Is the Celestron NexStar 130 SLT the right one to go for?

[Nargos]

I am looking to buy my first proper Telescope. So do you think that the Celestron Nexstar 130 SLT the right one to go for?

[jarralad]

hi.

130 slt was and still is my first scope,about a year now.

must say no complaints so far,easy to set up and align and tracks good.for a starter scope,yes go and get it.even with the goto i think i have learned the sky a bit more.

good luck with what ever you get and clear skies.

ken.

[Nargos]

Good to Hear, Thanks

[hunterknox]

Ian Morison's done an extensive review on a 130 on the Jodrell Bank website (he likes it):

Celestron NexStar 130 SLT Telescope Review

[andy jack]

I have recently bought my first scope and I think the main question for me was go-to or none go-to? I had slightly less to spend than the price of the 130SLT but I think my choices were fairly comparable.

I narrowed it down to the Skywatcher Explorer 130P Go-to,or spend a similar price on a larger none Go-to. In the end I decided that I could live without Go-to and purchased the telescope with the largest appeture I could afford with a EQ mount. That turned out to be the Skywatcher 150P which the advertising blurb tells us has 33% more light gathering than 130mm.

Retrospect is a great thing and given the choice again I would still pick the 150P over a 130 Go-to. However, I did not seriously consider a Dob which could have been a mistake?

If you have already considered all this and your mind is firmly made up that you want a Go-to, I would be asking the question what is the difference (besides £84) between the SLT130 and the Skywatcher 130 Go-to? I am sure I have read on here that Celestron and Skywatcher are part of the same company?

[gary1968]

I had a 130 SLT and could not fault it, once that is, I started powering it from a 12v battery and not the AA's that the mount can take. The AA's dont really have enough power so it is best to use a power tank or car battery.

As for the difference between the Skywatcher and the Celestron, I would imagine that they are indeed the same scope / mount as the companies are both owned by Synta. I have only owned Celestron kit but I have used Skywatcher kit and I personally like the Celestron software better, for me it seems to have more functionality and is more intuative. But thats just me, it might be because I haven't really given SW a chance.

So is the 130SLT a good starter scope? Yes! If it is goto you want then you wont be dissapointed with it.

Gary

[Rockrae78]

Hi,

I know previous posts are rather old now, but I'm hoping one of you can still help me with my query. I have a Celestron NexStar SLT 130 - had it since February 2012 and given the recent weather, I've really not used it much, but I have managed to get acquainted with the SkyAlign system and most of the major features. I am liking it so far and have been surprised at how easy it is to use for a complete newbie!

However, I am experiencing 1 technical issue that no amount of searching the web or visiting the Celestron site seems to have helped! I've been out tonight (given it was the first clear night for AGES!!) and I'm not sure if I entered the correct timezone for the SkyAlign system. Obviously, I entered the correct date/time and location etc, but when it asked for the info on DST and timezones I think I got a little confused. I know that we are in the Universal time zone (I'm in the UK), and I obviously entered that we are in DST, but looking at various time zone maps, I'm unsure if I should have amended the time zone to account for DST, or if the SkyAlign system already compensates given the information entered.

I apologise if asking this makes me seem really stupid, but I just want to be sure I'm doing things correctly and making the most of my scope. I was viewing the sky in conjunction with the SkyQ (Celestron) app (not the GPS link unit) to make sure that the two things tallied and I was indeed viewing the stars I thought I was viewing but they were completely different. This is the first time this has happened!!

I've also checked the settings on the app and there is a setting for Timezone override which is currently set to No Offset, but should I be changing this to +1 hour to account for DST or will this have been done automatically given that it has recorded my location (correctly)?

Unfortunately, the clouds starting rolling in whilst I was adjusting the settings for both to try and work out what I should be doing, so I didn't get a chance to finish and check that both scope and app were pointing at the same things. Given the truly awful weather we've been having, I don't want to waste the next clear night going through the settings instead of actually viewing the sky...

I would be grateful for any help/advice anyone can give me... Again, apologies if I sound stupid!!

Thanks!

Rae

[brantuk]

I just set it to GMT and if we are in winter I set DST -1hr and in summer +1 hour.(that's on the mount). I don't use "apps" as such but when hooked up to the pc using software I would set any config items to the same as the mount. The date is usually US format so remember to switch the month and day numbers round.

If using GPS it will pick up positioning info automatically and sometimes the date/time as well. I allways check those to make sure they are correct for my location. Once that's set up just do a one or two star align and off you go - you'll soon know if any of it is out cos you'll not be pointing at what you want to. If you're on an EQ mount you'll still need to polar align before all the above of course. Hth

Edit - crikey - I just realised how old this thread is - might have been a good idea to start a new thread Rae