Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 102AZ Smartphone App-Enabled Refractor Telescope

2024-04-03T18:01:24

Mostly does what is advertised. I live in a suburban area with moderate light pollution, after a lot of fiddling around I was finally able to get the smartphone app to locate its position in the sky. The calibration was still slightly off. But otherwise the telescope works fairly well, for a beginner. However, the mount is not super stable and under very high magnification, there is a lot of shaking in the image. I suppose a more expensive mount would eliminate the shaking but that is price you pay for a more portable entry level telescope. Now I understand why people pay so much for a very stable mount. Still can't see any nebula yet but I think it's because there's just too much light pollution.

Sunny C.

2023-08-02T08:31:48

Great beginner telescope and nice features right out of the box. I read several detail reviews and watched product instructions on YouTube and that really helped get me using the telescope properly from the start. Plenty of resources out there for anyone that is interested. You can't go wrong for the investment. Saving up for my next more advanced Celestron telescope! Thanks

Patrick W.

2023-07-14T10:42:26

Bought it as a gift for my wife who loves it. She wanted to see not only stars, but planets too. We're loving it and trying to get much better with the app.

DAVID D.

2023-05-27T18:08:09

We've been unable to set it up so far. We are instructed to enter a six digit download code for instructions, yet we've been sent an eight digit code, which celestron won't accept. Probably just a temporary glitch, but not impressed at all with the initial impression

PETER E.

2023-03-20T23:25:41

User friendly first scope. A entry level that can be customized for the individual user. I bought a new dielectric star diagonal. Baader zoom mark iv. Celestron eyepieces and a dew shield. Adorama is fast and punctual with delivery. Will use them for my future needs

DAVID K.

2023-02-26T07:38:07

Easy to set up with modular parts and great instructions. Works very well viewing planets and stars. iPhone star finder is great!

RANDOLPH M.

2022-12-05T09:07:52

The telescope actually gets all FIVE stars! Great optics, light weight and very portable. I have a Meade 10?SCT and an Dobsonian. I bought this one as a quick grab and go for my driveway observations for nights when intermittent overcast is interfering with celestial events I really want to observe. But the biggest joy this telescope has given me is watching inexperiences children be introduced to astronomy with it. Aperture works well with the focal length and the view is great. The cell phone / app combination is wonderful and my grandchildren and other young ones were able to view, planets, clusters and binaries without me showing them how to do anything. They would choose objects from the list and push the scope to the location shown and were able to locate the object instantly. My grandchildren were able to view fourteen objects night one with no assistance from me and with no previous experience! Now for the area improvement could be made. This telescope uses two rods for fine adjustments to right ascension and declination. They attach ti the telescope with set screws tightened by an Allen wrench. Only one of my arms had one so the other arm is not attached. I contacted Adorama and they escalated the ticket to Celestron, but I am still waiting three weeks later. It should not take several weeks to get a warranty part. Summary, I have purchased three Celestron telescopes with StarSense and love them from Adorama in the past few months. Optical Tube Assembly, eyepieces and the push to App are phenomenal and work great together. Perfect telescopes for kids, beginners or for old timers as a quick look grab and go for backup use.

JOHN R.

2022-07-06T09:57:21

Alignment was tricky, but the instructions were clear and detailed with videos. This is my first telescope and I highly recommend it!

KIM C.

2022-06-22T08:50:50

Very good beginner scope - don?t be put off by all the plastic on the telescope mount and the plastic diagonal. The 2 supplied eyepieces are a Kellner design with a narrow field of view - kind of like looking through a straw. I replaced mine with Celestron X-Cel LX eyepieces - they have a much wider field of view and great eye relief. This scope has a short focal length which is good and bad: good is you can get nice wide fields of view and the bad is that there is quite a bit of chromatic aberration around very bright objects - the moon will have a purple edge to it, for example. This scope is great for terrestrial views, but I?d eventually replace the diagonal with a good star diagonal for sky viewing. The StarSense system is fabulous! This scope is worth the money just for that. You don?t have to know the sky for it to work. My skies are very light polluted so I can?t even see the constellations with the naked eye, but my iphone can, so the telescope can!

LORELIE M.

2022-06-12T19:38:17

Bought this as a first telescope and I was stoked to get it 3 days after the order. I don't have knowledge of how these things are normally shipped but this one seemed to be solidly packed. Setup was super simple for a first timer, probably 10-15 minutes. Downloaded the app then headed outside to align it. Everything was going along smoothly until I tried to use the app. For an unknown reason, the StarSense app would not activate the camera feature on my phone, which is critical. I tried numerous times by stopping and restarting but the best it would do was a black screen. I contacted Celestron customer service after normal business hours by email and received a response within a few minutes. They said although my phone showed to be compatible (Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra), there had been several reports of issues with the app communicating with the phone. Some phones would run it, some wouldn't. Unfortunately, mine was one that wouldn't. I bought this particular scope because of the ease of use but since the app wouldn't work, I am returning it and getting a NexStar 8SE so I don't have to worry about any compatibility issues and I get the ease of use, albeit, at a substantial cost increase. I should say that even though the app wouldn't work, I was able to manually shift around the sky and see different objects. I saw the moon for the first time through a telescope and it was awesome. Slow motion controls really help with fine tuning. All in all, I would say this would be a keeper, as long as the app works.

James C.

2022-06-05T19:04:25

As expected. Timely shipping.

PAUL S.

2022-05-23T13:10:05

software for map not accurate.

KIET N.

2022-04-01T08:12:03

Showed up with a broken Leg in the tripod, dented cylinder in the scope and was basically told to go pound sand by the support team. Don't waste your money on anything this company sells.

TIMOTHY R.

2022-03-15T10:08:53

Love this telescope!

Stephanie H.

2022-03-07T05:34:25

Great beginner telescope. I bought it for myself for Christmas. Great test telescope to see if I would use it enough to put more money into reviving my old hobby. I will be upgrading soon and passing this one along to the grandchildren.

SHANNON B.

2022-02-18T07:41:14

Works great! We love it. Haven?t used the app yet though.

YASMIN R.

2022-01-26T15:23:09

I didn't know anything about this company but after reading reviews I ordered the Celestron 130 telescope. It arrived sooner than expected and the packaging was impressive. I have since ordered some accessories and they have arrived right on time.

TAMMY H.

2022-01-11T08:01:41

This was a Christmas gift for my husband. And when he unwrapped it he lit up with so much joy. It was very easy to assemble, and the attachments are a plus! For his very first telescope it?s very easy to use and maneuver. He loves everything about it! It?s a 10 out of 10!!!

TUAREAAN S.

2022-01-10T11:28:40

So far, we are very pleased with our Celestron Telescope. The pictures for the directions could be a bit better to make it easier to get the right perspectives but we figured it out. It?s obviously a quality product which we greatly appreciate in this era of ?let?s see how cheap we can make it?. The app looks fantastic and we can?t wait to use it! Unfortunately, due to inclement weather, we haven?t been able to get outside to see what we can see but we?re very excited to try it out and explore the heavens!

ADRIANA C.

2022-01-10T10:12:19

Love this!

LIZ M.

2022-01-06T08:03:44

Looks good and service was good but so far we have found the telescope difficult to navigate.

JONATHAN H.

2022-01-03T07:40:13

Excellent intermediate telescope

HAL D.

2022-01-02T10:28:39

GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mary C.

2021-12-30T08:18:04

Fantastic gift to experience the cosmos!

NEVINSTHON A.

2021-12-28T13:56:41

Very good but finder didn?t work, but with call they are sending a replacement. So, overall, very good

Gary G.

2021-12-28T07:11:50

Really like this telescope.

Bonita D.

2021-12-26T15:40:16

It was a gift and the recipient is extremely happy ad surprised when he opened the box. Overall it was great, I rated it a 5. We have not used it so far because of the weather, but we assembled it and can't wait for the right weather to come.

MARIA D.

2021-12-15T14:50:05

I bought this for my grandson and me? First night after set up, we found a planet, double star and a galaxy. Using a cell phone to find named objects was simple. We thoroughly enjoyed our time.

ARTHUR B.

2021-12-12T09:42:16

Five stars for the hardware and Software, and for the software docs. But the hardware documentation and supporting info are very poor and/or poorly made available. Like me if you're new to telescopes, and want to use it for astrophotography with a DSLR, there are no instructions in the box, or available in the OEM support or downloads for this scope. I started out with a lot of frustration, trying to figure out what to do, and what I needed. I had to depend on 3rd party Youtube posts. To complicate things the T-Mount Celestron lists on their site for this scope was wrong. I contacted them about this and they acknowledged the problem quickly. but still haven't changed the site. Also there is no mention in the box or with the scope specific online support on what needs to be done to maintain this: cleaning and adjustments. (Both will be eventually needed.) Once again the best info I could find was generic but useful third party posts. I need to mention that the info I needed is actually on the Celestron site, but well hidden. I was not able to find what I was looking for. If you know all the telescope related jargon you have a better chance that I did of finding it.

JAMIE S.

2021-11-26T07:41:41

This telescope is perfect for beginners! It has an easy a quickly setup, and the starsense app is great! I'm loving it!

JOSE P.