Celestron SkyQ Link WiFi Adapter for Celestron Computerized Telescopes

Comments about Celestron SkyQ Link WiFi Adapter for Celestron Computerized Telescopes:

I used this for a couple of hours last night. It worked well, although, the SkyQ app locked up at one point. I believe it had lost the wireless signal from the SkyQ link. I was concerned I would have to re-align the scope after this occurred, but fortunately, after reconnecting the scope to the SkyQ wireless network, the initial alignment settings were saved and I was able to proceed without having to re-align. The thing is, the SkyQ app locked up on me the previous night as well when trying to use the SkyQ link. There also needs to be better instructions. For example, when going through the alignment process, the app directs you to "select" an object between the two yellow lines. When you click on an object to "select" it, nothing happens other than a little circle appears around the object you selected. What I figured out is that not only do you have to "select" the object but you also have to click on the little box that appears when you select the object. Once you click on the little box, another pop up screen appears which tells you to center the object first in the finderscope and then to center it in the eyepiece. Then it will instruct you to go ahead to the next alignment star. There are no instructions that tell you that you have to click on the little box to continue with the alignment process. When you are finished aligning using 3 bright objects, you get a message that states "Alignment Successful" but no further instructions. Once again, I found this confusing. Once alignment is successful, you have to return to SkyView mode which is where you can select items from the screen and the scope will automatically slew to them. This worked pretty well for me last night. The skies were crummy last night (lots of moisture) but all the objects I selected in SkyView mode were found (note: I was unable to locate the Whirlpool, but our Northern view has a lot of heavy light pollution and I have never been able to see the Whirlpool, so I think this is a function of my locale and not of the scope/skyq link). The objects were not all centered in the eyepiece, but I think that was probably due to my carelessness during the alignment process (not having objects perfectly centered in the eyepiece during alignment).

Another important item that I discovered by accident and not explained in the instructions, is that you can manually move the scope using the iPad. In order to do this, you have to touch the little scope looking icon which is located at the top left corner of the screen in SkyView mode. When you touch the scope icon, you get four arrows - one arrow for each side of the ipad. An arrow pointing to the left, an arrow pointing to the right, and arrow pointing up and an arrow pointing down. These arrows function as your hand controller and you touch the arrows and the scope moves. A real plus in this mode is the slewing speed of the scope. You control the slewing speed of the scope with a slide bar located just a little below the center of the screen. A very elegant way to speed up or slow down the scope's manual movement. But, once again, there are no instructions to explain any of this. I found the manual slewing by accident. I was holding the ipad haphazardly and when I looked at it I saw the 4 arrows and was wondering what I had done and what the purpose of the arrows were for. When I finally figured it out, I was pleased. But, why wasn't there some explanation for this? So, for the lack of instructions, and for the lock up, I am taking one star away from a perfect rating. Other than that, SkyQ link works great and once you figure it out is an easy way to enjoy a night of observing astronomical wonders!
Oh, one more thing,what is with the blinking red lights?! I found these red lights distracting - I'm going to block them out with electrical tape next time I observe.
And, I'm in my 50s and I found it very very hard to read the labels on the SkyQ app, even after I selected "Use Larger Labels".