First Scope Purchase - Celestron Nexstar 127SLT

[zed0]

Just received my first ever scope. Thanks to Martin and the guys at FLO.

Have done the finderscope alignment and now just waiting for clear skies. Clouds are rolling in to North London as I speak 

Just one question. I admit I do have a particularly large bean but I find that the finderscope is very close to my head when I look in the eyepiece. I can see it becoming an annoyance very quickly. Is the answer just to get a better finder and locate it at the other end of the scope?

Cheers

Dave

[LukeSkywatcher]

You might want to have a look at a Telrad or Rigel quick finder. Not sure if thats the solution but check them out.

[M4lcs67]

A great choice. I own one and find it an excellent scope with really good optics. I would strongly advise that you get a powertank to drive it (if you haven't got one already). I learnt very quickly when I got mine that just using the battery compartment on top of the mount is not a wise move in the long run. You will get some brilliant views with it though.....

[hobsey]

Yes, good choice as I also have one.

Used it for the first time on Saturday and with a 8mm BST eye piece Jupiter looked amazing.

I also don't like the red dot finder scope, not because I hit my head on it but due to not being able to get used to it. I will be buying a cross hair one at some point, quite possible with a 90 degree eye piece.

[zed0]

Got first light tonight which was awesome. Moon looked amazing with the 25mm ep. View was shaking like a goodun with the 9. It was quite windy tonight though. Tried to do an auto 2 star alignment using Arcturus and deneb but every attempt failed. Looks like I have some homework to do. Arcturus was low west on sw view and Deneb was almost overhead. Did I identify these correctly? Ended up just having a manual scan. Saw Alcor/mizar which was cool. Haven't seen anything more exotic yet but early days. Loving it so far Though. Just need some thermals as next priority purchase. Still warming up after last stint.

[M4lcs67]

Sweet. The 127 SLT does suffer from shake when the wind starts blowing and also while slewing. The way to remedy this is to place a small bag of sand or soil on the eyepiece tray. That will make it more stable. Also you may wish to try out some anti vibration pads  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-Anti-Vibration-Tripod-Foot-Pads-Heavy-Duty-Skywatcher-/280617692553?pt=UK_Photography_Telescopes&hash=item41561e2d89

I got these and they are as good as the Celestron ones and are a fraction of the price.

[CJ77]

Also my first scope - the moon looks great with it. I took some photos on my iPhone last month just holding it up to the eyepiece (not ideal, but I was very happy with the end result!!). Best of luck with observing, and, Clear Skies!!

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Ya Zed0, welcome to the SGL Dave, really nice scope, I have one and its a great scope, word of warning - be careful with the tripod spreaders when your setting the tripod up, they're a little flimsey - or I'm heavy handed - managed to break one of the plastic clips that hold the accessory tray on, tried to source a new part, but couldn't find one.

      About your alignment, try a 2 star auto align and your first star you could use is Polaris - the Pole Star never moves much, so set up, set the finder up and point the scope at Polaris and use this as your first alignment star - you can spend a little time to get it centred in the field of view, you won't notice the movement as its close to the North Celestial Pole, once aligned, your second star could be over towards the South, if you can see Altair (Aquila), all the best, but if not you can work your way back eastwards, trying either Enif (Pegasus), or Alpheratz (Andromeda) - these stars are nice and bright, should be visible from London skies, also they're a good distance apart and fairly low down, my Midland skies are very light polluted, the red dot finder wasn't the best bit of kit to get on with, but on the brightest stars its fine, once aligned switch it off.  All the Best Dave and its going to be clear here tonight hopefully - so I'll be out under the stars.  Paul.

[impactcrater]

Cool scope...everone loves their own which shows what an inclusive hobby this is....'auto two star align' has some tricks and I have had the dreaded  'align failure' message...very computer...like the blue screen.....please read the 'tips for using sky align' on page 15 of the manual.

alignment fails if the two chosen stars are two close to each other and I have read it also fails if one star is above 70 degrees which may explain your  deneb problem.

here in the southern sky I select  alpha crux and then the second choice the scope recommended was alpha centauri and ......'align failure'. these stars are far apart but they are in about the same 'line' vertically.

I understand this now and chose acrux (alpha crux) and then antares and boom boom...align success ! these two stars are 'horizontally' far apart so that seems to be the trick....

[CJ77]

With regards to alignment, as I have a north-facing back garden, I tend to use Capella in Auriga, Algol in Perseus and Navi in Cassiopeia, which seems to work ok at the moment. The main alignment difficulty I've noticed has been when the batteries were running down (cue purchase of 12V DC power lead and extension cable). Here's hoping for a clear weekend!!

[riggers69]

Hi I have this scope and I regularly use Deneb Altair and vega with no issues at all when setting up. But I do find the stars are right up above and very high in the sky. So kneeling down is called for to look into the finder lol.

Chris

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[Naemeth]

You might want to have a look at a Telrad or Rigel quick finder. Not sure if thats the solution but check them out.

Agreed, a Rigel would be better as it has a smaller footprint. I'm not convinced the Telrad would fit. A RACI might be a good idea too .