Aligning the NexStar telescope with Auto 2 Star method

[@humphrysr]

This guy is good. I have a feeling he has tried lots of different methods, and is now letting us benefit from his efforts. Nice guy. Thank you

[@wwgeb]

A great place to learn is Cloudy Nights. They have some great forums like this one: www.cloudynights.com/forum/90-celestron-computerized-telescopes/

[@jordandaugherty1995]

Wow that was incredibly helpful. I’ve struggled so much with my alignment. I used the method you demonstrated and it worked well the first time. Thanks for the video!

[@bramwellt]

First demo I've seen of the auto 2-star config. Thanks a bunch for taking the time!

[@coolspace2136]

Thank You!!! You just saved me a lot of money. I was having so much trouble with SkyAlign that I was cussing Celestron and ready to scrap this mount and buy something else. Auto two star works great for me! Wish I had found this video months ago.

[@everydaywatching8531]

did you get an eyepiece with crosshires or are you getting by without it?

[@garym0ikw214]

Great tutorial. I have tried all the methods in the manual but this is by far the quickest and easiest.. Many Thanks from NE England...

[@gblan]

I just got my Nexstar today. I think this video is going to prove to have saved me a lot of time and headache. Thanks!

[@johnbouley4514]

Thanks 6se setup guy!!! Your the only person I can understand, and you show us the keypad better!!..Keep up the great help line.

[@word_x_word]

Very good. First video selected in google search and your instructions were easy to understand and spot on.

[@GoodMD2]

Thank You for your recommendation. I just recently received the 6SE as a gift and automatically went with the SkyAlign. The Auto 2 Star sounds quicker and easier.

[@YouSirAreNoob]

Thanks for the advice. I have tried on three separate occasions to align the scope using SkyAlign and have failed each time. I will try out this method instead, since I know a few star names anyway. Very apt description in this video; I thought exactly as you mentioned that 3 star align would be more accurate than any of the 2 star options!

[@wwgeb]

You can actually test the Auto Two Star align while indoors and it won't fail unless you move too far to "find" the 2nd star.

[@YouSirAreNoob]

I tried the auto two star align last night with Altair and Arcturus and it worked wonderfully. I was then able to check out Saturn, Andromeda, and a number of double stars thanks to your advice!

[@-Markus-]

Will be testing this tonight as were to take our celestron 130 out for the first time :) Thanks for the guide!

[@diecastbylarry]

This is awesome info! Ty.. About to power up my scope for the first time tomorrow night!

[@Savan_Triveda]

Thank you for instruction. Although I align our Celestron by StarSense I would like to use the arrow keys on the remote control to make adjustments. Thats because the SkyPortal app for iOS is a pain in the a**e. It disconnects all the time, the arrow buttons freeze al the time and looking thought the telescope at the same time fiddle on the iPad is crap. First you have no tactile feedback that you pushing the right button, second if you push somewhere else the whole process is compromised. But I can't make it work like that, to just use the remote control for arrow keys only. It asks for the whole process in wich I can't use StarSense with SkyPortal. I'm doing something wrong?

[@wwgeb]

The best place I know of that might have an answer is the Cloudy Nights Celestron Computerized Telescopes forum. Also try NexStarSite dot com. www.cloudynights.com/forum/90-celestron-computerized-telescopes/

[@johntringali3217]

I just got a 4se for Christmas. Thanks for posting this.

[@wwgeb]

John Tringali The 4se is a great telescope - and just in time to see Jupiter up close. Half the fun of having a telescope is letting other people look through it. The 4se will give them a quality experience.

[@johntringali3217]

wwgeb Thanks! I was thinking it might be underpowered, but since it is my first I will use it to learn on.

[@kalidilerious]

Great video. The 2 star auto alignment is WAY easier for me.

[@davidsongilligan4998]

Very well done. Easy to understand. Short and to the point.

[@JonLikes2Jam]

THIS HELPED SO MUCH THANK YOU i didnt even know there where multiple alignment options ~~Celestron Nexstar SLT~~ so glad the settings carry over

[@domr3978]

Seems complicated and I don't fully understand. I'm looking for a 100% complete auto-find and auto-focus planet, star or galaxy telescope where you never have to manually find any of them or manually make adjustments. All is required is for you to type or say the name of the planet, star or galaxy you wish to find and the telescope will auto-find it and auto-focus to the sharpest possible view all on its own as you then type or say zoom in closer. And does all that without using a smart phone. Is such a fully auto telescope I described available today in 2022?

[@wwgeb]

I don't think you're going to find something that does all that. Check out Celestron Starsense. You will still have to turn the focus knob. Also check out Vaonis Stellina. The best place to get answers is the forums on CloudyNights dot com.

[@sprinta5886]

I successfully hit align for both stars then once it pops up with ‘ALIGN SUCCESS, Starpointer OFF’. I hit enter after it sits there doing nothing and it ends up on screen saying ‘NEXTSTAR SE’ just frozen there doing absolutely nothing. I hit enter and back and it’s just frozen😭 ‼️SOMEONE PLEASE HELP‼️

[@bert_boerman]

Excellent tutorial!

[@garyweber8201]

I'm very happy I found this video. Thank you so much for posting it! You provided brilliant detail and you made the procedure simple enough for anyone to follow.

[@patrickwynne6666]

thank you so much, this is the most easy to understand video, i have got a Celestron Nexstar SE4. i am looking forward to do that tonight.

[@ozastro]

So far, best tutorial. Thanks for sharing the information.

[@1200rexer]

Thanks for this video tutorial its a Huge help i thought the 3 stars align was better, but the 2 as you say is much better and easier

[@leslieboom689]

Great tutorial. Thank you. Works great with my Celestron 130 SLT.

[@daneanderson2972]

I was using SkyAlign next time I go out I am going to just try this thanks for the tip!

[@petermines]

Very helpful indeed. Clear and well presented.

[@michaelfrazier9537]

Very good video! Thank you for posting...

[@frajoko]

Thank for your tutotrials. Can you tell more about de Nexstar Evolution "Scope setup Cordwrap" menu function.

[@WarmWeatherGuy]

The cordwrap feature is to keep the power cable going to a battery sitting on the ground from getting wrapped around the scope. If it has calculated that you have gone 350° then if you try to go say 20° more it will go 340° in the other direction. This is very annoying so I turn off the cordwrap feature. Unfortunately that setting goes back to being turned on when you turn off the scope. This makes even less sense on the Evolution because it has a built in battery. I use Velcro to hold my hand controller to the part of the mount that rotates so there is never any problem with a cord wrapping. I have complained about this before on Cloudy Nights and it is possible that Celestron changed the firmware to remember the setting or to default to cordwrap being turned off. I say this because it has not bothered me in a long time. --- wwgeb

[@lancetaylor7]

Good video, doesn't waste your time like many, but: what about fine tuning the go to, where do you explain how to correct it? What about the speed of the script, which is too fast, how do you change it? Need more info on real working situations, and less on spam , like most of these videos have.

[@TheOmanJam]

Nice video! I want to get a 6SE. I sounds easier than I thought with auto 2 star align. I know most star names so this should be easy.

[@mikecraft4506]

Many thanks for this easy to understand video

[@maneki9neko]

Thanks for the tutorial. This is really good. By comparison Celestron's own material is, frankly, rubbish.

[@harmagician1]

Celestron has not improved its printed instructions in over 15 years. The printer material I got with my Nexstar5 15 years ago is equally troubling as the printed material I got last month with my Nexstar 6se.

[@maneki9neko]

Thanks Dave. This is helpful. I am quite amazed that the documentation is so bad. I am an engineer, and someone gave me a Celestron SE8 that had been stored in a closet for many years in the original packing. The telescope had been taken out of the box once, the drive did not work, and it went back into the box, never to be touched again until I received it. When I opened the box I discovered that there was an bad connector in the hand set, and I fixed that, and got basic functioning out of the telescope. bought a couple of eyes pieces, and looked at the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter. I do not really know anything about consumer optics at this level. (I do work with research grade spectrometers and cameras professionally). To this point in time, I have not been able to make the GoTo function work. And I was beginning to wonder if anyone has. According to this video it is possible. I will have to find out some night. It is surprising that an instrument with this kind of potential is so very badly supported by the maker.

[@ricklaird2218]

Thank you. Super helpful

[@johnborchardt6868]

Thanks for this---super helpful!

[@compubyte2010]

WELL DONE ! well said.. great explanation !!!

[@MatthewHKnight]

I had a good laugh when you mention looking at Jupiter in the daytime I can't wait to try this one day with my 5SE.

[@wwgeb]

Fortunately Jupiter is at opposition right now which means it is up all night. Unfortunately this means it can't be seen in the daytime for your experiment. Give it a try in a few months. You could try Saturn in the morning but that one is somewhat dimmer. The Moon will be near Saturn on April 16th.

[@MatthewHKnight]

today could've been a good day to take the 5se out and do a solar alignment on the Moon Venus and the Moon are close to each other today but it's cloudy

[@NextWorldVR]

Matthew Knight Again today etc! In the morning from northern California

[@datachief7093]

Great tutorial - thanks! Very helpful indeed.

[@briansaladino3196]

thanks , really helpful. please do more for us beginners

[@GarnettLeary]

Thanks for the videos. Very helpful. I prefer the auto two star also. I find it useful to start with a 25mm ep then increase magnification down to a 6mm while centering on each alignment star. I feel like a great deal more accuracy is achieved this way but have not used it enough to test my theory. Out of my five uses it seems to track much longer. Do you have any thoughts on this practice? Am I wasting valuable time by doing this?

[@wwgeb]

+Garnett Leary I've heard that you can defocus the star so that it is a big round blob. It is easier to judge more accurately that it is centered that way. I use an eyepiece with cross hairs which works for me. I have links in the video description to where you can get some.

[@jimholmes2555]

wwgeb I have a Celestron Nexstar 127SLT. I also have the add on or optional GPS that plugs in the AUX. port. I do the Auto Two Star method and it pretty good, but when I select Deep Sky and go to say, Andromeda Galaxy, the scope slews to a point that is 30 to 40 degrees away from the galaxy. I've tried to download "Updates" from celestron, but there are no updates. I've reset everything, Checked my Long. and Lat. position, time, date. I live in the mountains of Colorado at an elevation of 7840 feet, But I thought the GPS gizmo was supposed to take care of that. Anything I missed? Thanks

[@everydaywatching8531]

you said in your comment " it seams to track much longer" with your mount dose the object you're looking at leave your field of view over time? I'm trying to lean about such things before buying my first telescope.

[@caglaozyurt4775]

Hello, I have 2 problems, one of them is ; even though we set our coordination&day and time telescope shows wrong places when we select any planet. And the another is sometimes remote control moves by itself and it doesn't stop. Thank you for your support.

[@wwgeb]

I would ask on the Cloudy Nights NexStar forum. www.cloudynights.com/forum/90-celestron-nexstar/ There are too many questions to ask and the KZbin comment capability sucks. On Cloudy Nights you will have people from all over the world helping you figure out how to solve these issues.

[@caglaozyurt4775]

+wwgeb thank you for your advice!

[@gomcse]

Very helpful. Thank you.

[@dmana3172]

Will I be able to see exactly what's behind you on the screen full of galaxies and color? I would definitely buy that telescope in a big heartbeat if that was shown by that telescope! :-))

[@julesverne4629]

This month of April 2014, the Planet Mars is the Brightest Whitish-Orange Star seen at 12:00 A.M. Midnight 60 Degrees North on the Celestial Sphere. You just cannot miss it with your Naked-Eyes. Its the brightest Star-Planet visible at 12:00 Midnight 60 Degrees and North, and is the brightest 1st Magnitude Orange-White Star in the Sky right now in April at "Full 14 ArcSecond Opposition" you cannot miss it even for "City Clear-Nights people for its now the brightest Whitish-Orange Jupiter sized Star now in April of 2014, its the Planet Mars and its Grayish-Greenish Vegetation Life of now the Planet Mars seen 60 North of at 42 Degrees North Latitude. Enjoy it with your Celestron's 4SE, 5SE, 6SE and 8SE Celestron Computerized NexStar Telescopes now in the month of April seen as the brightest Star 60 Degrees North of the Southern Horizon. Happy Stargazing the Planet-Mars with its Vegetables Plants Sytris Major with your Celestron, Meade and SkyWatcher Telescopes. Happy Stargazing the planet Mars now in April Skies of 2014 until the next opposition of planet Mars in 2016. Happy Stargazing and "Clear Skies"!!!!!!

[@JonLikes2Jam]

what he meant to say was no you cannot see the stars and cosmos as shown behind him you can however (even in the city ~i.e. Memphis(where i am)) see planets, stars, and galaxies with amazing clarity. The naked eye doesn't do justice, nor do pictures First time i had my NexStar focused on a constellation, i literally dropped to a knee. if i hadnt seen so many stars i would have never believed they were so visible

[@ronald235]

No. Faint fuzzies only.

[@aymasg]

hc update was succsesful. and I did mc update now but give messege that no responce 16 invalid model sory for bothering u regards

[@aymasg]

the problem is the motor not moving either up or down left or right do u think the motor is broking ? its new I just bought it I will try to send u smal vedio to see it thanks

[@wwgeb]

Did you try this link? www.nexstarsite.com/OddsNEnds/NoResponse.htm It says to check that your battery is not giving you low voltage. It also mentions that the connector the hand controller plugs into may need cleaning. This "no response 16 & 17" error apparently happens a lot because there are many posts on Cloudy Nights about it. lmgtfy.com/?q=no+response+16+17+site%3Acloudynights.com

[@johndillard7625]

Meade's system is far better; you don't have to know any stars. It automatically slews to the first star and all you have to do is center it in the eyepiece only (no finder centering). Then, it will automatically slew to the second star and you center it. Then the goto will put the object in the center of the eyepiece time and again. There's no need to add calibration stars like with Celestron. Much easier and much more accurate.

[@latouselatrec]

I wonder if I could bother you with a question, if you have a lot of trees what is the best alignment?.

[@wwgeb]

The mount starts out not knowing which way is north. If you pick a star that is straight up then it still doesn't know which way is north and then when it slews to the second star it can be way off. For this reason I would want the first star to be less than 50° or 60° elevation. If Auto 2 Star alignment keeps picking stars behind the trees then try the 2 Star alignment.

[@allanbond3673]

i cannot for the life of me get my nexstar 6se to align, every align method result's in the same thing, alignment failed, i have had the telescope for quite some time now and gave up on trying to track object's but now i am beginning to get extremely frustrated with it, i updated the hand controller recently and still cannot seem to get a succesfull alignment, and the few times it has worked, for example, auto two star i choose alpha centauri and/or sirius, or acrux and vega etc, or even a solar system align using the moon or jupiter, which it sometime's acknowledge's but then never slew's to the correct stars or objects after that, please tell me it's something simple i'm missing, i hate to have such bad experience's with astronomy because i have gained a huge interest in it recently, i don't wanna be deterred by this, i live in the southern half of Australia if that makes a difference to your reference, any help or pointers in the right direction would be much appreciated, Cheers P.s tripod is level

[@wwgeb]

Allan Bond I should have mentioned that the first star should not be too high in the sky. The only other thing I can think of is to be sure that your latitude is entered as south (or negative if that's how it asks). You can improve the alignment accuracy by using an eyepiece with crosshairs. Another option is to defocus the star so you get a large donut to look at. This makes it easier to estimate when it is centered. The best place to get answers is the Celestron NexStar forum on Cloudy Nights. www.cloudynights.com/forum/90-celestron-nexstar/ I suspect that Cloudy Nights is the world's largest astronomy forum. You can get your questions answered fairly quickly most of the time unless it is a really hard question. The 6SE is a fantastic scope. Nice choice.

[@allanbond3673]

wwgeb okay that sound's great, thanks very much, i will try both of those, you run a great channel here, i was acually going to buy an 8se untill i seen your video "don't buy an 8se ntill you watch this" and decided after that a 6se was better for me, which i'm pleased to say i am very happy with the optic's of the telescope, i have had some astonishing night's with it just using it manually and look very much foward to getting this goto allignment issue solved, thanks again

[@nedvedsimao1253]

VERY USEFULL

[@cartoonservices]

Will this method work with the Celestron Edge HD 8 telescope?

[@wwgeb]

+Andy White I believe it is mount specific and should work on all NexStar mounts. This includes CGE Pro, CGEM DX, CGEM, CPC Deluxe, Advanced VX, Evolution, SE, etc. I know that it works on my CGEM and SE mounts.

[@aymasg]

hi l have checked my mc vrsion and it was mc :1 can I update it and to wich version? I have 8 se or do I have to change the board :( becoz no response 17&16 plus 5&6&9 each time I use direction button my best regards

[@wwgeb]

If your mc version is 1 then you do not have the 8SE because the 8SE comes with MC version 5.12 or 5.14. According to this site www.nexstarsite.com/OddsNEnds/MCFirmwareUpgradeHowTo.htm you cannot update version 1. I am only going what I read from that web site. Perhaps it is possible for some bad connection to cause it to report version 1 when you have 5.14. I have NO experience with the no response 16/17 problem. If you ask on Cloudy Nights you will have many people with lots of experience helping you.

[@aymasg]

yes u are right i have checked all posible sites regarding nexstar 8 se and the version should be 5,12 or 5,15 but still very strange when i chek my mc vesrsion its mc c1 whith hc 4.21 ??? and i still did not update mc firmware becoz its so hard to do that is ok with if i send u short clip just to see what im talking about ? thank and best regards

[@wwgeb]

***** From what I've read the no response 16/17 error happens when there is a bad connection between the hand controller and other hardware. For that reason you can't necessarily trust the version information. If your HC is version 4.21 then my video on how to update that might be useful. kzbin.info/www/bejne/a37LmHmop5aoh8k Sometimes errors go away by updating the firmware. I suspect that this is not one of those times though. If I were you I would ask on the NexStar forum of Cloudy Nights. www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php/Cat/0/Board/nexstar You will get people helping you who have actually had this same problem and fixed it.

[@MatthewHKnight]

Wait What! How did I miss the part where it says to put the star into the finderscope then press enter and then center the star in the eye piece press enter 🤔 because I have always just slewed to the using just the eye piece to center and align with the eye piece never have I used the finder scope as the center hmm.. I'll try to remember to get back to you on the out come of doing it this way rather than centering the star in the eye piece and aligning the star in the eye piece I'm gonna go look at the hand controller I'm pretty sure it says center the star in the eye piece and not the finder scope 😲

[@MatthewHKnight]

Just to be very clear because my comment I wasn't when I stated that I have used the finder scope to locate the star but I always center the star only in the eye piece and aligned in the same eye piece. Would be interesting to see if I do first just have the star centered in the finder scope but that would mean the star will likely not be centered in the eye piece would be outside of the eye piece normally when I do my alignment the star is always being centered in the eye piece and then aligned in the eye piece so at both alignments the star is always being centered.

[@MatthewHKnight]

Yeah what do you know it does clearly say, center the object in the "Finder Scope" first It's a good thing we have you who honestly reads the manual because I clearly didn't read the part where it says, "Center the object into the center scope" then align the object into the eye piece... well then maybe this will help a bit with my stuff, I mean the objects have been within the view of a 40mm plossl I don't mean just planets was looking a few DSO though they were near the edge of the eyepiece I thought that was a norm.

[@WarmWeatherGuy]

@@MatthewHKnightYou're right that you have to at least see it somewhere in the eyepiece for the first part because then you can't do the second part. Also, I don't usually use a finderscope but rather I use the red dot finder. The motor speed is set too high to get it completely centered in the eyepiece during the first part. After pressing Enter the motor speed drops down to a slower speed. Also the direction the arrow keys move the scope are changed for the second part. - wwgeb

[@MatthewHKnight]

@@WarmWeatherGuy Apparently so, every once in a while I jump back to your videos because I miss some thing, just part of my learning disability.

[@uzairtahir4770]

is it necessary to align nexstar 130slt before every use?bcz it always demads to align when i power it up

[@wwgeb]

+Uzair Tahir I believe you do. This is one reason why I use AA batteries even when using a PowerTank. If the battery connection disconnects even for a second you have to start all over.

[@uzairtahir4770]

I appreciate ur Rply..thanks

[@aymasg]

hi again :) I forget to tell u if I turned on this. power the hand remote tells my nexstar gps but my scope is no gps supported is.that.normal and it means what ever I have is 8 se only. I checked my mc version and it was v 1 can I upgrade it too thanks.in advance

[@wwgeb]

There is a setting in the utility menu for turning on/off the GPS. This site nexstarsite.com/Firmware.htm says that your mc version should be 5.12 or 5.14. If you have 5.12 you can upgrade to 5.14. Also, sometimes problems go away if you update the hc firmware. I made a video about how to do that kzbin.info/www/bejne/a37LmHmop5aoh8k but it does not apply for the newest version of the handset. The NexStarSite is the best place to go to find out how to update your firmware. I have never had any problems with my NexStar. If you go to the NexStar forum on Cloudy Nights and tell them your symptoms there could be someone who has had the same problem. Joining is free but it might take a day to get approved. Here is the forum: www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php/Cat/0/Board/nexstar

[@JonLikes2Jam]

wwgeb WWGEB thanks for the insight you are helping so many of us with tonnes of small problem to create a HUGE experience

[@aymasg]

my nexstar 8 se gps always gives me no respond 16 and 17 and the motor is not working up or down ? is to mototr not working kindly assist pls thanks

[@wwgeb]

You could ask on Cloudy Nights. They have a NexStar forum. You might want to first search to see if the question has been answered already though. Try this lmgtfy.com/?q=no+response+16+17+site%3Acloudynights.com

[@wwgeb]

This might be quicker www.nexstarsite.com/OddsNEnds/NoResponse.htm

[@amibalwerfliy2576]

ما مشكلة الصندوق تعطل

[@flipverb]

Great info! Thanks!!!

[@samuraipiggy8]

will this work on a nexstar 127 slt?

[@wwgeb]

+IM A BRONY TBH I'm almost certain it will work on the NexStar 127SLT. Check out Cloudy Nights. They have a NexStar forum where you can probably find someone who has that scope to confirm. www.cloudynights.com/forum/90-celestron-nexstar/

[@jimmyhawk3270]

@3:40, he's surprised when the mount starts moving?!

[@jackthehatuk]

Thanks.!

[@walterwold1168]

Great!

[@bhoopathiraja3538]

Hello, guys hope you are good, please note i am from India i have owned a celestron 130 slt scope with all full kit, i am beginner, lot problem i'm facing in alignment and go to features 1. in alignment City data base of India, only Mumbai is listed, i m living 1500 miles away from the Mumbai city my home town is Tirupur so i am facing some difficulty in alignment and the time actually i have confuse about universal time what should i use 2. computerized telescope but still i'm facing difficulty to view planets and moon by moving manually its embarrassing in front of my family and frds, please solve my quires my giving your valuable suggestions 3. please also guide me for using the scope in to laptop i have all the cables for connecting it so please i really need some ones help 4. what filter s used for sun observ \// TRhanks in advance

[@wwgeb]

bhoopathi Raja You can enter a custom location, for example 77° 20' E, 11° 6' N should work for all of Tirupur. Once you enter a location it won't ask for one again. To get it to ask just press "back" (or "undo" on some hand controllers) when it asks for the time. I don't know what problem you're having when moving manually. You can control the slew speed by pressing "motor speed" (or "rate" on some hand controllers) followed by a number 1 through 9. To get maximum speed press and release the motor speed button followed by pressing the 9 button. Once you get close to the target then change the speed to something like 5. To get more help check out the Celestron NexStar forum on Cloudy Nights. www.cloudynights.com/forum/90-celestron-nexstar/ There you will find several people who know how to connect to your computer and can point you to a nice solar filter.

[@Zwcky101]

i just got the 8se and im having an issue. After aligning the telescope when I slew to an object it will center perfectly but seem to move out of view within a matter of a minute and if I press enter again it will realign with the object but will drift up and slightly to the left. sometimes it tracks perfectly after not tracking properly. do you think it could be the back lash settungs? Do you have any tips on how to fix this?

[@wwgeb]

If you do a goto it should approach the target so the motors are moving in the same direction they will need to be moving to track so in that case I would not suspect a backlash setting. If you are slewing by using the arrow keys then there is a good chance that after you stop slewing things will drift in the eyepiece for a short period due to backlash. Another thing that comes to mind, and only for elevation, is that if you force your scope to move in elevation eventually it will become loose. You can easily tighten it up though with a wrench. You might ask on Cloudy Nights. They have a forum specific to Nexstar. www.cloudynights.com/forum/90-celestron-nexstar/

[@profgyland2]

Useless editorial for the Southern Hemisphere.