Celestron Starsense Explorer DX 102AZ Refractor: First Impressions

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The Happy Parrot
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Celestron Starsense Explorer DX 102AZ Refractor: First Impressions

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Post by The Happy Parrot »


OTA on mount. Click on image for upright close up.
OTA on mount. Click on image for upright close up.
This may seem like a regressive purchase considering I already own a Zhumell Z8 reflector so why go to a "beginner setup" for my second telescope? There are a couple of reasons for this.

First off, I am still very much a beginner even after one year with the Z8 which, by the way, I greatly enjoy. In this time I've learned to star hop from my Bortle 5 backyard with good advice from several of you in the forum and the aid of a planisphere, the Star Guide app, CalSky, and setting circles on my Newtonian. Thing is I am most interested in deep sky objects (DSO's) and I struggle to find many of these at my location. This is partly due to my inexperience as well as light pollution and I often feel discouraged when I go down my target list and fail to see one object after another.

The second reason is simply that I am curious about refractors. Their ease of use, portability and quick setup is appealing. Simple as that. Caveat is that while my pockets are deep, they are also empty so fancy equipment is entirely out of the question here.

When I learned recently about Celestron's new DX StarSense Explorer line aimed at beginners, I was intrigued. The idea of coupling a mobile phone app with an affordable hardware package seemed like a long overdue no-brainer. Such a setup is often dismissed by astrosnobs in other forums because "it's a gimmick", "the telescope is crap" or "it's cheating and you won't learn star hopping" but after a few days with this system I have seen the light and I will never go back.

How does it work? Plainly put, your mobile phone sits on a cradle specially designed for the telescope and uses its camera to plate solve the direction it's pointed at in the sky. This is done on your phone and on the spot, in seconds. No polar or two star alignment, no leveling, no WiFi, no Bluetooth, no wires, no batteries, and no fuss.

It's not perfect, of course, not every phone works on it and you have to align your telescope initially with an object much like you would a red dot finder. Find a distant street light or a bright planet like Venus, center it in your eyepiece and drag the image to the center of the phone screen. Takes less than ten seconds. After that you can check the list of suggested targets for your location and time, and it's off to the races.
iPhone screen image with target information.
iPhone screen image with target information.


Within minutes of alignment I was looking at objects that eluded me completely this past year. The Whirlpool, Sunflower and Pinwheel galaxies, Bodes nebulae and so on. The catalogue is relatively small at this time. It includes the Messier and Caldwell lists, as well as a collection of double stars, asterisms, constellations and the planets. Having said this, you can enter a star to get to the right neighborhood and star hop to nearby unlisted objects.

You can move the entire rig to a different part of your yard for a better angle and you'll quickly be back in business. You may have to realign but that takes seconds to accomplish.

The StarSense app is intuitive and user friendly. Screen brightness did not mess with my night vision but there is a dark screen option one can select. If you get a call while the phone is on the cradle just pull it out, talk and place it back when you are done. If you took it out gingerly you won't have to realign but otherwise you may have to readjust. Alternately, you can answer on speakerphone or with Bluetooth earbuds.

As mentioned earlier, it has it's limitations. It only works at night and is not compatible with some mobile phones. I use an iPhone 8 and it works very smoothly. In fact, I was surprised it worked around partly cloudy skies the first night I took it out but one has to be patient while it platesolves here and there as you push the OTA towards a target. It's actually pretty cool to watch. Note this is a push-to system so no tracking and objects will drift away gradually with earth's rotation. Coming from a dob this is not a problem for me but if you like automatic tracking you might consider the SLT GoTo version instead for the same price (no phone system on that one to be clear).

The optical train and mount deserve a separate review and at this point I haven't used it enough to draw conclusions. Assembly took ten minutes and the instructions are well written. My set up is a 102az f6.5 refractor with a single speed focuser, manual altazimuth mount and dual-axis slow-motion controls. The focuser and azimuth knob work smoothly but the alt control feels sloppy on mine so I'll have to adjust it. It came with 26mm (25x) and 10mm (66x) Kellner eyepieces and a 1.25" erect image diagonal. The 26mm Kellner and diagonal are functional but the 10mm seems dim and foggy. I added a 1.25" Astro-Tech dielectric diagonal and a Celestron 32mm (21x) Ploessl to round out the system. If you don't already own one, a better 10-12mm eyepiece would be a nice addition.

Goes without saying that while the lenses are multicoated, this is no high end glass triplet and a quick glance at Venus reveals purple and green chromatic aberration (CA) in full psychedelic splendor which is to be expected but not a distraction for my battle hardened 1970's eyeballs. CA is not an issue with deep space objects and the telescope is very capable on Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and Uranus during visual use. The optical tube sits on a Vixen style mount atop an aluminum tripod which is OK yet reflective of it's price in feel and finish. More importantly, it holds the OTA reasonably well and if you bump into the tripod the image will settle in 3 seconds or so. That, in fact, is my biggest adjustment coming from a dobsonian with much more stable viewing.

Celestron has come up with a ingenious system and it is impressive. Pairing it with an affordable telescope is ideal for anyone starting out or as a second telescope. It is great fun to use, easily portable, and complements my Z8 nicely. I have not been to a dark site yet nor used it on the moon or tricky double stars, so there is much more to learn but my first impression is very positive.

Celestron has four DX StarSense Explorer telescope variants on their website -though I've seen pictures of a fifth version somewhere- and in the US they are priced between $180-$400. At this point the cradle is specifically designed for these telescopes exclusively but I'm sure people are already adapting it to different telescopes.
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Re: Celestron Starsense Explorer DX 102AZ Refractor: First Impressions

#2

Post by UlteriorModem »


Nice rig! Kind of cool application of a smart phone.
Tom

Current Equipment:
Mount: Celestron CGX-L
Scope: 130mm f7 APO
Cam: ASI071mc-pro
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Re: Celestron Starsense Explorer DX 102AZ Refractor: First Impressions

#3

Post by AntennaGuy »


Does it appear that there would be an easy way to remove the essential hardware and mount it on a better scope (such as your Z8)? (I remain amazed that Celestron insists on selling this only when attached to a telescope.)
* Meade 323 refractor on a manual equatorial mount.
* Celestron C6 SCT on a Twilight 1 Alt-Az mount
Prof. Barnhardt to Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still: "There are several thousand questions I'd like to ask you.”
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Re: Celestron Starsense Explorer DX 102AZ Refractor: First Impressions

#4

Post by The Happy Parrot »


AntennaGuy wrote: Fri Mar 20, 2020 11:01 pm Does it appear that there would be an easy way to remove the essential hardware and mount it on a better scope (such as your Z8)? (I remain amazed that Celestron insists on selling this only when attached to a telescope.)
The cradle itself is removable and there is a thread on CN where a user adapted an $8 car cellphone holder with a $5 mirror and he's got it working on a dob. On that same thread an engineer from Celestron explained they worked hard to get it just right in these first scopes. it would be nice if they sold an adapter for other telescopes and expanded the catalogue further. I'm sure they know this.

For now I'm using it as "finder" of sorts with the dob nearby to check on interesting objects.
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Re: Celestron Starsense Explorer DX 102AZ Refractor: First Impressions

#5

Post by Refractordude »


I asked about this a few weeks ago. Thanks for the review. Found this video.

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Re: Celestron Starsense Explorer DX 102AZ Refractor: First Impressions

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Post by The Happy Parrot »


Refractordude wrote: Sat Mar 21, 2020 4:02 am I asked about this a few weeks ago. Thanks for the review. Found this video.

Yes you did and that’s how I first learned about these telescopes so thanks!
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