Reviews & Ratings for Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium 93970 Handheld GPS Star Guide / Locator — 20 reviews — Page 1

Excellent product for the money invested. Great tool for the beginning /casual observer or the seasoned astronomer.
Pros: Meets every expectation!
Cons: Battery life a little short, but well used!

I am now in possesion of a second unit. My wife purchased the first one as a gift. The first time I used it the unit shut itself off whenever I tried to listen to the audio. I wanted a refund but was refused by both Optics Planet and Celestron. This new unit will not locate any objects in the sky but the audio works...go figure!!
Pros: None
Cons: Not worth the money

It has nice features like what is up tonight so it propose you some interesting targets depending on what is up at the time you ask it. The only issue I had so far with it, is when locating sometimes its a little offset.

Pros: Nice features and very useful for learning
Cons: Slighthly offset sometimes

Very handy device, otherwise I initially would not know what I was looking at.
No tactile/audible feedback with the buttons (bummer). Wish they could use dlp tech to create a constellation overlay in a viewfinder...but I guess they would call that a "delux" personal planetarium then.....
Pros: Handy?
Cons: Learning the control functions, no tactile/audible feedback.

My need was to gain a working knowledge of the 57 (58 counting Polaris) stars used for navigational purposes at sea. I knew very little of the night sky, and thus started from scratch-- virtual ignorance. Within two weeks the SkyScout permitted a reasonable grasp of the night sky. No kidding!
The SkyScout has proved to be worth the investment as it easily fulfilled my specific need. It allowed me to quickly orient myself with all the navigational stars available from my geographic position, during the current season. Factually, I was amazed by its performance, and when used in combination with a star chart accelerated the learning curve beyond what Id hoped.
The battery life seems to run a bit over than the three hours, using 2450mAh rechargeables, which I found reasonable considering it offers both audio descriptions and a small database. The only negative Id remark on is that when two stars are close together the SkyScout will almost always identify only the brighter star as the viewfinder takes in a rather wide field of view. But, consulting your star chart in such cases can resolve such issues.
The SkyScout can detect much more than the navigational stars, and would I feel be useful for anyone wishing to acquire a basic knowledge of celestial bodies in general. In brief, the SkyScout really does work, and it works surprisingly well.
Robert Blake

I am new to astronomy. The Sky Scout is a lot of fun. After wondering for some time which stars I was looking at every night, I bought the Sky Scout.

I already had a powerful spotting scope, so I just ask tit o find "tonights best objects (planets, stars, nebula, etc)" and it points the way. I then lay it on top of the scope to get the scope sighted on the object and let it tell me about what I am looking at. When done with the first object the scout arrows point the way to the next object and so on. It will also point you to anything you may wish to look by locating the name on the internal list or if you just point it at something, what it is called.

My family andI have now seen the rings of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter and dozens of other objects I had no idea one could really see with binoculars or a small scope just by asking the sky scout where to look. Amazing. I would buy it again in and plan to buy others as gifts.
Pros: Ease of use, accuracy
Cons: need to move head to read display

THE DISPLAY IS A LITTLE HARD TO READ NOT BRIGHT ENOUGH. OTHERWISE GREAT.

This product retailed for $350 in Canada and I thought this was too much money. I found this product in the USA for $200 and with shipping I saved $100 versus buying in Canada. I was excited to receive the device and eagerly set it up. The device took a little longer than I would like for the initial set up with the satelites (gps). Once it was up and running the device was excellent. It told me way more information that I thought it would about each star. In some cases the device told me about future stars and their paths of travel. I also like the "tonights highlights" section. In this area the device will tell you about the stars and planets that are best visible in my area. I bought it for my kids to use as my knowledge about the constellations and stars is limited to the big and little dipper. When my kids ask me what that star is I can now tell them. I would recommend this device to everyone and have done so.
Pros: Fun and easy to use
Cons: Initial GPS set up-location

very easy to use and understand. had to order an external speaker. speaker will not work in the unit with out the speaker extension cable that comes with the speaker.
Pros: easy to use
Cons: does not come with external speaker

We are enjoying our Sky Scout very much. Set-up software did not work well on computer software we had. We got help from Sky Scout.

Our bundle included a rechargeable battery. It did not recharge. We returned and replaced it, but the second one did not charge either. Do not recommend the rechargeable batteries offered, but the Sky Scout is wonderful!