Focusing with my Sixth Sense - PrimaLuce SestoSenso 3SC Review
A robotic focuser that still lets you turn the knob by hand that’s the magic of the Sesto Senso 3 SC from Primaluce Lab - an alternative to the ZWO EAF. In this video, I test the v...
The Space Koala Astrophotography by Luca Bartek
Good morning Luca. A question of a practical nature. With a f/10 SC like yours and fitting the focuser, how does one get this in rough focus quickly so a AF routine can start? Had a first shot last night but just could not get any stars, the screen remained black. Thx for your insight.
the best way is to have the Moon or a bright star in the picture. But you can also run the calibration of the sestosenso and have a live view of the camera going in the meantime so you can remember more or less at which number you could see the stars! I think this is what I did actually
@the_space_koala Thank you Luca, a new attempt will be made today :-) Clear skies.
Awesome video. I recently bought the Senso 3 SC for my C14. I am having some backlash issues. What did you set your backlash for the C8?
Wow you can sample a lot of data with this.
Wow powerful device
One final Q. are you supposed to enter your focuser step in play app or in NINA because in Nina I enter the focuser steps but I noticed on the play app it says 400
you have to enter it in the program which you intend to use. These are the settings of the application, not the physical focuser
Could you elaborate a bit more on what your first Sesto Senso 3 issue was, as well as the problems you’re experiencing with the second one? I’m asking because I can’t seem to get mine dialed in at all. In fact, if I get a rough focus and then move the focuser up, returning to the original position no longer brings it back into focus. Another issue is that I thought I had everything dialed in last night—500 step size with a backlash of 500, giving me a perfect curve—but when I ran autofocus again, it was inconclusive and the results were all over the place.
my first focuser was dead on arrival - it was exchanged by PLL. The second one was an issue with the driver - essentially if you did multiple manual commands before it finishes moving it went into infinite movement until you removed power - this has now been fixed. What you are describing sounds like backlash in your focuser (likely this is not coming from the SS3 though there's no way to know)
If this remembers the telescope max/min positions, can it be moved back and forth between scopes?
it only remembers one profile at a time. However the calibration really doesn't take that long so if you're willing to disassemble/reassemble everytime I'm sure this wouldn't stop you from doing so
Appreciate all of your hard work. I have watched your video about how you mount your large telescope on your mount but I wondered if you could do the topic again in more detail. One issue I have even with a smallish refractor is loading it on my EQ mount with a safety screw on the bottom of the dovetail? It seems like most people don't use one. Also should I mount the telescope after doing a daytime polar alignment or before? It seems to be at an difficult angle for me?
I've just subscribed dropbear, looks too cold where you are, come to Australia
Beautiful result, Luca! Your video really inspires me to keep pursuing the goal of imaging with narrowband and monochrome. Were your autofocus runs done at 2×2 binning with ~10‑second exposures? Though, I have a feeling the EAF/ASIAIR will continue to be your go‑to setup for imaging. Enjoy the new Antlias, and I’m looking forward to your next chapter!
haha your gut feeling is not wrong, ASIAIR tends to be my go-to for the quick and easy setup. I did 2x2 binning and I think maybe 3 second shots for AF - it may have been 5 but def not 10, I would not have the patience for that lol
Could you describe the software problems you had please? I'm still having trouble with the SS3 working with my Celestron 8 Edge HD.
as I mentioned, the first unit was DOA so I struggled with that for a while. After that, with the second unit, the main issue was a bug which caused the focuser to rotate infinitely out of control if you pressed the manual arrow controls in NINA a few times in a row. This was then reproduced by them and fixed in the latest driver
PrimaLuceLab is over rated company with expensive products that caters for rich snobs only.
Hello Space Koala. Your videos are always a great source of information and are a great help. I started stargazing with seestars50 in Japan at the beginning of this year. I'm currently preparing to photograph 3I/ATLAS. However, after the update a few days ago, it seems 3I/ATLAS was removed from the list of comets to observe, and I can't find it anywhere. (I'm sure it was there in the previous version.) If you have any information, please let me know. I really don't want to believe the rumors are true.
hey, I wouldn't know if/why they removed it, but you should be able to slew to it as a manual target, just look up the latest coordinates online!
Space Koala Thank you for your reply. I entered "3I" into the search for observation targets, and the 3I/ATLAS icon came up. It had been deleted only in the list of "COMET" ,named C/2025 N1 . ( SeeStar S50).
Good review. I was looking at buying one of these for my new f4 imaging Newtonian but as I will be using it initially with an ASIair, I'll have to use an EAF for now. I do have a Sesto Senso 2 on one of my rigs and this works really well, like many PLL devices you can actually switch off the LEDs during the imaging run or dim them ( I wish the camera manufacturers would incorporate this ability into their designs ) I believe you can also connect the Sesto Senso to the Eagle by WiFi so you only need to plug the 12v power cable in.
I fully agree on the LEDs. Actually quite a few companies let you do that (even on cameras). I hope ZWO will follow suit - and I'm sure you will as they've already done it for the Seestar
Seems a bit of an own goal that, given it's popularity, the thing doesn't fit the 9.25 SCT.
I'm not sure this was intentional on their part, I guess they found out at the same time as Sascha when he tried to install it
Helpful to know it doesn't work on a 9.25 EdgeHD...
Thanks for the review. Nice idea, but doesnt seem to be compatible with my Slywatcher 127mm Mak 😞
Thx Luca, we are looking for a focuser at our astroclub for the 11" EdgeHD and guess what, the Sesto Senso 3 SC is the one on top of the list 🙂. Thx for the video.
Can this be used on SVBONY MK127 ?
I thinking my Celestron focus motor does the job, so i would not get this one.