| View Larger Image | Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium | Electronicsby Celestron
| List Price: | $199.99 | | | Available: | Usually ships in 3 to 5 weeks |
| | Publisher: | Celestron | | Color: | N/A | | Model: | 93970 | | Optical Zoom: | 1unknown-units | | Sales Rank: | 1,506st |
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FEATURES | - Locates and identifies over 6,000 stars, planets, and constellations with GPS technology
- Red LED backlit display for easy-to-read information
- Accepts SkyTour SD multi-media cards for interactive tours of the night sky
- Includes USB port for easy download of database updates
- Measures 7.4 x 2.5 x 4.0 inches (W x H x D)
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ACCESSORIES |
| DIGITAL CAMERA AND CAMCORDER LENS CLEANING KIT
by General Brand
Protect your camera and lens and take smear free photos. This lens and camera cleaning kit contains the essential items necessary for the proper maintenance and care of your camera and attachment accessories.Features: Top quality lens cleaning fluid containing 30cc of formulated solution that will remove dirt and dust by eliminating static Five quality cotton swabs for cleaning hard-to-reach camera and accessory parts. Soft-tex silicone cloth for cleaning camera lens and other exterior surfaces
| | | Celestron 21068 SkyScout Scope 90mm Telescope with Sky Scout Mounting Braket
by Celestron
90mm (3.5”) diameter refractor, 660mm focal length (f/7), altazimuth mount with pan handle and built-in clutch, 6x30 finderscope, 40mm eyepiece (16.5x) - 1.25”, 10mm eyepiece (66x) - 1.25”, adjustable SkyScout mounting bracket, erect image fully coated optics, adjustable height stainless steel leg tripod with accessory tray, “The Sky Level 1” CD-ROM
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| Powerhaus Standard Charger and 4 AA 2300mAh Ni-MH batteries
by Powerhaus
Rechargeable batteries are a must have for your digital camera. They will not only prevent frequent trips to the store they will also save you a great deal of money! Your digital camera is factory packaged with Lithium non-rechargeable batteries. Unlike 35mm point and shoot cameras, digital cameras drain batteries at a surprisingly rapid rate. With these NIMH batteries you will get twice the power that you receive from normal alkaline batteries and after a day of picture taking you...
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| Starry Night Pro 6
by Imaginova
Increase your in-the-field observing success with Starry Night Pro version 6. Use the Events Finder to choose targets, or make your own Observing List for a specific night or for specific objects of interest. Print out three-view starhopping charts customized to your equipment that effortlessly guide you to challenging objects. With extensive data sets, advanced telescope control, and comprehensive observational tools, Starry Night Pro is a powerful program designed for the serious astronomer....
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| Digital Concepts AA Rechargeable Rapid 4 Hour Battery Charger with Four 2500 mAh AA Batteries
by Sakar International, Inc.
The CH-2630 AA battery charger from Digital Concepts is a must for all digital camera buyers. This product will charge the included four AA rechargeable batteries over 1000 times saving you hundreds of dollars versus buying non-rechargeable batteries. This product is a rapid batter charger and recharges four AA batteries in four hours. This product also includes an LED light that tells ou when batteries are being charged and an auto shut-off feature when batteries are fully charged. The...
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CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 138 reviews)
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Never worked due to electromagnetic interference by mgk (Oakville, CA United States)  2 Stars
November 21, 2009
I bought this after all the rave reviews only to be sadly disappointed. Not one person mentioned that the device does not work next to wifi recievers. I have a ten inch dobsonian reflecter that I cannot exactly move around my property with ease. Therefore I can only use a balcony outside my room. But because I have a wireless service that uses wifi the Skyscout failed to perform. No matter where I moved around the balcony the indicator always said "Cannot connect to GPS due to electromagnetic interference". So if you buy this Skyscout be sure you do not have a wireless service that could interfere with reception.
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Bad quality control by Ricardo Pinilla Garcia (Colombia)  1 Stars
October 27, 2009
I had to return this item because of malcfuntioning, (GPS) problem, and also it doesn't supports Windows 7. Searching in celestron's forum, i found a lot of people with problems with this product, an found many returns for the same or similar causes, please be carefull.
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Unreliable and no product support by R. Polatty 1 Stars
October 24, 2009
I received the SkyScout as a gift. I didn't use it for about a year and then decided to try it out. The Target function did not work right out of the box. I called Celestron and they needed a receipt to give me an RMA to return it. I explained that it was a gift and rather difficult to get the receipt (Person who gave it to me is 87 and now has Alzheimers) They would only fix it on a cash basis and if the repair bill was too high for me, they would charge to return it.
Then, I decided to use the functions that did work and then the GPS promptly developed an error that said "Error: GPS hardware problem detected. Please contact Celestron Technical Support. Still no receipt no support.
In short, shoddy product right out of the box on first time use and no support. I own a Celestron C-8 plus but, from now on, I'm going with Meade products.
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It's Helping Me Learn How to Locate Celestial Objects by the "Cat Lady" (USA)  5 Stars
September 10, 2009
I bought this from Amazon when it was on sale here for under $200. I also ordered "The Night Sky" star finder by David Chandler to learn how to use a sky chart so when I am ready to purchase my first telescope for astronomy, I won't have to spend additional $$$ for a Go-To package. The Celestron SkyScout is a good complement to the star gazing gear I'm putting together (which includes a simple compass people use for camping & hiking). You might need a compass or some GPS gadget that can accurately tell you if you're facing north or south. So far, I've only used my Skyscout twice since the replacement arrived yesterday. I also got this error message when I powered up the first one: "Error: GPS hardware problem detected. Please contact Celestron Technical Support". I called Celestron Tech Support. Then the headphones went bad later on in the night. The same happened with the replacement unit. Fortunately, my old Sony Walkman headphones work on the SkyScout.
Celestron Tech support helpful. They didn't try to rush me through the checks. We checked to see if my SkyScout had the latest firmware version (which I did). Tech Support provided information for the longitude/latitude based on my location, and also provided the offset. The offset can also be found in the instruction manual. And if you search your location on Google Earth, you'll have your latitude/longitude. Well, long story short...Celestron also sent an email suggesting that I send the first one back to the dealer "The gps is the issue. The fastest way to get replacement is to try the dealer you purchased from. If they can not assist you then we can create a return authorization and have you send in the Skyscout to us for replacement". Amazon promptly addressed the issue so I didn't have to contact Celestron again. I got the replacement from Amazon within the next business day. Amazon used a different carrier this time. The first night I took it outside, I got interference and weak Sat signals. I then drove out to the lake where I have a larger clearing with no metal objects around me. My Skyscout picked up weak Sat signal, displayed strange longitude/latitude settings, and targeted the wrong celestial object in the night sky. I wanted to locate Andromeda galaxy but it pointed to Sagittarius constellation. This is when The Night Sky star finder and a compass become useful. I realized I forgot to adjust the offset for daylight savings time (see user manual). I didn't have a telescope with me so I had to rely on a sky chart (star chart) to confirm the celestial object. On my second night out, it was cloudy with some light rain. The SkyScout worked perfectly. I was out on the lake again. Sat signals strong. No obstruction. No interference. It located Andromeda spot on - twice! So far, I'm happy with it. Can't wait to use this at a dark sky site.
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Great idea, poorly executed by Busy Executive (Long Island, NY)  3 Stars
September 08, 2009
I thought this would be a quick and helpful way to make my stargazing sessions more efficient. In theory, if the device worked exactly as advertised, I suppose it would meet that goal, but using mine is a struggle.
First, the good news.
With the latest patches applied, the unit is fairly reliable and contains a wonderful wealth of information. When it's properly configured and used, its truly amazing at the speed you can find nearly any visible object in the sky. This is indeed impressive.
Now the bad news...
As others have suggested, the GPS is somewhat suspect, taking a long time to acquire satellites, and sometimes even reporting wildly incorrect coordinates. Luckily, I know my local coordinates well (you can get them on Google Maps if not) and it's not the end of the world to input the time and location manually.
My other usability gripe is the display, being difficult to read in the dark due to small type and poor contrast. Better would have been a black screen with orange text, or a way to see the text inside the finder. As it is, I find I need to carry a small magnifier to make out the writing on the display.
Initially, the battery meter scared me a bit, showing about half way consumed batteries after only about an hour's use. Seems this is the meter though...the unit apparently needs 2.4 volts to operate correctly, and some of the calculations on the meter are suspect.
A fresh new pair of batteries is often 2.7-2.8 volts, but many types of battery drop voltage fairly quickly at first, then run at this lower voltage for a considerable time before dropping again. The SkyScout seems to think that if a battery pair goes from 2.8 to 2.7 volts, it is 25% depleted (25% of the way to 2.4 volts, I guess). Moral of the story: don't trust the meter.
Finally, there's the magnetic interference issue.
I live in a semi-rural area, certainly no large metal structures within several thousand feet of my location, and yet I almost always get the magentic interference indicator. About the only metal object within a hundred feet of the unit is - you guessed it - a Celestron telescope and mount. But, I have to say, even when the unit complains about interference, it seems to be more than able to find the objects I'm scanning for, assuming the rest of the setup worked.
Overall, cautiously recommended if you don't mind fighting with it from time to time.
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SIMILAR PRODUCTS |
| Celestron 93992 All About the Stars Expansion Card
by Celestron
All About the Stars Expansion card adds to the knowledge of the SkyScout Personal Planetarium. Topics include: Color of the Stars, Luminosity & Magnitude, Stellar Evolution and Astro Trivia.
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| Celestron 93985 SkyScout Speaker (Black)
by Celestron
This high quality compact speaker features: Rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery – charges from computer USB port Extension cable – for flexible placement of speaker while using the SkyScout. Nylon lanyard – to hang the speaker around your neck while using the SkyScout. Expandable woofer – for optimum sound quality
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| Scoutcase Deluxe Soft Case for the Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium
by Agena AstroProducts
The Scoutcase is a high-quality, fully functional, all-purpose soft case to protect your Celestron SkyScout.
Your Celestron SkyScout is a highly sensitive, fragile and costly piece of equipment and needs to be handled with care when you use it in the field. That's just what we kept in mind while making the ScoutCase which is designed to protect your SkyScout from dust, dirt, moisture and accidental drops.
Made of top grade polyurethane material that looks and feels like...
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| Celestron 93991 Astronomy for Beginners Expansion Card (Blue)
by Celestron
Astronomy for Beginners Expansion card adds to the knowledge base of the SkyScout Personal Planetarium. Topics include: Objects in the Sky, Astronomical Distances, Star Hopping and Astro Trivia.
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| Celestron Sky Maps
by Celestron
Celestron Sky Maps are the ideal teaching guide for learning the night sky. You wouldn't set off on a road trip without a road map, and you don�t need to try to navigate the night sky without a map either. Even if you already know your way around the major constellations, these maps can help you locate all kinds of fascinating objects.
The front cover has a specially designed luminous planisphere that rotates to simulate the seasonal progression of celestial objects through the...
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