I managed to upgrade my firmware wirelessly via a wifi module. Downloaded cfm, switch to the celestron wifi, start cfm.jar, switch cfm to wifi mode, run upgrade button, don’t touch the hand controllers while running upgrade. When finished exit cfm, enjoy!!
When I try to follow this, “hand controller” does not show up as an option under “connection,” as seen at 3:45. It only displays “Wi-Fi” and “USB.” I have the driver installed. Any other suggestions as to what might be wrong?
Help would be much appreciated! when i connect to mine, "hand controller" is not available. the only options that i have are USB and Wifi. any idea why i am having this issue? if it makes a difference, i am working with a 4SE not an 8SE
Wish I had found this channel before! Just bought a 6 SE and spent a fun evening aligning using the handset, but now with these instructions, very clear and straightforward it worked beautifully. Cannot wait for clear skies.. THANK YOU..
One other dumb question. I live in Illinois and it's getting cold out. If I purchased a 50ft USB A to Mini B cable to reach into my kitchen table, do you think that would work?
you keep mentioning the airplanes heehhehe its ok . it doesnt really both us on videos. thanks so much for your videos. i'm a beginner star gazer and getting my kids into it. got a 6SE and learning a lot from your videos. cheers mate. hoping you can do a video on filters too... stuff u recommend .
Enjoyed the video, sir! Still learning, and this was helpful. I just received my 8SE two days ago, and it brought rain and bad summer Oklahoma weather with it. So, I’m still waiting. 🤷♂️ I had a quick question though (2 parts) that I’d like to run by you: Once the scope has “gone-to” the object, will it track continuously (for EAA purposes)? And, would I be able to run CPWI for scope control, and open/use SharpCap for ZWO camera/live stacking? Any advice or experience you have is greatly appreciated. Just retired from the Air Force, and wife told me to get a hobby. I chose this. 😃 (I grew up not far from Dallas, so I know about the weather! 👍 Same here in OK. Thanks for your helpful videos!)
Since I'm an Apple guy, I'm guessing that I would need to buy the WIFI adapter and use the app with my iPhone? Is the iPhone app the same thing as the PC version?
Great video. One question. When you have finished alignment and GOTO an object which proves not to be centered in the field of view, how do you re-position it? The slew buttons seem to disappear after alignment is done.
Great video Mike! Very helpful. Does the software force you to use only the mouse and on-screen directional keys, or can you use the arrow keys on the laptop as well? BTW, I love my Nexstar 8SE.
I bought a Celestron Nexstar 8SE mount but I am having trouble connecting it to my PC which is running Windows 11. I Installed the prolific driver and CPWI and the firmware updater CFM. I could not get them to communicate with the handset which I attached to the computer with a USB cable. I reinstalled the Prolific Driver {PL23XX_M_LongoDriver_Setup_408_20220725}, and CPWI. Still did not work. So I downloaded CFM updater again and ran the CFM Jar file. It says it recognizes the USB ports on the computerbut that the telescope is not connected. I get the same message in CPWI (Celeston's telescope software). I followed the suggestion in the firmware update CFM: I turned off my telescope and plugged the hand controller into the computer. The hand controller says Verifying packages, then initialize. I turn on the telescope power while holding down the Celestron button and #7. The hand controller says “Menu, Tracking” not “Bootloader” as it is supposed to. So neither the CFM nor the CPWI can communicate with the hand controller. Could something be wrong with the hand controller? When I turn the telescope on with the hand controller only plugged in it seems to work fine. Any help is greatly appreciated.
@1:08 - actually, the cable in your left hand appears to have a USB-Mini male connector, and the cable in your left hand clearly has a USB-A male connector. It’s important to get the terminology correct.
Hello I've been watching your videos. Mu son has gotten into star gazing. We purchased a celestron SE 6. We have a Sony ZV E10. What adapter is needed.
luved the plane obstacle -- I live Deep in the northern central area of N.C. - In the back woods - city lights are 30 miles away or so - Planes overhead here sound very loud - and the later it gets - the louder they sound -- some nights we have quite a FEW DOZEN Planes an hour go by - going to about all corners of the planet - from 700 feet to 40.000 feet - running 100 to 700 MPH - quite neat to see -- some even Off of radar all together - with ORBs and all included - seen by 8 people at one time even - NO hallucinations involved -- no wacky weed either -- hehehehe - even though that may would be Sheerly AWESOME -- ahahahaha - the ones here were overly lit and much too obvious - something Fishy there -- with Lit Umbilical cords also lit too much - HUUUuHhhhh -- 7 lit - 7unlit - Looked too stupid to be of an intelligence - I digress - hoping to get a scope good enough Not to want a better one too soon - any known such scope maybe - not wanting to get tooo crazy on price before finding out just how little I will be using it -- ahahahaha -- a private talk would be best i am sure - i wonder if there is anyway to use bluetooth for viewing sights from the laptop as the scope finds them - is it out yet -
with the newest version of CPWI I cannot connect my laptop. I see no option to use the handheld controller. Only 2 options, USB and Wifi neither of which work? I've been at this for 3 weeks now and it's driving me nuts
Love your videos. I thought I saw you tell how to bring the Mount Slew Control tap back up once things we aligned. I loose the tap sometimes and can not find it again. I know there are hot keys, but the little tap is nice. I thought you mentioned it once in one of your videos but I can not find it. Thanks again. Clear Skies !
Downloaded and played around with this software last night. Would have never known about it if not for this channel. Having some alignment issues with the software. Hoping tonight will be better.
I'm not sure what extra drivers you would need. I was able to run it with just the install. You should not need active Internet to run it after it's installed.
My red dot finder was useless. Would not align properly. Just got the telrad. Now just waiting for clear skies. Love the cable rap option. Already damaged mine from rapping. Thanks.
I'm new to Celestron 8SE and have looked at most alignment tools, cellphone, laptop. My question is that you seem to always be in alignment. Do you ever have to touch the scope focus knob? Can you touch and play with the focus knob at all since youre giving directions to the scope from the cell or Laptop?
When im trying to connect my telescope to cpwi it says on the controller "BOOT LOADER serial pass through 19.2k". What does this mean? How can i fix it?
My 8SE is ten years old. According to the manual, the handset has a RS232 connection, however looking at the handset it appears to use an RJ11 (telephone) jack. I switched to Macs many years ago and one piece of software that is mentioned many times is 'The Sky Serious' which costs $195.
Mike…thank you for all the great videos. I just bought an 8SE, and I’m planning on doing some light Astrophotography with a Canon T8i. Everything you’ve covered in your videos is helping me prepare to do that. This is my first “good” telescope and I can use all the help I can get. Thanks again!
A friend gave me his recently and I'm the worst newbie you've ever seen. No concept of why this morning for the eclipse I lined up on north, tried to Castor and the silly scope went to exactly the wrong part of the sky. I think maybe I need to change my settings to make it an alt-az mount. But watching the eclipse (manually controlling) and even seeing sunspots was really cool. New subscriber
Thanks so much for all your hard work in making these videos. I just have one issue. When I try to save or accept the wrap cord option within the CPWI software - under configure mount, it doesn't work. The mount keeps rotating clockwise in one direction only. Any help would be appreciated.
@@AstroExplorers Thanks for the reply. I think I am missing something in the open dialogue box in the mount configuration. When I scroll down within that specific box, there are two options available at the bottom of the window, “Accept” and “Reset” - I do not see a saved feature. I will try again tonight. In addition, when I researched the manual for the telescope under the hand controller, page 24 of the Celestron 6SE & 8SE Instruction Manual (2016 version); there is a option under MENU-SCOPE SETUP-CORDWARP and your can toggle this feature ON or OFF. I set it to ON. After that, regardless of the software setting the telescope worked properly and reversed direction as to avoid wrapping the cord. Just FYI! Keep up the great videos. PS - will look at the software again for the “save” button.
Greetings Again, no "save" option just "accept" which doesn't work. I will have to email Celestron support. In addition, you must toggle on the cord wrap using the hand controller before you plug in the usb cable and connect to the computer.
@@stephenbaldassano3788 CPWI does not ACCEPT the cord wrap option from one session to the next. At the end of your session, after you disconnect, the cord wrap has to be ACCEPTed again when you START CPWI at the next session.
hi , can you use this software on a Celestron CPC 1100 just trying to connect the hand piece now and the 3 icons at the top left just keep spinning and the next star + hand piece does not connect. A message comes up USB not connected I'm in Australia and the hand piece does not take a USB A I think its called a serial port. Any help would be appreciated.
I got a (new to me) 5se this morning. I've spent the day watching your videos and reading the manuals. These are just right - straightforward, no jargon, in a logical order. Great job! One question though: is there laptop software for a MacBook? Thanks!
in case it hasnt been said on here: its Mini USB to USB A Does the Celestron come with the USB cable or do i purchase sepeately? Does celestron have the laptop software for macbook? I went to their site and all i saw was support for windows
Sir, I have CPWI and SharpCap installed, among other software (prefer those two so far). Am new to EAA, and wanted to ask - If I use CPWI to align the scope (8SE on original mount), can I do that and then work camera using SharpCap concurrently? Nothing but crap weather here (Oklahoma) in the evenings, so no telling when I’ll get to try it. Or .. how do I run camera from CPWI? I’ve tried looking up camera control in the software manual, but it only seems to reference Star Sense Camera .. nothing for imaging. Have a good one!
Hi Mike...good tutorial but you mention using Polaris (or a compass at video time 7:57) to find north. What you need to align is true north (Polaris only)...not magnetic north as with a compass unless at your particular location where true and magnetic are the same. There are some parts of the US where true north and magnetic north can vary up to +-30 degrees. Thoughts?
Hi Mike - I connected to my C8 no problem with the usb cable, but after a minute or so the the connection between my laptop and C8 stops working and I have to start again, any idea what's happening?
Thanks, Mike, for your posts. An alternative to connect is the SkyFi Wireless Telescope Controller (SCC) used with Starry Night Celestron SE 8. Any experience with this option or post from AstroExplorers that I missed? Thanks,
I have the 6SE and using a USB connection with CPWI is a much more stable solution compared with the WiFi-iPad route. The one thing I don’t like about this setup is that the directional arrow keys on the hand controller (HC) are disabled. Since the StarSense HC has the plate-solving circuitry, I use it to connect to CPWI and use the extra HC for fine alignment as needed. Works like a charm.
Hey, sir. Have you used the altitude limit function yet? I think I saw that while selecting the cord wrap option, and was wondering if you’d used it, or ever had an issue while automatically slewing to a target and having the eyepiece or camera ever bump the base of the mount. Enjoyed the video. Probably watched it 6-8 times now, and waiting on favorable weather to get outside. Have a good one!
Omg!!!! I have been trying for a week trying to figure this out. No sooner had I installed CWPI I was up and running. No ASCOM drivers, no other installs. To everyone else , ymmv. Clear skies tonight so we'll see how it goes. No I have to get NINA up and running.
I have aglined it well on a couple of nights now (Thanx for the grate video). My problem is: it doesn't continue to track the object. Is it supposed to with the laptop software? Is the a feature I need to turn on?
Yes, if you're using the go to functionality in the software, it should follow along. Unfortunately, there can be some drift after 5 to 10 minutes depending on how closely you centered the objects you used for alignment.
Hi Mike - when you click onto a planet can you see the planet on the laptop? or do you have to use two laptops i.e. one to click the planets and the other laptop to view, if that makes sense.
Yes, the software is free. I'm fairly sure you will not need the internet, I've not tried it out myself, but the data should be saved in the software itself.
It's to make sure the tripod legs stay splayed out. Last thing you want to do is kick a leg in in the middle of the night and topple over your telescope.
I'm a bit confused. I installed the Prolific driver and then CPWI and then ASCOM. I went back and did some searching and found that ASCOM should have been installed first. Do I even need it? I'm reasonably certain you have to have the Prolific driver. In any event I could not connect. I'm going to try again with CPWI *only* without ASCOM and then I'll reply with the results. There is a terrific amount of conflicting information, likely due to the fact that the serial programmer's cable is no longer needed.
Ok, we're connected. I had a hardware problem. I'm going to be using an Insignia 4 port USB 3.0 hub instead of WiFi (for now) and that weird SATA 2-pin connector to the hub, the same type that WD uses on its external HDs, kept coming loose and dropping - actually it wouldn't establish a clean connection. I gorilla-taped that sucker so it wouldn't come loose and voila, we're golden. The software other than the Prolific drive had to be installed in the following order: Java - ASCOM - CPWI and it finally worked.
The other issue with connectivity is that the Surface Pro 8 has USB-C ports instead of USB-A and MS's implementation of USB-C on that device has known issues. That said, at some point I'll be going with the ASIAir.
Great video. I've been doing the hand controller thing and taking pics with a dslr. I ready for the next step in using my laptop and the scope. I have down loaded the celestron software and the software for my camera. I want to do visual on my laptop and simultaneously control the scope by splitting the screen on my display. Have you gone down this road? Suggestions?
I use a program called NINA, for my imaging capture on the laptop. It works very well, and I'll be doing a video on it down the road as I go through all the processes.
Thanks - can't wait to try this out. One question: after you do this setup, can you unplug the laptop & controller and will the scope keep the alignment? (and you would use the hand controller from there)
There is a PARK setting in CPWI. I always park it in the same place which is on the horizon and facingTRUE North. CPWI will remember that and if you do not move the telescope, the next time you connect the laptop and power up both laptop and 8SE, and START on CPWI, it will carry on from where you left off.
Might as well ask my question here. Please let me know if this isn’t the right place to type it out. Why is it that when looking at mars I see nothing but a white dot? I’m using the 6mm lens. When watching some of these videos of people using the same telescope their version of mars is almost to the size of a ping pong ball and is well colored?? What am I missing?
I just bought a 5SE. I also bought a Celestron NexImage 10 camera. I like this laptop software control. Thanks for the video..
I managed to upgrade my firmware wirelessly via a wifi module. Downloaded cfm, switch to the celestron wifi, start cfm.jar, switch cfm to wifi mode, run upgrade button, don’t touch the hand controllers while running upgrade. When finished exit cfm, enjoy!!
Great job! Gives everyone from beginner to advanced an easy way to enjoy visual astronomy!
Glad you think so!
When I try to follow this, “hand controller” does not show up as an option under “connection,” as seen at 3:45. It only displays “Wi-Fi” and “USB.”
I have the driver installed. Any other suggestions as to what might be wrong?
Thankyou so much for all of your very helpful information. I am still learning alot about my 8se, and there are no telescope groups in our area.
Can you connect the computer wirelessly?
Help would be much appreciated! when i connect to mine, "hand controller" is not available. the only options that i have are USB and Wifi. any idea why i am having this issue? if it makes a difference, i am working with a 4SE not an 8SE
Same here I am using the 8se
I went ahead and chose the usb option and it ended up working fine
Wish I had found this channel before! Just bought a 6 SE and spent a fun evening aligning using the handset, but now with these instructions, very clear and straightforward it worked beautifully. Cannot wait for clear skies.. THANK YOU..
One other dumb question. I live in Illinois and it's getting cold out. If I purchased a 50ft USB A to Mini B cable to reach into my kitchen table, do you think that would work?
Usb to usb B mini
you keep mentioning the airplanes heehhehe its ok . it doesnt really both us on videos. thanks so much for your videos. i'm a beginner star gazer and getting my kids into it. got a 6SE and learning a lot from your videos. cheers mate. hoping you can do a video on filters too... stuff u recommend .
This is the best video for this telescope I've seen. Super helpful. Thank you!
Enjoyed the video, sir! Still learning, and this was helpful. I just received my 8SE two days ago, and it brought rain and bad summer Oklahoma weather with it. So, I’m still waiting. 🤷♂️
I had a quick question though (2 parts) that I’d like to run by you:
Once the scope has “gone-to” the object, will it track continuously (for EAA purposes)? And, would I be able to run CPWI for scope control, and open/use SharpCap for ZWO camera/live stacking?
Any advice or experience you have is greatly appreciated.
Just retired from the Air Force, and wife told me to get a hobby. I chose this. 😃
(I grew up not far from Dallas, so I know about the weather! 👍 Same here in OK. Thanks for your helpful videos!)
Since I'm an Apple guy, I'm guessing that I would need to buy the WIFI adapter and use the app with my iPhone? Is the iPhone app the same thing as the PC version?
My 8se connection shows only USB and Wifi. There is no handcontroller conncetion.
What problems? usb cable pboblem??
Thanks,,,,
Great video. One question. When you have finished alignment and GOTO an object which proves not to be centered in the field of view, how do you re-position it? The slew buttons seem to disappear after alignment is done.
There should be an option to pull up the slew buttons in the software. You can also use the hand controller.
I'm thinking you will go with the Celestron Power Tank Lithium because its compact.
Great video Mike! Very helpful. Does the software force you to use only the mouse and on-screen directional keys, or can you use the arrow keys on the laptop as well? BTW, I love my Nexstar 8SE.
I bought a Celestron Nexstar 8SE mount but I am having trouble connecting it to my PC which is running Windows 11. I Installed the prolific driver and CPWI and the firmware updater CFM. I could not get them to communicate with the handset which I attached to the computer with a USB cable. I reinstalled the Prolific Driver {PL23XX_M_LongoDriver_Setup_408_20220725}, and CPWI. Still did not work.
So I downloaded CFM updater again and ran the CFM Jar file. It says it recognizes the USB ports on the computerbut that the telescope is not connected. I get the same message in CPWI (Celeston's telescope software). I followed the suggestion in the firmware update CFM: I turned off my telescope and plugged the hand controller into the computer. The hand controller says Verifying packages, then initialize. I turn on the telescope power while holding down the Celestron button and #7. The hand controller says “Menu, Tracking” not “Bootloader” as it is supposed to. So neither the CFM nor the CPWI can communicate with the hand controller. Could something be wrong with the hand controller? When I turn the telescope on with the hand controller only plugged in it seems to work fine. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Ok, just talked with Celestron. The new CPWI doesn't use hand controller anymore; it will only say USB or Wifi.
@1:08 - actually, the cable in your left hand appears to have a USB-Mini male connector, and the cable in your left hand clearly has a USB-A male connector. It’s important to get the terminology correct.
Hello I've been watching your videos. Mu son has gotten into star gazing. We purchased a celestron SE 6. We have a Sony ZV E10. What adapter is needed.
luved the plane obstacle -- I live Deep in the northern central area of N.C. - In the back woods - city lights are 30 miles away or so - Planes overhead here sound very loud - and the later it gets - the louder they sound -- some nights we have quite a FEW DOZEN Planes an hour go by - going to about all corners of the planet - from 700 feet to 40.000 feet - running 100 to 700 MPH - quite neat to see -- some even Off of radar all together - with ORBs and all included - seen by 8 people at one time even - NO hallucinations involved -- no wacky weed either -- hehehehe - even though that may would be Sheerly AWESOME -- ahahahaha - the ones here were overly lit and much too obvious - something Fishy there -- with Lit Umbilical cords also lit too much - HUUUuHhhhh -- 7 lit - 7unlit - Looked too stupid to be of an intelligence - I digress - hoping to get a scope good enough Not to want a better one too soon - any known such scope maybe - not wanting to get tooo crazy on price before finding out just how little I will be using it -- ahahahaha -- a private talk would be best i am sure - i wonder if there is anyway to use bluetooth for viewing sights from the laptop as the scope finds them - is it out yet -
Getting this message on connecting the Nextstar+ (6se) with laptop "Boot loader serial pass through 19.2k". Please help
with the newest version of CPWI I cannot connect my laptop. I see no option to use the handheld controller. Only 2 options, USB and Wifi neither of which work? I've been at this for 3 weeks now and it's driving me nuts
Love your videos. I thought I saw you tell how to bring the Mount Slew Control tap back up once things we aligned. I loose the tap sometimes and can not find it again. I know there are hot keys, but the little tap is nice. I thought you mentioned it once in one of your videos but I can not find it. Thanks again. Clear Skies !
I am not seeing "hand controller" for connecting. Just seeing UBS and wifi?
Downloaded and played around with this software last night. Would have never known about it if not for this channel. Having some alignment issues with the software. Hoping tonight will be better.
You should do a video using SharpCap Pro! Great videos!
do you still need wifi in your laptop or the WiFi Module on your telescope? thanks
I don’t have a usb connection on my telescope its rj-11 😢
What does Sky Portal do that this doesn’t? Great vids btw!
My name is William I'm new at this what drivers do I got to download to work cpwi software and do I need internet to run
I'm not sure what extra drivers you would need. I was able to run it with just the install.
You should not need active Internet to run it after it's installed.
So you just plugged it in and it worked automatically
Why you didn't show how it looks in the screen,, i guess would be more interesting
Thank you for all the great content. Waiting for some clear nights around here... at least I can learn something on youtube and prepare myself!
I've just purchased one thank you for the information
i am dreaming to buy this telescope
My red dot finder was useless. Would not align properly. Just got the telrad. Now just waiting for clear skies. Love the cable rap option. Already damaged mine from rapping. Thanks.
Yeah, I've had to quickly stop or unplug a couple times. Honestly should be on by default!
I'm new to Celestron 8SE and have looked at most alignment tools, cellphone, laptop. My question is that you seem to always be in alignment. Do you ever have to touch the scope focus knob? Can you touch and play with the focus knob at all since youre giving directions to the scope from the cell or Laptop?
problem scope will not align nevada help please
Thanks! Too bad the software does not run on MAC.
I know. Are there any alternatives for macOS?
When im trying to connect my telescope to cpwi it says on the controller "BOOT LOADER serial pass through 19.2k". What does this mean? How can i fix it?
The software I downloaded did not have the laptop as an option? Please advise
Can a tablet be used instead of a laptop?
amazing video, thank you so much. One question, Do you know if there is a CPWI equivalent on Mac?
Unfortunately I'm sure if there is.
Very well done, all questions answered!!
My 8SE is ten years old. According to the manual, the handset has a RS232 connection, however looking at the handset it appears to use an RJ11 (telephone) jack. I switched to Macs many years ago and one piece of software that is mentioned many times is 'The Sky Serious' which costs $195.
can you show how to put a zwo camera on your 8 se?
Mike…thank you for all the great videos. I just bought an 8SE, and I’m planning on doing some light Astrophotography with a Canon T8i. Everything you’ve covered in your videos is helping me prepare to do that. This is my first “good” telescope and I can use all the help I can get. Thanks again!
Awesome! Glad I can help!
A friend gave me his recently and I'm the worst newbie you've ever seen. No concept of why this morning for the eclipse I lined up on north, tried to Castor and the silly scope went to exactly the wrong part of the sky. I think maybe I need to change my settings to make it an alt-az mount. But watching the eclipse (manually controlling) and even seeing sunspots was really cool. New subscriber
Thanks so much for all your hard work in making these videos. I just have one issue. When I try to save or accept the wrap cord option within the CPWI software - under configure mount, it doesn't work. The mount keeps rotating clockwise in one direction only. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks! Are you scrolling down and pushing the save button? If that's not working contacting Celestron might be the next step.
@@AstroExplorers Thanks for the reply. I think I am missing something in the open dialogue box in the mount configuration. When I scroll down within that specific box, there are two options available at the bottom of the window, “Accept” and “Reset” - I do not see a saved feature. I will try again tonight. In addition, when I researched the manual for the telescope under the hand controller, page 24 of the Celestron 6SE & 8SE Instruction Manual (2016 version); there is a option under MENU-SCOPE SETUP-CORDWARP and your can toggle this feature ON or OFF. I set it to ON. After that, regardless of the software setting the telescope worked properly and reversed direction as to avoid wrapping the cord. Just FYI! Keep up the great videos. PS - will look at the software again for the “save” button.
Greetings Again, no "save" option just "accept" which doesn't work. I will have to email Celestron support. In addition, you must toggle on the cord wrap using the hand controller before you plug in the usb cable and connect to the computer.
@@stephenbaldassano3788 CPWI does not ACCEPT the cord wrap option from one session to the next. At the end of your session, after you disconnect, the cord wrap has to be ACCEPTed again when you START CPWI at the next session.
hi , can you use this software on a Celestron CPC 1100 just trying to connect the hand piece now and the 3 icons at the top left just keep spinning and the next star + hand piece does not connect. A message comes up USB not connected I'm in Australia and the hand piece does not take a USB A I think its called a serial port. Any help would be appreciated.
I got a (new to me) 5se this morning. I've spent the day watching your videos and reading the manuals. These are just right - straightforward, no jargon, in a logical order. Great job!
One question though: is there laptop software for a MacBook? Thanks!
Waiting on my USB cable to come in the mail and then I'm going to try this software out. Thanks for the great tutorial on this.
You're welcome!
in case it hasnt been said on here: its Mini USB to USB A
Does the Celestron come with the USB cable or do i purchase sepeately? Does celestron have the laptop software for macbook? I went to their site and all i saw was support for windows
Great video!
Sir,
I have CPWI and SharpCap installed, among other software (prefer those two so far). Am new to EAA, and wanted to ask -
If I use CPWI to align the scope (8SE on original mount), can I do that and then work camera using SharpCap concurrently? Nothing but crap weather here (Oklahoma) in the evenings, so no telling when I’ll get to try it. Or .. how do I run camera from CPWI? I’ve tried looking up camera control in the software manual, but it only seems to reference Star Sense Camera .. nothing for imaging.
Have a good one!
Hi Mike...good tutorial but you mention using Polaris (or a compass at video time 7:57) to find north. What you need to align is true north (Polaris only)...not magnetic north as with a compass unless at your particular location where true and magnetic are the same. There are some parts of the US where true north and magnetic north can vary up to +-30 degrees. Thoughts?
Hi Mike - I connected to my C8 no problem with the usb cable, but after a minute or so the the connection between my laptop and C8 stops working and I have to start again, any idea what's happening?
How and when did you put the telescope in focus? Thanks for your posting. Your posts are my Go-To how-to.
How different is CPWI from NexRemote?
QUESTION: before doing all these things do I have to align the telescope to three stars manually?
Thanks, Mike, for your posts. An alternative to connect is the SkyFi Wireless Telescope Controller (SCC) used with Starry Night Celestron SE 8. Any experience with this option or post from AstroExplorers that I missed? Thanks,
Question, where did you buy your Celestron 8Se? Can’t seem to find it locally!
Does anyone know if this software will work with an Orion Atlas EQ-G GoTo mount?
Great video, thanks for posting, Next time, please some editing to make it shorter and on the spot. 1.5x did the job
can you do the same with Celestron NexStar 5SE?
Yes, you should be able to do that with the 5se
@@AstroExplorers thank you 😊 ❤️
I have the 6SE and using a USB connection with CPWI is a much more stable solution compared with the WiFi-iPad route. The one thing I don’t like about this setup is that the directional arrow keys on the hand controller (HC) are disabled. Since the StarSense HC has the plate-solving circuitry, I use it to connect to CPWI and use the extra HC for fine alignment as needed. Works like a charm.
Thank you. Excellent video.
great illustration! can we use computer and hand controller simutaneously?
Is it possible to establish a connection via Linux?
Hey, sir. Have you used the altitude limit function yet? I think I saw that while selecting the cord wrap option, and was wondering if you’d used it, or ever had an issue while automatically slewing to a target and having the eyepiece or camera ever bump the base of the mount.
Enjoyed the video. Probably watched it 6-8 times now, and waiting on favorable weather to get outside. Have a good one!
thank you!!!! it was super super helpful!!!! thanks again
Omg!!!! I have been trying for a week trying to figure this out. No sooner had I installed CWPI I was up and running. No ASCOM drivers, no other installs. To everyone else , ymmv. Clear skies tonight so we'll see how it goes. No I have to get NINA up and running.
Glad I could help!
An alternative program is Stellarium.
Thank You, But I use Mac and CPWI is not compatible with Mac. Any other software you recommend which works with Macbook?
Unfortunately, I don't know other software right now that would be able to be used.
I have aglined it well on a couple of nights now (Thanx for the grate video). My problem is: it doesn't continue to track the object. Is it supposed to with the laptop software? Is the a feature I need to turn on?
Yes, if you're using the go to functionality in the software, it should follow along. Unfortunately, there can be some drift after 5 to 10 minutes depending on how closely you centered the objects you used for alignment.
Hi Mike - when you click onto a planet can you see the planet on the laptop? or do you have to use two laptops i.e. one to click the planets and the other laptop to view, if that makes sense.
Does this work on the nexstar 127 slt
interesting, easy to search for objects in the sky 👍👍👍👍
So, I guess the software is free, correct? Also, I am assuming you will need internet to make it work? Thank you for the great videos!
Yes, the software is free. I'm fairly sure you will not need the internet, I've not tried it out myself, but the data should be saved in the software itself.
How is this scope in the winter and colder months? I’m from Boston
I leave mine out in the shed, has been down to about 8 degrees Fahrenheit. Works just fine when I pull it out again.
@@AstroExplorers good to know. Just got my 6se. I caved and got the smaller. I’m glad I did. What a monster of a scope lol
Quick question is the piece under the tripod that holds eyepieces needed for balance
It's to make sure the tripod legs stay splayed out. Last thing you want to do is kick a leg in in the middle of the night and topple over your telescope.
really cool tutorial, you made me make the desicion beetween the telescopes i wanted
I'm a bit confused. I installed the Prolific driver and then CPWI and then ASCOM. I went back and did some searching and found that ASCOM should have been installed first. Do I even need it? I'm reasonably certain you have to have the Prolific driver. In any event I could not connect. I'm going to try again with CPWI *only* without ASCOM and then I'll reply with the results. There is a terrific amount of conflicting information, likely due to the fact that the serial programmer's cable is no longer needed.
Ok, we're connected. I had a hardware problem. I'm going to be using an Insignia 4 port USB 3.0 hub instead of WiFi (for now) and that weird SATA 2-pin connector to the hub, the same type that WD uses on its external HDs, kept coming loose and dropping - actually it wouldn't establish a clean connection. I gorilla-taped that sucker so it wouldn't come loose and voila, we're golden. The software other than the Prolific drive had to be installed in the following order: Java - ASCOM - CPWI and it finally worked.
The other issue with connectivity is that the Surface Pro 8 has USB-C ports instead of USB-A and MS's implementation of USB-C on that device has known issues. That said, at some point I'll be going with the ASIAir.
Thank You for the great videos, do I need to have internet to the laptop 💻, please let me know.
You should not need an active Internet connection
Thank you for doing this
Just downloaded time to start learning if the fog ever lifts. I am a newbie also with a 8se thanks for your help.
Not a problem, glad you're enjoying the videos!
Awesome video. Thank you. Following you 🖖🏼
Thanks!
Great video. I've been doing the hand controller thing and taking pics with a dslr. I ready for the next step in using my laptop and the scope. I have down loaded the celestron software and the software for my camera. I want to do visual on my laptop and simultaneously control the scope by splitting the screen on my display. Have you gone down this road? Suggestions?
I use a program called NINA, for my imaging capture on the laptop. It works very well, and I'll be doing a video on it down the road as I go through all the processes.
digiCam Control is also a good FREE program to use.
Fantastic. Thanks for sharing 👏👏😍
My pleasure 😊
What a great video!!! I just got a 4se as a gift, I am hoping it has similar software
I'm not 100% positive, but I do believe the same software should work with it.
Thanks - can't wait to try this out. One question: after you do this setup, can you unplug the laptop & controller and will the scope keep the alignment? (and you would use the hand controller from there)
No, you'll still need to use the laptop for all the go to functionality. The hand controller does not keep the alignment from the laptop.
There is a PARK setting in CPWI. I always park it in the same place which is on the horizon and facingTRUE North. CPWI will remember that and if you do not move the telescope, the next time you connect the laptop and power up both laptop and 8SE, and START on CPWI, it will carry on from where you left off.
Pardon me, the CPWI software doesn’t run on my MacBook Pro. What I do???
I don't have any good Mac options yet, but once I do I'll share.
Might as well ask my question here. Please let me know if this isn’t the right place to type it out. Why is it that when looking at mars I see nothing but a white dot? I’m using the 6mm lens. When watching some of these videos of people using the same telescope their version of mars is almost to the size of a ping pong ball and is well colored?? What am I missing?
Great movie. Greetings from Poland
Thanks!
Thank you. I’ll be purchasing this scope and this is very helpful
I'm glad I could help!
@@AstroExplorers could you recommend eye pieces?
Amazing video. Thank you.
Thanks!
This app is not available for iOS 😢
Yeah, I've noticed from other comments apple isn't well supported for astrophotography software.
@@AstroExplorers well stellarium is so I have that and I’m trying the SkyPortal Wi-Fi
Super helpful. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
Also, what is the name of the cable?
The cable should be a USB A to USB Mini B cable, you'll want to double check your hand controller to make sure you get the correct cable.
@@AstroExplorers www.amazon.com/JSAUX-Charging-Compatible-Controller-Receiver/dp/B07L71FQDB/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?gclid=CjwKCAiAy_CcBhBeEiwAcoMRHF2NUj0CkXXNo8b0b4BzeaPvdV5K6Jk0pFrd9vkEHUDkk-7MduyNORoCbVYQAvD_BwE&hvadid=616931533375&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9022239&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=16593757009433425268&hvtargid=kwd-4916034009&hydadcr=24633_13611805&keywords=usb%2Ba%2Bto%2Bmini-b%2Bcable&qid=1671213509&sr=8-1-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzVEU2UFY2UzVTV1k1JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTUzMjAwMVIwNjVHVERVTjJQNCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNDM0NDkxMTVIMU9VV0hESE5BMSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1
@@AstroExplorers So, like this one? I am tech challenged
It requires a usb-A to usb Mini cord. Fortunately after driving all over God's creation I found one.
Could you link me these please I'll be waiting patiently thinks. Just copy and paste in the comments