NexStar SLT mount

[Greymouser]

With my search for my perfect travel scope, I have been pointed in the direction of the  NexStar SLT  mount, as well as the Skywatcher equivalent. Thing is, they now have the NexStar 5 SLT on the horizon, according to David Hinds:   
https://celestron.uk.com/productinfo.php/telescopes/nexstar_slt_lcm_series/nexstar_5_slt/4217

Thing is that I am a little confused, is the weight accurate?  Then just to make it more complex, there is the C6 SLT coming up too, just a little heavier, if I can believe that...
I like the SCT design and to be frank prefer it over the MAK design, ( at least in my head, )  so I continued to look, saw the upcoming Astro Fi 6 SCT , so am not even more undecided which direction in which  to go.    Help!   ?
https://celestron.uk.com/productinfo.php/telescopes/astro_fi_series/astro_fi_6_sct/4221

So in conclusion, how accurate is the weight stated on the internet? Where should I go? I mean just two pounds, gives me an extra inch of aperture, for little extra expense, or weight. ?

Just how good is the NexStar SLT  mount?

I am beginning to think there is too much choice in the telescope market...

 

[Klitwo]

10 hours ago, Greymouser said:

With my search for my perfect travel scope, I have been pointed in the direction of the  NexStar SLT  mount, as well as the Skywatcher equivalent. Thing is, they now have the NexStar 5 SLT on the horizon, according to David Hinds:   
https://celestron.uk.com/productinfo.php/telescopes/nexstar_slt_lcm_series/nexstar_5_slt/4217

Thing is that I am a little confused, is the weight accurate?  Then just to make it more complex, there is the C6 SLT coming up too, just a little heavier, if I can believe that...
I like the SCT design and to be frank prefer it over the MAK design, ( at least in my head, )  so I continued to look, saw the upcoming Astro Fi 6 SCT , so am not even more undecided which direction in which  to go.    Help!   ?
https://celestron.uk.com/productinfo.php/telescopes/astro_fi_series/astro_fi_6_sct/4221

So in conclusion, how accurate is the weight stated on the internet? Where should I go? I mean just two pounds, gives me an extra inch of aperture, for little extra expense, or weight. ?

Just how good is the NexStar SLT  mount?

I am beginning to think there is too much choice in the telescope market...

 

A 5-inch or a 6-inch NexStar SLT and a "possible" 2 pound wt. difference?  In terms of performance...If you want to know what to "reasonably" expect from a 5-inch verses a 6-inch telescope beyond what the so-called advertised specs say....perhaps this will be of help to you....>

http://www.twcac.org/Tutorials/limiting_magnitude_table.htm

P.S. Everyone has their priorities when it comes to choosing a telescope for observing.  But more often than not...being able to resolve fainter stars would probably appeal to just about every observer....especially if they have an opportunity to gain approximately .4 to .5 in magnitude with their chosen purchase. Ultimately....after you buy and use one scope for a while....you're going to want a buy a bigger and better one sooner or later.  That's amateur astronomy for ya!

Klitwo

[Cosmic Geoff]

To answer some of your questions, the weights quoted for the SLT mount head and tripod are correct (I weighed mine).  I'm not 100% happy with my SLT mount - it is very portable, but a bit on the wobbly side and the 127mm Mak (or C5 SCT) is the heaviest scope one can sensibly put on it.  It also had an annoying and mysterious tendency to lose pointing accuracy during a lengthy session, and I also had to reload the firmware a couple of times.

There is no price on the David Hinds website. So what's going on here? The C5 SE package used to be a lot more expensive than the 127mm Mak SLT.  Maybe Celestron are aiming to discontinue the SE 4/5 and SE 6/8 mounts but retain the ever-popular SCTs.

As for the C6, that looks like a brand new mount design, with the currently popular wifi.

FLO offer a C5 SCT astro-fi, but not the others.

Which is the better travel scope? That's up to you - what do you think is a price/weight/size limit? Even the C8 SE is not too big to use as a travel/holiday scope, as I have found.

I own both a Mak and a SCT and have no reason to think that one design is better than the other, except that the Mak design suits smaller instruments and gets heavy and slow to cool if pushed beyond a modest size, while the SCT can be scaled up to 16" aperture or more.    

[Greymouser]

12 hours ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

There is no price on the David Hinds website. So what's going on here?

I think that is just a case of them not having arrived yet, but I do find it odd too. They also have the C6 on a SLT mount, which is odd if a C5 is about max load you say.
https://celestron.uk.com/productinfo.php/telescopes/nexstar_slt_lcm_series/nexstar_6_slt/4215

What is odder still is that whilst David Hinds claim the weight difference between the C5 and C6 is two pounds, FLO claim there is a four pound difference.

I know what you mean about travel scopes, in fact I would consider my C9.25 to be portable enough to take on holiday, in the car that is. However as I wish to put it in a backpack and carry it quite far, the extra pounds will count a lot. A 9.25, or 8 or just not even close to being an option. In another thread I started about a backpack scope, someone posted their own MAK in a pack picture, which certainly got my interest. The MAK is in fact only a little heavier that the C5 too. The reason I am leaning towards the SCT is simply that I already own the C9.25 and like it, just a shame it is not really viable in a backpack, at about 20 pounds in weight!

I have also been tempted by the Astro FI, but as you say about the SLT, there are sometimes issues with that mount too, it seems, though I have seen a good review on Yous Tube. I think maybe I should just get the C5 OTA and attach it to a photo tripod, saving yet more weight.

Edit: Odder and odder, I have just noticed on the David Hinds site, that they claim the Astro Fi 6 SCT has an OTA which weighs only 4.8 pounds! Lighter than the C5! What is going on, it there a difference then after all between the different OTAs?

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

FYI, a C6 OTA weighs  10 lb (4.54 kg)

[Greymouser]

16 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

C6 OTA weighs  10 lb (4.54 kg)

Yes that is what FLO says too, however David Hinds claim that the SCT that will be supplied with a SLT mount weighs eight pounds, the one supplied with the Astro FI weighs 4.8 pounds. Are they then in fact quite radically different OTAs?