Skymax127/Explorer130p/Nexstar127slt

[archway69]

Hi which of these scopes do people think are the best buy?

Skymax127/Explorer130p/Nexstar127SLT or Nexstar4SE

I want to buy a new scope and i want to get one with a GOTO mount butdont know which is the best buy, any help would be appricated Price range is between £300 or £400

Many Thanks

[brucen]

Can't comment on the others but I am happy with the 130P.

[ccbmedic]

I'll be completely honest with you and say the following......

i bought the Celestron Nexstar 127 SLT which has a goto mount........

First the telescope.

The Telescope is easy to use and gives a good basis for lunar and planetry viewing. It has a very long focal length, 1500 to be precise and I find it pretty much useless for dso's as its field of view is too narrow. The focuser could do with some attention as its quite a sod at times....The easy solution is to pre focus with a bahtinov mask, I find this eliminates any focusing issues. The images it gives are clear with no CA and when you attach a ccd gives good video images.

The mount.

Dont waste your time in short. The standard mounts these OTA's come with aren't really upto the job. The tripod legs are too flimsy and give unstable viewings. Lots of wobble. People do fix this by filling the legs with sand to add the extra weight and ensuring all nuts and bolts are as tight as they could be. I done this and it did work so to speak. Another problem is the way the scope is actually mounted. It hangs off the right side of the plastic Alt/Az mount head and again this isnt really upto the job of supporting the scope. The slightest bit of wind and the viewing was terrible. The OTA would wobble like crazy.

In the end I got shot of the damn thing and put the OTA on a firmer skywatcher mount. I have the NEQ6 and wife has the EQ5 with dual motors. That is a far better match with gives a by far better platform to support the weight of the OTA.

To be frank....If you want a 127 then buy the Telescope on its own with no mount. Then buy a decent mount to put it on.(easy to source second hand).This will save you many hours of frustration and hopefully wont change your mind about getting into this hobby. (I had serious issues about jacking it all in at the first hurdle because of the poor mount)

I know some people dont like to use it...but have a look on ebay at the used telescopes or even use Astro buy and sell. Place a wanted Ad and see what response you get.....Basically dip your toe...get a taster for what people have and what you are getting offered thru your wanted ad...Then decide to buy or not to buy.

I hope this helps you and that you wont make the same mistakes I did.

If I was to buy again, given your budget I would go for this:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-200p-eq5.html

If goto is desired you can always upgrade at a later date...But that takes the enjoyment out of learning the skies and whats what!!! IMHO

Chris