Synscan AZ Goto or Celestron Nexstar SLT

[DevonSkies]

Hi,

I'm considering buying a small Mak on a budget goto mount. The Celestron Nexstar SLT and the Skywatcher Synscan AZ Goto look very similar, and I've read a few reports that the main difference is in the alignment routine.

Is there consensus on the differences between these two mounts? Is there any mechanical difference at all (e.g. accuracy of tracking), or is it more a matter of "toss a coin"? Personally I prefer the "look" of the Skywatcher (purely cosmetically!) and of course it's slightly cheaper.

Any thoughts appreciated!

[Cornelius Varley]

The SLT has the better alignment routine but it looks like the latest version of the AZ-GOTO (Star Discovery) might be better, if it ever gets sold separately.

[happy-kat]

The mount mentioned above has the brilliant (I think) freedom find ability. I don't believe the other two mounts allow manual moving by hand you can only move the mount using the handset.

[BGazing]

On Monday, February 22, 2016 at 16:37, Cornelius Varley said:

The SLT has the better alignment routine but it looks like the latest version of the AZ-GOTO (Star Discovery) might be better, if it ever gets sold separately.

What's  new about Star Discovery?

[Cornelius Varley]

3 minutes ago, BGazing said:

What's  new about Star Discovery?

The Star Discovery mount is a redesigned version of the AZ-Goto. This version has a lot of new features including dual encoders which gives the operator the advantage over the SLT and AZ-Goto the ability to manually slew the telescope , without using the handset, over to another target without losing alignment on the previous target. The dual encoder system is already used by the newest Synscan AZ/EQ mounts.

 

 

[BGazing]

Ah, I see. The benefit beeing that one does not exhaust battery for long slews....or something more as well?

[Cornelius Varley]

Battery life will probably be no different.

[happy-kat]

You can use the mount with no power and move it with your hands, very versatile not being tied to using a handset for everything.

[DevonSkies]

just to follow up: in the end I went with the Nexstar SLT on the basis of advice from FLO that the Nexstar had a slight edge in build quality and software.

It's certainly a clever piece of kit. Unfortunately I'm having fairly major problems with GoTo accuracy at the moment. Basically, despite careful setup (and double checking all the usual suspects, i.e. time/date/location, etc) it misses every target by about half a degree.

FLO have suggested I try a firmware update, so I'll give that a go and see if it fixes it.

[happy-kat]

Make a great long range spotter scope. Hope you enjoy it.