Celestron v Sky Watcher

[25585]

Although Celestron & SW are not like for like all the way through, are Celestron mounts & drives as well as scopes better quality than the SW versions?

How does Celestron GOTO compare with SW?

[Cosmic Geoff]

12 hours ago, 25585 said:

Although Celestron & SW are not like for like all the way through, are Celestron mounts & drives as well as scopes better quality than the SW versions?

Both owned by the same company.

12 hours ago, 25585 said:

How does Celestron GOTO compare with SW?

A dealer once advised me that the Nexstar system was easier to use than the Synscan. The ratio of Nexstar 'help me' messages to Synscan 'help me' messages on this forum seems to confirm this.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Nexstar (alt-az) system does not require the mount to be aligned to an index mark, nor to have sight of Polaris, but the Synscan is meant to start alignment with the mount indexed to due north so that it starts with a coarse alignment.

 

[25585]

They might be made by the same company but quality can be more upmarket. 

Celestron's CGEM II looks similar to a SW EQ6 variant (AZ EQ6 is tempting for the AZ Alt ability but both need to be checked physically before buying). 

[John]

I've owned quite a few products from both brands and I'd say that the quality was about equal. Back in the 1980's and 1990's Celestron used manufacturers such as Vixen and back then I'd say that Celestron would have been the better products. It's wrong to generalise though becuase Skywatcher can and do produce really top end products when they want to.

 

[Geoff Lister]

The composite photo, below, shows how much they have in common.

and a range of interchangeable mounts and OTAs

Geoff

[Cjg]

I've had both Skywatcher and Celestron Alt-Az go to mounts. My Nexstar mount had to go back twice for replacements; a power board and then a motor.  The Skywatcher is still going, but had a lot less use.

The major difference for me in the software, was that the Celestron could be set to tour all the objects in a constellation. You could, say align it and send it to go to all the Messier and NGC objects in Virgo. For me, it gave me the chance to focus on a constellation at a time.  The Skywatcher can tour the skies, but not by constellation, it would do its own thing!

There's also one significant advantage to the Celestron, in that you can align it just on the moon, and then send it to a planet that was up. More than once at Seething during group visits, I've aligned on the moon and then showed visitors Saturn r Jupiter through the eyepiece, despite them being lost to the evening sky.

Not sure how good the importers of Skywatcher are, but Hinds, who look after Celestron were utterly c**p. I'll never, ever, buy anything that they import again. Thankfully FLO sorted it all out for me.  3 years I've had my Tak, but still rate the 5SE as a great scope. 

Good luck.

Chris

 

[Geoff Lister]

10 hours ago, Cjg said:

Not sure how good the importers of Skywatcher are

Several of my Skywatcher items were shipped directly by Optical Vision Ltd. I believe that they are the main (only?) authorised UK importer. I have not had any problems with my Skywatcher or Celestron 'scopes, so I do not have any after-sales experience.

Geoff

[Jimmy Rocket]

Would a nexstar handset work on a skywatcher goto?