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Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium The unit wouldn't even link up with the satellites over an almost clear sky horizon. This is a well thought out design and valuable tool for star identification. However, I could not get mine to link up with the satellites and went through batteries trying. Garmin technology for satellite linkage would make this product so much more valuable.
with these items, there is a risk of getting bad procuct, but there is no risk of getting cheated, just understand the very real possibility of having to send high value electronics back, if you can deal with that, this is a really cool device, and the price is just right, and i am below average with electronics, manuels, the works, this thing could not be easier, look at a star, hit the target button and it tells you the name, scientific data, and many have audio or text descriptions, that simple, and just plain fun, idea for families, kids of all ages, couples, everyone, it commands ones attention much like a tv, xept this device has you outside, observing nature itself. everyone loves amazon for the prices, i more like it for the return policy, 30day no questions, i would have never got in a car, drove to a shopping center and gambled 200$ on a device such as the skyscout, thats whats so great about amazon for me, on this device, once i agian i was lucky, it worked right out of the box, i get the magnetic field reading sometimes, but it quickly goes away, using the skyscout for a few months led to research motorized telescpopes, took another gamble and got the celestron nexstar 130, tripod was stripped, so i sent it back and got another one(no charge for return or shipping of course), it works great. if you can afford it, and are interested in the stars, do not be afraid to purchase this device, many of the bad reviews are 2-3 years old, and the others i can only assume were just bad product.def get sum rechargeable batteries, people seem to like eneloop, by sanyoupdate, last week i left my skyscout outside all night in the rain, fearing the worst i turned it on a few hours later, and with the rain clouds still above me, it found the satelites and is working like a charm, they only way the skyscout could be better if it was cheaper.
The controls are intuitive and the audio descriptions are great.I order this through Adorama and they shipped me a IYA 2009 limited edition instead. Some reviews complain about the lack of a built-in speaker, but that would affect its accuracy. Trying to locate the constellations with a sky map in light polluted skies has always been frustrating, but the skyscout makes it easy. The accuracy is amazing, i'm able to get most of the objects using the locate function within the 2 rings of the sights. Highly recommend and a must to would-be and experienced astronomers. The GPS lock is usually within a minute and I can even get a lock in the 2nd floor of my house.
I now mount it on my telescope to transform it into a "push-to" scope. The SkyScout is a remarkable device and works surprisingly well. However, this device is really sensitive to any large metals or magnets which can easily skew the accuracy by a few degrees. Basically it includes the IYA2009 SD card for additional audio and descriptions.The best part of it all is that it got me back into astronomy.
It even can locate deep sky objects which I was able to see on a recent trip where the sky was dark. Since receiving it in March I now have my neighbors looking at the night sky and learning the names of stars and looking at planets and constellations that I had ignored in the past. This device has awakened the scientist in me and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the universe. I like many people had no interest in the night sky until my daughter had to do a school project on the moon. I discovered this device on Amazon and was using it with no difficulties and with amazement from the first night I received it. I have recently updated my firmware that took me around 10 minutes on Windows XP with no problems whatsoever.
Not only did it make the perfect birthday gift for hubby (who had no idea such a cool toy existed) but we've had fun as a whole family. I had initially intended to purchase a MySky, but after reading so many negative online reviews I was pointed to the SkyScout - & we love it. Easy to use and set up - we haven't experienced one hitch.
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