Celestron SLT mount - skywatcher 127 mak

[JonDoe]

HI peep,

i have the chance to buy a Celestron SLT mount from a friend of someone at work, anyway ive brought it home thinking my skywatcher mak 127 would fit straight on but it doesnt.

my questions are, is it suitable for my mak, if yes then how easy would it be to make it fit, do i just need a standard dovetail.

if anybody already has one are they any good, if set up right how accurate is it, the long term plan if the mounts fine is to set it up outside and connect through a pc to guide it, ive been told this is possible by the guy selling it, it this true.

if anybody can help then thank you.

[Mr Fiery Jack]

If I remember right Celestron mounts of that type to only take Celestron dovetails, I could be wrong but I think the Skywatcher mounts will take either but Celestron do not.

[Cornelius Varley]

How old is your telescope ? The most recent version of the EQ3-2 has a standard vixen dovetail, which should be the same as on the SLT mount. The old version of the EQ3-2 has holes for attaching tube rings and the 127 Mak was mounted on the EQ3-2 by a special adapter plate. If you have the old version you can purchace a new dovetail bar http://www.firstligh...ax-127-ota.html which replaces the original. Another option is this bracket http://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-mounts/skywatcher-l-bracket-dovetail.html

[JonDoe]

Sorry but i have no idea about the age of the scope, the Skywatcher 127 mak`s on FLO now are black, mines blue if thats any help. it has this bracket fitted atm http://www.365astronomy.com/skywatcher-mounting-bar-for-skymax127-ota-p-2405.html which i thought just had to turned over but its not the right shape. i could get someone to modify it but would sooner buy the right one if its possible.

[Cornelius Varley]

Sorry but i have no idea about the age of the scope, the Skywatcher 127 mak`s on FLO now are black, mines blue if thats any help. it has this bracket fitted atm http://www.365astron...ota-p-2405.html which i thought just had to turned over but its not the right shape. i could get someone to modify it but would sooner buy the right one if its possible.

The 127 should go on to the SLT mount with no problems. The overview of the SLT on the Celestron site states that it is compatible with vixen dovetails http://www.celestron.com/astronomy/celestron-nexstar-slt-computerized-mount.html

[JonDoe]

cheers for that.

can anybody advice me about the mounts accuracy once set-up.

[dph1nm]

The Nexstar SLT mount takes a standard Skywatcher dovetail (I have one fitted).

As for accuracy, do you mean GOTO or tracking? The GOTO can be pretty good - the tracking, hmm well, it is capable of keeping s star within a 2" pixel for 30secs, it just doesn't do it very often!

NigelM

[JonDoe]

Hi Nigel, thanks for that, the main thing is the accuracy of the mount not so much the tracking.

im thinking of buying the mount because a member of my family has an interest in astronomy like me but is not able to be outside on a cold night, so i want to set up my telescope outside and link it to my pc, would mean alot to this person if i could make this work.

so as long as the accuracy is pretty good and i can connect this mount to my pc then that would be great, ive looked into it abit and there is a guy on ebay who provides the cables needed and the software to get it up and running.

[JonDoe]

Well after a little work on the original bracket in a vice ive now fitted the scope to the SLT mount, the thing is the red dot finder is now positioned under the scope.

for now ive fitted it the other way around on the mount but its not ideal, does anybody know if i can safely undo the bottom of the scope and move it around, or is it not that simple.

i dont really want to drill it to move it

the finder isnt that heavy i was thinking about using a double sided sticky pad.

any ideas welcome

[twintin]

Hi I have exactly this set up, but instead of the red dot finder I use a right angle finder scope which even though it's underneath creates no problems whatsoever. I just rotate it in the mount tube so the eyepiece is in a comfortable position. I also have a Rigel finder mounted on top which is fantastic

[JonDoe]

Hi I have exactly this set up, but instead of the red dot finder I use a right angle finder scope which even though it's underneath creates no problems whatsoever. I just rotate it in the mount tube so the eyepiece is in a comfortable position. I also have a Rigel finder mounted on top which is fantastic

thank you thats a great idea, im off too FLO.

[twintin]

Glad to be of help