Meade MySky vs Celestron SkyScout?

Question

Some time ago, i bought the Meade MySky. I understand that to have it identify a star, i have to look between the two lights in the back, see the one light up front, and then position that one light under the star i want to indentify, then click. When i do this, i find that every time i point to the same star, it tells me its something different. I must be doing something wrong, but i dont know what.
Is the celestron SkyScout easier in this regard? I tried looking at their website to see a demo, and it said i need flashplayer to view the demo. I installed flashplayer twice, and then tried to watch it, and each time, all it does is tell me again that i need flashplayer to view it :-(
Please share any advice, experience,or suggestions you may have. Thank you

Thanks Geoff and Aero- well it would be nice to just learn the night sky, but i like to look up near my home and there are too many street lights :( You cant even see most of the stars at all, so wouldnt that make it harder to identify those you can see?

Answer 1

Celestron may work a little better in some ways, but of course you will not get the goofy graphics. At the risk of sounding like a dinosaur, I must tell you that the pleasure inherent in learning the night sky is inversely proportional to the number of electronic devices needed to find stuff. None of these GoTo or Point At gizzies work half as well as your own eyeballs and your own brain. My advice is to get a good book like Nightwatch by Dickinson (I know Geoff likes this book as well) and go outside and look up. Take the time to learn the sky instead of relying on a dumb computer. You will have a lot more fun that way, guaranteed. This will lead to more detailed books like Burnham's Handbook or chart software that can show you what you are seeing without continually wondering whether the thingie is fibbing to you.

ADDED: Newsong - That is a problem. But in that case, the machines you describe probably wouldn't be of much use either. Here is a suggestion. Look on the internet to find a local amateur astronomy club. They are always holding open house observing sessions in regions where the sky conditions are reasonably good. You will be welcomed and invited to look through several scopes at all sorts of objects that will get you focused on what you would like to see, how to find it, and what type of equipment you need to see it with. Bring along the charts in Nightwatch or a similar guide and think about what you'd like to see before you go,. Start with the bright ones as noted in the book.

In the meantime, you can probably find a location where you can see the brighter objects easily enough. Even in the city, you can see M42 in Orion, the planets, the Moon, some beautiful double stars, and some star clusters containing thousands of stars. You just need to know where to look based on the brighter constellation stars that you can see. This is easy with the charts that I mentioned and a decent set of binoculars or a steady scope with a Telrad finder, and my experience is that I can usually set up my scope and see three to four objects while the GoTo guys are still grumbling about "what the heck is wrong with this thing..."

Best of Luck...

Answer 2

This sounds like a typical Meade product. You're not supposed to buy them, just read the catalog or ad copy and dream. The real products don't work.