SkySafari controls compatible Celestron Wi-Fi telescopes. Compatible models include NexStar Evolution models with built-in Wi-Fi, and others that use Celestron's SkyPortal Wi-Fi accessory.

Use these settings to specify your Celestron Wi-Fi telescope preferences, including slew speeds and tracking.

You must connect to your telescope's Wi-Fi network before you can access these settings. Make sure your telescope type is set to Celestron Wi-Fi.

Utilities

• Battery Status (NexStar Evolution only) - Displays the battery voltage, whether it's discharging or charging, and High, Medium, or Low status.

• Tray Lighting (NexStar Evolution only) - Adjusts the LED brightness of the accessory tray light. Light can be turned off by sliding all the way to 0.

• Logo Lighting (NexStar Evolution only) - Adjusts the LED brightness of the Celestron power logo and the Wi-Fi logo. Can be dimmed down or shut off for dark sky locations.

• Move To Switches (CGE and CGE Pro only) - Moves the telescope to the home switch position.

• GoTo Home Position (EQ mounts only) - Moves the telescope to the home position.

• Set Home Position (EQ mounts only) - Sets the telescope home position.

Tracking Rate

• Sidereal - Compensates for the rotation of the Earth to keep objects centered in the eyepiece of your telescope. This is the default tracking rate and used for all stars and deep space objects.

• Lunar - Used for tracking the Moon and when observing the lunar landscape.

• Solar - Used for tracking the Sun when solar observing with a proper filter.

• Off - Turns tracking off. The motors in the telescope will stop unless you are slewing.

• Track RA Only (EQ mounts only) - When EQ alignment is complete, SkySafari will track in both RA and Dec to keep your object centered in the field of view, even if the mount is not perfectly polar aligned. Disable this default setting if you want the mount to track in RA only. Disabling this setting is also recommended if you are imaging with an autoguider.

Go To

Simply enter the Right Ascension (RA) and Declination (Dec) coordinates to go to a specified area of sky. This is the quickest way to go to a custom object, such as a new comet or object of interest provided by a star chart or online reference.

Alignment

• Align Using SkyAlign (Altazimuth mounts only) - The default and recommended alignment for altazimuth mounts is SkyAlign. Alignment is achieved by centering and aligning 3 bright stars in the telescope's eyepiece.

• Align Using Manual Align (Altazimuth mounts only) - Identify, select, and center 3 named stars in the telescope's eyepiece. The star is selected on your screen and centered with the on-screen direction arrows.

• Align Using EQ Align (for EQ mounts only) - Identify, select and center 4 named stars, 2 on each side of the meridian. Similar to Manual Align for altazimuth mounts but requires 4 stars instead of 3, and 2 must be selected on each side of the Meridian

• Align Using Wedge Align - Use this align method if you have an altazimuth mounted telescope equipped with a wedge. Alignment requires selecting and centering 4 stars, 2 on each side of the meridian.

• Align StarSense Auto (only visible when StarSense is connected) - This is the default alignment option when a StarSense AutoAlign camera is plugged into the telescope. This method allows you to automatically align the telescope using StarSense.

• Align StarSense Manual (only visible when StarSense is connected) - Choose StarSense Manual to manually move the telescope to any 3 (for Alt-Az) or 4 (for EQ) points in the sky to achieve an alignment. You do not have to select stars. Simply move the telescope with the in-app direction arrows to 3 different locations in the sky, following the prompts and tapping "Align" for each selected location. This method is useful for aligning in an area with a heavily obstructed sky.

• Calibration Info (Only visible when StarSense is connected) - Displays the current center coordinates of the StarSense camera. Default is 640, 480. This number typically changes after a new StarSense camera calibration is performed.

• StarSense Wedge Align Enabled - Toggle this on if you are using an altazimuth telescope on a wedge with StarSense. Alignment is still automatic.

• Hibernate Enabled - Allows the telescope alignment to be saved when shutting the telescope off or disconnecting and exiting the app.

Slew Buttons at Slow Speeds

Telescope direction can be reversed up/down and left/right to change the apparent motion of the star in the telescope's eyepiece in the three lowest slew speeds. Reverse Up and Down is default enabled so the star moves in the same direction as the direction button.

• Reverse Left and Right - Reverses left and right directions in the three lowest slew speeds.

• Reverse Up and Down - Reverses up and down directions in three lowest slew speeds.

Slew Limits

Some telescopes may require limiting the altitude angle to prevent striking the mount. Altazimuth mounts default to a 70° altitude slew limit as some mounts cannot point all the way to zenith. This can be changed manually to set the best slew limit for your telescope. Note that the slew limit does not work until the telescope is aligned with the sky, or the slew limit assumes the telescope is pointing horizontally.

• Maximum - Sets the maximum (or highest) limit, 0-90°. Use to prevent the telescope from striking the mount when oversized accessories are attached

• Minimum – Sets the minimum (or lowest) limit, 0-90°. This setting is useful when trying to avoid obstructed horizons.

Software RA Limits (for EQ mounts only):

• RA Minimum - Sets how many degrees approach to the east the mount can slew before stopping. -20° will slew 20° past the meridian.

• RA Maximum - Sets how many degrees approach to the west the mount can slew before stopping. -20° will slew 20° past the meridian.

Anti-Backlash

All mechanical gears have a certain amount of backlash or play between the gears. This is seen as a delay in the time it takes for the telescope to move after a direction arrow is pressed, especially when changing directions. Anti-backlash compensates for backlash by inputting a value which quickly rewinds the motors just enough to eliminate the play between gears.

• Altitude - Sets the backlash compensation value for altitude (up/down motion of the telescope), 0-99.

• Azimuth - Sets the backlash compensation value for azimuth (left/right motion of the telescope), 0-99.

• RA (EQ mounts only) - Sets the backlash compensation value for right ascension (east/west motion of the telescope), 0-99.

• Dec (EQ mounts only) - Sets the backlash compensation value for declination (north/south motion of the telescope), 0-99.

Advanced

Advanced settings in allow you to adjust other features on your telescope.

• External Power (NexStar Evolution only) - Set the maximum potential current draw from the power supply. Default is 2.0A for the included power supply. Any setting higher than 2.0 requires a higher capacity power supply which is not included with the telescope. The telescope has built-in fail safes if the External Power setting is incorrectly set, but we recommend always using a suitable power supply for the given setting.

  When used with a higher capacity power supply, this setting allows you to charge the internal battery at the fastest speed while using the telescope, and while optionally charging your smart device from the USB charger.

• USB Charging (NexStar Evolution only) - Sets the USB charger on the mount to always on or auto. Default is Auto, meaning the charger will shut off to save battery life when the battery is low. On will force the charger to stay on at all times, even when the battery is low.

• RA Guide Rate - Percentage of sidereal speed for the autoguider 0-99.

• Dec Guide Rate - Percentage of sidereal speed for the autoguider 0-99.

• Max Slew Rate Enabled - Allows the max slew speed to be adjusted from default.

• Max Slew Rate - Increasing speed will draw more current from your power source. Decreasing speed will operate more quietly.