bkushner
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/26/06
Posts: 1807
Loc: Audubon New Jersey
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Wouldn't be great to if Celestron integrated the Skyscout into some magnification when viewing through the viewfinder?
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Orion XT12i
Meade LX200 ACF
Ioptron Mini Tower
Orion EON80
Mallincam Hyper Plus
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b1gred
Enginerd
Reged: 04/01/04
Posts: 16902
Loc: Castle Rock, CO 6677' MSL
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Have you figured out how to do that yet? It might be a neat "add on" for an "aftermarket" product...
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"Dark Skies & Great Viewing"
RandyR / W0RDR
GPS 9.25 XLT/Sky Align /FeatherTouch
TV85 w/FeatherTouch
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tog
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/17/05
Posts: 1421
Loc: Front Yard
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In another thread I have already stated that I like the SkyScout. If it helps those new to the hobby and if it can get kids away from the tv and out under the stars, then the SkyScout has more than served its purpose in my opinion.
tog
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Stephen Mendes
member
Reged: 12/14/06
Posts: 15
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I cant understand why all these people want to use Sky Scout to point telescopes... there are ALREADY computerised mounts to do this... and if the hand controller is not good enough for you... simply hook up a cable to your laptop and use Starry Night Pro or The Sky to both locate and identify objects.
Sky Scout is amazingly accurate and simple to use... its fun.. and even though I know the sky very, very well after years of practice as a child (when we had nothing but sky charts and/or a celestial globe)... I still ENJOY playing with it and listening to the narrations.
The children of today are really spoilt... they have no excuse... they can learn the sky painlessly and in half the time.
granted it is a little expensive.. and you may want to put your money elsewhere... but when you think of how amazing the technology is price is relative... the price will probably decrease with time, or else some competition may drive it down.
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Olivier Biot
Amused
Reged: 04/25/05
Posts: 24589
Loc: 51°N (Belgium)
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I think many SkyScout owners try some potential new uses for it, such as using it as a talking finder.
I don't think people are buying the SkyScout with the only intention to use it as a finder. There are other products that serve this purpose.
I am glad to see so many happy SkyScout owners. IMHO Celestron found a hole in the astronomy accessory market.
Cheers,
Olivier
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I think you're worth a double serving of happiness!
Tal-200K (#199) with JMI NGF-Mini2M focuser on GEM3 • Astro-Tech AT80ED • Orion Sirius EQ-G with wireless EQDIRECT • Astro-Tech Voyager • Celestron Regal LX 10x42 • Helios 15x70
ATM projects: 14" f/5 truss Dobson: first light Jul 1, 2011  - currently in 'tweak & widget' mode 
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Gynomite
sage
Reged: 06/06/06
Posts: 255
Loc: Dallas Texas
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Remember, what this thing does is simply amazing. It pinpoints your position in the universe and calculates the alt az and "knows" at what you are pointing. This is a phenomenal technology in your hand. Knocking this product is like complaining that your dog can only beat you 3 times out of 5 in chess.
George
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Celestron NexStar 6 SE SCT
Orion MiniGiant 15x63 Binoculars
Orion 12XTi Dob with COL (SOLD)
Celestron Sky Scout
Denk Big Easy
Denkmeier P x S Diagonal
Orion Stratus 68 5mm
Orion ED 2 12.3mm (paired)
Orion Lanthanum 21mm (paired)
Leupold 12x26 Binoculars (Hunting and Birding)
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Stephen Mendes
member
Reged: 12/14/06
Posts: 15
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I agree with George...
BUT as I said in the other thread, they could easily have given a better GPS readout to slightly ease the pain of the purchase price.
I mean... it wouldnt have increased their development cost any... in fact, a software update revision could easily fix it... I am sure the hardware is currently more accurate than the display... they have 4 decimal places on the displayed elevation field and NONE on the Lat/Lon coordinates !
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Kiwi Nick
sage
Reged: 09/17/05
Posts: 222
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Quote:
Accuracy on the skyscout is around three to five degrees.
Pardon my ignorance here, but is that acceptable or good?
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It's not designed to point telescopes. It's designed to introduce folks to naked eye astronomy. Obviously, some people will want one, some won't. Personally, I think it's a hoot. There are a lot of little details in the database that I wasn't aware of, and I've been doing this for a while.
It has really piqued my curiosity.
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As per how it works - it does exactly what celestron says it does, and consumers would be well advised - as with any product - to make sure they know what they are buying.
I sure hope it does, I bought one three days ago and I'm waiting for it to arrive.
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Anything that brings people into the hobby or enhances the enjoyment of it, is IMO, a good product. The technology is here to stay, and it will only get better as time passes.
I couldn't agree more, I recently introduced the brochurre to my mates at work who are not interested in Astronomy because of the heavy costs involved, and they were all keen on the idea of the Sky Scout.
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I guess my question is - Shouldn't we be embracing things that bring newbies into astronomy? Some posts (apparently from users who haven't spent much if any time with it) have seemed extremely negative of the skyscout, and I'm not exactly sure why. I'm guessing it's the old traditionalist arguement raising it's head again. I look at it like this - It's a hobby, there really is no right or wrong way to do it - it's just whatever makes folks happy.
I'm going to use it to learn the Sky better, more quickly than i could ever do by using my Meade Goto scope.
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I know folks who collect optics - they have some very expensive gear that NEVER sees starlight. It's how they want to spend their money, and they enjoy it. That's all that really matters.
I have a 14" LX200GPS and more Naglers and Meade 5000 series eyepieces than you could choke an Alligator with, Robofocus , Petersen handles, Denk II's etc, hot rodded accoutrement for the scope et al. I've spent a fortune on my gear but I really need to learn the sky better to make more of it and the Skyscout will let me do that quickly and it will make it fun. Also my wife can use it while I'm doing some more serious observing.
I think it is an awesome tool for bringing in folk who might have been interested in the nightsky but never had an avenue to learning it.
Brilliant idea from Celestron.
I would never use it as a GoTo mechanism because I don't use Push to scopes and the 14" has The Sky 6 linked up to it.
Excellent post Tom, I'm looking forward to being able to say glowing things about the Sky Scout when it makes splashdown in my mail box.
All the best.
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LX90 8"
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jrw11
professor emeritus
Reged: 06/09/07
Posts: 550
Loc: unknown
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I have a skyscout and like it wery much. While I wish it had a few more objects listed. It was meant for people to identify objects who were just looking at the sky. Not, just for those who have large scopes.Maybe the GPS is slower than those on million dollar ships planes, etc. It also doesn't come with a very high price tag.I've had 6 scopes now. The first was a cardboard tube 3" reflector back in grade school in the late 50's. The last, untill I got back into it recently was a homemade 6" Edmund reflector in the late 60's early 70's. what got me back into it? Seeing the Skyscout on the Today show. It has helped me in finding objects such as Neptune and M17 in the light polluted skies of today.I have not had any problems with mine.
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Celestron C6n -HD Reflector
dual axis drive motors added
Orion 80mm Short tube refractor
Skyscout
Early 70's Pentax 7x50
Garrett Optical 12x60
Garrett Optical 15x70
Oberwerk 20x80 Standards
Canon Rebel Ti (film)
6 Minolta Srt cameras
Mamiya RB67 Pro-s
Mamiya Universal Press
Mamiya Twin Lens
Mamiya M645 Pro
Cambo SCII 4x5 view camera
over 50 other film cameras
several eyepieces
too much stuff
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RichardHK
sage
Reged: 11/25/06
Posts: 396
Loc: Hong Kong
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Nice endorsement Jack.
Putting everything in context, the SkyScout is a breakthrough product with much more value than its fair price tag. From the above and other reports it has brought many folk into (or back into) astronomy. And has forced Meade to replicate its success.
I give them 10 out of 10. 
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Richard Entwistle, Hong Kong
ETX-125, SV90TBV, & PST scopes
Canon 15x50-IS & Fujinon 7x50 bins
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jrw11
professor emeritus
Reged: 06/09/07
Posts: 550
Loc: unknown
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Right! I hope Celestron is listening. To include more than just the Messier objects.But, even though Meade was second with theirs. It is still the same price.Celestron filled a void by enabling people to have an outdoor planetarium.If people don't want one. They don't have to buy it. Just like there are reflector people and refractor ones.
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Celestron C6n -HD Reflector
dual axis drive motors added
Orion 80mm Short tube refractor
Skyscout
Early 70's Pentax 7x50
Garrett Optical 12x60
Garrett Optical 15x70
Oberwerk 20x80 Standards
Canon Rebel Ti (film)
6 Minolta Srt cameras
Mamiya RB67 Pro-s
Mamiya Universal Press
Mamiya Twin Lens
Mamiya M645 Pro
Cambo SCII 4x5 view camera
over 50 other film cameras
several eyepieces
too much stuff
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johnawesley
newbie
Reged: 07/02/09
Posts: 1
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LOL...Celestron just added, the NGC's, Messiers and tons more... Let's talk...
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