Purchased a (slightly incomplete) Celestron Nexstar 130SLT - Advice required!

[cphilpott84]

Hello,

So, firstly I'm unsure if this is most appropriate forum for this topic, but here goes:

Basically, I've purchased a used Celestron Nexstar 130SLT as my first scope, after reading I'd decided it was a decent enough scope to upgrade from using Binoculars.

The scope seems to be in decent condition, although it's slightly incomplete (which I'd not realised until I'd won the auction on eBay). 

Included with the scope is only 1x 15mm lens and a Celestron 2x Barlow.

Due to weather, I've not done a thing with it yet - so, I request some advice.

The mirror at the bottom is a bit dusty, should I attempt to clean this?

There's also a smaller cap, for what seems to be the lens' cap missing, does anyone know where I could find a replacement?

Then, would you suggest purchasing a collimator and collimating? (Tempted to take the scope to a Celestron dealer, down the road in Sale, have it checked over?)

If everything seems OK, what lens' would people recommend? Probably want to cover local planets and also distant objects, Nebula etc.

Apologies for the pretty epic read, I've got questions and require advice!

Thank you to anyone who takes their time to read and respond, really appreciated.

Chris 

[oldpink]

general advice is unless a primary mirror is very dirty leave it alone

replacement caps are available on line from companys like FLO

[cphilpott84]

As I suspected, cheers oldpink.

[Laurie61]

With regard to eyepieces a short focal length high mag eyepiece (5 mm ish ) will be needed for planets, many find something with reasonable eye relief useful like the X- Cel LX. For low power 25 - 32 mm would be helpful, as usual it will depend on your budget as there is a huge range of eyepieces available  You will need to check collimation, a colli cap made form an old film canister is a cheap way to start.    

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-eyepieces/celestron-x-cel-lx-eyepiece.html  

[AndyWB]

Yeah, don't panic about dust on the primary (the big mirror at the bottom). It turns out that that doesn't matter so much. There was a video on youtube of one of the big telescopes at the European Southern Observatory opening, and I was surprised at how grubby the mirror was, but it didn't seem to bother the scientists.

A collimation tool is a useful thing - I'd recommend a Cheshire collimator. They can do all the bits, and while lasers are a] useful at night, and b] sound cool , they can be a bit deceptive, I've found. 

As for the cap - do you mean for where the eyepieces go in? I'm sure an astronomy shop could help - or even a bit of plastic and an elastic band just to cover it.

Re: eyepieces - well I think the 130 SLT is the same as my Heritage 130p - that is, 130mm aperture, 650mm focal length. For planets I mainly use a 5mm BST Starguider - though sometimes conditions require something a bit less. I've not got a lot to compare it to, and I'm sure there are better (and more expensive) eyepieces out there, but I'm happy with it. And a low power eyepiece is very useful - my 30mm Vixen NPL is my most used eyepiece in my scope. It's good for finding things, and large, extended objects. 

[bruno]

if you call in at the dealer in sale with it I'm sure he they will help you they'ii most probably give you  lens cap & they have leaflets around the shop on looking after your scope, imaging etc 

[cphilpott84]

Guys, thank you for the prompt responses, immensely helpful already. Currently working my way through understanding my scope with your help.

Spoke to FLO, they know which cap I'm talking about (the big front cap, has a smaller cap which is missing) and have a replacement in the post for £1, deal, I'm a bit of a perfectionist and want everything to be as new - complications of purchasing through eBay, right? 

Contacted the dealer in Sale, whilst trying to sell me all his lenses, he's asked if I bring the scope down, so he can check it over - result.

After reading more, it would seem a Cheshire collimator is the way forward, cheers Andy.

Need to now decide on some lens', also, my budget.