NexStar Usr's Guide by Michael Swanson

[baggywrinkle]

^{'The NexStar User's Guide' Michael W Swanson published by Springer ISBN 1-85233-714-1}

^{I bough my copy via Amazon UK and it arrived today, been leafing through it , so this is an initial review.}

^{It covers quite a lot of the Celestron NexStar range but not the later SE series. However do not let that put you off.}

^{Plenty of background and information on the Celestron SCT's, also on maintenance and collimation. Good tables and charts regarding apetures, lenses and best magnifications. Lots of tips in general on owning a Celestron and what it can do. But it is not a Haynes type guide.}

^{The section of software is somewhat dated as the book was reprinted in 2005, so much has happened since then.}

^{What let's the book down is the poor quality photographs used of the equipment. They tend to be grainy and in B&W only with poor contrast, surely in this age of digital publishing better images could have been used.}

^{If I had had a chance to see the book in a bookshop I might have thought twice, but it will still be useful as a reference.}

^{Rating 6.5/10}

[Peter Drew]

I have a copy which I find useful despite having a 8SE, everyone who worries about mount levelling should read the "myths" page.

[Marki]

A fair review. Pretty much echoes my thoughts on the book exactly - pretty useful, in that it has helped me understand and use my 8SE better (even though the book doesn't refer to that model). I may have to tweak collimation soon, and the book will certainly be out when I do! It is, as you say, outdated with poor production values. I'm constantly disappointed by the quality of graphics (and editing standards) in Springer's books, but grateful the series exists nonetheless.