Mounting SW 130p on Celestron Nexstar SLT

[DaveJFT]

Hi folks,

I could have sworn I'd seen a thread on here somewhere about mounting a SW 130p on a Celestron Nexstar SLT mount where the OP was helped with which dovetail bar to get to use with his EQ2 tube rings but now I need it I just cannot find it.

Today I won a Nexstar SLT at auction and now need to mount my SW 130P on it. Could someone point me in the right direction for either the thread I refer to above or help me with finding the correct dovetail bar (Vixen?)?

Also, is the SLT Nexstar unit not the same as the Nexstar units on the likes of the 6SE? The specs I'm seeing for the Nexstar 6/8SE say their databases hold 40,000 objects but the Nexstar SLT specs say it's database holds just 4,000.

Many thanks!

Dave

[dph1nm]

Any Skywatcher dovetail bar fits the SLT mount.

NigelM

[rowan46]

No the slt mount is not the same as the se mount the se is a fair bit more substantial

[rowan46]

No the slt mount is not the same as the se mount the se is a fair bit more substantial

I should qualify that a bit the electronics on the slt and 4/5 se is I am led to believe the same but the mechanics of the 4/5 se is more akin to that of the 6/8 which is a completely different mount. In other words the se mounts have more metal in them and are therefore more substantial

[DaveJFT]

Thanks rowan46,

I appreciate that the mounts themselves are different but is the controller software different too. I'm surprised at the 10 fold difference between the SLT and the SE variants.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

[rowan46]

Historically the nexstar system was a different system to their cheaper goto systems as originally it was designed for the 5 and 8 which were substantially more expensive ota's. The slt system grew from the cheaper gt system which were put on cheaper ota's and sold for a much cheaper price. The original nexstar system was kept for the new (at the time) 6 and the original 8se the 4 was put into a gt innards with se chassis and for cost reasons (as the 5 was never a big seller) the 5 was moved to the smaller 4 mount. The gt was renamed nexstar slt for marketing purposes and is still used for its cheaper ota's but there was never really any need to put large databases in it as the biggest scope it was designed for was only 5" I keep forgetting to add that I doubt a 130p or variant will fit on an se mount because of clearence I magine it will hit the base if you try to view zenith as it was designed for short tubes. To answer your question the se mount takes a vixen dovetail

[DaveJFT]

So, disregarding the Nexstar SE mounts, what makes a new Celestron Nexstar SLT GOTO cost so much more than a new Skywatcher Synscan AZ GOTO?

They look almost exactly the same and seem to be used on the same sized scopes yet the database of available objects in the Nexstar is 1/10th that of the Synscan.

It's too late now as I've already bought the Nexstar SLT mount but I'm not confident I've made the right purchase.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

[rowan46]

it has a slightly friendlier software than the synscan which makes it a little easier to use plus whats the point of having a load of objects in a database that your scope can never see. It will have all the messiers in, the planets plenty of doubles and lots else. to be honest 4000 objects is a more than a lifetime study. Patrick moore made his career on just studying one object. I forgot to add the other reason it costs more is of course the name Nexstar is a brand and has market value which is why the slt is called nexstar its marketing and people pay more for it . The flip side is that having a marketable brand means it needs to be protected with a certain level of quality otherwise the brand becomes devalued and hence no longer marketable

[nfazuk]

On 6/24/2013 at 16:27, DaveJFT said:

So, disregarding the Nexstar SE mounts, what makes a new Celestron Nexstar SLT GOTO cost so much more than a new Skywatcher Synscan AZ GOTO?

They look almost exactly the same and seem to be used on the same sized scopes yet the database of available objects in the Nexstar is 1/10th that of the Synscan.

It's too late now as I've already bought the Nexstar SLT mount but I'm not confident I've made the right purchase.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

I'd be interested to see how DaveJFT got on with his SW 130 & the Nexstar SLT - I'm looking at buying a used SLT for use with a SW 130 PDS.

[Cornelius Varley]

27 minutes ago, nfazuk said:

I'd be interested to see how DaveJFT got on with his SW 130 & the Nexstar SLT - I'm looking at buying a used SLT for use with a SW 130 PDS.

This thread is now over two years old and the OP has not visited since June 2015, you might not get a reply.