 |
Meade mySKY Personal Guide for Sky Exploration by Meade
Digital Photo Product DetailsManufacturer: Meade Model: 04540 Product features: - Audio, video, still images and text to teach you about the wonders of the universe
- Sights Illuminated sights to easily point to objects
- Comfortable high-fidelity ear buds for audio
- 12 channel GPS receiver
- Orientation Magnetic north sensors
Accessories:
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Meade mySKY Personal Guide for Sky ExplorationCustomer Review: Somewhat less valuable than a happy meal prize Summary: 1 Stars
I tried to rate it as ZERO stars but I'm forced to give it the undeserved single star.
Oh my goodness. I should have visited the review forums before buying this overpriced miserable piece of junk.
The quality of the materials is well below what you might expect of a $300 device (valued at $500 by Meade). Without exaggeration, I must tell you that I have seen happy meal prizes of better construction and made of better materials. The resolution of the video screen when viewing the skymap is comparable to images produced by an Atari 2600. (for those of you who may have just crawled out from under a rock...the Atari 2600 was a video game system produced in the late 70s...yes the skymap is rivaled by technology of 30 years ago)
It is completely worthless as an educational tool. When I first pulled it out of the box I pointed at Polaris...bing, it told me all about Polaris. Then I directed it towards the stars of Cygnus...bong, it got every one of them wrong (a very jumpy screen that is always about 5 degrees off of what I am pointing at).Frustrated, I made a list of accurate readings...out of twenty-five visible stars, my Mysky named two correctly (and I held that thing as steady as can reasonable be expected of a human being). I then tried the 'goto' function. This is where you pick an object from a list and the mySky directs you to it with arrows and a crosshair. When you point the device close to the object the crosshair appears. I think the crosshair is supposed to represent the position of the object, but it keeps jumping around on the screen. Choose something like Deneb and point the mySky in the general direction of Cygnus and the crosshair bee-bops around the image of the constellation on the screen as if Deneb is not fixed relative to the constellation. Unless you were asking the device to find the Moon, I doubt an amateur could learn anything about location of celestial objects from this device. I you don't already know the layout of the night sky do NOT expect this device to help you. Considering the materials are utterly & unbelievably cheap and the functions are accurate less than 10% of time, why does Meade say that this thing is valued at 500 dollars? I know that they are currently selling for $300, but think of what you can get for $300. One electronic gadget that comes to mind is a new 3G iphone ($299). Have you seen the functionality of that thing! I know they have two wildly different functions but...one is an electronic gadget with lights, video screen, and buttons and the other is an electronic gadget with lights, video screen, and buttons. One is a multifunctional device and one is dedicated to identifying celestial objects. One works amazingly well in performing its multifunctions and the other cannot adequately perform its singular purpose.
I really would like to know what the magazine reviewers for this device received for their favorable reviews. Either the reviewers are simpleminded morons who are easily impressed by flashing red lights or their reviews are easily bought.
Good Grief. Do not waste your money on this thing. It is a worthless piece of junk.
Description of Meade mySKY Personal Guide for Sky ExplorationFeaturing a full-color LCD screen and the added ability to control a Meade computerized telescope, MySky is a fun, interactive, mu hand-held guide to the universe that locates and identifies celestial objects in the night sky. MySky aligns itself by pointing it at a celestial object and pull the trigger to identify planets, stars, nebula, galaxies and more with over 30,000 objects. Your exploration starts with a simple video introduction of how to use MySky. Real-time, Color SkyMaps Guide you to the objects you want to locate. Sandy Wood, the familiar voice of StarDate the syndicated daily radio program, provides you with audio descriptions of the objects you have found. MySky also takes you on guided tours of the best objects in your sky tailored to your time, date and location. Positioning Electronic accelerometers to determine pointing Power save features - Advanced power saving features to extend battery life 4 AA batteries required (not included) Battery Life - Up to 7 hours Just point and shoot to identify planets, stars, constellations and more See images, watch video and hear audio descriptions Take guided tours of the night sky Simple controls that are intuitive and easy to use MySky incorporates full GPS Auto Alignment, which does not require any user input MySky provides information to the user in true multi-media formats - Video, Audio, Still Images, Sky Maps and text Updated object information, tours and program improvements downloadable from the Internet.
Telescope Accessories
|
 |
|
|
|