Hi all, thanks for visiting! Mike Likes is a channel where I review all sorts of gadgets and new technology. A lot of it will be on photography, astronomy, and the occasional video game or new piece of technology I acquire! Thanks for visiting and hope you like what I'm doing on RU-vid.
That's why I got one (a different vendor but same scope), because of the portability. I'll worry about getting a big dobsonian when I get a house with a yard. For road trips to dark sky parks I like having a portable scope, mount, my camera, my tent, a chair all in the trunk of my car. I can be setup and relaxing while waiting for it to get dark. Very peaceful and relaxing without breaking a sweat.
I like lithium batteries, too. They may cost twice as much as alkaline, but they last twice as long, and don't leak. However, on page ENG-4 of the Canon manual it states, "In rare cases, some AA-sized lithium batteries will reach extremely high temperatures. For your safety, please refrain from using AA-size lithium batteries."
@@MikeLikesChannel I’ve used lithiums in lots of device and never experienced an issue with heat. We’re not recharging them. However, I have had several alkalines leak, always in rarely used devices with old batteries. Perhaps Canon should instead include a warning about deteriorating rubber armor. 🤔
Good video. You mentioned portability. What you buy is going to depend where you're at: 1. Are the light conditions (light pollution and lack of it) good enough that you can set it up in your backyard or driveway? 2. Is your line of sight blocked by houses everywhere? 3. Does your neighbor's floodlights get turned on everytime you move? 4. Do you have paranoid neighbors? 5. Can you leave your telescope overnight w/o someone going "shiny" and deciding to make off with it? If you say yes to any of the above, you'll have to travel. You'll have to set it up before dusk and then break it down in the dark. A dark site would be ideal, but it's a 1.5 hour drive, so I'm doing it on the weekends. How long I stay depends on how long the power lasts. I do not recommend relying on AA batteries. I chose a Celestron 6SE because it was on sale and I'm not sure if an 8 inch is going to be portable enough. The accessories I bought already twice the amount of the 6SE: 1. GPS module 2. Skyportal Wifi 3. Star Sense autoguider 4. 6" aluminum Dew shield. It serves 2 purposes. Cuts down on the stray light of the inner city and hinders the formation of dew. 5. CMOS camera - it's more convenient is I don't have to worry about eyestrain peering into the eyepiece. 6. Two celestron 7Ah power tanks. One for the mount and the other for the laptop. 7. Appropriate night pollution filters. 8. Apertura hard case for the 6SE which can also hold the 8SE. I'll have to get the equatorial wedge, focuser motor and the dew control module later. I'm not including a laptop with a USB 3.0 port since I already have it prior. I'm not adding the camping equipment you might need, starting with a good set of hiking boots. You're sneakers is not going to prevent the moisture from wicking in as the night dew forms on the ground. Portable tables, a chair and an umbrella. The 6SE controller will go on the fritz if exposed to the sun for too long. Add also bug spray, calamine lotion and band aids. I'm volunteering for astronomy day with a heat index of 100 degrees, so I'll have to make provisions of cooling the controller. I'm going to place a hand towel or two on top of a frozen cold gel pack and place the controller on top of it. Add also an umbrella to shade it.
@@MikeLikesChannel thanks for the feedback. Are there claw machine brands in the market come with computer interface (smart claw machine) to hook them up easily to the raspberry pi. If so, could you please recommend them? I appreciate it in advance.
Do you get inbuilt GPS if you buy the EVO HD w StarSense? Or are you supposed to link to your phone/tablet by WiFi to obtain GPS via the Celestron App?
Thanks for the amazing video. I have recently bought the hyperstar and can work out how I cover the back of the scope where the camera used to fit, could someone please help me?
I would sure like one of those mounts. Very Nice. I have a Nexstar 8, Nexstar 5 and Celestron 102 Refractor. Good video, thanks for sharing it with us.
I really want one. I gave away my old telescope to a family member, I wish I would have kept it a little longer. This eclipse coming up on April 8 will be my last opportunity to see an eclipse ( I’m stage 5 renal failure ). I don’t mind buying a new scope but there’s no time. I have a couple of lower power scopes but I really need a Barlow lens and of course I waited too long. Is there a site to purchase a used scope or but some new or used eyepieces ?
@@ejicon3099 I have a pair of high quality 16x70's, and even mounted, Saturn is at best slightly oval shaped. You will need around 80x magnification to actually see rings, or more likely, a ring. Seeing the divisions within the rings or the gap between the ring and the planet takes a bit more magnification and aperture.
Love your videos. I’ve decided to buy my fist telescope and have found tour videos to be super helpful. I was thinking evolution 8. Use case is for a house I have in the Caribbean on an island with under 300 people so no light pollution. Nearest street light is over a mile from my house. Anything you would recommend I look at instead? Thanks for any thoughts.
Bro, THANK YOU. I just purchased this as my first telescope and I'm beyond excited. I sit outside and stare at the stars on beautiful Michigan nights. It hasn't arrived yet and I'm so damn excited and thrilled to see the rings of saturn.
I have the nexstar 8se and I took out the gears and electronics so it would be manual for visual use and it has metal gears so i don't know why you say plastic gears??...unless i heard you wrong?
@@MikeLikesChannel the 6se and 8se use the same mount with metal gears, which isn't very good for the heavier 8 incher ...the 6 is probably okay on the Nexstar mount. I wish I had the Evolution, a lot of improvements over the Nexstar. Edit: there's the 5" version that probably uses the plastic gears you're referring to?
Sir, Im an ohio sky looker and I work for a non profit. Id love to meet you and get your expertise on my new gear i got. Im in central ohio but im happy to travel. i work for a non profit and i want to get proficient at this because im doing some urban sky tours for kids and families.
Thanks Mike...just starting out, getting my observatory together, I have a CPC800XLT and two other Saxons. This Hyperstar sounds great looking forward to expermenting with it....thanks for the video, Cheers Clint - Melbourne, Australia
Hello ... thanks for the review. I have my eye on one of these scopes. I wondered once you find a a deep sky object how difficult is it to keep it in the view? With the dob there is no tracking and no alignment knobs correct?
I am on my second StarSense camera and hand controller! The first one never was never detected and the he had a waiting on camera message. Well, the second one worked fine for couple of hours and started getting the same waiting on camera message. Celestron support is not helpful. They don’t want to send me a third camera unless a do a couple problem determination steps that I have done over and over and given them the results! Good luck to those using StarSense!
I just purchased a used one and it is on the way to me in Hawaii. I have a CPC 925 Edge HD so it already has GPS. Do I still need to do the initial set up with putting in my time, date, lat/Long. etc. or does the GPS do that already for the first time use?
The advantage of the Evolution over the CPC fork mounted SCTs is that you can easily remove the tube from the mount head and use it on an eq mount for imaging. The CPC is a nightmare to de-fork, and it's better left as is.
Great video and this makes complete sense as a next step with my Evo 8. I have really been enjoying the visual aspect, but there is so much the eyes just can't pick up. Was thinking about a Focal reducer, but may as well go right to the HyperStar. Can't take it with you!
Mike, I went ahead and got a StarSense auto align for my 70s C8 on an Evo mount. Tried it last night in very cloudy conditions and was impressed with its efforts. It was looking everywhere but I had to give up in the end. Looks nicer tonight. Your vids have been inspirational. Thanks!! How do you transition to the ASI/iPad after the Starsense align? How does the ASI know how the scope is aligned? I was using my iPad to do the Starsense align - when that is done, do I just plug in the ASI Air to the HC Port or do I have to use the HC to control the align?
Good review - I’m on the verge of getting one for my Evo mounted C8. Two questions: 1. Can you still use the hand controller to slew (for visual hopping) 2. I’m not having much joy with ASI Air + for alignment using my (no guidescope in use) C9.25 - any way I could still use the ASI to stack and move the Evo?
How would you compare these binoculars with stabilisation on to a 7x50 Nikon OceanPro that doesn't have stabilisation? Would the former be as good as the latter? I'm asking because I have shaky hands and I find the Nikon Trailblazer 8x25mm too shaky.
Same. Traded my X100T that I bought new when it came out for the X100 OG last year. Everything that you described here including your light editing JPEG's, it's like I could have made this video. Exactly the same for me, the files of the OG produce the most natural colours and B&W's of any of the X100 series cameras. Simplicity at it's very best!
@@MikeLikesChannel Thanks for the reply! Sorry I didn’t word it better. I currently have the aluminum dew shield. I need help finding the cap for the eyepiece side. I’ve removed mine completely since I’ll mostly be using the HyperStar. It also allowed the optical tube to fit into my hard case easier.
