Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium
by Celestron
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium
Customer Review: Suddenly I Can Find or Identify Anything in the Night Sky!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been an amateur astronomer for many years. Expensive go-to scopes were nice but not always accurate or easy to align. I have never formally studied astronomy or spent much time learning the night sky. Now that I have the SkyScout I can find anything! I found a mount for my truss dob so it is a very accurate go-to. And my kids and the people I view with are amazed that they too can find or ID anything inthe night sky. This was the best astronomy investment I have made. The batteries run out rather quickly, and you can't use rechargeables because there isn't enough voltage, so that's a drawback. And you don't want to shut it down often to save batteries because it takes so long to obtain all the GPS satellites before it's ready to go to work. But those issues aside, it's a fantastic astronomy tool and a wonderful educational tool. Some day they will redesign it to eliminate those drawbacks (maybe), but irregardless I will be using my SkyScout for years to come.Customer Review: Husband loves it!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the SkyScout for my husband for Chistmas with more than a little trepidation since customer ratings and comments seemed to be all over the place. I was concerned that he would not have the patience to go through what many of the previous reviewers had in order to get the thing up and running properly. It turns out there was no need for worry. After doing the online update, the Celestron has worked like a charm. Getting a GPS fix takes a few minutes, but after that it works amazingly well. He's been able to identify countless stars in the past two weeks and so far, he's totally thrilled with all that it can do. The SkyScout has been wonderful for finding a particular constellation and them identifying the individual stars within it. The informative audio information is not only educational, but surprisingly enjoyable since the recorded female voice isn't too robotic. I agree it's a somewhat costly item, but from my perspective, the WOW factor has been worth it.Customer Review: Get this thing!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I got mine some time ago and loved it. I just plugged the batteries (there is a screw to deal with, but I learned how to work those some time ago!) and voila! Went outside, it logged to the required sattelites and it worked perfectly. I bought it for my personal use, but now I have to book time because my 10 year old, who I have always wanted to get interested in astronomy before, is hooked on it. The earphones feature is great. Every night that we have good weather, my kid takes the binoculars, the SkyScout and earphones and spends hours on end looking at the stars and listening to the explanations. I'm realy looking forward when they get the SD cards for tours. Yes is power hungry, yes you have to tinker with a screwdriver to change the batteries, yes it could be better, but it is great. If you look at the sky or if you have kids or both, (and I guess if you own and can use a screwdriver) go out and buy this thing, you will not regret it.Customer Review: Novice is amazed
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not an astronomy expert but have always wanted to scan the skys and identify constellations and stars. This device worked right out of the box. It's GPS takes about the same time as my Garmin units( I have 4) when it starts cold. A cold start is one where the gps unit doesn't know initially where it is when it finds satellites. I have no complaints and only positive comments about the skyscout. It identifies any star I point to and finds the stars/planets/constellations I ask it to find. I've read other reviews and maybe I got lucky but it's worth it to get this. The audio is iceing on the cake. In the 1 1/2 weeks I've had the unit I've used it in Cancun, and in Tennessee with no problems. I've used this each clear night with my 7 y/o daughter and both of us just love it. I had high expectations about this device before purchase and it has surpassed my expectations.
Bruce Hines
Customer Review: Works very well, educational, and plain fun
Summary: 5 Stars
After seeing some of the other reviews which rank it low, I can only imagine they had a bad batch. Mine works flawlessly, aquires a GPS signal within about 1-2 minutes, and I have no problems with magnetic interferance. In terms of battery life, I've used it for about an average of an hour over 5 different nights and I am still on my first set of batteries (regular AA Alkalines). The product is well made, sturdy, and has a solid feel.
My 9 year old daughter has invented a new verb "skyscouting", and we have been "skyscouting" almost every night we've had clear skies and learning more about the night sky more quickly than ever before! She loves the "Identify" mode and enjoys targetting stars. I especially like the constellation image feature and Tonight's Highlights. I did notice that the audio and text descriptions differ slightly so listen/look at both.