Celestron - SkyPortal WiFi Module - Control Your Celestron Computerized Telescope via Smartphone - Telescope Wi-Fi Accessory

Not even sure how I came across this gadget. I checked with Celestron to see if it would work with my 15 year old 4 SE and they said it would. Sure enough, it works great. Dead-easy setup by simply plugging it into the Aux plug.People having problems with the WiFi setup are probably misunderstanding the process. It connects directly by WiFi to my phone (NOT through a router); the phone still has internet connectivity via cell reception.This thing is awesome and the app is great.

I have mixed reviews for this item it's easy to connect but not easy to make it Work your Wi-Fi and connect to the telescope at the same time I was having issues getting this task done and the first one of these I purchased the orange light went out and the item stopped working so I had to return it so would I recommend this item yes and no it works moving the telescope with your phone but doesn't allow the Wi-Fi to pass through without jumping through hoops so I would look into something else maybe there's something newer that works better

It seems to be working pretty well so far. There is no need for a remote control anymore. I can easily do it with my phone or tablet

Was a little techy to setup. Use it with an iPhone. So far connectivity has been stable and once configure correctly it connects fairly quickly.

I am using it with the CPC 1100It can generate its own wifi network for when you are in out in a remote place and control the scope via a tablet or a smartphone connecting to such wifiIf you are at home, you can switch to access point and basically the scope will now have the ability to connect you your home network. You can then control the scope from the iPadYou can use the free app provided, however will work with Skysafari... For 15$ you get a much better app with many more functioanlities and a much more complete visualization of sky object and more complete listControlling the scope is easy enough, and actually the scope respond very well. I,had a Celestron Evolution, and the native wifi of the evolution is very sluggish often unresponsive with the same Skysafari. the Skyportal wifi adapter seem not to have such issueYou can do the regular alignment via the tablet, keep eventually using the HC if you wantIt also works if you have the Starsense installed, you can initiate the Starsense alignment with it, and refine it adding additional alignment star, like you would do with the Starsense HCInitially it was working at all with the CPC. Was generating the wifi, you could connect the iPad to it, but would not control the scope and you would get an error. It turned out that my CPC had a faulty MC board. It was fixed by Celestron and now worksI found more intuitive to control the scope with the iPad having a display of the planetarium than just using the HCMake the observation experience much more pleasant ...once us d, you don't want to go back to just HC

Couldn't get it I got my first telescope - a 2.4" Tasco - when I was thirteen years old (late 1960s) and it stayed with me through college. Life and work got in the way so it stayed in its case until the early 1990s when I upgraded to a 10" Meade Cassegrain with equatorial mount. Got the full package and managed to place some photographs with magazines (back in the days of print). I share this up front so you'll know I've been around and used scopes for quite a while.I received a Celestron NexStar 8se package with 14 piece accessory kit and SkyPortal Wifi Adapter for Christmas less than a month ago, and the only way to do this review justice is to provide a play by play.Day 1:It arrives.I'm not sure why delivery drivers leave 2oz packages by the garage door and place packages you need a derrick to lift blocking the front door so you can't get out to get the package. The 8se comes in a BIG, HEAVY box (SENIORS PAY ATTENTION!).Unpacking.Open the outer box, open the inner box, and you're presented with four more boxes, some of which have even smaller boxes inside. There are instructions (not completely useless, not really helpful) which provide clues regarding which box to open first. If you love mysteries, you're going to love this.Quick Set-up GuideFirst, have the Instruction Manual handy and refer to it often. If nothing else, the pictures in the Quick Set-up Guide and Instruction Manual provide clues as to how things are suppose to work. When in doubt with the Set-up Guide, check with the Instruction Manual and vice-versa. Neither tells the complete story and each have different errors.Steps 1-5 GoodStep 6 - First thing, our tripod didn't have a bubble. Looked and looked and looked and no bubble, no bubble, no bubble. Finally used the one from the Meade.Second, The tripod bubble level's only useful if you never plan on moving the telescope-tripod assembly from wherever you do your initial assembly. Move it outside, front yard to backyard, beach to desert, field to forest, and you need to take the mounting platform off the tripod to level it all over again.Note this: If you take off the mounting platform, the telescope comes with it unless you separate the scope from the mounting platform.Steps 14-15 - Yes, we're skipping. Steps 14-15 is where you put eight AA batteries in the mounting platform. Videos indicate this is easy. (SENIORS PAY ATTENTION) It isn't. You'll need strong fingers, strong nails, or a screwdriver to pop it off. Put these batteries in now because you'll have to work under or around the telescope if you wait until Steps 14-15 is suppose to occur.Further note - a fresh pack of batteries gives good use for ~30m then fades rapidly, especially if you're using the scope in winter (15-30ºF). We planned on getting the rechargeable power supply and ended up returning the entire unit and all accessories because, personally, I don't need the headaches.Step 7 - Notice in the picture the demonstrator's holding the scope and mounting platform together? The hitch here is they didn't include the step where you attach the scope to the mounting platform.The hitch with that missing step is you can't attach the scope to the mounting platform as the platform is configured coming out of the boxThe hitch there is you need to turn the mounting platform part that the scope slides into so you can slide the scope into it.The hitch there is it doesn't turn easy and, if you're like me, you're leery of turning something with a relatively precision motor attached. We called tech support. Turns out the mounting platform part is on a friction clutch and can be turned by hand. Really? (SENIORS PAY ATTENTION) This doesn't turn easy for people with a good grip, and next to impossibly if you have arthritis.Not to mention turning a precision gearing mechanism with a friction clutch by hand. Nobody told the engineers that's a perfect way to ruin the clutch assembly?Steps 8-13 - GoodSteps 16-18 - Only useful if you plan on terrestrial viewing or know astrogation well enough to "point-and-shoot."Now we get to "Before you can begin observing, you must setup your hand control, align your finderscope and align your telescope. Step by step instructions are included in the following Hand Control Setup section."I'd already spent 2+ hours going through the various documentation (the Instruction Manual is a must), so figuring out the Hand Control Guide is the next day's job.Day 2:Aligning the finderscope and telescope. Before anything else, remember you have to mount the finderscope to the telescope to align them. Does anybody writing documentation know how to explain something step by step and explicitly? Remember those college science texts which showed step 1 and 2 then the solution and in between had "The derivation is left as an exercise for the student"? They may as well have had "And then a miracle happened!"Anyway, the people who wrote "The derivation is left as an exercise" also wrote the Celestron documentation.Got the finderscope attached. Now I had to find something ~1/4 mile away to properly align the finderscope to the telescope. Which meant taking the telescope, the mount, and tripod somewhere where I could clearly see a steady, non-moving terrestrial object which was ~1/4 mile away. Do you live in a suburban neighborhood? I ended up using a neighbor's window casing two streets away.Fair enough, but your suppose to get your target in the center of the finderscope which has no crosshairs so you have to be looking through the finderscope dead on while you make adjustments. (SENIORS TAKE NOTE) This can be straining if you have back problems and are 6' tall or more as you have to bend over to see dead on, and the moment to touch the adjustments the entire assembly jiggles so you have to wait for it to quell before making your next adjustment.Once you've got it in the finderscope, move on to the main scope, again with the "center," which again means you have to be viewing dead on.Yeah, I wasn't having fun yet.Hand Control Guide:First, does it work? Yes.Second, could it work better? Definitely.Third, does it work as simply and as easily as the documentation and videos indicate? No way, period!The menu system is extensive. It's also ONE LINE at a time on a horizontally scrolling LED display. Really? In 2025? Okay, chock this up to not getting the flying car I was promised, too.I had to work through the menus four times before I worked it properly. Now onto finding a bright sky object, center it in your finderscope, center it in your main scope, press this, press that, lather-rinse-repeat three times.The first night out I went through that menu system and found three objects three times over and each time got an alignment failed message.Okay, enough for one night. Bring everything inside and start again tomorrow.Day 3:I downloaded two pieces of software available from Celestron, CPWI and Starry Night. I installed and uninstalled Starry Night five or so times. Each time, despite reporting a successful install, Starry Night threw errors faster than I could dismiss them during loading.CPWI installed and loaded, and that leads us to the SkyPortal WiFi adapter module. It worked fine in "direct" mode, meaning it connected to the laptop and I could communicate with the telescope provided laptop and 'scope where within 5-15' of each other. However, it never worked with in wifi network mode, meaning I couldn't sit in my backroom, indicate what I wanted to view, and have that info sent to the 'scope in my driveway about 30' away even though the distance from each point to the router was less than 15'.The CPWI software lets you align your scope.Okay, and mine didn't. It couldn't find anything it suggested as an alignment point. The suggested points where in the sky, simply not where the CPWI software indicated they should be.The Hand Control alignment needs to be repeated each time you set up the scope. Say what? I have to go through a 15-20m procedure each time I want to look at something? The CPWI lets you save an alignment setting. Trouble there is it never aligned my 'scope properly.Days 3-15:I took the 'scope out nightly for about two weeks and repeatedly failed. I contacted Celestron for guidance and was on hold long enough for the sun to go nova. I emailed with my concerns. They sent me pages from the manuals.Day 16:I packed up the 'scope and returned it.By the way, during the repacking process I found the bubble level. About the size of a dime, and stuck in some bubble wrap.to work with the house wifi. It recognized it, indicated it connected, never did.