Skywatcher SkyMax SLT 127 AZ GoTo scope

[Juliet-Oscar-November]

Hi all,

I'm looking at the Skywatcher SkyMax SLT 127 AS GoTo as my first scope - a knowledgeable friend has recommended it to me - and I'm looking for the best price online. I have some cash from my birthday, but so far I'd need a discount code for one of the many sites I've circled this scope on.

Can anybody recommend a site who generally give out discount codes? I've followed some of them on FB and Twitter in the hope they'll post them, but no luck so far.

Thanks for your help,

J

[ronin]

They are sort of rare in the astonomy field, I am not aware of any and so doubt you will be lucky.

Any that might tend to be non-specialist so if you have a problem you do not get much support -equals no support at all.

Best is to look round the normal retailers, prices do vary amongst them, so you may happen upon one that is somewhat less then others.

The other is that at some Astro Shows retailers may offer a discount on the day. The catch there both the main shows have gone and if there is one expected no idea where you are - UK is not a great deal of use, you could be in Aberdeen and the next small show I know of is just South of Exeter.

Realistically you are just going to have to search out the best price from the assorted retailers.

FLO do have a Special Offer section but not likely to include the specific scope you want, a couple of retailers now have a used section as well - think Rother Valley have started one, there is a Telescope Outlet tht is part of a retailer where they have ex-display items and similar.

[Juliet-Oscar-November]

Thanks, Ronin. I keep coming back to FLO. I'd like it sooner rather than later, I've put off buying a scope for so long because we were saving for our wedding, but now I can justify spending some wedge on myself - it's just a shame the scope I want is a little over my budget at the minute.

[tekkydave]

FLO have the Celestron Nexstar 127 SLT in their beginner scopes section at £365. When I was buying my first scope they recommended this one over the Skywatcher version for an absolute beginner as it is easier to align if you don't know your way around the sky. What is your budget at the moment?

[Juliet-Oscar-November]

I'm currently at £300. I was recommended the Skymax as the Celestron's red dot finderscope isn't as user friendly as the Skymax. Do you know why the Celestron is easier to align? Did FLO elaborate?

[tekkydave]

The Skywatcher gives you named stars to align on when doing the Goto set up, you need to know your stars and where they are.

The Celestron version is easier as you just have to pick 3 bright stars in different parts of the sky. You don't need to know what they are - the software in the hand controller works it out.

I don't find the red dot finder too bad actually. Once you have it set up it's pretty accurate.

It depends on how well you know the sky. If the Skywatcher asked you to point the scope at Arcturus would you know which star in the sky it was?

As far as I know the actual optical part of both scopes is the same as both Companies are owned by Synta. Only the mounts and hand controls are different.

I'm glad I went for the Celestron looking back as I now have the StarSense accessory which does the alignment for you in under 5 minutes. It's another £300 so not in your budget but maybe a future purchase. It will only work on Celestron mounts (most of them) so it will also work with any future Celestron mount you upgraded to.

Hope that helps.

[Juliet-Oscar-November]

It does! Thanks very much. I'm seeing my knowledgable friend tomorrow; I imagine I'll be able to blow his mind with this knowledge. I suppose if I were to get the Skywatcher, I could rely on Sky Safari, but I don't know the Sky well enough to use that at times. Damn! Celestron is back on the table!

[Schorhr]

Hi there,

I have the nexstar SLT mount and use it with a newtonian telescope and a smaller mak. Both mount and mak are neat, but they have their limits.

If your interest is deep sky, you could get a 8" dobsonian that would show a lot more (comparing aperture, http://clarkvision.com/visastro/m51-apert/, or browse deepskypedia; Regard observation conditions and durations), as spiral structures of galaxies and faint details are usually not visible with 5".

Along with a good book or maps, finding objects is not more xomplicated then setting up the mount.

The auto alignment is neat if you have free sight (typically fails from the balcony as the objects you use for alignment should be far away from each other).

[Juliet-Oscar-November]

I get the impression an 8" might be a tad more expensive. I think I'll start out in much the same way I did as digital photography: start small, upgrade slowly and pray the wife doesn't twig to what I'm actually spending.

[Schorhr]

A 8" dobsonian is actually cheaper, as it lacks rhe Electronics :-)

[Juliet-Oscar-November]

I need the electronics. I had a play with a non-electric scope late last year, I saw nothing. I need something that is easy to align and can help me spot things. I take it FLO don't ever publish discount codes?

[Schorhr]

Okey, Up to you but even with goto Computer you will have to learn your way around the sky eventually; consider getting "turn left at orion", great read.

[tekkydave]

All good advice. You have to sort of decide what you want to observe mainly and where your interests lie. If you want to observe and learn the sky and can manage without all the electronics the Dob will give you way more for your money optical-wise. The 127Mak celestron or skywatcher are good scopes but most of the money is in the electronics which is why they are only 5" diameter. I got mine as a relatively cheap way of getting into the hobby so I could decide if I was really into it long-term. The scope is only really good for planetary & the moon but that's ok for me for now. I'm more into messing with technology than cosmology so I'm not bothered about which star is which and why one is blue & the other orange. I just like trying new things & playing with stuff to see what I can get it to do. I would say get any of the sub £400 scopes and play with it for a year looking at the moon & planets. If you get bored with it then the hobby is not for you. If you get hooked then you will be upgrading at some point anyway so you will have worked out by then what your next scope needs to be based on what interests you - planetary, observing, dso, astro photography etc etc.

[Juliet-Oscar-November]

I just want to "get into it" now. I was stunned when I first saw Jupiter through binoculars and thought "I want more of this!" I've taken some long-exposures with my SLR of the night sky in some Dark Sky Parks and it never fails to amaze me how much more you can see with a bit of time, patience and the right kit. I'd like to be able to start spotting things for myself instead of relying on my friend, but living 25 miles apart, by the time he's decided to set up his scope, it can be a bit inconvenient for me to whizz down the motorway to join him for some spotting.

[Schorhr]

It is cert a great set for an affordable price, I am quite happy with my SLT mount. I bought it for video astronomy.

For planetary imaging it will work, for longer exposures and at the high focal length it is not suitable though (field rotation limits exposures to 30 seconds tops). You can also attach the camera with an adapter directly to the mount and make deep sky images with camera lenses :-)

If you are into deepsky, there is also a cheaper kit with an 130/650 newtonian, for planets the mak has some advantages.

[Juliet-Oscar-November]

I'm happy looking at the moon and the planets to begin with. What part of Germany are you in Schorhr? What's the night sky like there?

[Schorhr]

Just be aware that the planets are not visible all the time, depending on the time of year and their positions ;-)

Things like the ring nebula, dumbbell, brighter galaxies (andromeda, m51, m81, m82) and star clusters (just blobs in 5" under city conditions though) are still nice to view, most items out of the goto controller database will be not very spectacular though.

I live in northern Germany, Kiel. In the summer it does not get completely dark, but the fall and winter is nice.

As in most of Europe there's a lot of light pollution but there are a few dark corners.

Compared to Frankfurt, where I lived a while some years back, the sky gets pretty dark here. Just a few steps outside of city limits the milky way is visible, that's not so bad.

I use my 5" telescope the most (Not a Maksutov though) and just ordered a 90mm Mak two days ago (as the 4" / 102mm Mak is my fiancee's) for light traveling.

Even with the small aperture there is still a lot to look at :-)

But be aware that GoTo is nice but does not help you to actually see more details. A 5" with goto will drive to the object, but most things are just faint smudges, or not visible at all. Especially if light pollution is an issue, and if you can't see the milky way from your location you should take the telescope to a darker site.

This is the reason I got a 5" and a 10" travel telescope in the first place :-)

While the 5" is a nice secondary telescope, it allways amazes me how much more a larger telescope will show. But during the summer, the 10" usually stays in storage :-)

I just build a cable to hook the SLT up to my laptop and tablet, and control it with Stellarium or other programs. Long term goal is to take snapshots of the ISS.

For visual, I don't bother setting up the goto mount though, it's just more of an hassle then using the dobsonian and maps.

[Savo83]

I have this scope and it really is excellent.  I would recommend though that you buy Turn Left at Orion though as this will show you exactly what you'll see and how to locate objects.  Very easy to align, I sometimes just pick a planet and it's good enough to keep tracking.  I would save up and get the celestron version.  Also, there's nothing wrong with the RDF that comes with the same.

Good luck.

[Juliet-Oscar-November]

All excellent tips. Many thanks, folks. I'll definitely get Turn Left at Orion; it's been on my wishlist for a while, actually. But I thought it'd be pointless without the scope.

[Schorhr]

It ks a great book to Get started, even visually or with binoculars :-)

[stevend]

I have the SLT127 and it really is a great first scope. When you buy one two essentials are; a dew shield (very cheap and easy to make your own, which I have) and an external power supply as you will use up AA batteries very fast and they make the GOTO behave in a strange manner as their power drops. Options here include an AC/DC convertor for use with the mains and an auto jump starter.

The skies suck a bit at the moment ie lack of darkness, so if holding off a couple of months helps then do that. I thought long and hard before buying mine but it has been a great purchase.

Welcome to the SGL forum.

[Juliet-Oscar-November]

Thanks! When I stay in the UK for holidays, I tend to gravitate towards dark sky areas. I usually get a powered camping pitch which would help to run the scope, but I'll also look at getting a power bank for when I take the scope out in the car.

I'm hoping to have the scope in August to take camping with us. I've managed to get some decent SLR shots in Anglesey and Yorkshire, so I'm hoping to have a scope to pack with me when we next head to those places.

I'll continue to search for the best price on the SLT and if it hits an acceptable figure, I'll pull out the credit card. :-)

[Juliet-Oscar-November]

After all the good advice, I've taken the plunge and today ordered myself the Celestron from FLO who kindly price-matched another online stockist.

All I need to know now is how to connect a Nikon D5100 to the scope.

[tekkydave]

You should only need a Nikon to T2 adapter. The rear of the scope already has a T2 thread on it so you can mount the slr directly on it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mount-Adapter-Nikon-Infinity-DC309/dp/B00CNZW6U2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404160550&sr=8-1&keywords=nikon+t2+adaptor

[Juliet-Oscar-November]

Thanks, Dave. I have £20 Amazon gift card burning a hole in my wallet. I'll buy that and Turn Left at Orion.