13 replies to this topic

[Hipway99]

In your honest opinion, to those that have it or not, is the Star Sense alignment worth it? It takes me 10-12m to do a 3 star alignment on my Evo 9.25”, and comes out successfully the first time 99% of the time.. So I want to know if it’s worth saving the extra 6-9m  by buying the Star Sense alignment for $400-450! I have an opportunity to buy one but not sure if it’s worth it, what else does it offer me besides 3m alignment of my scope?

Thanks Everyone

[speedster]

I have one and like it just because it's cool and fun to watch.  For me, it's not always successful and the auto align choice takes more like 5-6 minutes.  I'm glad I have it but I wouldn't buy it again.

[mlord]

I didn't think I would find SSAA useful, but got one to aid in HBG3 development.  Never looked back.  Absolutely love it!  It runs alignments before I can see more than a few stars in the sky -- finding hundreds of them.

 

Great for sidewalk astronomy, especially when the tripod gets bumped and one has to re-do the alignment again..

[Noah4x4]

As MLord has said, it will find alignment stars at dusk long before visible with the naked eye. This can he very useful. I struggle to overcome cloud and light pollution, meaning available observing time is often short and all minutes saved are valuable.

Yes, Starsense is expensive and unnecessary. You similarly don’t need Sat-Nav if you have a map. But why buy cotton if you can afford silk? Why drive a Fiat if you can afford a Maserati? Value and convenience is subjective.

[MunichAtNight]

Hello!

 

I now even have two, a Starsense camera for each of my two EAA setups, which I mount on a Skywatcher AZ-EQ5 in AltAZ mode depending on the object being observed.

 

 

Although it is often claimed to the contrary, Starsense Autoalignment does not require any preparation of the mount such as north alignment or horizontal leveling of the mount. I set up my mount for each observation night and carry it into my garden. I just put the device in the grass without having to pay attention to anything.

 

After the first automatic alignment process has been completed, the pointing model calculated with Starsense Autoalignment is of such excellent quality and accuracy that it enables tracking for hours without any further influence.

 

Starsense alignment also requires neither the use of an eyepiece for fine alignment nor pre-focusing of the actual telescope. Of course, this eliminates all the nightly conversion work from eyepiece to camera with subsequent refocusing. There has never been an eyepiece in my EAA setups and the entire optical train is firmly screwed into the OAZ. I only do the focusing at the very end of the preparation for my EAA observations as a final step, when I am already positioned on the object I am approaching.

 

Go for it! Servus - MunichAtNight - Ewald

[Hipway99]

How does it know, not to hit the mount while scrolling the sky during alignment!?  I have a 2” diagonal, which does not let me get to Zenith, 65* is my max altitude.

[MunichAtNight]

Hello!

 

You can enter a slew limit. I never used it, so I don't have any own experience. It is described in the Starsense manual as follows:

 

"Slew Limits: The slew limits prevent the
telescope tube from slewing to an object
below the horizon or slewing to an object that
is high enough that the tube might hit one of
the tripod legs However, the slew limits can
be customized depending on your needs For
example, if you would like to slew to an object
that is close to the zenith and are certain that
the tube will not hit the tripod legs, you can
set the maximum slew limits to 90º in altitude
Setting your limits to 0 and 90º will allow the
telescope to slew to any object above the
horizon ..."

 

Servus - MunichAtNight - Ewald

[Hipway99]

Also can I use SkySafari with Star sense or after alignment is done with Star sense?

[mlord]

One does it all (alignment and subsequent gotos) with SkySafari.

[Vinnyvent84]

Also can I use SkySafari with Star sense or after alignment is done with Star sense?

As others have mentioned it’s definitely a luxury item but I also give a +1 vote for loving it. I live in a Bortle 8-9 with tons of obstructions all around me. Granted only got to use my scope maybe 10 times since purchasing in January between weather and my mount needing repair but every single time worked flawless.

And yes works just fine with SkySafari!

[Hipway99]

Well used SSAA for the first time Monday night, had slew limit sent to 63* I can probably go to 68* before diagonal hits mount but wanted to be safe! Well after first alignment, then doing initial calibration for first time use, it went into doing the second alignment, as I was getting some eyepieces out I heard it hit the mount and stuck there for maybe 5-7sec. before I turned off power on my Evolution mount! Now when I turn on mount, Alt. does short jerk down, can’t move scope up or down with controller or apps. Makes a higher pitched sound when it does move.. Any thoughts?

[mlord]

Undo both clutches, use the hand-control, select speed 9, and see which of the four movement directions still product whirring motor noise.

Edited by mlord, 28 March 2024 - 03:51 PM.

[brlasy1]

How does it know, not to hit the mount while scrolling the sky during alignment!?  I have a 2” diagonal, which does not let me get to Zenith, 65* is my max altitude.

My experience with several different SSAA units, over about a 5 year period, is that they ignore your slew limits during the autoalignment sequence. 

 

After the mount is aligned, it will default your preferred slew limits. 

[mlord]

It's not just SSAA.  EVERYTHING ignores the slew limits until after alignment.