38 replies to this topic

[Lukasz Tarkowski]

Celestron Skyscout Personal Planetarium has been discontinued, I went to Khan Scope Center and they confirmed it, no more support for Celestron Skyscout, discontinued

[Atl]

Not according to Celestron. It is still for sale on their web site. No mention is made of it being discontinued.

[panhard]

I went to Khan Scope Center and they confirmed it, no more support for Celestron Skyscout, discontinued

I would want to verify that elsewhere. I just spoke to another scope store KW in Kitchener. The Sky Scout is a discontinued item. Celestron is still supporting it though.

[panhard]

There is still some in stock in stores though.

[Lukasz Tarkowski]

yeah they are but no support what if something goes wrong with the device

[panhard]

I just spoke to another scope store KW in Kitchener. The Sky Scout is a discontinued item. Celestron is still supporting it though.

I spoke to Kw telescope in Kitchener.

[Lukasz Tarkowski]

I will wait until they come out with another device.

[Atl]

I think the warranty should cover any issues. As for support I bought one last month an just got around to updating it today.

[panhard]

Lukasz got his info from a scope shop that I will never set foot in again. If I want anything I drive to a scope shop that is 75-80 miles away, comapred to the one he was in 10 miles away approx.

[Lukasz Tarkowski]

thanks for the help

[timewarp]

Any feedback you guys can share on the Scout? I'm planning on purchasing one this week.

[Atl]

I have one and I have found it to be of great assistance. For the money it is going for now it is a very good tool.

[Brent Campbell]

Hate to be brutally honest but I wouldn't buy a Skyscout today. I sold mine two years ago and I'm glad I did. Buy a device with a future-a 7" tablet. Load it with Sky Safari, GPS Status, Skyeye, the Weather Applet, SkyQ, and you will have something with a future. As an additional bonus it won't take forever to get a GPS fix.

Yes the tablet will be more expensive. It will also be over twice as useful.

The Skyscout was wonderful for its day but its day is past. About the only thing that a Skyscout has going for it is that if you are visited by the "American Pickers" then you will have something to sell them!

[kkokkolis]

I had the Meade MySky. Any iPhone or Android phone with SkySafari, Redshift or any of many programs is a far better and cheaper (since you get the phone anyway for telephony and PDA use). You can even control your GOTO telescope and it saves space. I sold the
MySky as soon as I used StarWalk and SolarWalk.

[rmollise]

Any feedback you guys can share on the Scout? I'm planning on purchasing one this week.

In its time it was quite remarkable. But...cell phone technology made it obsolete in only a few years. Unlike the Meade version, the MySky, the SkyScout worked fairly reliably, but in no way can it compare to SkySafari, or the heir to the SkyScout, Celestron's SkyQ.

[Atl]

I own the Skyscout and a Nexus 7 tablet with Sky Safari Pro. The tablet is awesome...but does not have a sight hole. This makes the Scout very handy. My tablet is not quite as good for precise location.

[rmollise]

I thought the same thing at first: no sight...but in practice, it turned out to make no difference. SkySafari and SkyQ work just as well as the SkyScout and MySky.

[FebStars]

Hate to be brutally honest but I wouldn't buy a Skyscout today... About the only thing that a Skyscout has going for it is that if you are visited by the "American Pickers" then you will have something to sell them!

I've been laughing for 5 minutes straight on this one! . Great humor.

Tom

[Gordon Rayner]

Is there a way to buy a new or used Apple or Android based phone or tablet, then load it with SkySafari or other program, without signing an expensive cellular communication contract which would only be used once,to load such an astronomy program?

I do not own a cell phone, but have two landline walkarounds . I can read paper street and sky maps well, am not a travelling salesperson, and know some areas of the night sky well enough to starhop with mounted binoculars to major targets at up to 25X.

But seasonal review is helpful, and digitally aided pointing for push-to would be convenient for speed.

The SkyScout seemed to be primarily for the inexperienced observer, and/or the large segment of the population who are not internally compass oriented for such simple tasks as everday daytime direction instructions. I decided to wait and see what the next generation devices would bring.



Might I be better advised to use a laptop, for its much larger display? I consult Stellarium on my desktop Windows equipped non-portable machine regulary.

Is there a way to link an IPhone ,mounted on a telescope for pointing, to a laptop for its much larger display?

The SkySafari website describes the Apple IPhone and IPad as having gyroscopes. They say that the Android based devices have accelerometers. Is that a synonymous variation in wording, or are there real differences?

Is it required to be in range of a cell phone tower to use the GPS features on these devices ( if that would be useful or required for the astronomy apps)?

Nautical GPS is independent of cell towers, at least far from the shoreline. Are the GPS for automotive use similarly independent of cell towers? Or, does the proximity of a cell tower enhance the application of these gadgets to nearshore nautical, hiking, or automotive navigation?

What about temporary loss of night vision ? Do these phones and tablets have low level red illumination?

[rmollise]

An iPhone mounted on your scope could work, but would not be overly accurate. Good enough for "in the neighborhood."

As for no contract smartphones? I don't think you can get an iPhone without a contract, but that might be possible with an Android rig.

No, you don't need to be in range of a cell tower. A GPS fix comes from the GPS SVs in orbit. You can enter your location manually, anyway. What's important for the sky finding deal to work is the onboard compass and accelerometers of the phone.

[Atl]

The SkyScout seemed to be primarily for the inexperienced observer, and/or the large segment of the population who are not internally compass oriented for such simple tasks as everday daytime direction instructions.

I agree....that's me on both counts.

[Atl]

I thought the same thing at first: no sight...but in practice, it turned out to make no difference. SkySafari and SkyQ work just as well as the SkyScout and MySky.

Big difference here...you are a life long experienced astronomer and author of note...I am just a guy who bought a telescope a few months back. I do not have long experience observing the night sky.

[Brent Campbell]

Is there a way to buy a new or used Apple or Android based phone or tablet, then load it with SkySafari or other program, without signing an expensive cellular communication contract which would only be used once,to load such an astronomy program?

Buy a tablet and use its WIFI connection to the internet to get the software loaded. Both Apple and the Android vendors have WIFI only models. No cellular communication needed (or wanted). Cellular contracts are something to be avoided.

[rmollise]

Unfortunately, not all tablets have the accelerometers and compass needed to make the star finding part of these programs work. Best check.

[Tom T]

I will wait until they come out with another device.

I wouldn't be shocked if they never do. At a guess, modern smart phones seem to have rather destroyed the market for this kind of a device.