Celestron 94034 StarSense AutoAlign V2 User Manual

StarSense AutoAlign V2

ENGLISH # 94034

StarSense

AutoAlign V2

With the Celestron StarSense AutoAlign Version 2 (SSAA), using a

Celestron telescope has never been easier. This all-in-one accessory

automatically aligns your telescope and more! With your new StarSense

AutoAlign, you can:

• Automatically align your equatorial or altazimuth telescope to the night

sky in just a few minutes. Once aligned, your telescope will ﬁnd and

center objects with enhanced pointing accuracy.

• Quickly and accurately polar align your equatorial mount, if desired.

INSTRUCTION MANUAL

Please read this manual before setting up and using your StarSense

AutoAlign. You can ﬁnd the most current version of this instruction

manual on the StarSense AutoAlign V2 product page at celestron.com.

WARNING – Never point the StarSense AutoAlign at the Sun! Doing

so will damage SSAA’s image sensor. This damage is not covered under

your warranty. Keep SSAA’s cover cap on during the day.

WARNING: DO NOT PLUG STARSENSE AUTOALIGN INTO YOUR

MOUNT’S AUTOGUIDER PORT! Always connect StarSense AutoAlign to

one of your mount’s AUX ports. Connecting it to the Autoguider port

could damage StarSense AutoAlign.

StarSense AutoAlign V2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Parts List .........................................................................................................1

2. Installation ........................................................................................................1

3. Controlling StarSense AutoAlign ....................................................................................3

4. StarSense AutoAlign Workﬂow ......................................................................................3

5. Using SSAA with NexStar+ Hand Control .............................................................................3

6. Using SSAA with CPWI ............................................................................................7

7. Using SSAA with SkyPortal .........................................................................................10

8. Focusing .........................................................................................................12

9. Updating SSAA’s Firmware and Live View via Web Interface .............................................................12

10. Updating SSAA’s Firmware via Celestron Firmware Manager (CFM) ......................................................13

11. Speciﬁcations. ...................................................................................................13

12. Troubleshooting and Tips. ..........................................................................................14

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StarSense AutoAlign V2

Small

bracket

Standard dovetail

base for ﬁnderscope

Fig. 3: If your telescope already has a standard ﬁnderscope base, you can use the

small bracket to mount SSAA on your telescope.

If you are using a telescope smaller than 5” in aperture, and your

telescope does not have a standard dovetail base for a ﬁnderscope,

you will need to purchase this base from a third-party supplier.

If you are using the pre-installed large bracket to mount SSAA to

your telescope tube:

1. Connect the large bracket base to the telescope. (Note: Some

telescopes may already have this base installed; it is the same one

used for the 8x50 ﬁnderscope included with several telescopes.) If

you need to install the base, use the Phillips-head accessory screws,

which are pre-installed in the rear cell of the telescope. There are

usually two locations on the rear cell to mount the base (Fig. 4).

Base

mounting

location 1

Base

mounting

location 2

Fig. 4: The large bracket base can be connected to the optical tube assembly (OTA)

in two locations on most Celestron telescopes.

2. Remove the screws, orient the base as shown, and line up the holes in

the base with the holes in the rear cell.

3. Reinstall the screws so the base is secure. If needed, use the two

supplied Phillips head screws.

4. Loosely thread the two thumbscrews into the large bracket (Fig. 5).

Thumbscrews

Fig. 5: Install the thumbscrews into the large bracket. These secure the bracket to

the base as shown.

5. Slide the bracket onto the base until it is fully seated.

6. Tighten the thumbscrews to secure the bracket to the base.

1. Parts List

A. StarSense AutoAlign with cover cap

B. Large bracket (pre-installed on StarSense AutoAlign)

C. Large bracket base

D. Small Bracket

E. AUX cable

F. Phillips head screws (2)

G. Large bracket base thumbscrews (2)

H. Hex key

E F G H

Fig. 1

2. Installation

StarSense AutoAlign connects to your optical tube using one of the two

supplied brackets (i.e., the large bracket or the small bracket). Use the

large bracket with Schmidt-Cassegrain, EdgeHD, and RASA telescopes

with 5” or more of aperture (Fig. 2).

Large bracket

Large bracket base

Fig. 2: The large bracket and base connect SSAA to Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain,

EdgeHD, and RASA telescopes 5” or larger.

Use the small bracket with other telescopes that have a standard dovetail

base for a ﬁnderscope (Fig. 3).

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StarSense AutoAlign V2

3. Loosen the socket head cap screw on the small bracket’s clamp and

install SSAA and the orange ring into the small bracket. Orient it as

shown (Fig. 8).

Socket head cap screw

Fig. 8: Install SSAA into the small bracket as shown, then retighten the socket head

cap screw on the bracket.

4. Retighten the socket head cap screw on the small bracket’s clamp.

5. Reinstall SSAA’s front housing and the orange front ring (Fig. 9).

Fig. 9: Reinstall the front housing onto SSAA. Don’t forget the orange

cosmetic ring!

6. To install SSAA into your telescope’s standard ﬁnderscope dovetail

base, simply insert the small bracket into the base and tighten the

thumbscrew on the base to secure it in place.

Now that you have installed SSAA, you’ll need to connect its AUX port

to one of the AUX ports on your telescope mount. Use the supplied AUX

cable (Fig. 10). If you do not have an available AUX port on your mount,

consider purchasing an optional Celestron AUX Port Splitter.

AUX port (on SSAA)

AUX port (on mount)

AUX cable

Fig. 10: Use the supplied AUX cable to connect SSAA’s AUX port to the mount’s

AUX port.

WARNING: DO NOT PLUG StarSense AutoAlign INTO YOUR MOUNT’S

AUTOGUIDER PORT! Always connect StarSense AutoAlign to one of

your mount’s AUX ports. Connecting it to the Autoguider port could

damage StarSense AutoAlign.

The optional 8” CGE Dovetail Bar for mounting accessories will obstruct

SSAA’s large bracket. The CPC 800 fork arm also obstructs SSAA. For

these conﬁgurations, attach the base and large bracket backwards as

shown in Fig. 5a.

Fig. 5a: You’ll need to install the base and large bracket backwards on a CPC 800

telescope.

If you are using the small bracket, you’ll need to remove SSAA from

the large bracket ﬁrst. To mount SSAA with the small bracket:

1. Unthread SSAA’s front housing completely and remove it. Doing this

will expose SSAA’s optical tube (Fig. 6). Also, remove the orange front

cosmetic ring.

Orange cosmetic ring

Fig. 6: To switch brackets, completely unthread and remove the entire front of the

SSAA housing, including the orange ring.

Front of SSAA housing

NOTE: When removing the front housing to install the small bracket,

you could accidentally affect SSAA’s factory focus. Keep this in

mind when you are using SSAA later. If the device is not working

correctly and you are receiving “No Stars!” error messages, you

may need to refocus. To do so, refer to the section on Focusing

later in this manual.

2. Use the hex key to loosen the socket head cap screw, which provides

the bracket’s clamping force. Then pull SSAA out of the bracket

(Fig. 7). Doing this will also remove the orange rear cosmetic ring.

Socket head

cap screw

Rear orange

cosmetic ring

Hex key

Fig. 7: Loosen the socket head cap screw. Remove SSAA from the large bracket,

including the rear orange ring.

3 | ENGLISH

StarSense AutoAlign V2

4. StarSense AutoAlign Workﬂow

Before diving into the step-by-step instructions, here’s a high-level look

at how StarSense AutoAlign is typically used. The setup process follows

this general sequence:

A. Polar Alignment – If you are using an equatorial mount, or an

altazimuth mount on an equatorial wedge, begin by using StarSense

AutoAlign to assist with polar alignment. This step aligns your mount

with Earth’s rotational axis.

If you are using a standard altazimuth mount, skip this step.

B. Sky Alignment – Next, perform a Sky Alignment. This allows the

mount to determine where it is pointing in the night sky. Several

alignment options are available, but in most cases, Auto Align is the

preferred and most commonly used method.

C. Center Calibration – Center Calibration aligns the StarSense

camera’s ﬁeld of view with the telescope’s ﬁeld of view. This only

needs to be completed once, as long as the StarSense AutoAlign

remains mounted in the same position. The calibration offset is stored

in the unit’s memory.

If you remove and reinstall StarSense AutoAlign, we recommend

performing Center Calibration again. After completing Center

Calibration, you will need to repeat the Sky Alignment.

The next three chapters explain how to perform these functions using the

NexStar+ hand control (chapter 5, page 3), CPWI PC software (chapter

6, page 7), or the SkyPortal app (chapter 7, page 10). You only need

to refer to the chapter that corresponds to the control method you are

using.

5. Using SSAA with the NexStar+

Hand Control

The NexStar+ hand control is one of the easiest ways to operate your

StarSense AutoAlign. It does not require a computer and allows you to

control your telescope just as you normally would, with StarSense’s

enhanced alignment capabilities built in.

Choose the section below that matches your setup:

- Section A – Celestron Altazimuth (AZ) mount

- Section B – Celestron Equatorial (EQ) mount

- Section C – Celestron AZ mount used on an optional equatorial wedge

Refer only to the section that applies to your mount conﬁguration.

A. Using SSAA with an Altazimuth

(AZ) Mount

Altazimuth mounts cannot be polar aligned. This section walks you

through performing a Sky Alignment using StarSense AutoAlign.

1. Make sure the tripod is reasonably level. If your mount has a built-in

bubble level, use that for reference.

2. Manually point the telescope tube horizontally toward the northern

horizon. (If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, point it toward the

southern horizon.)

3. Power on the mount.

4. Press ENTER.

5. Select an alignment method. Use the SCROLL UP and SCROLL

DOWN keys to select “Auto Align.” Press ENTER.

- The other sky alignment options will be covered in section E of this

chapter (Page 6).

3. Controlling StarSense AutoAlign

There are several ways to control your StarSense AutoAlign:

NexStar+ Hand Control

To use SSAA with the NexStar+ hand control that came with your

Celestron mount, you will likely need to update the hand control’s

ﬁrmware. You’ll need ﬁrmware version 5.35.5340 or greater. To

check your ﬁrmware version number, press the MENU button. Use

the SCROLL and ENTER buttons to navigate to Utilities>Version.

Use the Celestron Firmware Manager (CFM) software to update

the ﬁrmware if needed. You’ll ﬁnd the latest version of CFM here:

celestron.com/pages/drivers-and-software

You’ll need a USB cable (Type-A to Mini-B) to connect the hand control to

your PC. Refer to section 9 of this manual (page 13) for more information.

CPWI Telescope Control Software for PC

You can control your telescope and StarSense AutoAlign with our

free Celestron CPWI software. To download the latest version, visit:

https://www.celestron.com/pages/celestron-pwi-telescope-

control-software

You’ll need CPWI version 2.5.9 or greater. Install the software and open

CPWI. Select “Start” if the opening window appears. Then, click on the

“Connection” icon in the upper left corner of the screen. If you are using a

wired connection to your Celestron mount (i.e., through the hand control

or the mount itself), select “USB.” If you are connected via WiFi using

the SkyPortal WiFi module or your mount’s internal WiFi (e.g., NexStar

Evolution), select “WiFi.” CPWI should ﬁnd and connect to the StarSense

AutoAlign. Once connected, the SSAA icon will appear in the selection

menu on the left side of the screen. Select the icon to display the StarSense

menu (Fig. 11).

Fig. 11: When you connect your Celestron mount to your PC and launch CPWI,

you should see the StarSense menu among the icons on the left side of

the screen.

SkyPortal App for iOS and Android

If you use the Celestron SkyPortal WiFi Module or have a Celestron

mount with built-in WiFi (e.g., NexStar Evolution), you can use the

SkyPortal app to control your SSAA. You’ll need a smartphone running

the most recent version of the SkyPortal app, available for free in the

Apple App Store or Google Play.

4 | ENGLISH

StarSense AutoAlign V2

Fig. 11B The index marks on the Advanced VX EQ mount.

8. You will be asked whether you would like to perform a polar alignment.

We recommend completing polar alignment now. If you skip it and

perform it later, you will need to repeat the sky alignment process.

- To polar align now, press ALIGN.

- To skip polar alignment, press ENTER to continue to sky alignment.

9. Follow the onscreen prompts to enter your location, local time, and

date.

- You may want to use the city database to set your location. Don’t

worry if your exact location is not in the database. Just select the

nearest city.

10. If you selected polar alignment, continue to Step 11.

If you skipped polar alignment, proceed to Step 21.

11. The hand control will ask you to slew the telescope to a clear area

of the sky. Use the hand control’s direction keys to point to a clear

location. Press ENTER.

• The telescope will slew from West to East for about 50° during

the polar alignment process. (If in the Southern Hemisphere, the

telescope will slew from East to West for about 50°). Try to slew to

a clear area with no obstructions along this path.

12. The telescope will slew from West to East to obtain polar alignment

references. (If in the Southern Hemisphere, the telescope will slew

from East to West.) This will take a few minutes.

13. When the telescope stops slewing, the hand control will display

“Adjust AZM.” Press ENTER. The LCD will now show the AZM and

ALT polar alignment errors.

14. If your mount has an azimuth axis lock knob or locking screws, loosen

them before adjusting the azimuth.

15. Use the mount’s azimuth ﬁne adjustment knobs to adjust the

mount’s azimuth (left-to-right) positioning slowly. As you make these

adjustments, the AZM error will increase or decrease. Continue

adjusting until the AZM error is below two arcminutes. Press ENTER.

• Do not adjust the altitude of the mount! You will make altitude

adjustments in the next step.

• Make the adjustments slowly so SSAA can track them. If you adjust

too quickly and SSAA loses track, you may need to restart the

entire polar alignment process.

16. The hand control will now display “Adjust ALT.” Press ENTER.

17. If your mount has altitude axis lock knobs, loosen them before

adjusting altitude.

18. Use the mount’s altitude ﬁne adjustment knobs to adjust the mount’s

altitude (up-and-down) positioning slowly. As you make these

adjustments, the ALT error will increase or decrease. Continue

adjusting until the ALT error is below two arcminutes. Press ENTER.

• Do not adjust the azimuth of the mount.

19. The hand control will now ask, “Fine Adjust AZM?”

a. If you wish to make additional adjustments to the azimuth, use

the SCROLL keys to select “Yes” and press ENTER. Adjust the

azimuth ﬁne adjustment knobs until the error is less than two

arcminutes, and press ENTER.

6. Follow the onscreen prompts to enter your location, local time,

and date.

- You may want to use the city database to set your location. Don’t

worry if your exact location is not in the database. Just select the

nearest city.

7. The mount will begin slewing to a position where SSAA will obtain its

ﬁrst alignment reference. Once the mount stops slewing, SSAA will

capture an image of the sky and determine its position.

NOTE: If the telescope automatically slews to point to an area of the

sky that is locally obstructed (by buildings, trees, etc.), it will fail and

automatically slew to another point to try again.

8. The mount will slew to another position to obtain the second alignment

reference.

9. The Auto Align process is now complete. You will see “Align Success!”

on the NexStar+ LCD screen.

Your mount is now aligned to the night sky. However, before it can

accurately place objects in the telescope’s ﬁeld of view, SSAA must

determine the offset between its own ﬁeld of view and that of the

telescope in a process called “Center Calibration.” If you have never

center-calibrated SSAA and your telescope, the hand control will prompt

you to do so immediately after initial sky alignment. Refer to section D for

center calibration instructions. If you have performed a center calibration

previously, the telescope is now ready to ﬁnd and place objects near the

center of the ﬁeld of view.

B. Using SSAA with an Equatorial

(EQ) Mount

Before powering on the mount, perform a rough polar alignment. Once

this is complete, you can reﬁne the alignment using only the mount’s

altitude and azimuth ﬁne adjustment knobs.

NOTE: These instructions explain how to perform rough polar alignment

in the Northern Hemisphere. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, point

the mount due South instead of due North.

To roughly polar align:

1. Make sure the tripod is reasonably level. If your mount has a built-in

bubble level, use that for reference.

2. Adjust the altitude of the mount so that the mount’s latitude scale

indicates roughly the same latitude as your observing site.

3. Lift and rotate the entire tripod and mount so that the right ascension

(RA) axis points approximately due North. The mount’s position doesn’t

need to be perfect. Aim within about 5° due North so the mount is

within the range of the mount’s azimuth ﬁne adjustment knobs. Use a

free compass app for your smartphone if you need help ﬁnding North.

4. If you loosened the altitude or azimuth adjustment knobs during rough

polar alignment, make sure they are securely retightened before

proceeding.

Now that you are roughly polar aligned, you’re ready to start the

alignment process:

5. Power on the mount.

6. Press ENTER.

7. a. If you have an EQ mount with home position switches, such as the

CGX or CGX-L, the hand control will prompt you to move the mount

to its home position. Press ENTER.

b. If you have an EQ mount without home position switches, such as the

Advanced VX mount, the hand control will prompt you to manually

move the mount to its index marks (Fig. 11B). You may use the hand

control’s manual slew buttons to move the mount, or loosen the RA

and DEC clutches and rotate the axes by hand. Once the index

marks are aligned, retighten the clutches and press ENTER.

Index marks

5 | ENGLISH

StarSense AutoAlign V2

7. Use the SCROLL UP and SCROLL DOWN keys to select “EQ North

Align.” Press ENTER. (Choose “EQ South Align” if in the Southern

Hemisphere.)

8. Follow the onscreen prompts to enter your location, local time, and date.

- You may want to use the city database to set your location. Don’t

worry if your exact location is not in the database. Just select the

nearest city.

9. The LCD will now display “Set Alt To Index.” Position the mount as

shown in Figure 12. You can either use the hand control to manually

slew the telescope or, if your mount has axis clutches (like the Evolution

mount), you can loosen the clutches and manually position by hand.

10. You will be asked whether you would like to perform a polar alignment.

We recommend completing polar alignment now. If you skip it and

perform it later, you will need to repeat the sky alignment process.

- To polar align now, press ALIGN.

- To skip polar alignment, press ENTER to continue to sky alignment.

From this point forward, the alignment process is the same as for

equatorial mounts.

If you chose to perform polar alignment, refer to Section B, starting with

Step 11.

If you chose to skip polar alignment, refer to Section B, starting with

Step 21.

Northern Hemisphere

Southern Hemisphere

Points to North Pole

Points to South Pole

Optical tube perpendicular to fork arm

b. If you do not want to make further adjustments, use the SCROLL

keys to select “No” and press ENTER.

20. Congratulations! You have successfully polar-aligned your mount. If

your mount has altitude or azimuth locking knobs or screws, tighten

them ﬁrmly.

NOTE: We don’t recommend attempting to adjust the polar alignment

better than two arcminutes on each axis. Doing so will be difﬁcult and will

not provide additional pointing or tracking beneﬁts.

21. Next, you will be prompted to select a method for sky alignment. Use

the SCROLL UP and SCROLL DOWN keys to select “Auto Align.”

Press ENTER.

- The other sky alignment options will be covered later in this manual.

22. The mount will begin slewing to a position where SSAA will obtain its

ﬁrst alignment reference. Once the mount stops slewing, SSAA will

capture an image of the sky and determine its position.

NOTE: If the telescope automatically slews to point to an area of the

sky that is locally obstructed (by buildings, trees, etc.), it will fail and

automatically slew to another point to try again.

23. The mount will slew to another position to obtain the second

alignment reference.

24. The mount will slew to a third position on the other side of the

meridian to obtain a third alignment reference.

25. After SSAA has captured three alignment references, you will see

“Align Success!” on the NexStar+ LCD screen.

Your mount is now aligned to the night sky. However, before it can

accurately place objects in the telescope’s ﬁeld of view, SSAA must

determine the offset between its own ﬁeld of view and that of the

telescope in a process called Center Calibration. If you have never

center-calibrated SSAA and your telescope, the hand control will prompt

you to do so immediately after initial sky alignment. Refer to section D for

center calibration instructions. If you have performed a center calibration

previously, the telescope is now ready to ﬁnd and place objects near the

center of the ﬁeld of view.

C. Using SSAA with an AZ mount on an

Equatorial Wedge

Before powering on the mount, perform a rough polar alignment. Once

this is complete, you can reﬁne the alignment using only the wedge’s

altitude and azimuth ﬁne adjustment knobs.

NOTE: These instructions explain how to perform rough polar alignment

in the Northern Hemisphere. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, point

the mount due South instead of due North.

To roughly polar align:

1. Make sure the tripod is reasonably level. If your wedge has a built-in

bubble level, use that for reference.

2. Adjust the altitude of the wedge so that the wedge’s latitude scale

indicates roughly the same latitude as your observing site.

3. Lift and rotate the entire tripod and mount so that the fork arm points

approximately due North. The mount’s position doesn’t need to be

perfect. Aim within about 5° due North so the mount is within the range

of the wedge’s azimuth ﬁne adjustment knobs. Use a free compass

app for your smartphone if you need help ﬁnding North.

4. If you loosened the altitude or azimuth adjustment knobs during rough

polar alignment, make sure they are securely retightened before

proceeding.

Now that you are roughly polar aligned, you’re ready to start the alignment

process:

5. Power on the mount.

6. Press ENTER.

Fig. 12: When using an altazimuth (AZ) fork mount on an equatorial wedge, begin

with the mount in the position shown. The fork arm should point due North (or due

South in the Southern Hemisphere), and the optical tube should be perpendicular to

the fork arm.

6 | ENGLISH

StarSense AutoAlign V2

Manual Align

You may consider using the Manual Align option if you have many

obstructions at your observing location, such as buildings, trees, or power

lines. Manual Align works like Auto Align but allows you to manually slew

the telescope to clear areas of the sky to obtain the alignment references.

Because the telescope won’t automatically slew to positions blocked by

obstructions, the overall alignment process is quicker.

To perform a “manual” alignment using the NexStar+ hand

control:

1. When the hand control prompts you to select an alignment method,

use the SCROLL UP and SCROLL DOWN keys to select “Manual

Align” and press ENTER.

2. The hand control will prompt you to slew the telescope to a clear area

of the sky using the direction buttons. When the telescope is pointing

to a clear area of the sky, press ENTER. SSAA will capture an image

to use as an alignment reference.

NOTE: For best results with EQ mounts, do not slew the telescope

towards the North (or South) poles to capture alignment references.

3. The hand control will prompt you to manually slew the telescope to

another clear area of the sky.

a. For altazimuth mounts, slew the mount in both axes, making sure

SSAA is pointing at least 60° away from its ﬁrst alignment point.

Press ENTER. The Manual Align is now complete. Skip to Step 7.

b. For equatorial mounts, slew the mount to another clear area of the

sky. This location must be on the same side of the meridian as the

ﬁrst area you chose. Press ENTER.

4. After completing the ﬁrst two alignment references, the hand control

will display “Add Calib Star?” We strongly recommend adding a third

alignment reference for the best overall pointing accuracy across the

sky.

a. Choose “No” to end the alignment with only two references. This

alignment may provide acceptable pointing accuracy in many

cases, especially if Precise GoTo is on (as explained later in this

manual). Skip to Step 7.

b. Choose “Yes” to add a third alignment reference. The telescope will

automatically slew to the other side of the meridian.

6. With the telescope now on the opposite side of the meridian from the

ﬁrst two alignment points, the hand control will prompt you to choose

a third clear area of sky. Use the direction keys to slew to a clear area

of sky on this side of the meridian and press ENTER.

7. You will see “Align Success!” on the NexStar+ LCD screen when

completed.

User Auto Align

This alignment method only works after you have performed at least one

Manual Auto Align. When you select User Auto Align, the telescope

automatically moves to the alignment points you deﬁned during the

previous Manual Auto Align. It’s a handy option if you set up in the same

location most nights and there are signiﬁcant obstructions at the site.

To perform a User Auto Align, choose “User Auto Align” as the alignment

method. Once initiated, the telescope will automatically slew to the ﬁrst

alignment point in the prior Manual Auto Align. It will then proceed to the

other user-deﬁned points to complete the alignment.

Last Align

If you leave your telescope set up in a single location, such as a home

observatory, Last Align is a convenient choice. You can only use this

method if you do not slew or otherwise move the telescope in any way

after powering it off. This alignment method uses the previous SSAA

alignment data stored in the hand control. No further action is required.

D. Center Calibration

Center calibration aligns the StarSense AutoAlign camera’s ﬁeld of view

with your telescope’s optical ﬁeld of view.

You will typically only need to perform center calibration the ﬁrst time

you use StarSense with a new optical tube. You may need to repeat the

procedure if you remove and reinstall the bracket base on the telescope.

If you remove only the StarSense unit and its bracket, but leave the

bracket base attached to the telescope, center calibration is usually not

required again.

Before performing center calibration, complete a sky alignment as

described in the previous sections. If center calibration has not been

performed previously, StarSense will automatically prompt you to begin

the process after sky alignment.

To perform a center calibration:

1. If you have never center-calibrated SSAA, the NexStar+ hand control

will automatically start the center calibration process after sky

alignment. Otherwise, press the MENU button and use the SCROLL

keys to select “StarSense.” Press ENTER. Use the SCROLL keys to

select “Center Calibrate” and press ENTER.

2. Next, use the SCROLL keys to select either Named Stars or Solar

System Objects (i.e., planets) to use for center calibration. Press

ENTER. Scroll through the list of stars or planets and select one

clearly visible from your location. Press ENTER.

• If you are unsure where the object you have chosen is in the night

sky, don’t worry. The telescope will point close to the object in

the next step. You can use the telescope as a guide to determine

which star or planet you are using to center-calibrate. Remember

that named stars and planets are among the brightest objects in

the night sky.

• For best results with an EQ mount, choose stars that are close to the

celestial equator (i.e., away from poles).

3. The telescope will slew to the star or planet you chose. Depending

on the offset between SSAA’s ﬁeld of view and the telescope’s, the

object may or may not be in the telescope’s ﬁeld of view. In any case,

the telescope should generally be pointing toward the object.

4. The NexStar+ hand control will ask you to center the object in the ﬁeld

of view of the ﬁnderscope. Use the direction buttons on the keypad

to do this. Don’t worry about ﬁne centering yet—that happens in the

next step. For now, roughly center the object in the ﬁeld of view of the

ﬁnderscope and press ENTER.

• If the star is not within the ﬁnderscope’s ﬁeld of view, slew the

telescope manually until it is.

• If you’re not using a ﬁnderscope, use your widest ﬁeld eyepiece in

the telescope for this step. If the object is not in the ﬁeld of view, try

sighting down the length of the telescope tube to point to the object.

5. The NexStar+ hand control will prompt you to center the object in

the eyepiece’s ﬁeld of view. This is the ﬁne-centering step. Make sure

there is a high-powered eyepiece in the telescope. Use the direction

buttons on the keypad to center the object. For the best results, use

the up and right direction keys last. When you ﬁnish, press ALIGN.

6. SSAA will perform the center calibration and return the message

“Center Calib Success.”

After successfully completing center calibration, you will be prompted

by the hand control to perform sky alignment again. After subsequently

performing sky alignment, you can command the telescope to accurately

place any celestial object you choose within the telescope’s ﬁeld of view.

E. Other Sky Alignment Methods

Instead of choosing “Auto Align” for the sky alignment method, there are

several other options to choose from. These other options provide some

ﬂexibility for your observing site and setup.

7 | ENGLISH

StarSense AutoAlign V2

Polar Align

If you have chosen not to Polar Align during initial alignment, you can

initiate polar alignment at any time with this menu option. For equatorial

mounts or AZ mounts on an equatorial wedge, refer to section B, steps

11 to 20. Remember that AZ mounts cannot be polar aligned unless they

are used on an optional equatorial wedge.

After successfully completing Polar Alignment, the hand control will

prompt you to perform sky alignment again. This is why we recommend

polar aligning initially, before sky alignment.

Version

Selecting this option displays the current version number of SSAA’s

internal software.

• To view the NexStar+ hand control ﬁrmware version, select the

“Version” option from MENU>Utilities.

Settings

Use Precise GoTo – This setting allows you to enable or disable

automatic Precise GoTo after every slew. Precise GoTo is on by default for

the best pointing accuracy. However, this feature causes the telescope

to take slightly longer to center objects. We recommend that most users

leave Precise GoTo on.

Factory Reset

This option clears any previously stored center calibration data in

StarSense AutoAlign. After selecting this option, you must power cycle

the mount.

We recommend performing a Factory Reset if you plan to use StarSense

AutoAlign with a different Celestron mount than the one you previously used.

6. Using SSAA with CPWI

If you already use a PC to control your telescope (e.g., for astroimaging),

Celestron’s free CPWI software is a great way to control SSAA. Its

intuitive user interface makes accessing all of SSAA’s features easy.

Sky Alignment

When you connect your PC running CPWI to your Celestron mount

with StarSense AutoAlign attached, the Alignment window will open

automatically (Fig. 14).

First, check the date, time, and location near the top of the window. If

you notice any mistakes, click the “Set Time” or “Set Location” buttons

to adjust.

Fig. 14: The SSAA alignment window in CPWI.

Quick Align

This procedure aligns the mount using only the time/date/location

information. It assumes initially that equatorial mounts are precisely

polar aligned and in the “home position” (i.e., the automatic starting

position if your mount has internal home position switches, or with index

marks aligned for mounts without internal home position switches),

and that altazimuth mounts are precisely level and pointing due North

(or due South in the Southern Hemisphere). For AZ fork mounts on

an EQ wedge, it initially assumes the mount is precisely polar aligned

with the telescope tube perpendicular, as shown in Figure 12. Quick

Align does not use the SSAA device. We don’t usually recommend this

alignment method because it is not very accurate, but it may provide

accurate enough pointing and tracking for some use cases with no

further alignment required. It can also be handy when you are searching

for planets in twilight.

F. Other Functionality

You can access all the additional options below by pressing the MENU

button, using the SCROLL keys to select “StarSense,” and pressing

ENTER. Refer to Fig. 13 for the StarSense menu tree.

PRECISE GOTO

PLATE SOLVE

CENTER CALIBRATE

POLAR ALIGN

VERSION

SETTINGS

FACTORY RESET

STARSENSE

Fig. 13: The StarSense menu tree in the NexStar+ hand control.

Precise GoTo

Precise GoTo uses SSAA to more accurately center objects in the ﬁeld of

view. When this option is enabled, the telescope mount uses its internal

alignment model to slew close to the selected object. Then SSAA takes

over, making ﬁne corrections to the centering, signiﬁcantly improving the

overall pointing accuracy. When you are using SSAA, Precise GoTo is

enabled by default, so you do not need to initiate a Precise GoTo here.

However, if you have turned Precise GoTo off (see Settings section

below), you can initiate a Precise GoTo to a speciﬁc object from this

menu selection.

Plate Solve

When you choose this option, SSAA will capture an image and plate

solve. The hand control will display the center coordinates (RA and Dec)

to which the telescope is pointing in the sky.

Center Calibrate

If you want to initiate a new center calibration, you can do whenever

you wish with this option. If you remove the SSAA bracket base from

the telescope (by removing the mounting screws) and reinstall it, we

recommend performing a new center calibration. Just removing the

SSAA in its bracket from the base (by ﬁrst loosening the thumbscrews

on the bracket) and then reinstalling it on the base should generally not

require a new center calibration. However, if you subsequently notice

that objects are not being placed in the center of the telescope’s ﬁeld of

view, then a new center calibration may help improve centering.

After successfully completing center calibration, you will be prompted by

the hand control to perform sky alignment again.

8 | ENGLISH

StarSense AutoAlign V2

Auto Four Points

Auto Four Points is the most automated alignment choice. SSAA will

automatically slew to four points in the sky to achieve sky alignment. If it

points to an obstruction or otherwise fails to determine its position, the

telescope will simply slew to another point in the sky to obtain another

alignment reference.

Custom Points

Custom Points allows you to deﬁne points in the sky where the telescope

slews for alignment. It’s a good choice if your observing site has local

obstructions because you can deﬁne the alignment points so that the

telescope steers clear of them. If you choose this option, the StarSense

User Interface Auto Alignment Creator window will appear (Fig. 17).

Fig. 17: Auto Alignment Creator window in CPWI.

Click within the chart to select alignment points in the sky. You’ll ﬁnd the

cardinal directions on the perimeter of the chart. The interior of the chart

goes from 0° altitude (i.e., the horizon) at the edge to 90° (i.e., zenith)

at the center. You can choose more than four alignment points if you

wish. For the best results, choose points spaced widely apart and avoid

points near the poles for EQ mounts. After selecting alignment points,

click “Complete” in the bottom left of the window. Before CPWI begins

the alignment, it will ask if you want to save your user-deﬁned alignment

points. If you do, you can use the .sua ﬁle later with the “Load Custom

Points” option.

If you would like to use the StarSense User Interface Auto Alignment

Creator before beginning an alignment, select “User Auto-Align Creation

Tool” from the StarSense menu.

Load Custom Points

Once you have deﬁned “Custom Points” as described above, you can

choose this option to use them again. Select the .sua ﬁle you created

previously, and alignment will automatically begin.

Manual Slewing

With this alignment option, you use the Mount Slew Controls window

to manually slew SSAA to a clear area of the sky and click “Solve Here”

to obtain an alignment reference. Repeat the process four times, and

alignment is complete. This is the least automated choice, but it can be

helpful if your observing site has obstructions or the sky is partly cloudy.

For best results, use four alignment points that are as widely spaced as

possible and avoid points near the poles for EQ mounts.

If you are using an AZ mount with an EQ Wedge, select the “EQ Wedge”

option that appears in the top right of the Alignment window. Selecting

this will treat the AZ mount as an EQ mount.

If you are using an EQ mount (or AZ mount on EQ wedge), you should

roughly polar align the mount prior to beginning alignment. SSAA

can assist in getting a precise polar alignment (described later in this

manual), but the process will be much quicker and easier if the EQ mount

is roughly polar aligned to begin with.

For automatic sky alignment using SSAA, choose “StarSense

Alignment,” then press the “Begin Alignment” button. The Pointing

Model Information will appear (Fig. 15). In the “Home Switches” section,

CPWI asks, “Is the mount ready to move to the home switches?” If your

mount has home switches (e.g., CGX and CGX-L), click “Ready,” and the

telescope will move to its home switches. If your EQ mount does not have

home switches but has index marks, manually move the telescope to its

index marks. If you are using an AZ mount on an EQ wedge, position the

telescope as shown in Figure 12 (on page 5).

Fig. 15: Pointing Model Info window in CPWI.

If you are using an altazimuth (AZ) mount, CPWI will prompt you to point

the telescope toward the northern horizon, with the tube positioned

horizontally and facing north. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere,

point it toward the southern horizon instead.

Use the onscreen Mount Slew Controls window to position the

telescope. Precision is not critical. This is simply the starting position for

the alignment routine.

If you have not previously performed center calibration, you should do

so when prompted by CPWI before sky alignment. Unlike the NexStar+

hand control, CPWI requires center calibration to be completed ﬁrst. If

you skip it, you will need to repeat the sky alignment afterward. Refer to

the Center Calibrate section on page 9 for instructions.

Next, if you are using an equatorial (EQ) mount or an AZ mount on an

equatorial wedge, CPWI will ask whether you would like to perform a

polar alignment. We recommend completing polar alignment at this

stage. If you wait until after sky alignment, you will need to repeat the sky

alignment process.

- To polar align, click “Yes” and follow the instructions in the Polar Align

section on page 9.

- To skip polar alignment, click “No” to proceed directly to sky alignment.

You can perform polar alignment later by selecting “Polar Align Mount”

from the StarSense menu.

After polar alignment is complete, the window will display “StarSense

Alignment” and prompt you to select an alignment option (Fig. 16).

Fig. 16: StarSense Alignment options in CPWI.

9 | ENGLISH

StarSense AutoAlign V2

NOTE: These instructions explain how to perform the polar alignment

procedure in the Northern Hemisphere. If you are in the Southern

Hemisphere, always point your mount due South instead of due North.

To perform a polar alignment with SSAA through CPWI:

1. Roughly polar aligning your mount ﬁrst will make the entire process

quicker and easier. Once you are roughly aligned, you can achieve an

accurate polar alignment using only the mount’s altitude and azimuth

ﬁne adjustment knobs.

a. Make sure the mount is reasonably level. If your mount has a

built-in bubble level, use that for reference.

b. Adjust the altitude of the mount so that the mount’s latitude scale

indicates roughly the same latitude as your observing site.

c. Lift and rotate the entire tripod and mount so that the right

ascension (RA) axis points approximately due North. The

mount’s position doesn’t need to be perfect. Aim within about

5° due North so the mount is within the range of the mount’s

azimuth ﬁne adjustment knobs. Use a free compass app for your

smartphone if you need help ﬁnding North.

d. If you loosened the altitude or azimuth adjustment knobs during

rough polar alignment, make sure they are retightened securely

before proceeding.

2. When prompted by CPWI, manually slew the telescope to an initial

start position using the Mount Slew Controls window.

• The telescope will slew from West to East for about 50° during

the polar alignment process. Try to slew to a clear area with no

obstructions along this path.

3. Click “Begin” in the SSAA Polar Alignment section of the Pointing

Model Information window. The mount will slew East, stopping about

every 10° to obtain a polar alignment reference.

4. After SSAA has obtained its polar alignment references, it will display

the azimuth axis adjustment window (Fig. 18). Slowly ﬁne-adjust your

mount’s azimuth until the “Azm Error” is less than two arcminutes.

• If the mount has azimuth axis locks, loosen them ﬁrst.

• Make the adjustments slowly so SSAA can track them. If you

adjust too quickly and SSAA loses track, you may need to restart

the entire polar alignment process.

Fig. 18: Azimuth Axis Adjustment window during polar alignment in CPWI.

5. Click “Next Axis” when you are done making adjustments to the

azimuth. The Altitude axis adjustment window will appear (Fig. 19).

Fig. 19: Altitude Axis Adjustment window during polar alignment in CPWI.

Adding Additional Alignment References

After alignment, you can see the information about the mount’s generated

pointing model, including the RMS error, the total number of points in the

alignment model, and the calculated polar alignment error.

You can add additional alignment references throughout the night by

selecting an object in the planetarium view, clicking on it, and choosing

“Model.” The mount will slew to the object’s location, and SSAA will

add the alignment reference to the mount’s pointing model. Pointing

accuracy should be quite good with only four points, but it will generally

increase with each alignment reference you add.

Center Calibrate

Center calibration aligns the StarSense AutoAlign camera’s ﬁeld of view

with your telescope’s optical ﬁeld of view.

You will typically only need to perform center calibration the ﬁrst time

you use StarSense with a new optical tube. You may need to repeat the

procedure if you remove and reinstall the bracket base on the telescope.

If you remove only the StarSense unit and its bracket, but leave the

bracket base attached to the telescope, center calibration is usually not

required again.

CPWI will automatically prompt to perform a center calibration before sky

alignment. If you choose to skip this, you can select “Center Calibrate”

from the StarSense menu later. However, you will then need to redo the

sky alignment after you center calibrate.

To do a center calibration:

1. Select an object in the SkyViewer planetarium screen by clicking

on it. Choose a bright star or planet that is clearly visible from your

observing location.

2. The telescope will now slew to the selected object. Depending on the

offset between SSAA’s ﬁeld of view and the telescope’s, the object

may or may not be in the telescope’s ﬁeld of view. In any case, the

telescope should be pointing toward the object.

3. CPWI will prompt you to center the object in the ﬁeld of view of the

telescope’s eyepiece. You can use the onscreen Mount Slew Controls

window. When you are ﬁnished, click “Centered” in the Pointing

Model Information window.

• If the star is not within the ﬁeld of view of the ﬁnderscope, slew

manually until it is.

• If you are not using a ﬁnderscope, use your widest-ﬁeld eyepiece

to ﬁnd the object instead. If the object is not in the eyepiece’s

ﬁeld of view, sight down the length of the telescope tube to point

it to the object.

• For ﬁnal centering, use a high-powered eyepiece.

• When centering the star in the telescope’s ﬁeld of view, use the up

and right direction keys last.

4. SSAA will perform the center calibration and return the message

“Center Calib Success.”

Once you’ve completed center calibration and sky alignment, you can

command the telescope to accurately place any celestial object you

choose within the telescope’s ﬁeld of view.

Polar Alignment

Although your EQ mount (or AZ mount on EQ wedge) does not need

to be polar aligned to use SSAA, SSAA can help you achieve a very

accurate polar alignment. A precise polar alignment slightly improves

overall pointing accuracy—but only by a few arcminutes. If you choose

to polar align, do so before sky alignment. If you wish to polar align later,

you can select the “Polar Align Mount” option in the StarSense menu.

You will need to perform sky alignment again after polar alignment is

completed.

10 | ENGLISH

StarSense AutoAlign V2

NOTE: The support logs are not permanently stored within SSAA’s memory, so do not power off

your mount or disconnect SSAA from the mount before downloading the SSAA support logs.

Update Firmware

You can use this option to check whether your StarSense AutoAlign

(SSAA) ﬁrmware is up to date and install any available updates.

First, download and install the StarSense Windows driver on your

computer. You can ﬁnd it in the Support & Downloads section of the

StarSense AutoAlign (#94034) product page at celestron.com.

Next, connect the SSAA’s USB-C port directly to your PC using a USB

cable (not included). Once connected, select “Update Firmware” and

follow the on-screen prompts to complete the process.

7. Using SSAA with SkyPortal

You can control your StarSense AutoAlign via your smartphone using

the Celestron SkyPortal Powered by SkySafari™ mobile app.

What you’ll need:

• A smartphone running the most recent version of the SkyPortal mobile

app, available free in the Apple App Store or Google Play

• Either a WiFi-enabled Celestron telescope, e.g., NexStar Evolution,

OR a Celestron computerized mount plus the SkyPortal WiFi Module

accessory (sold separately)

• StarSense AutoAlign, installed and connected to your telescope mount

To use SSAA with the SkyPortal app:

1. Ensure SSAA is connected to one of the telescope mount’s AUX ports.

2. Power on the mount.

3. Connect to the telescope’s WiFi network with your smartphone.

- Under available WiFi networks, the telescope will display as

“Celestron-###” with ### being digits and letters.

4. Open the SkyPortal app.

5. Select the telescope icon in the bottom right of the screen (Fig. 20).

Fig. 20: Select the telescope icon in the bottom right of the screen

6. Tap “Connect,” then “Connect and Align.” The app will now initiate

alignment. Position your telescope for alignment using one of the

following methods:

a. For EQ mounts with home position switches (e.g., CGX), press

“OK,” and the mount will move to the home position.

b. For EQ mounts without home position switches (e.g., Advanced

VX), the app will prompt you to move the telescope to the home

position index marks (refer to Figure 11B). You can manually move

the telescope or use the onscreen telescope controls.

c. For AZ mounts, point your telescope at the northern horizon using

the onscreen telescope controls. The telescope tube should be

roughly level to the ground and pointing North. If in the Southern

Hemisphere, then the telescope should be roughly level to the

ground and pointing South.

d. For AZ mounts on an EQ wedge, enable the wedge option on

6. Slowly ﬁne-adjust your mount’s altitude until the “Alt Error” is less than

two arcminutes.

• If the mount has altitude axis locks, loosen them ﬁrst.

7. If you would like to readjust the azimuth axis, click “Next Axis.”

Otherwise, click “Finish.”

8. Congratulations! You have successfully polar-aligned your mount.

If your mount has altitude or azimuth locking knobs or screws, tighten

them ﬁrmly. If you have already done a sky alignment, delete the

current alignment from the Alignment menu and perform sky

alignment again.

NOTE: Don’t attempt to adjust the polar alignment to better than two arcminutes on each

axis. Doing so will be difﬁcult and will not provide additional pointing or tracking beneﬁts.

Other Functionality

There are more options to choose from in the StarSense menu.

Live View

The Live View window displays a live readout from SSAA’s image sensor.

Its primary purpose is to aid in focusing SSAA’s lens (see the section on

Focusing later in this manual), but it can also be interesting to see what

SSAA is seeing.

To see the Live View, you’ll need to connect SSAA directly to your PC

using a USB-C to USB-A cable (not supplied). This is because the

AUX interface cannot support the transfer of images. You’ll also need to

install the StarSense Windows driver on your computer. You’ll ﬁnd it in

the Support & Downloads section of the StarSense AutoAlign (#94034)

product page at celestron.com.

Once you install the driver and connect SSAA with the USB cable,

the Live View window will display the current view from SSAA’s image

sensor. There are no controls for the Live View. SSAA automatically

adjusts exposure and gain to obtain the best images.

NOTE: You should still connect SSAA to the mount via AUX while it is

connected to the PC via USB for Live View.

Precise GoTo

Precise GoTo uses SSAA to more accurately center objects in the ﬁeld of

view. When this option is enabled, the telescope mount uses its internal

alignment model to slew close to the selected object. Then SSAA takes

over, making ﬁne corrections to the centering, signiﬁcantly improving the

overall pointing accuracy. When you are using SSAA, Precise GoTo is

enabled by default. If you want to turn this feature off, you can do so from

the StarSense menu.

Version

Selecting this option displays the current version of SSAA’s ﬁrmware.

Factory Reset

This option clears any previously stored center calibration data in

StarSense AutoAlign. After selecting this option, you must power cycle

the mount.

We recommend performing a Factory Reset if you plan to use StarSense

AutoAlign with a different Celestron mount than the one you previously

used.

Download Support Logs

If you are having technical difﬁculties and need to download support logs

to send to Celestron Technical Support, select this option. First, install the

StarSense Windows driver on your computer, available in the Support &

Downloads section of the StarSense AutoAlign (#94034) product page

at celestron.com. Then, connect SSAA’s USB-C port directly to your

PC using a USB cable (not supplied). Then select “Download Support

Logs.” The logs will be downloaded directly to your computer.

11 | ENGLISH

StarSense AutoAlign V2

the Scope Setup screen. Navigate to the Scope Setup screen

by selecting Menu>Settings>Setup and Control. Then select

“StarSense Wedge Align Enabled.” Next, go back to the main

planetarium screen, cancel the current alignment, and press

“Connect” and then “Connect and Align” again. Follow the

onscreen prompts. You’ll also need to set the telescope to the initial

position. Refer to Figure 12 on page 5.

NOTE: You can access to the Scope Setup screen directly by pressing the Celestron Settings icon

near the bottom of the screen. (Fig 21).

Fig. 21: The Celestron Settings icon

7. The automatic alignment will now begin. EQ mounts will slew to

two points in the western sky and then two points in the eastern

sky to obtain alignment references. AZ mounts will slew to three

points around the sky. If you previously performed a center

calibration, you can now use SSAA to locate objects. If you have not

completed a center calibration, SkyPortal will prompt you to do so.

Proceed to step 8.

8. Center calibration aligns SSAA’s ﬁeld of view with the telescope’s

ﬁeld of view. This step generally only needs to be done once because

SSAA saves center calibration data in its internal memory. The next

time you connect to SSAA with the app, you will not need to center

calibrate again unless you have moved the SSAA onto a different

telescope optical tube.

a. To center calibrate, choose a star from the planetarium interface,

then press “GoTo.” The telescope will slew close to the star, but the

star may not be in the telescope’s ﬁeld of view.

b. Use the onscreen direction buttons to precisely center the star in

the telescope’s ﬁeld of view. When you are ﬁnished, press “Align” at

the bottom of the screen. Then press “Calibrate.”

c. The app will complete the center calibrate process.

d. After center calibration, you will be prompted to redo sky alignment.

Tap “Disconnect”, then tap the Scope icon, then tap “Connect”

and then “Connect and Align” again. Go back to step 6.

You are now ready to use SSAA to ﬁnd objects in the night sky. Simply

select an object in the app and tap “GoTo.” Precise GoTo functionality

is on by default, so stars should appear well-centered within the

telescope’s ﬁeld of view. When SSAA is performing Precise GoTo, the

app will display “Star Sensing.”

Polar Alignment

Polar alignment assistance with SSAA is currently unavailable through

the SkyPortal app. However, SkyPortal supports the All-Star Polar

Alignment (ASPA) procedure for accurate polar alignment of your

equatorial mount. If you are using an equatorial mount (or AZ mount on an

EQ wedge), the app will ask if you want to perform ASPA after successful

sky alignment. If you would like to perform ASPA later, you can select

All-Star Polar Alignment at any time from the “three dots” icon as shown

in Figure 21B. After performing ASPA, you will be prompted to sky align

the mount again.

Three dots icon

Fig. 21B: You can polar align at any time by selecting the “All Star Polar Align” option

after tapping the three dots icon.

Other Alignment Options

On the Scope Setup screen (Settings Menu > Setup and Control, or

just press the Celestron Settings icon), you can select a couple of other

alignment options (Fig.22).

Alignment

options

Fig. 22: Besides Align Using StarSense Auto (the default option), there are other

alignment options available from the Scope Setup screen.

12 | ENGLISH

StarSense AutoAlign V2

Fig. 23: Only remove the front cover, not the entire front of the housing

Focus Lock Ring

Front Cover

4. Loosen the focus lock ring (Fig. 24).

Fig. 24: Loosen the lock ring when making focus adjustments, then ﬁrmly retighten

when focused.

Focus Lock Ring

Optics

5. Rotate the optics clockwise by a quarter- to half-turn to see

if focus improves. If it does, continue rotating until the focus is as

sharp as possible. If the focus does not improve, rotate the optics

counterclockwise until the focus improves.

6. When you see a sharp image, retighten the lock ring and reinstall

SSAA’s front cover. If desired, you can now disconnect SSAA from

the PC’s USB port.

9. Updating SSAA’s Firmware and Live

View via Web Interface

Our engineers are constantly working on upgrades and improvements

to our products, so we recommend periodically checking for SSAA

ﬁrmware updates. If any new ﬁrmware is available, you’ll ﬁnd it on the

StarSense AutoAlign V2 (#94034) product page at celestron.com

under “Support and Downloads.” To install the downloaded .swu ﬁle,

you’ll need a USB-C to USB-A cable (not supplied) and the StarSense

Windows driver, also available on the StarSense AutoAlign V2 (#94034)

product page.

Follow these steps to update SSAA’s ﬁrmware:

1. Install the StarSense Windows driver on your PC.

2. Connect SSAA to your PC via the USB cable. Wait about 10 seconds

for SSAA to boot up.

3. Open a web browser on your computer and enter

http://169.254.54.1/ to launch the SSAA web interface page

(Fig. 25).

Align Using StarSense Manual

StarSense Manual Align lets you manually slew the telescope to

alignment points you choose instead of automatic preset points. If your

observing site has many obstructions or clouds passing through, you

may ﬁnd StarSense Manual faster and more convenient than StarSense

Auto. To use StarSense Manual, select “Align Using StarSense Manual”

from the Scope Setup screen. Now, the next time you choose “Connect

and Align,” the app will prompt you to perform a StarSense Manual Align.

Follow the onscreen instructions. You can slew the telescope to any

position in the sky that is free of obstructions. Keep alignment points at

least 30° away from each other in both axes.

Align Using StarSense Single-Point

StarSense Single-Point Align allows you to align by manually slewing

to only one area of the sky. It is the fastest way to align but provides

the least accurate pointing model for the mount. But remember, SSAA

will still use its Precise GoTo functionality to center objects accurately,

so this fast procedure may be all you need for casual observing. You

can also add additional alignment points later to improve your mount’s

accuracy using the Align>Align command (see below). To use StarSense

Single-Point, select “Align Using StarSense Single-Point” from the

Scope Setup screen. The next time you “Connect and Align,” you will

be prompted to perform a StarSense Single-Point Align. Follow the

onscreen instructions.

Adding Additional Alignment Points with

the Align>Align Command

SSAA’s built-in Precise GoTo functionality allows it to center objects in

the ﬁeld of view regardless of how accurate the mount’s pointing model is.

Nevertheless, if desired, you can continually improve your mount’s pointing

accuracy by adding additional alignment points to its pointing model.

To add alignment points, slew the telescope to any area of clear sky.

Select “Align” from the options at the bottom of the screen, then select

“Align” again. You can add up to a total of 10 alignment points.

8. Focusing

Technicians at the factory have focused your StarSense AutoAlign, and it

should not need further adjustment. However, if you ﬁnd that SSAA is not

working as it should (e.g., reporting “No Stars!” when there are plenty of

stars visible in the sky), you should check the focus.

To focus StarSense AutoAlign:

1. Follow the steps described earlier to access Live View in CPWI (see

page 10). Alternatively, you can access Live View through the web

interface. Refer to chapter 9 (on this page) for instructions.

2. If you are focusing during the day, point SSAA at an object at least a

quarter mile away. If you are focusing at night, point SSAA at a bright

star. You should see an image onscreen.

NOTE: It may be difﬁcult to focus during bright daytime conditions due

to the very fast optics and sensitive sensor.

3. If the focus is sharp, you are done. If not, remove SSAA’s front cover

by grasping it and rotating it counterclockwise until it comes off

(Fig. 23). Remove the front cover to expose the focus lock ring.

13 | ENGLISH

StarSense AutoAlign V2

Fig. 25: You can update SSAA’s ﬁrmware via the web interface. You’ll also be

able to access Live View from here.

4. Select “Software Update.”

5. Drag and drop the downloaded .swu ﬁle as directed. SSAA’s software

will update.

You can also access the StarSense AutoAlign Live View through the

web interface. From here, you can switch between automatic and manual

camera settings and capture an image in TIFF format.

10. Updating SSAA’s Firmware

via Celestron Firmware Manager

(CFM)

You can also use Celestron Firmware Manager (CFM) to update

StarSense AutoAlign, your NexStar+ hand control, and your mount at

the same time.

Before beginning, download the Celestron Firmware Manager (CFM)

and the StarSense Windows Driver. Both are available at celestron.

com on the StarSense AutoAlign V2 (#94034) product page under

“Software and Downloads.”

To update using CFM, you will need two user-supplied cables:

- A USB Type-A to USB Mini-B cable to connect the NexStar+ hand

control to your PC.

- A USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable to connect StarSense AutoAlign

to your PC.

To install the ﬁrmware:

1. Install CFM and the StarSense Windows Driver on your PC.

2. Set up as your mount as you normally usually would, with the

NexStar+ hand control and SSAA plugged into the mount’s AUX

ports.

3. Power on the mount.

4. Connect the USB port on the bottom of the hand control to your PC

with the USB Type-A to USB Mini-B cable (user supplied).

5. Run CFM and click “Seek Devices.” CFM should ﬁnd the hand

control, mount, and StarSense AutoAlign.

6. Click the Update button in CFM. CFM will install any available

ﬁrmware updates for the hand control and the mount.

7. If a ﬁrmware update is available for StarSense AutoAlign, CFM will

prompt you to connect it directly to your PC using a USB Type-A to

USB Type-C cable (user supplied).

Keep StarSense connected to the mount via its AUX cable. At the

same time, connect its USB-C port to your PC. Once the USB

connection is established, click “OK” in CFM to begin the ﬁrmware

update.

NOTE: StarSense AutoAlign must be updated via a direct USB

connection. The ﬁrmware ﬁle is too large to transfer through

the mount’s AUX connection.

8. When CFM displays a green checkmark (Fig. 26), the StarSense

AutoAlign update is complete.

Fig .26: When the SSAA update is complete, you will see a green checkmark.

11. Speciﬁcations

LENS

DESIGN Doublet

APERTURE 20mm

FOCAL LENGTH 40mm

EFFECTIVE FOCAL RATIO f/2

NUMBER OF ELEMENTS 2

COATINGS Fully multi-coated

CMOS IMAGE SENSOR

CMOS IMAGE SENSOR Sony IMX462LLR-C, monochrome,

back-illuminated

SENSOR SIZE 6.46mm diagonal

PIXEL SIZE 2.9μm x 2.9μm

NUMBER OF EFFECTIVE PIXELS 2.13 M

ONBOARD COMPUTER

PRIMARY ARM

CORE 2x Cortex

-A53 up to 1.4 GHz

SECONDARY ARM

CORE 1x Cortex

-M7 up to 600 MHz

RAM 512 MB

ROM 4 GB

GPU GC7000UltraLite

OPERATING TEMPERATURE -5°C to 40°C

PORTS

AUX: For connection to Celestron mounts

USB-C For PC connection to focus, see Live View,

and update ﬁrmware

HOUSING

HOUSING Aluminum with plastic covers

14 | ENGLISH

StarSense AutoAlign V2

12. Troubleshooting and Tips

1. If you continually get the “No Stars!” error message during plate-

solving when the sky is clear, try refocusing SSAA.

2. If the Moon is high and bright, StarSense AutoAlign may have difﬁculty

plate solving within a few degrees of it due to glare. In this case, you

may see a “No Stars!” error message. If there is light haze in the sky,

plate solving may fail even at greater distances from the Moon.

3. For the best overall performance, we recommend leveling your tripod.

SSAA will still work with a tripod that is not level, but its pointing

accuracy will be somewhat diminished.

4. For the most accurate Precise GoTo functionality, polar align your

mount. Precise GoTo will still work well if your mount is not polar

aligned, but overall accuracy will be slightly reduced—typically by

several arcminutes.

5. If you’d like, you can connect SSAA directly to your PC via the USB-C

port for control with CPWI. Before you connect, download and install

the StarSense Windows driver (available on the SSAA V2 product

page on celestron.com). Plug SSAA into your PC. After about 10

seconds SSAA will boot up, and your computer will recognize the

StarSense AutoAlign.

- Leave SSAA connected to your mount via the included AUX

cable, even while it’s connected to your PC via USB-C. Use

the AUX port on your mount, not the autoguiding port. (The

ST-4 autoguiding port is not compatible with SSAA.)

- Make sure to use a high-quality USB cable. If you have

trouble connecting to SSAA via USB, try another USB cable

or another USB port on your computer. We don’t recommend

using USB extension cables as they can contribute to signal

loss.

6. If you remove StarSense AutoAlign from its bracket base and later

reinstall it, you typically will not need to perform Center Calibration

again. However, if objects are no longer being placed near the center

of the ﬁeld of view, repeat the Center Calibration procedure.

FCC NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class

B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide

reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equip-

ment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in

accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.

However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If

this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be

determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the

interference by one or more of the following measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

• Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver

is connected.

• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

Product design and speciﬁcations are subject to change without prior notiﬁcation.

This product is designed and intended for use by those 14 years of age and older.

US: 2835 Columbia Street, Torrance, CA 90503 USA

UK: Unit 2 Transigo, Gables Way, Thatcham RG19 4JZ, United Kingdom

This product is designed and intended for use by those 14 years of age and older.

Made in China

05-26

celestron.com/pages/warranty

FRANÇAIS # 94034

StarSense

AutoAlign V2

Avec le système Celestron StarSense AutoAlign Version 2 (SSAA),

utiliser un télescope Celestron n’a jamais été aussi simple. Cet

accessoire tout-en-un aligne automatiquement votre télescope et bien

plus encore! Avec votre nouveau StarSense AutoAlign, vous pouvez:

• Aligner automatiquement votre télescope équatorial et altazimuthal

sur le ciel nocturne en quelques minutes. Une fois l’alignement fait,

votre télescope trouvera et centrera les objets avec une précision de

pointage améliorée.

• Rapidement et précisément effectuer l’alignement polaire de votre

monture équatoriale, si désiré.

MODE D’EMPLOI

Veuillez lire ce manuel avant d’installer et d’utiliser StarSense AutoAlign.

Vous trouverez la version la plus à jour de ce mode d’emploi sur la page

de StarSense AutoAlign V2 sur le site Celestron.com.

AVERTISSEMENT – Ne pointez jamais StarSense AutoAlign vers le

Soleil! Cela pourrait endommager le capteur d’imagerie du SSAA. Ces

dommages ne sont pas couverts par la garantie. Laissez le capuchon de

protection sur le SSAA pendant la journée.

AVERTISSEMENT: NE BRANCHEZ PAS STARSENSE AUTOALIGN

SUR LE PORT D’AUTOGUIDE DE VOTRE MONTURE! Branchez toujours

StarSense AutoAlign aux ports AUX de votre monture. Brancher votre

StarSense AutoAlign sur un port d’autoguide pourrait l’endommager.

SOMMAIRE

1. Liste des pièces ...................................................................................................1

2. Installation ........................................................................................................1

3. Contrôle de StarSense AutoAlign .....................................................................................3

4. Méthode d’utilisation d’AutoAlign .....................................................................................3

5. Utiliser le SSAA avec la commande NexStar+ ..........................................................................3

6. Utiliser SSAA avec CPWI ...........................................................................................8

7. Utiliser SSAA avec SkyPortal .........................................................................................11

8. Mise au point ......................................................................................................12

9. Mettre à jour le logiciel interne de SSAA et Vue en temps réel via interface Web ..............................................13

10. Mise à jour du ﬁrmware SSAA via Celestron Firmware Manager (CFM) ....................................................13

11. Spéciﬁcations ....................................................................................................14

12. Dépannage et conseils. ............................................................................................14

1 | FRANÇAIS

StarSense AutoAlign V2

Petit support

Embase à queue d'aronde

standard pour chercheur

Fig. 3: Si votre télescope comporte déjà une base de chercheur standard, vous pouvez

utiliser le petit support pour monter le SSAA sur votre télescope.

Si vous utilisez un télescope dont l’ouverture est inférieure à 5” et

que votre télescope n’a pas de base à queue d’aronde standard pour

chercheur, vous devrez en acheter une auprès d’un fournisseur tiers.

Si vous utiliser le grand support préinstallé pour monter le SSAA

à votre tube de télescope:

1. Connectez le grand support au télescope. (Remarque: Certains

télescopes pourraient être livrés avec la base déjà installée. C’est

la même que celle utilisée par le chercheur 8x50 déjà inclus avec

plusieurs télescopes.) Si vous devez installer la base, utilisez les vis

cruciformes déjà installées sur la cellule arrière du télescope. La

cellule arrière est généralement pourvue de deux emplacements sur

la cellule arrière pour monter la base (Fig. 4).

Emplacement

de montage de

base 1

Emplacement

de montage de

base 2

Fig. 4: Le grand support peut être connecté au tube optique (OTA) à deux emplacements

sur la plupart des télescopes Celestron.

2. Retirez les vis, orientez la base comme indiqué et alignez les trous de

la base sur ceux de la cellule arrière.

3. Réinstallez les vis de manière à sécuriser la base. Si nécessaire,

utilisez deux des vis cruciformes incluses.

4. Vissez légèrement les deux vis à main dans le grand support (Fig. 5).

Vis à main

Fig. 5: Installez les vis à main dans le grand support. Ces ﬁxations permettent de ﬁxer le

support à la base, comme indiqué.

5. Faites glisser le support sur la base au maximum.

6. Serrez les vis à main pour ﬁxer le support à la base.

1. Liste des pièces

A. Lunette d’autoguidage StarSense avec capuchon

B. Grand support (préinstallé sur la lunette d’autoguidage

StarSense)

C. Base du grand support

D. Petit support

E. Câble AUX

F. Vis cruciformes (2)

G. Vis à main de la base de support de grande taille (2)

H. Clé hexagonale

E F G H

Fig. 1:

2. Installation

StarSense AutoAlign se connecte à votre tube optique à l’aide de l’un des

deux supports fournis (c’est-à-dire le grand support ou le petit support).

Utilisez le grand support avec les télescopes Schmidt-Cassegrain,

EdgeHD et RASA avec une ouverture de 5” ou plus (Fig. 2).

Grand support

Base du grand support

Fig. 2: Le grand support et la base connectent le SSAA à des télescopes Celestron

Schmidt-Cassegrain, EdgeHD, et RASA de 5 pouces ou plus.

Utilisez le petit support avec d’autres télescopes qui ont une base à

queue d’aronde standard pour un chercheur (Fig. 3).

2 | FRANÇAIS

StarSense AutoAlign V2

3. Desserrez la vis à six pans creux sur la pince du petit support et installez

le SSAA et la bague orange dans le petit support. Orientez-le comme

indiqué (Fig. 8).

Vis à tête cylindrique

Fig. 8: Installez le SSAA dans le petit support comme illustré, puis resserrez la vis à six

pans creuse sur le support.

4. Resserrez la vis à six pans creux sur la pince du petit support.

5. Réinstallez le boîtier avant du SSAA et la bague avant orange (Fig. 9).

Fig. 9: Réinstallez le boîtier avant sur le SSAA. N'oubliez pas la bague cosmétique

orange!

6. Pour installer le SSAA dans la base en queue d’aronde standard du

chercheur de votre télescope, insérez simplement le petit support dans

la base et serrez la vis à main sur la base pour la ﬁxer en place.

Maintenant que vous avez installé SSAA, vous devez connecter son port

AUX à l’un des ports AUX de votre monture de télescope. Utilisez le câble

AUX fourni (Fig. 10). Si vous n’avez pas de port AUX disponible sur votre

monture, envisagez d’acheter un répartiteur de port AUX Celestron en option.

Port AUX (sur SSAA)

Port AUX (sur la

monture)

Câble AUX

Fig. 10: Utilisez le câble AUX inclus pour connecter le port AUX de SSAA au port AUX

de la monture.

AVERTISSEMENT: NE BRANCHEZ PAS StarSense AutoAlign SUR LE

PORT D’AUTOGUIDE DE VOTRE MONTURE! Branchez toujours StarSense

AutoAlign aux ports AUX de votre monture. Brancher votre StarSense

AutoAlign sur un port d’autoguide pourrait l’endommager.

La barre à queue d’aronde CGE de 8” optionnelle pour la monture

d’accessoires bloquera le grand support du SSAA. Le bras à fourche CPC

800 bloque également le SSAA. Pour ces conﬁgurations, attachez la base

et le grand support en inversé comme illustré dans la Fig. 5a.

Fig. 5a: Vous devrez installer la base et le grand support à l'envers sur un télescope

CPC 800.

Si vous utilisez le petit support, vous devrez d’abord retirer le SSAA

du grand support. Pour monter le SSAA avec le petit support:

1. Dévissez complètement le boîtier avant du SSAA et retirez-le. Cela

exposera le tube optique du SSAA (Fig. 6). Retirez également l’anneau

cosmétique avant orange.

Bague cosmétique orange

Fig. 6: Pour changer de support, dévissez complètement et retirez tout l'avant du boîtier

SSAA, y compris l'anneau orange.

Avant du boîtier SSAA

REMARQUE: Lors du retrait du boîtier avant pour installer le petit support, vous

pourriez accidentellement dérégler la mise au point d’usine de SSAA. Gardez

cela à l’esprit lorsque avant de réutiliser le SSAA. Si l’appareil ne fonctionne pas

correctement et que vous recevez le message d’erreur «Pas d’étoiles:», vous

devrez peut-être refaire la mise au point. Pour ce faire, reportez-vous à la section

sur la mise au point plus bas dans ce manuel.

2. Utilisez la clé hexagonale pour desserrer la vis à six pans

creuse, qui ﬁxe le support. Retirez ensuite le SSAA du support

(Fig. 7). Il faudra également retirer l’anneau cosmétique arrière orange.

Vis à tête

cylindrique

Bague cosmétique arrière

orange

Clef hexagonale

Fig. 7: Desserrez la vis à six pans creuse. Retirez le SSAA du grand support, y compris

l'anneau orange arrière.

3 | FRANÇAIS

StarSense AutoAlign V2

Vous aurez besoin d’un smartphone équipé de la dernière version de

l’application SkyPortal, disponible gratuitement sur l’Apple App Store ou

Google Play.

4. Méthode d’alignement automatique

StarSense

Avant de vous présenter les instructions étape par étape, voici un aperçu

général de la façon dont StarSense AutoAlign est généralement utilisé. Le

processus d’installation suit la séquence générale suivante:

A. Alignement polaire – Si vous utilisez une monture équatoriale ou une

monture altazimutale sur un prisme équatorial, commencez par utiliser

StarSense AutoAlign pour faciliter l’alignement polaire. Cette étape

permet d’aligner votre monture avec l’axe de rotation de la Terre.

Si vous utilisez une monture altazimutale standard, passez cette étape.

B. Alignement sur le ciel – Ensuite, effectuez un alignement avec le

ciel. Cela permet à la monture de déterminer sa position dans le ciel

nocturne. Plusieurs options d’alignement sont disponibles, mais dans la

plupart des cas, l’alignement automatique est la méthode privilégiée et

la plus couramment utilisée.

C. Étalonnage du centre – L’étalonnage du centre aligne le champ de

vision de la caméra StarSense avec celui du télescope. Cette opération

n’est à effectuer qu’une seule fois, tant que le StarSense AutoAlign

n’est pas déplacé. Le décalage d’étalonnage est stocké dans la

mémoire de l’appareil.

Si vous désinstallez puis réinstallez StarSense AutoAlign, nous vous

recommandons d’effectuer à nouveau l’étalonnage du centre. Une fois

l’étalonnage du centre terminé, vous devrez répéter l’alignement sur le

ciel.

Les trois chapitres suivants expliquent comment effectuer ces fonctions à

l’aide de la commande NexStar (chapitre 5, page 3), du logiciel PC CPWI

(chapitre 6, page 7) ou de l’application SkyPortal (chapitre 7, page 10).

Il vous sufﬁt de vous référer au chapitre correspondant à la méthode de

contrôle que vous utilisez.

5. Utilisation de SSAA avec la commande

NexStar+

La commande NexStar est l’un des moyens les plus simples de faire

fonctionner votre système d’alignement automatique StarSense. Vous

n’aurez pas besoin d’ordinateur et vous permet de contrôler votre télescope

comme d’habitude, grâce aux capacités d’alignement améliorées intégrées

de StarSense.

Choisissez ci-dessous la section qui correspond à votre conﬁguration:

- Section A – Monture altazimutale (AZ) Celestron

- Section B – Monture équatoriale Celestron (EQ)

- Section C – Monture AZ Celestron utilisée avec un support équatorial

optionnel

Veuillez vous référer uniquement à la section qui s’applique à votre

conﬁguration de montage.

A. Utilisation de SSAA avec une

monture altazimutale (AZ)

Les montures altazimutales ne peuvent pas être alignées sur le pôle. Cette

section vous guide pas à pas dans la réalisation d’un alignement sur le ciel

à l’aide de StarSense AutoAlign.

1. Assurez-vous que le support est au moins grossièrement à niveau. Si

votre support comporte un niveau à bulle intégré, utilisez-le comme

référence.

2. Pointez manuellement le tube du télescope horizontalement vers

l’horizon nord. (Si vous vous trouvez dans l’hémisphère sud, pointez-le

vers l’horizon sud.)

3. Allumez la monture

3. Contrôler StarSense AutoAlign

Il existe plusieurs façons de contrôler StarSense AutoAlign:

Commande NexStar+

Pour utiliser SSAA avec la commande NexStar+ fournie avec votre

monture Celestron, vous devrez probablement mettre à jour le

micrologiciel de la commande. Vous aurez besoin du ﬁrmware version

5.35.5340 ou plus récent. Pour vériﬁer le numéro de version de votre

micrologiciel, appuyez sur le bouton MENU. Utilisez les boutons

DÉFILEMENT et ENTRÉE pour accéder à Utilitaires >Version. Utilisez

le logiciel Celestron Firmware Manager (CFM) pour mettre à jour le

micrologiciel si nécessaire. Vous trouverez la dernière version de CFM ici:

celestron.com/pages/drivers-and-software

Vous aurez besoin d’un câble USB (Type-A vers Mini-B) pour connecter la

commande à votre PC. Reportez-vous à la section 9 de ce manuel (page

13) pour plus d’informations.

Logiciel de contrôle de télescope CPWI

pour PC

Vous pouvez contrôler votre télescope et StarSense AutoAlign avec notre

logiciel gratuit Celestron CPWI. Pour télécharger la dernière version, visitez:

https://www.celestron.com/pages/celestron-pwi-telescope-control-

software

Vous aurez besoin de CPWI version 2.5.9 ou supérieure. Installez

le logiciel et ouvrez CPWI. Sélectionnez « Démarrer » si la fenêtre

d’ouverture apparaît. Ensuite, cliquez sur l’icône « Connexion » dans

le coin supérieur gauche de l’écran. Si vous utilisez une connexion

ﬁlaire à votre monture Celestron (c’est-à-dire via la commande ou la

monture elle-même), sélectionnez « USB ». Si vous êtes connecté

via Wi-Fi en utilisant le module Wi-Fi SkyPortal ou le Wi-Fi interne de

votre monture (par exemple, NexStar Evolution), sélectionnez « Wi-

Fi ». CPWI devrait détecter et se connecter à StarSense AutoAlign.

Une fois connecté, l’icône SSAA apparaîtra dans le menu de sélection

sur le côté gauche de l’écran. Sélectionnez l’icône pour afﬁcher le menu

StarSense (Fig. 11).

Fig. 11: Lorsque vous connectez votre monture Celestron à votre PC et lancez CPWI,

vous devriez voir le menu StarSense parmi les icônes sur le côté gauche de

l'écran.

Application SkyPortal pour iOS et Android

Si vous utilisez le module Wi-Fi Celestron SkyPortal ou si vous avez une

monture Celestron avec Wi-Fi intégré (par exemple, NexStar Evolution),

vous pouvez utiliser l’application SkyPortal pour contrôler votre SSAA.

4 | FRANÇAIS

StarSense AutoAlign V2

replacer la monture sur sa position d’origine. Appuyez sur le bouton

ENTRER.

b. Si vous avez une monture EQ sans positionnement d’origine

commutateurs, tels que le support Advanced VX, la commande vous

invitera à déplacer manuellement le support jusqu’à ses marques

d’index (Fig. 11B). Vous pouvez utiliser les boutons de déplacement

manuel de la commande pour déplacer la monture, ou desserrer les

embrayages RA et DEC et faire tourner les axes à la main. Une fois les

repères alignés, resserrez les freins et appuyez sur ENTER.

Fig. 11B Les repères d’index sur la monture Advanced VX EQ.

8. Il vous sera demandé si vous souhaitez effectuer un alignement polaire.

Nous vous recommandons d’effectuer l’alignement polaire dès

maintenant. Si vous ignorez cette étape et l’effectuez plus tard, vous

devrez répéter le processus d’alignement sur le ciel.

- Pour effectuer l’alignement polaire maintenant, appuyez sur ALIGN.

- Pour ignorer l’alignement polaire, appuyez sur ENTER pour continuer

vers l’alignement sur le ciel.

9. Suivez les instructions à l’écran pour saisir votre emplacement, l’heure

locale, et la date.

- Vous pouvez utiliser la base de données des villes pour déﬁnir votre

emplacement. Ne vous inquiétez pas si votre emplacement exact ne

ﬁgure pas dans la base de données. Sélectionnez simplement la ville

la plus proche.

10. Si vous avez sélectionné Alignement polaire, passez à l’étape 11.

Si vous avez ignoré l’alignement polaire, passez à l’étape 21.

11. La commande vous invitera à orienter manuellement le télescope vers

une autre zone dégagée du ciel. Utilisez les boutons de direction de

la commande pour pointer le télescope sur un emplacement dégagé.

Appuyez sur le bouton ENTRER.

• Le télescope pivotera d’ouest en est d’environ 50° pendant

le processus d’alignement polaire. (Si vous vous trouvez dans

l’hémisphère sud, le télescope effectuera un mouvement d’est en

ouest d’environ 50°). Essayez de vous diriger vers une zone dégagée,

sans aucun obstacle sur ce trajet.

12. Le télescope pivotera d’ouest en est pour obtenir des références

d’alignement polaire. (Si vous vous trouvez dans l’hémisphère sud,

le télescope effectuera un mouvement d’est en ouest.) Cela prendra

quelques minutes.

13. Lorsque le télescope a ﬁn, la commande afﬁche « Ajuster AZM ».

Appuyez sur le bouton ENTRER. L’écran LCD afﬁchera maintenant les

erreurs d’alignement polaire AZM et ALT.

14. Si votre monture est équipée d’un bouton de verrouillage d’axe d’azimut

ou d’une vis de verrouillage, desserrez-les avant de régler l’azimut.

15. Utilisez les boutons de réglage ﬁn de l’azimut de la monture pour régler

lentement le positionnement de l’azimut de la monture (de gauche à

droite). Au fur et à mesure que vous effectuez ces ajustements, l’erreur

AZM augmente ou diminue. Continuez à ajuster jusqu’à ce que l’erreur

AZM soit inférieure à deux minutes d’arc. Appuyez sur le bouton

ENTRER.

• N’ajustez pas l’altitude de la monture ! Vous ferez des ajustements

d’altitude à l’étape suivante.

• Effectuez les ajustements lentement aﬁn que SSAA puisse les suivre.

Si vous vous ajustez trop rapidement et que SSAA perd ses repères,

vous devrez peut-être recommencer tout le processus d’alignement

polaire.

16. La commande indiquera maintenant « Ajuster ALT » Appuyez sur le

bouton ENTRER.

17. Si votre monture est équipée de boutons de verrouillage d’altitude,

desserrez-les avant de régler l’altitude.

4. Appuyez sur le bouton ENTRER.

5. Sélectionnez une méthode d’alignement. Utilisez les touches

DÉFILEMENT HAUT et DÉFILEMENT BAS pour sélectionner « Auto

Align ». Appuyez sur le bouton ENTRER.

- Les autres options d’alignement sur le ciel seront abordées dans la

section E de ce chapitre (page 6).

6. Suivez les instructions à l’écran pour saisir votre emplacement, l’heure

locale, et la date.

- Vous pouvez utiliser la base de données des villes pour déﬁnir votre

emplacement. Ne vous inquiétez pas si votre emplacement exact ne

ﬁgure pas dans la base de données. Sélectionnez simplement la ville

la plus proche.

7. La monture commencera à pivoter vers une position où SSAA obtiendra

sa première référence d’alignement. Une fois que la monture arrête de

pivoter, SSAA capture une image du ciel et détermine sa position.

REMARQUE: Si le télescope pivote automatiquement pour pointer

vers une zone du ciel qui est obstruée (par des bâtiments, des arbres,

etc.), il échouera et pivotera automatiquement vers un autre point pour

réessayer.

8. La monture pivotera vers une autre position pour obtenir la deuxième

référence d’alignement.

9. L’alignement auto est terminé Vous verrez « Alignement réussi! » sur

l’écran LCD du NexStar+.

Votre monture est maintenant alignée sur le ciel nocturne. Cependant,

avant de pouvoir centrer avec précision des objets dans le champ de vision

du télescope, SSAA doit déterminer le décalage entre son propre champ

de vision et celui du télescope dans un processus appelé « calibrage

central». Si vous n’avez jamais étalonné centralement le SSAA et votre

télescope, la commande vous demandera de le faire immédiatement

après l’alignement sur le ciel initial. Reportez-vous à la section D pour

les instructions d’étalonnage du centre. Si vous avez déjà effectué un

étalonnage du centre, le télescope est maintenant prêt à rechercher et à

placer des objets près du centre du champ de vision.

B. Utilisation de SSAA avec une

monture équatoriale (EQ)

Avant de mettre la monture sous tension, effectuez un alignement polaire

approximatif. Cela fait, vous pouvez afﬁner l’alignement en utilisant uniquement

les boutons de réglage ﬁn de l’altitude et de l’azimut de la monture.

REMARQUE: Ces instructions expliquent comment effectuer la

procédure d’alignement polaire approximative dans l’hémisphère nord. Si

vous vous trouvez dans l’hémisphère sud, pointez votre monture plein sud

au lieu de plein nord.

Comment effectuer l’alignement polaire approximatif:

1. Assurez-vous que le trépied est raisonnablement à niveau. Si votre

support comporte un niveau à bulle intégré, utilisez-le comme référence.

2. Ajustez l’altitude de la monture de sorte que l’échelle de latitude de la

monture indique à peu près la même latitude que votre site d’observation.

3. Soulevez et faites pivoter l’ensemble du trépied et de la monture de

sorte que l’axe d’ascension droite (RA) pointe approximativement plein

nord. La position de la monture n’a pas besoin d’être parfaite. Visez à

environ 5° vers le nord aﬁn que la monture se trouve dans la plage des

boutons de réglage ﬁn de l’azimut de la monture. Utilisez une application

de boussole gratuite pour votre smartphone si vous avez besoin d’aide

pour trouver le Nord.

4. Si vous avez desserré les boutons de réglage de l’altitude ou de l’azimut

lors d’un alignement polaire approximatif, assurez-vous qu’ils sont bien

resserrés avant de continuer.

Maintenant que votre alignement polaire est approximativement

correct, vous êtes prêt à commencer le processus d’alignement:

5. Allumez la monture

6. Appuyez sur le bouton ENTRER

7. a. Si vous possédez une monture EQ avec des boutons de retour à

l’origine, comme CGX ou CGX-L, la commande vous demandera de

Marques d’index

5 | FRANÇAIS

StarSense AutoAlign V2

3. Soulevez et faites pivoter l’ensemble du trépied et de la monture de

sorte que le bras en fourche pointe approximativement plein nord. La

position de la monture n’a pas besoin d’être parfaite. Visez à environ 5°

vers le nord aﬁn que la monture se trouve dans la plage des boutons de

réglage ﬁn de l’azimut de la cale. Utilisez une application de boussole

gratuite pour votre smartphone si vous avez besoin d’aide pour trouver

le Nord.

4. Si vous avez desserré les boutons de réglage de l’altitude ou de l’azimut

lors d’un alignement polaire approximatif, assurez-vous qu’ils sont bien

resserrés avant de continuer.

Maintenant que vous êtes approximativement aligné sur les pôles, vous

êtes prêt à commencer le processus d’alignement:

5. Allumez la monture

6. Appuyez sur le bouton ENTRER.

7. Utilisez les touches DÉFILEMENT HAUT et DÉFILEMENT BAS pour

sélectionner « Auto Align EQ ». Appuyez sur le bouton ENTRER.

(Choisissez « Alignement Sud EQ » si vous êtes dans l’hémisphère sud.)

8. Suivez les instructions à l’écran pour saisir votre emplacement, l’heure

locale, et la date.

- Vous pouvez utiliser la base de données des villes pour déﬁnir votre

emplacement. Ne vous inquiétez pas si votre emplacement exact ne

ﬁgure pas dans la base de données. Sélectionnez simplement la ville

la plus proche.

9. L’écran LCD afﬁchera désormais «Déﬁnir Alt sur Index ». Positionnez

le support comme indiqué sur la ﬁgure 12. Vous pouvez soit utiliser la

commande manuelle pour orienter manuellement le télescope, soit, si

votre monture est équipée de freins d’axe (comme la monture Evolution),

vous pouvez desserrer les freins et positionner manuellement à la main.

10. Il vous sera demandé si vous souhaitez effectuer un alignement polaire.

Nous vous recommandons d’effectuer l’alignement polaire dès

maintenant. Si vous ignorez cette étape et l’effectuez plus tard, vous

devrez répéter le processus d’alignement sur le ciel.

- Pour effectuer l’alignement polaire maintenant, appuyez sur ALIGN.

- Pour ignorer l’alignement polaire, appuyez sur ENTER pour continuer

vers l’alignement sur le ciel.

À partir de ce point, la procédure d’alignement est la même que pour les

montures équatoriales.

Si vous avez choisi d’effectuer un alignement polaire, reportez-vous à la

section B, en commençant par l’étape 11.

Si vous avez choisi de ne pas effectuer l’alignement polaire, reportez-vous

à la section B, en commençant par l’étape 21.

18. Utilisez les boutons de réglage ﬁn de l’altitude de la monture pour

régler l’altitude de la monture (de haut en bas). Au fur et à mesure

que vous effectuez ces ajustements, l’erreur ALT augmente ou diminue.

Continuez à ajuster jusqu’à ce que l’erreur ALT soit inférieure à deux

minutes d’arc. Appuyez sur le bouton ENTRER.

• N’ajustez pas l’azimut de la monture.

19. La commande demandera alors «Ajuster ﬁnement AZM»

a. Si vous souhaitez faire des ajustements supplémentaires à l’azimut,

utilisez les touches de DÉFILEMENT pour sélectionner «Oui» et

appuyez sur ENTRER. Ajustez les molettes de réglage précis de

l’azimut jusqu’à ce que la tolérance soit inférieure à deux minutes

d’arc et appuyez sur ENTER.

b. Si vous ne souhaitez pas effectuer d’autres réglages, utilisez les

touches de DÉFILEMENT pour sélectionner « Non » et appuyez

sur ENTRER.

20. Félicitations! Vous avez terminé l’alignement polaire de votre monture.

Si votre monture est équipée de boutons ou de vis de verrouillage

d’altitude ou d’azimut, serrez-les fermement.

REMARQUE: Nous recommandons de ne pas tenter d’ajuster

l’alignement polaire à plus de deux minutes d’arc sur chaque axe. Cela

sera difﬁcile et ne fournira pas d’avantages supplémentaires en matière de

pointage ou de suivi.

21. Ensuite, vous serez invité à sélectionner une méthode d’alignement

sur le ciel. Utilisez les touches DÉFILEMENT HAUT et DÉFILEMENT

BAS pour sélectionner « Auto Align ». Appuyez sur le bouton ENTRER.

- Les autres options d’alignement sur le ciel seront abordées plus loin

dans ce manuel.

22. La monture commencera à pivoter vers une position où SSAA obtiendra

sa première référence d’alignement. Une fois que la monture arrête de

pivoter, SSAA capture une image du ciel et détermine sa position.

REMARQUE: Si le télescope pivote automatiquement pour pointer vers

une zone du ciel qui est obstruée (par des bâtiments, des arbres, etc.), il

échouera et pivotera automatiquement vers un autre point pour réessayer.

23. La monture pivotera vers une autre position pour obtenir la deuxième

référence d’alignement.

24. La monture pivotera vers une troisième position de l’autre côté du

méridien pour obtenir une troisième référence d’alignement.

25. Une fois que SSAA a capturé trois références d’alignement, vous

verrez «Alignement réussi!» sur l’écran LCD du NexStar+.