20 Most Recent Celestron NexStar 4 SE Telescope Questions & Answers

Basically, enter Time, Date, and Site-- level the tripod and do a 2 or 3 star alignment.

All of the manuals are on the Celestron web site here--

http://www.celestron.com/c3/downloads.php

http://www.celestron.com/c3/images/files/downloads/1150227146_11049manual.pdf

The focus knob turns on a threaded rod which passes through a focus lever, which is secured to the back of the primary mirror. The end of the rod where it passes through this lever is secured by 2 jam nuts, one of which has probably fallen off.http://ngc1514.com/Celestron/disassem.htm To fix this you will have to take the front corrector plate off, find the nut rattling around in there, and tighten it back onto the end of the focuser rod, as shown in the diagram. I'd use a little Loctite as well.This is not difficult, and you can clean the inside of the corrector plate while you have it off. The only precaution is to mark where the corrector plate was, and replace it at the same orientation. Some opinion has it as being worthwhile to also get the secondary mirror centered on the corrector, and the corrector then centered in the end casting. An accurate rule or vernier calipers can be used. Don't tighten the screws on the corrector plate retaining ring much more than hand tight.http://www.astromart.com/articles/article.asp?article_id=594 http://www.darkatmospheres.com/music/C11_Project/index.html http://www.celestron.com/c3/support3/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=1655&nav=0,214 http://www.nexstarsite.com/OddsNEnds/SCTCorrectorRemoval.htm http://www.laughton.com/paul/rfo/c11-disasm.html

The focus knob is not supposed to feel like that. On my Celestron it had almost become detached from the focus lever which attaches to the main mirror inside the tube. There is a threaded shaft and locknut which had become loose.If you feel DIY enough, and you understand about corrector plate centering, follow this http://ngc1514.com/Celestron/disassem.htmand tighten the locknuts on the threaded shaft. There is also a lot of stuff on CloudyNights (above) regarding this subject.If not 100% confident a better idea is probably to have a telescope tech do this for you. Shop around your district.

RESET the hand controller-- then turn it off-- wait 15 seconds and turn it back on. If this does not fix it the firmware will need to be reloaded. You will need a special cable from Celestron to update the firmware.

I would simply return the scope and get another one-- if the scope is new.

First you must line up the small finder scope with the main tuibe--

Point the scope at a distant object like the top of a telephone pole. Center the top in the eyepiece of the main scope-- then without moving the scope center the red dot on the same exact spot on the telephone pole.

Also practice focusing on a distant object during the day time-- use the eyepiece with the largest number written on it and DO NOT use the 2x barlow if you have one. Turn the fopcus knob slowly until the object comes to focus.

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bintangchris: error 16 indicates a bad Hand controller, you may need to buy another one, also check all your connections going to the head assembly.Also error 16/17 indicates the HC cant communicate with the the RA/DEC control boards. It may need to go back to Celestron for repair.
SHT55

Are the batteries fresh? You can also try a new hand controller cable maybe the one you have is broken which is a common problem.

Beyond that you can try to borrow another hand controller and try it. If none of these work, then you have a blown circuit inside the telescope. It will need to be returned to Celestron for repairs.

If nothing is broken--

1. Make sure your batteries are NEW and or you use a separate 12 volt power pack.

2. The hand controller does a motor test when it powers up.

Take the scope outside during the day time and practice focusing on a distant object. Use the eyepiece with the largest number written on it --- turn the focuser left and or right slowly until you get a sharp image. DO NOT use the 2 x barlow if you have one -- just the eyepiece. The higher the magnification the smaller the "sweet spot" is when focusing.

Stars will always appear as points. It is not possible to magnify them enough to see them as disks because they are all extremely far away. A telescope will however show you stars and other objects that are too dim to see with the naked eye.

You will be able to see the planets as disks, and even features on the planets, such as the bands on Jupiter, the rings of Saturn and the phases of Venus, and also moons around some planets. There are other objects that will show more detail when magnified, such as nebula. You will be able to see a lot of craters and other detail on the Moon.

Your problem is simply that you are not pointing the telescope at these objects. This seems to be one of those telescopes that "automatically" finds objects, but these so called "go to" scopes only do this when they are set up properly. I can't say what step(s) you have missed, but clearly even if the scope thinks it is pointed at the moon, if you can't see the moon, it is NOT pointed there. The Moon will fill the field of view even with the least powerful eyepiece. If you are seeing stars as points, then the eyepiece is focussed and working properly.