I have owned two smart telescopes since 2024: the Seestar S50 and Celestron Origin Intelligent Home Observatory. There are several others in today’s marketplace, you may own/operate one. I am introducing this topic to discuss these technologies, performance, current state-of-the-art, and the future of AI in telescopes and image processing.
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hi I have a dwarflab11 it is my main mobile scope I am very happy with it had it for some time now once you get to know how to set it up you can get some great shots with a bit of sharpcap and photoshop tweeks
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My wife has a Stellina which she loves. Even though it is somewhat dated tech it still takes very good images.
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It’s a very well reputed one and is a very important scope which will go to the history.
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Smart telescopes are not for me, as it makes it way to easy to take images. I prefer the challenges of traditional astrophotography. Otherwise, to me, it would get boring.
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Its to each their own. My wife wanted turn key and easy to use system. At the time Stellina was the only viable option. Sure its expensive as all get out but she loves it
smart telescopes are ideal for travelling or for a quick setup you still have to know how to properly set it up its not like a point and shoot camera I standby my dwarf2 I have taken some great shots with it once I got used of it,and Dwarflabs have been great with upgrades etc that way I can leave my nexstar 6se set up at home.Astro photography would never get boring if you are trying for that magic shot no matter what setup you have thats my 2 bobs worth.
Oddly enough i dont travel with the stellina. I usually just take my 4 inch
Smart scopes are great for people that want a no hassle, turn key way to do some basic AP. To you guys that do all the work and put in all the effort, kudos to you
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Well, 13 years ago when I started down this Black Hole of Astro-folly,
there were no Smart scopes,
no ASI Airs,
and stuff was more expensive and far less reliable.
My learning curve had a lot of boulders rolling down on me.
So, I’m glad things are getting easier, for all of us.
But I’m “old school” and not apt to change now.
It’s been too hard to get here. 
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Nobody is asking you to change lol
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since dwarflabs have done some great upgrades to the dwarf 11 i am liking my dwarf 11 a lot better now
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What did they change
What did they change?
What the hell are they? 
hay Mike they have gone through a lot of firmware updates and is a lot better in their menus and now can set it up en eq mode and better menu for targets in the atlas a lot of you guys don’t like smart scopes but us old guys starting late in life into astrophotography think that they are a marvelous tool to learn on and then there is the ease of setup and packup
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I believe that smart scopes have a place in this hobby and they are definitely a great tool. My wife has had a Stellina for going on 3 years now i suppose and she loves it. I dont even know how to turn it on lol. Its always a good thing when updates make life better.
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Link: Dwarflab, a link so I and anybody else wondering can see them.
Yes, they are an important link for anyone wondering, I think these smart telescopes. Are an inticing gateway into Astrophotography.
13 years ago I would have started out with a Smart telescope. But I had to experiment with my phone and clumsy mounts on my inherited Redfield Spotting scope.
There has been a really scrutinized image taken of 3i Atlas with an S50.
I bet they are more reliable than my set-up is. Every time Windows 11 does a security update, they blow holes in my drivers for my apps I use. It’s a pattern becoming increasingly clear over the years I’ve had to fix my programs.
Makes me not real keen on “Updates”. Especially Microsoft’s.
I bought my computer, I paid for Windows (since 1995 with Windows 95). Now, Windows (Microsoft) thinks any 3rd party software is the enemy and needs to be altered.
Excuse me, but these are my computers. If they need fixed I’ll figure it out, Microsoft.
Sorry. Didn’t mean to hurt any feelings.
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All reasons i dumped Microsoft Windows completely and went to Linux. I couldn’t be happier with that decision.
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I looked into Linux back in its early days, but couldn’t get around the caricatures they used. I was always a straightforward Windows Desktop kinda guy.
It about killed me when Windows went Apple-esk.
I was checking yesterday and I do believe I have finally scrubbed my mount Laptop of windows incessant downloads. I might have won at turning them off. A real miracle in itself.
So, when things go wonky, I just patch or replace the Apps that are giving me troubles.
Apps - That’s another thing that has left a bad taste in my mouth. It’s applications, not lazy person 3 letter shorthand.
But then, in my teen years my dad didn’t like me calling a Transmission a tranny, or a Differential a diff or a rear-end. LOL! The things that bug an old fart like me.
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My son is a tech geek, he gets paid six figures a year to do this kind of stuff. He danced a jig when he discoverd Linux. He has it on all his personal computers and has installed it on mine. So far i really like it.