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Impulse buy: Omni XLT 127

Tugboat

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Tugboat

Tugboat

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Posted

Hello all

In a previous post I had been considering upgrading my Skymax 90 on an EQ1 to something of better quality, perhaps with some kind of auto tracking too.

Based on my budget the consensus seemed to be a Skymax Supatrak or Nexstar 127 SLT.

However, browsing ebay today I can across an ex showroom demonstrator Celestron Omni XLT 127 SCT.....which I bagged for an apparent bargain of £215 (cheapest new I can find is £460).

So the question is, have I been too impulsive or will I be happy with the Omni? Although it doesn't have any kind of auto tracking, this can be added at a later stage. The CG-4 mount will be a massive improvement on my EQ1, and should help to provide much steadier views than I am used to.

I can't find too many reviews on the Omni online, but those I have found are generally positive. Does anyone else own this scope? If so, what are your opinions? How is it likely to compare against the other two scopes I mentioned for planetary work?

From my Skymax 90 (cost £140ish new) to the Omni 127 (worth £460) I'm expecting a reasonable improvement in quality - hopefully I won't be disappointed!

Thoughts appreciated!

Tugboat

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Tugboat

Tugboat

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Not sure but if your selling the Skymax at some point give me a shout as I am on the look out for a bargain travel scope ;)

It may well be up for sale at some point as regrettably I don't have the room to keep more than a single telescope. Is there a "for sale" section on the forum any more? I'm sure I bought my EQ1 mount using it a few years ago, but now I can't find it?

I've still had no luck finding any decent review of the celestron omni 127 xlt. Apparently it may have been reviewed by Sky at Night magazine at some point in the past, but I can't find any online copies of the review even when searchign their website.

So if anyone does have any experience with this scope I'd be interested in hearing from you, otherwise I'll enjoy the suspense and post back when I've received it and used it for the first time.

Thanks

Tugboat

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Cornelius Varley

Cornelius Varley

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You need 50 posts for the sale section. You could probably look for a review of the Celestron Nexstar 5 for a review of the ota, the two telescopes are the same just on different mounts. The CG4 mount is the same as the Skywatcher EQ3-2 so all the motor drives will fit the CG4.

peter

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Tugboat

Tugboat

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Thanks very much for the replies, glad to hear I haven't bought a lemon!

I'll have to try and be a bit more active on the forums in future, so I can make use of the for sale section!

Thanks again

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Tugboat

Tugboat

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Thanks for the links to the reviews!

Update: I took the scope out for the first time on Friday night. I put it together in the dark, so didn't have much time to do things properly...!

It had been a while since I'd used my old scope, so I felt a bit "rusty" to begin with, and getting to grips with a new scope in the dark didn't help too much either. I am now going to sound like a complete novice, but I had never polar aligned my old scope before. I tended to just point it in the right direction and all was well, as I was aiming at planets.

The Omni 127 is a more versatile beast, and in future I will polar align it before use (it took me ages to work out why there was what looked like an eye piece built in to the cg4 mount!!), but as I was in a hurry I just used it the old point and look way. Checking my planesphere the only planet I was likely to easily see was Jupiter. So I sat around waiting, and just as I was about to give up I finally noticed it at about 1:30am as it had just cleared a row of houses that was obscuring it.

I hadn't had time to align the finderscope previously, but I had a rough go at it on the first bright star I could see. I must have done a reasonable job, because aiming at Jupiter it was immediately visible when I looked through my EP. It looked a but fuzzy, and wasn't as good as the images I remembered seeing through my 90mm mak, so I swapped the eyepiece from the Celestron supplied 25mm, to one of my old 10mm ones. Again it was very hazy. So tired and frustrated I began to pack up for the night, and as soon as I carried the scope inside I noticed the problem - dew (or condensation)! I must have been looking through it the whole time.

It was too late to go back outside, so I put it down to experience and will invest in a dew shield for next time! Will post an update when I've had a decent viewing session minus dew!

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  • 2 weeks later...
ThomasM

ThomasM

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I also have a Celestron Omni XLT127 since about 2 years ago and I'm very pleased with it so far. I've enjoyed some very nice views of Jupiter and Saturn and their moons, and some brighter deep sky objects. The supplied 25mm eyepiece is great for open clusters, for example the Beehive (M44).

I recently bought an Imaging Source DMK21 USB CCD camera so I'm hoping to get some nice pics of Jupiter this summer. I must admit I've only had a dew problem once or twice but a dew shield sounds like a good idea.

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  • 5 years later...
Sky Daddy

Sky Daddy

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Posted

Hey Tugboat,I'm Very New To Astronomy But I Do Have The Omni XLT 127,You Will Not Be Disappointed. You're Getting A Lot Of Scope For A Very Nice Price.....The Moon Looks Beautiful Through This Scope And That's Using The Provided 25mm Eyepiece,I Also Have A Televue Plossi 15mm EP And A Televue 2× Barlow,So I Get 4 Different Magnifications ×50,×83,×101 And ×166,Which Have Allowed Me To See Jupiters Bands And Gallileos Moons And I've Seen The Cassini Division,I'm Very Happy With The Omni,I Look Foward To Getting More EPs,Oh I Forgot To Mention I Live In NYC And Have To Contend With Ridiculous Amounts Of Light Pollution I Do Have A Pollution Filter But Rarely Use It,That Being Said The Little 5"SCT Just Goes Out And Takes Care Of Business,I Hope This Was Helpful.....

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  • 2 weeks later...
Tugboat

Tugboat

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The light of this topic was travelling for 5 years until has reached SkyDaddy. He saw it and asnwer it. We have to wait another 5 years for Tugboat's feedback... :headbang:

Or maybe just 14 days :grin:

Sadly the scope spends more time in the loft than outside nowadays, but I'm hoping to get it out again soon!  Thanks for your input though Sky Daddy!

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  • 1 year later...
MortonH

MortonH

Posted
Posted
On ‎13‎/‎08‎/‎2015 at 17:41, Cornelius Varley said:

Sky Daddy. This thread is over 5 years old and the OP has not visited this site for about 3 years. Please try not to post on dormant threads.

Dormant:  Something that is dormant is not active or growing but has the ability to be active at a later time.

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Kef9

Kef9

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Original posters in the galaxy reunite. :)

I ended up getting a star travel 150 in the end instead for a bargain price from scopes'n'skies. These fracs were / are great.

by the way thanks for the write up Sky Daddy!

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