Home > Consumer Reviews > Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium

The SkyScout performs just as advertised. Take GPS to a whole new level with this device. It even tells you where objects are during the daytime or on the other side of the earth. It takes a long time to acquire satellites compared to my GPS and gets "magnetic interference" when within 2 feet of a car. But it recovers nicely without rebooting. It identifies objects flawlessly and locates objects without fail.
Cons- a bit of a battery hog. Two AAs will last about two evenings of heavy use. I need reading glasses for the display in the dark, not in the light.
Pros- impresses the neighbors! Much better than a chart!

Wonder if/when the expansion slot will be useful???

Would buy it again at twice the price!

Some of the "poor" reviews for this product remind me why I find reviews to be worth less than the time invested into their composition.

Some info for people pondering the purchase of the Sky Scout, and perhaps a little education for those "unsatisfied" users...

1. This product is way cool. I really like the quality of the product overall. It met my expectations. It features:
- coated optical windows for reduced reflection and glare
- solid construction (sturdy plastic with rubberized housing)
- large, easy to read red-backlit LCD screen
- large, easy to press buttons (membrane style - my favorite!)
- clear speech (use good headphones, not the chinsy included ear-buds)
- metal tripod threaded socket (many pocket digi cameras use plastic!)
- easy to use - for people of all ages!

2. Products containing computers and sensors tend to draw more current, therefore require better batteries! Li-Ion or NiMh rechargeable batteries would be a good idea. Use the correct battery types for the toys you purchase! Don't forget, colder weather means battery output will be reduced as the cells cool down. This is not a defect!

3. Cheap plastic battery compartment lids tend to have snaps which quite literally "snap" off. A slot-screw is a bit of a pain, but it's better than the alternative. I'll take the screw over the snap any day. A Canadian or American dime works well as a slot screwdriver if you're caught out in the field without tools.

4. Starry Night on a Laptop is too bulky, and too expensive for many people, simply to find out what a particular bright light in the sky is. The right tool for the job, I always say.

5. Don't expect devices, such as the Sky Scout, which contain sensitive electronics (sensors) to work in areas high in electromagnetic activity, such as near hydro transmission towers, across from radio transmission antennae, underground iron deposits, etc. Perhaps there should be a warning on the boxes, but at the same time, one needs to be aware that living in such areas may not be good for one's health.

6. For most people, a 2D GPS fix is more than enough, because most people don't care if they are 500ft above sea level, or 10ft below sea level. From what I understand, the Sky Scout requires a 3D fix, which takes more time, and requires more satellites to aquire. 3 satellites are required for simple tiangulation (2D), and 4 satellites are required to determine altitude as well (3D). More Northern and Southern locations have more satellites available at any one time, and often there are at least 5 satellites available. Line-of-sight is required, so hills and buildings will affect satellite aquisition.

7. Celestron really "cares". Their competitors are a lot more difficult to deal with. Celestron has never made me wait more than 10 minutes on hold before offering me the chance to leave a voicemail. Celestron has excellent tech support, and I'm talking from 13 years experience with Celestron. Do understand, they are very busy right now, and offer them the courtesey they deserve. Their primiary business is robotic telescopes, and secondary business is sporting optics.

Don't be put off by the poor reviews for this product. And people, stop writing poor reviews without putting some serious time and effort into them!

I am not affiliated with Celestron at all, but I do put a lot of time and effort into understanding the products I sell.

I purchased the unit brand new, installed good quality batteries and installed the software on the computer and updated the software on the unit to newest version. in a clear field with NO METALS, power lines, watches ets. it displayed a magentic error icon as well as an odd lat/log. using another gps i entered the gps cord.from this unit and it shows that my field in maine has been telported to south eastern CHINA!!! I rebooted it many times and same results, new batteries same results. the moon i could see was indicated as not being present.
entered in the correct gps cord. manually and it worked perfectly. also the magnetic icon dissapeared. however after shut down and startup it said i was in china and all needed to be reentered. gps, time and date.
would also be nice if it could accept a low power eye piece of some kind.
keep your reciept and use fresh batteries.

I bought the SkyScout for my husband for Chistmas with more than a little trepidation since customer ratings and comments seemed to be all over the place. I was concerned that he would not have the patience to go through what many of the previous reviewers had in order to get the thing up and running properly. It turns out there was no need for worry. After doing the online update, the Celestron has worked like a charm. Getting a GPS fix takes a few minutes, but after that it works amazingly well. He's been able to identify countless stars in the past two weeks and so far, he's totally thrilled with all that it can do. The SkyScout has been wonderful for finding a particular constellation and them identifying the individual stars within it. The informative audio information is not only educational, but surprisingly enjoyable since the recorded female voice isn't too robotic. I agree it's a somewhat costly item, but from my perspective, the WOW factor has been worth it.

The most fun I've had in years! This has made stargazing a nightly activity at our house. (On clear nights that is)
No set-up and it works right out of the box, just add batteries and GO! This is a perfect companion for your telescope and binoculars.