Don
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What model do you have??
Everyday is a winner, enjoy yours!
-------- Original message --------
From: "Nick Hudd via groups.io" <nphudd@...>
Date: 2/2/25 6:31 AM (GMT-05:00)
Subject: Re: [C14EdgeHD] StarSense - MARVELOUS for older viewer.
A belated thanks for your post, Mike. I just bought a StarSense after reading what you said. Not used it properly yet (due to weather) but it looks like just what my neck and back need. Have carried out initial calibration successfully however and it looks
good. My garden has a fair bit of view restriction (houses, trees) but it seemed happy to Auto-Sense. Does anyone know how I enter my latitude and longitude please? I cannot find it at all in the Settings. I have a choice of cities and have entered London
(fifty miles away). All previous Celestron handsets I have had allowed me to enter co-ordinates.
?
The handset does seem pretty cold-sensitive and needs a warmer to function.
?
Dr Nick Hudd. Tenterden, Kent. UK
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Re: StarSense - MARVELOUS for older viewer.
What model do you have??
Everyday is a winner, enjoy yours!
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
-------- Original message --------
From: "Nick Hudd via groups.io" <nphudd@...>
Date: 2/2/25 6:31 AM (GMT-05:00)
Subject: Re: [C14EdgeHD] StarSense - MARVELOUS for older viewer.
A belated thanks for your post, Mike. I just bought a StarSense after reading what you said. Not used it properly yet (due to weather) but it looks like just what my neck and back need. Have carried out initial calibration successfully however and it looks
good. My garden has a fair bit of view restriction (houses, trees) but it seemed happy to Auto-Sense. Does anyone know how I enter my latitude and longitude please? I cannot find it at all in the Settings. I have a choice of cities and have entered London
(fifty miles away). All previous Celestron handsets I have had allowed me to enter co-ordinates.
?
The handset does seem pretty cold-sensitive and needs a warmer to function.
?
Dr Nick Hudd. Tenterden, Kent. UK
|
Re: StarSense - MARVELOUS for older viewer.
A belated thanks for your post, Mike. I just bought a StarSense after reading what you said. Not used it properly yet (due to weather) but it looks like just what my neck and back need. Have carried out initial calibration successfully however and it looks good. My garden has a fair bit of view restriction (houses, trees) but it seemed happy to Auto-Sense. Does anyone know how I enter my latitude and longitude please? I cannot find it at all in the Settings. I have a choice of cities and have entered London (fifty miles away). All previous Celestron handsets I have had allowed me to enter co-ordinates.
?
The handset does seem pretty cold-sensitive and needs a warmer to function.
?
Dr Nick Hudd. Tenterden, Kent. UK
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Re: Let's talk alignment marks
The C14HD I had was an optical stunner but it just wouldn't cool down in our climate which can have 30-deg drops overnight. Before a sentence is pronounced over your C14HD, have you verified that the scope is completely cooled down? I.e., on a grossly defocused star, you should not see "thermal wriggly worms" at all. How is the star test? Does it show astigmatism? Spherical aberration? Other weird artifacts? Have you adjusted collimation close to focus?
?
Is the corrector centered? A decentered corrector can produce astigmatism.
?
The only other thing I can think of is that the corrector lenses are either loose in their mount or somehow installed flipped. Given that you are close to Torrance, you could take it in to have examined by Celestron.
?
TG
?
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Re: New file uploaded to C14
Hi again,
?
my mistake :-(
I have now tthat pdf file (from Files folder).
Best,
RG
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Re: New file uploaded to C14
Hi Fred,
Your message is old, but the info is important to me.
Is it possible to reach your pdf about SBIG relay box w/ C14 Byers Retrofit?
I'm unable to reach it by yahoo link (?!)
Many Thanks,
?
RG
MPC938-Linhaceira, PT
?
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Re: Let's talk alignment marks
Greg, do you have some pictures or description of the fix which you described above, "to tighten the circular lock washer on top of the primary"?
I have C14 XLT which works fine, but just in case.
Thanks.
Milan
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Re: StarSense - MARVELOUS for older viewer.
Good day Mike
Yes, I also use a StarSense for initial alignment of my 11" EdgeHD.? It is a joy to use. ?
I have a few obstructions in my backyard, so I had Custom Points defined in CPWI and once I click "Load Custom Points", the Alignment process starts immediately, going to 5 visible spots in the sky.
Have a look on page 12 of the CPWI manual for the details.
Regards
Johan
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Re: StarSense - MARVELOUS for older viewer.
Mike, glad to hear all is well with your setup ??
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StarSense - MARVELOUS for older viewer.
I am 82 and have problems bending and twisting my neck around to even get 3 stars for lining up my Frankenstein NexStar 8 SE Hybrid. Getting 3 stars well separated meant that at least one or two needed Cirque de Soleil type circus moves for me.
Then, I just bought a used StarSense System, with camera, mount and new Handpad. I was able to assemble it and try it out on National Astronomy Day (May 18th). This was less than $300 US.
WOW - What a bonus. After alignment and calibration in my back yard, it works superbly.
No more do I have to struggle to get my preliminary alignment done, and can even dispense with my hard to use red dot finders (I've tried a few - poor!).
This StarSense Alignment system may not be for everyone, but movement restricted viewers will benefit, as will old fogeys, like me.
Ontario Yearly Starfest registration opens today for August 8-12th - I plan to go again.
Mike .....>
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Re: Let's talk alignment marks
The C14s have a defect, going back decades, where the primary is not adequately secured.? In the times before EdgeHD, the fix was to tighten the circular lock washer on top of the primary.? That's what I did to my band new C14 back around 02 and it turned a dog into a great scope, has been ever since.
But the EdgeHD uses a different system and this procedure is not applicable.? It might still work on the "regular" C14s.??
When the primary is not adequately secured it can be functioning great on one side of the mount (German equatorial) and dog town on the other side.? You just won't get consistent reliable performance.
So it's possible that you have a quality control issue; and I would say, likely.? I wouldn recommend against the EdgeHDs given the frequency with which this problem occurs.? Get a regular.? (I realize you already have an EdgeHD).? ?We have a local outreach observatory, spent a fortune on an EdgeHD 14, and it's basically junk.
Of course you never really know how good the seeing is unless you have some other scope and can check for a "second opinion" on sky conditions.
Greg N
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Re: C14 edge corrector housing-screwed to corrector?
I think you have things wrong. The secondary mirror is keyed and can be removed by unscrewing the outer holding cover.
The corrector lens must be removed from the tube assembly to get to the secondary holder from the rear of the corrector plate to be removed from that plate.? There are 6 screws around the outer edge of the corrector plate.? Be careful with the spacers, get the two right in putting things back together.??
This is the only way to tighten up the secondary holder if it starts to slip. Optical alignment should not be much trouble if you mark the side of the corrector plate and place it back to the same location it was removed from.?
Joe Rome
On Sunday, January 28, 2024 at 11:48:06 AM CST, Mike Shade via groups.io <mshade@...> wrote:
I know how to remove the secondary on the C14 edge.? Question is, the secondary housing that goes "through" the corrector, is this screwed together or glued?? I want to remove this housing from the corrector.? I know I need to remove the corrector as there are "pieces" on both sides.
Thanks,?
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Let's talk alignment marks
This might have been discussed before but...C14 edge.? This scope is an optical dog, has been since day one.? Primarily had astigmatism.? Took the corrector out.? There are three alignment marks:? there is one on the edge of the corrector plate, etched saying "align".? There is a black sharpie mark on the primary, and a black sharpie mark on the secondary/secondary housing.? I have rotated the corrector so that the "align" mark align with the mark on the primary.? This seems to have helped with the astigmatism.?But this scope is just not sharp.?
For example, last night my seeing monitor (Santa Barbara Scientific) showed about 1" seeing (sometimes better).? I used a Cool Edge to cool the scope, the scope acclimated for about two hours.? Collimation was checked and adjusted straight through the back end, no diagonal.? I have an external focuser.? I am using an Astro-Physics Maxbright 2" diagonal with Televue Plossl eyepieces.? Jupiter was well placed and at high elevation.? Had trouble deciding where focus was at 230X and 300X.? Pretty much a fuzzy tennis ball.? Stars are somewhat blobish.? Different eyepieces, different diagonal, same result.? This scope has always struggled with this.? And I do have virtually optically perfect scopes here-Astro-Physics refractor and a Mewlon 250.
So the question is-should all three alignment marks line up: corrector with primary, secondary with primary and corrector?? This is a "Covid" vintage scope, produced in I think 2021.? As it sat unused for some time, it is long out of warranty.?
Thanks,?
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Jason Cousins
Tanveer Gani
Rui Goncalves
Milan Mijic