Celestron 31145 NexStar 130 SLT Computerised Telescope,Black
Celestron 31145 NexStar 130 SLT Computerised Telescope,Black
Fast Setup with SkyAlign
Celestron’s proprietary SkyAlign procedure has you ready to observe in minutes. Centre any three bright objects in the eyepiece and NexStar SLT aligns to the night sky, ready to locate thousands of stars, galaxies, and more.
Sky Tour
If you aren’t sure what to observe, check out the Sky Tour. It automatically generates a list of the best objects currently visible based on your exact time and location.
A wholesome of Astronomy
Compatible with all Celestron’s most popular accessories, including StarSense AutoAlign and SkyPortal Wi-Fi Module, the NexStar SLT can grow with you.
 |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optical Design | Maksutov-Cassegrain | Refractor | Maksutov-Cassegrain | Newtonian Reflector |
| Aperture | 90mm (3.54”) | 102mm (4.02”) | 127mm (5”) | 130mm (5.12”) |
| Focal Length | 1250mm (49”) | 660mm (26”) | 1500mm (59”) | 650mm (26”) |
| Focal Ratio | f/14 | f/6.47 | f/12 | f/5 |
| Magnification (with included eyepieces) | 50x, 139x | 26x, 73x | 60x, 167x | 26x, 72x |
| Limiting Magnitude | 12.3 | 12.5 | 13 | 13.1 |
| Low Useful Magnification | 13x | 15x | 18x | 19x |
| High Theoretical Magnification | 213x | 241x | 18x | 307x |
| Assembled Weight | 12 lbs | 14 lbs | 18 lbs | 18 lbs |
| Weight: | 11.4 Pounds |
| Dimensions: | 71.1 x 30.5 x 20.3 centimetres |
| Brand: | Celestron |
| Model: | 31145 |
| Part: | 31145 |
| Colour: | Black |
| Batteries Included: | 1 CR2032 batteries required. (included) |
| Dimensions: | 71.1 x 30.5 x 20.3 centimetres |
| Origin: | China |
It’s a pretty decent starter telescope—especially for seeing the moon. With 650mm focal length don’t expect amazing magnification. The App can be a little glitchy. But the biggest let down is the base itself. The vibrations are quite noticeable—further exacerbated by adding a camera or a decent lens to it. The price was $400 when I bought and it was definitely worth it. Not sure it’s worth it at $650.
Pictures are processed images of Jupiter and Saturn taken with my smartphone, through a 9mm eyepiece and 2x barlow in mediocre seeing conditions.
Edit:
This telescope is great… as I upgrade to better barlows, cameras, filters, and as my image processing skills increase, my finished images are getting better.
given my lack of knowledge and experience with locating sky objects,
I really wanted one w/ a ‘goto’ tripod and a computer interface.
This telescope fit my needs and budget, especially on ‘prime day’,
so I bought it.
I’m extremely impressed with the telescope, I can see quite a few deep sky objects, which is what I’m mainly interested in.
Pros:
– Easy assembly, self explanatory really.
– The packaging was amazing, there is very little chance this telescope was going to suffer any shipping
damage.
– The auto 2 star alignment works very well, it’s pretty cool how it just locks on pretty much any star/planet/deep sky object.
– The computer interface just works with ‘Starry night’ software, you do need to align the telescope prior to connecting.
Cons:
– The tripod is a bit shaky and lighter duty than I would of thought.
– I could never get the 3 star align to work, but the auto 2 star align works for me every time.
– It takes 8 batteries plus the laser LED battery in the finder scope, so I run it off a wall wart, which you buy separately.
– The hand control is a bit cumbersome, I have a hard time using it in the dark.
– For me, the tracking accuracy does deteriorate over time, so after an hour or so, I find a re-alignment is in order.
– I do wish it auto realigned based on the manual adjustments you do when tracking an object,
(maybe it does and I just don’t know how to do it)
Overall, I would definitely recommend this telescope, especially to beginners like me.
As a novice to telescopes but not astronomy, this telescope is more bang for buck than you can imagine.
Managed to attach my DSLR successfully and use the SkyAlign feature to capture the Moon and Venus in all their glory. Its a sizeable piece of kit and works better with a power cable rather than batteries.
The tripod is great, solid and has a spirit level to help you ensure you have a level platform too.
Definitely need to invest in some new eyepieces, but will do that later. Need to get accustomed and get the best out of what I have first. Best investment made and glad that I did!
Absolutely brilliant telescope!. Just no clear skies to use! Only so cloudy not been able to set up properly!
Lots of accessories available and I am looking forward to using it when we have some clear skys. I purchased the used option which was 100 cheaper and it came brand new and boxed.
Really impressed with this telescope, you can easily see the ring of Saturn, Cloud bands of Jupiter with its moons and Mars
My only gripe is the mount. It’s reasonably sturdy, and I’m not worried about it tipping over. But the scope sits quite high so the centre of gravity is high. The result is a sensitive bit of kit, so when you touch it takes a few seconds to stop shaking. I’m going to hang some weights off the legs to see if it sorts it out.
Saying that the mount has a built in bubble level which is rare at this price point.
Red dot finder and scope fit on with dovetails. For the main scope it’s worth sitting it quite high, it exacerbates the problem above but helps keep the scope clear of the mount when looking at objects overhead.
Everything you need to get started is in the box, but I did get a Barlow lense and some filters, moon filter is essential when it’s near full and skies are clear.
SkyAlign seems easy to set up but mainly exploring myself at moment.
Haven’t had to long and weather’s been bad, but details of the moon breathtaking, wow moment with saturn and cried a little when I got Jupiter with Io, ganymede, callisto and europa.
Excellent starter scope with bags of potential for upgrades
This telescope is good value for money. The instructions to put it together are short, clear and simple. It arrived on time and was very well packaged in 3 (yes 3) boxes plus the obligatory polystyrene and bubble wrap. Once put together my telescope now lives on its tripod and is easily portable by an over 60 year old.
As a complete telescope beginner, it got me up and running immediately. – Except that unlike the description there were not batteries supplied – however having an outdoor power supply, I had ordered the power adaptor. The finderscope once aligned (alignment was easy) is very helpful. The two lenses supplied give good views compared to my hand held ancient but very good 16×60 binoculars which I am still using really as a wide angle view. – largely because of my hand shake when holding the bins… However I am looking to upgrade the lenses as quickly as money allows… The telescope is not however completely removed from vibration and t movement, but is much better if the tripod is not extended fully. However wind will wobble it as will human interference… annoying.
So after a few sessions – as a total telescope beginner – largely because of cloudy skies or semi cloudy (rather annoying) skies what have I seen/was impressed with using only the lenses supplied (which most reviews suggest are not the best)?
1. The telescope will seperate Saturn and the rings – just – using the lenses provided.
2. Jupiter and the 4 moons look similar to a binocular view, but sharper and some banding on Jupiter can be seen.
3. The moon (advise you to get a moon filter) is stunning.
4. Views of clusters such as the Sword Handle/double cluster in Perseus, the Hyades, the Pleides, the Leaping Minnow in Auriga are good.
5. Scanning through constellations such as Cygnus, Cepheus, Cassiopeia similar to viewing the Milky Way through binoculars has been fun.
6. Binary stars – Albeiro in Cygnus, 30/31 Cygni, Epsilon Lyrae have been good.
Again only with the lenses supplied, what have been disappointments?
a. M31 – but also not great in binoculars.
b. M27, M57, but I suspect they might be better with better lenses.
c. Annoying having to re focus when you change lenses. (looking to get the Baader zoom asap)
And what simple errors have I made?
i. Not always waiting for my eyes to become accustomed to the dark.
ii. Expecting to find things in the 9mm lense first – much easier to start with the wide angle 25mm.
iii. Making sure that the telescope does not get stuck on the tripod when viewing objects nearly overhead.
iv Assuming that everything will look better at a higher magnification – it doesn’t.
v. Standing up to observe using the telescope – does my back in – so I am now using an adjustable stool…
Overall a good purchase and I am very pleased with it… However I can see that like the binoculars it will become addictive and will “demand” more money for lenses etc. etc…
Yeah I’m happy with this one alignment is easy just a shame you got to do it everytime as it doesn’t store it but no drama’s if everything was easy life would be boring.And if celestron made it so you can move the mirror up and down for DLSR cameras then we wouldn’t need to modify it for better quality of pictures
Fantastic telescope ideal for the beginners, my only gripe is they reduced the price by 100 after I bought it that sucks… I could of bought a eyepiece set for the money I could of saved….
Can’t wait until some planets are in view later in the year.
The first night I used this I was hampered by cloud, so could only do a basic setup and some initial lunar observing, but I was pleased to find that this was easy to set up in a short period of time, using the quick setup guide. The lunar views I got were excellent and my kids (and even my wife!) were enthralled with the first views of the moon that we obtained.
The second night, although cloud was again an issue, I managed to set the scope up fully. the set up was easy, following the instructions, although it is sometimes tricky to remember that the arrow buttons are only used for controlling the movements of the scope from the handset and not navigating the menus, however they were largely self-explanatory and made the initial setup easy. I would advise using a custom site for alignment using a smartphone with GPS (almost ubiquitous these days) to obtain the precise location, just remember you will need the location in degrees, minute and seconds of arc, rather than decimal. This is quite easy to find with a quick internet search on a smartphone however. Exact times from a reliable source, such as a synced smartphone is also required, along with your time zone. Once these are in you can choose to align the scope using any three bright stars or other celestial objects (moon or planets), simply align the object in the finder scope, then centralise in the eyepiece and align using the handset. This was done in minimal time, even with poor visibility due to cloud and the computer accurately aligned the scope at the first attempt with no need for firmware updates or similar for the handset. Following alignment I used the sky tour to find appropriate objects and after checking that the sky model was correct (it was able to find the moon without difficulty in the solar system mode) I used the handset to move to Andromeda, which was visible as a fuzzy patch, despite poor visibility and quite bad light pollution. The tracking seems to work fairly well and will keep an object in view for a significant amount of time (quite sufficient for real-time observing using the eyepiece), but did exhibit some element of drift, so would not be suitable for deep sky astrophotography, but this is to be expected with an alt-azimuth mount, as compared to an equatorial setup.
Unfortunately, the sky conditions deteriorated further preventing any more testing on other objects, but overall this telescope is easy to set up and provides a quick means of finding astronomical objects. As a starter scope at a reasonable price it would seem that it is difficult to beat. In terms of power, I did buy the external battery pack which allows extended observing and this seems to be the best way to power the scope as while using the internal 8xAA batteries would avoid any problems with cord entanglement, the lack of battery life may limit it without a substantial supply. Cord length and wrapping would be even more of an issue with a mains powered supply and could be problematic for anything more than a small distance outside. The scope does need power to operate though and cannot really be operated without it, which is definitely a downside if you were wanting the use it in an unpowered alt-azimuth mode.
Overall, this seems to provide a good observing experience for the aperture and price and is highly recommended for a beginner. Obviously, you could get a larger aperture without the goto function for the same price, but this really wins on convenience. I look forward to may happy nights observing with my kids in the near future.
The Nextstar 127 SLT was delivered from Amazon’s Doncaster centre to Whitworth in superfast time. Packaging was substantial ( triple boxed ) and everything present that should be.
Assembly of the main parts was dead simple to the point where I was using the hand control to drive the telescope to view distant ( terrestrial ) objects within minutes ( daytime ).
Then came a snag . The finderscope ceased to operate ( no red dot ) on the first day ! During online chat to Amazon support it bacame apparent that all they could do was refund the money for the entire order on reciept of the goods when I really wanted a simple replacement part !
Instead, I contacted Tring Astronomical Centre with the issue who could not have been more helpful and sent a new finderscope the next day, no questions asked. Happy boy !
Tonight was the first clear night with a 3/4 moon low down. Set up outside and used the single object alignment ( Altair in this case ) which was pretty straight forward, although selected objects tended to the 10 oclock position. I expect a more careful setup using the three objects method would be an improvement.
The first view of the Moon was magnificent ! Next up was Mars, showing up as a clear pink disc but again low down and unfortunately Saturn and Jupiter were obscured from view. Very happy so far !
good telescope, very happy. Really good views of the moon!
As a complete novice to astronomy – I took a bit of a gamble, set myself a budget and decided I’d get the best telescope I could for the money that I had. The fact it come on a mount which can automatically identify and target points of interest in the sky was a bonus for me also.
Setting up:
I personally found it incredibly easy to set up. Everything fit in place without any parts that felt like they were an ill fit. The mount has a spirit level measurement thing on the top and because this mount tracks things in space, it is important to make sure you level the mount out perfectly to get the most out of your experience.
The ‘Star Align’ function is awesome, simply use the handset to point the telescope at 3 bright objects in the sky, wait for it to confirm that it’s identified what those 3 objects are and then you can select from a rather comprehensive list of items and the telescope will move and point where the selected object is. Really is easy! There are other methods of setting up the alignment but for out of the box speed, I found this to be the fastest.
What can you see?
Well, I purchased a 2x Barlow and looked up at the moon using a 9x lens. I spent about an hour viewing the various craters and scarred surface. To me, the optics appear really good. I didn’t notice any issues with viewing things. I’m sure more seasoned astronomers will be able to comment about the pros and cons of this telescope but for a beginner it certainly impressed me massively.
I then put a 6x lens in (lower the number, the higher the magnification but at a trade off with field of vision…I think?) and pointed the telescope at a bright star in the sky. Yeah – it wasn’t a star, it was Jupiter! I could actually see the 2 orange/red rings of the planet as I looked through the eye piece. Yes it was small but I could definitely make out it was Jupiter. I was highly impressed.
Overall, as a novice to this field, I love my telescope. I’ve barely scratched the surface of what I can view but I really look forward to looking up at the night sky (when the cloud goes!). For me, it feels well made, gives nice views and the options for using the automatic finder function is really useful too.
I have attached the best pic from that night and also another pic from a few days later and you can really see the detail level you can achieve with this scope. I did manage to get some pics of Jupiter with 6 of its moons around it but this was just with the 2xbarlow and 25mm eyepiece. When looking through with the 9mm and 2xbarlow you could just make out the brown gradients of Jupiter. I couldn’t get the camera and the 9mm connected to be able to take that pic, rookie mistake at the time but will be better prepared next time.
The motor and auto find mechanism are quite good and we were able to track Jupiter for ages without it leaving the eyepiece, will try some more deep sky objects once the skies clear up.
Overall I am very happy with the purchase and look forward to using this scope for many years to come, the kids are knocking great craic out of it too so I’m sure it will be passed on to them eventually.
Doesn’t see things as big/detailed as I hoped but weight and ease of use are good. We have enjoyed using it.
Bought 130 SLT for my wife’s christmas present, very easy to set-up, the only disappointment is the kit comes with 2 different length focus eye-pieces, but you don’t get an adaptor to fit them into the 2” apature, which we will now have to purchase seperately, why would you put parts onto a kit you can’t use without another part you don’t put in the kit.
happy with product and packaging. will enjoy many hours stargazing
Getting the scope setup and aligned was fairly easy so I was filled with confidence and excitement this is where my story peaked, from here on it was more or less downhill. Looking at a few of the brighter stars it was hard to tell if they were any more visible than they were with the naked eye, basically just tiny white dots maybe a millimetre in diameter with no detail but they are pretty far away, so I moved on to letting the scope show me some nebulas or deep sky objects, at this point I should mention that I didn’t have complete darkness as I was in my garden so there was slight light pollution, but I still expected to see something, anything, but I saw nothing. I persevered for an hour or so with similar results.
When 5am rolled around I went back out hoping that I’d have better luck with some planets, firstly I tried Venus which is very visible to the naked eye, all I saw was a bright white shape that wasn’t even circular maybe 2mm in diameter, so I moved on to Mars which was another bust, my final hope was Jupiter, it’s massive surely I’d see more here? At this point I find myself questioning the purpose of this telescope or if it’s broken as Jupiter is maybe 3mm in diameter, if I really strain my eye I think I can maybe see a band around the middle but this could also be wishful thinking and my brain trying to justify the 330 I spent on this telescope.
I’ve read all the reviews on here it’s the reason I bought this telescope, but I’m having a completely different experience so far. I did note that some of the people who’d reviewed it had bought other eyepieces and stuff which I’ve now also ordered, but this review is for the telescope minus any other stuff you have to buy, and to be honest I’m not sure it’s worth the money. Also Celestron have been pretty tight with the supplied equipment, at 330 they could have thrown in a power supply and the cable to update the handset.
I’ll come back and update this when my other eyepieces arrive.
Update: I probably should have waited a bit before posting my review, but to be fair the early disappointment is something people should be prepared for, this isn’t Hubble and most things are going to look tiny. With that said I’ve now received my Barlow lens and had a chance to look at the moon, and despite cloudy conditions I also managed to get a really good look at Jupiter, it was still fairly small maybe 4 or 5mm across, but I could see the colour bands and also managed to pick out 4 of Jupiter’s moons which gave me a definite wow moment. I’ve also ordered a Celestron X-Cel LX 18mm on the strength of someone’s review for this telescope, it should arrive today or tomorrow so will update again when it does. I’d now be willing to recommend this telescope but with the caveat that you should be prepared to spend more money as the provided eyepieces aren’t the greatest, but as a starter point it’s pretty decent.
The attached picture was taken using an Celestron X-Cel LX 18mm a lunar filter and my iPhone 6s held freehand above the lens.
The evening I received the scope (15 July) I set it up on my deck. Yes, not the most stable of platform, but I live in a dense neighborhood with lots of obstructions and murderous light pollution. The star alignment, using the 3-star “Star Align” process, took me two attempts. I blame my ineptitude with the use of an eyepiece and not having stars truly centered in the field of view for this. Regarding this, I think an eyepiece with a crosshair would be excellent for performing these alignments. (Another night I had multiple failures. This turned out to be related to the incorrect time, which was off by a few hours. The system will apparently remember the last values you entered. Be advised, they will not update and will be incorrect. Check your time and date each time you power up the system! (Many complain that the system does not retain the time once it is entered. I would venture a guess here as to why. The simple truth is that it would drift off of “real” time within a very short matter of time. Maybe adding the optional GPS module would fix this problem, but the internal NexStar clock is simply freewheeling and will inevitably be off the longer it ran on its own. Having to re-enter it each time you power up ensures that time is not an issue during the alignment procedure. Imagine your frustration if you took tons of time aligning each star in your eyepiece, and despite your best efforts the system would not align? Re-entering the time alleviates this factor, assuming you enter it correctly!)
For my location, I simply plotted my deck in Google Earth and wrote down the coordinates. This seems to have enough fidelity for the star alignment to work.
Once I had the telescope aligned I picked a random bright object in the southern sky to examine. Imagine my surprise when the first celestial body I have ever viewed through a telescope turned out to be Saturn! Using the provided 9mm eyepiece, the rings were clearly visible. I had not yet received my collimation eyepiece, so I was worried that it might need an adjustment. No adjustment necessary on my scope at this time! I am looking forward to viewing through higher-quality optics though.
Regarding the stability issues that many have commented about. Yes, images do move about quite easily, especially on my wooden deck. I have not yet weighted the tripod or gotten a set of the damping pads. I will say that image stabilization is not completely unbearable on my scope. In just a couple of seconds after making a focusing or alignment adjustment, images became still enough to view nicely. I can only imagine this will improve with weights and dampers. I do see why this scope would not be ideal for astrophotograpy though. I would think it would not be impossible, but you would have to ensure the scope is deployed on a solid foundation and go to great lengths not to disturb the scope in any way.
I was able to configure and control my scope with Celestron’s enclosed NexStar Observer List (NSOL) software and the freeware Stellarium packages relatively painlessly. Install the drivers that come with your USB-to-Serial Port adapter. (The computer interface to the NexStar handset requires a serial RJ-11 phone jack. Celestron sells a cable with an RJ-11 phone connector on one end and computer 9-pin RS-232 serial port connector on the other. Most likely your computer/laptop will not have a serial port, so you will have to further adapt this to USB) My laptop configured the COM3 serial port, but your mileage may vary depending on your system. Make sure to restart your computer once the drivers are installed. Truth in advertising, I tested my scope indoors using an arbitrary alignment. The scope tracked and moved what seemed to be the proper azimuths and elevations for the objects I selected in the software. Any issues I find in the wild once I get the scope outside again can likely be mitigated with the anti-backlash settings for the motor drive. If there is anything significant I find, I’ll make an update!
Regarding some of the slewing, anti-backlash, and cord wrap settings, I would have appreciated a little more information in the manual as to what the settings actually do and how they work. I did see an example where my scope attempted to go the long way around counterclockwise to a position that just should have been about 10 degrees clockwise. This was very likely due to bad settings in the aforementioned utilities. I made a few tweaks after that and the problem seems to be alleviated, though I am not exactly sure which setting did the trick! 🙂
At the end of the day, I have to say that for the money, this scope does everything it is intended to do. Have some realistic expectations going in. You are not going to get Hubble Space Telescope views out of this scope! But you will get a lot of enjoyment out of it if you take the time to set it up and align it properly. I did get a good view of a deep space galaxy, which as many have stated, was simply a distant smudge of stars. However, it was clearly visible amongst the background of distinct stars.
It’s worth bearing in mind that it will work with 8 rechargeable AA batteries – which will soon save money compared to non-rechargeable ones, and save space compared with an external accessory battery.
The eyepieces that come with it are just okay. They’re a step below kelner eyepieces (which is below Plossls). For eyepieces, use a low power eyepiece (25mm) to scan for objects. With eyepieces, the lower the number the higher the magnification. If you buy eyepieces, stick to good quality eyepieces in the 5mm to 35mm range. More magnification (<5mm) doesn't really help as the scope is limited by the atmosphere. Lower magnification eyepiece (>35mm) will result in an exit pupil that is too large (makes it difficult to see without a moving black blob appearing in the eyepiece). Celestron X-Cel eyepieces would work well for this scope and aren’t too expensive. I like the Baader Hyperion as well. It gives a wide angle view and a large eyeglass with good eye relief to look through (great for eyeglass wearers). A x2 Barlow lens is a good option to pick up as well. Combined with your eyepieces, it doubles your available magnifications (9mm becomes a 4.5mm, 25mm becomes a 12.5mm). I have the Orion shorty x2 barlow.
Don’t bother with the eyepiece kits. The optics are too close together in strength so you’ll probably only use 3 of the 5. The color filters are pretty useless except for a moon filter. All you really need are 3 eyepieces a low power (no greater than 35mm), a medium power (14-18mm) and a high power (no less than 5mm).
You’ll need a collimator. With Newtonians, you’ll need to align the mirrors. It’s best if you check it each night before you use it. Moving the telescope can knock it out of wack. A collimator helps you line everything back up. I have the Orion laser collimator.
Here are some setup tips for setting up the scope for Goto use:
1. If you picked a city instead of entering a latitude longitude, and you don’t actually live in the middle of the city (you just picked the closest one), do a factory reset of the computer and choose latitude-longitude instead. It’s much more accurate. You can find the latitude longitude with a smart-phone app (e.g. Compass for Android) or by googling your address. You’ll need the lat long in degrees, minutes, seconds (not the digital version like -117.0101). It should look like W 117 15′ 12′
Sometimes a city selection is too broad. I am about 20-30 miles outside the city I chose and it makes a big difference when the scope is skewing.
2. Make sure you’re using the correct time/date settings including daylight savings time vs standard time. Use your cellphone time.
3. Instead of using 3-star align, use Auto-Two-Star align. It’ll require you to know the names of the stars but it’s much better. I use Google Skymap to find one of the stars in the list if I don’t know the name or the ones I do know are obscured. If you use the 3-star align, chose bright stars that are on opposite sides of the sky and not in a line (a triangle pattern is preferred). For example, if you just used the stars in Orion, that’s probably too small of an area of the sky. Choose one star in Orion (e.g. Betelgeuse), one in Gemini (e.g. Castor) and one in Cassiopeia.
4. When centering a star during alignment, defocus the star so it looks like a ball rather than a point of light. It’ll be much easier to get in in the center.
5. When centering on the final star try to move the scope in the same direction as it was moving when it skewed to the star you chose. So for example, if it was moving down and to the left when it stopped, position the scope so that when you get it in the center of the view that you are moving it down and to the left when you stop.
UPDATE 5/19/2016: I recently purchased a ZWO ASI185MC camera that I’m using with the 130SLT. The camera will easily come to focus when used in the 2″ adapter. It will come to focus in the 1.25″ adapter as well but it’s a little closer to max in-focus. I’m getting pretty good images with it doing short exposure (<15seconds) and stacking. You'll want to use a Bahtinov Mask to focus. I purchased an Orion Accufocus which greatly helps with focusing the image without everything shaking. Check my reviews for the correct items.
I also have it working with a computer (computer drives the scope). You need to install ASCOM drivers (6.2) and ASCOM drivers for the Celestron product line. Just search for "ASCOM drivers" on google. It's not necessary but it's nice for an all-in-one software package (Astrolive USB).
I added some pictures I took of M51, M57, Jupiter and the moon. These were taken from my front yard about 5 miles from the city. The deep space objects won't appear that clear when viewing through the eyepiece (cameras pick up more light than our night vision does).
Update 6/28/2016:. The scope will slew to the object and there’s a good chance it will be centered in your eyepiece. I use this feature with my camera and it almost always gets it close to the field of view. You should easily find the object in the field of view of a 25mm eyepiece (though it may be faint and fuzzy).
One thing to really improve your goto results is to use "Precise Goto". It's undocumented in the manual. It's accessed differently than a regular goto. Press the "Menu" button. Then use the up/down arrows (6 &9 key) to find "Precise Goto". Then select "Database". Finally, choose from the object list type using the up/down arrows (e.g. Messier, NGC, Named Objects). So for instance, if I choose "Messier" and then enter the number for the Messier Object (1-110). It will calculate and give you a list of 5 bright stars with #1 being closest to the object. Select 1. The scope will slew to where it thinks it is. Center the bright star with the red dot finder and look through your eyepiece to see if it's centered there as well. Once it's centered in the eyepiece, hit
Quick delivery in good condition at very fair price. Will not be used until Xmas but has all the specs I require.
A good scope, the GOTO mount works quite well, but the tripod is weak and it’s hard to correctly focus an object due to the vibrations and to the focuser’s inaccuracy. The eyepieces provided are rubbish. Anyway, knowing its limits, it’s ok.
Out of the ample packaging, instructions are pretty straight forward. Didn’t have to collimate the scope which was a plus so it was a case of assemble and off we go.
Supplied eyepieces are okay though you will want to invest in some decent ones (along with a barlow lense).
“Goto” function is easy to use so long as you “READ THE INSTRUCTIONS” before trying.
Viewing wise, Images are crisp and clear and the “Goto” has no problem aligning to what you select from the handset. I’ve only used it a few times though as finding your way around the night sky without help is part of the fun.
Only downsides so far:
1. Scope mounting to the Tripod is horrendous – parts are injection moulded and someone obviously didn’t check to see if they were a nice tight fit! You have to physically push your whole body against the Scope before tightening the Holding screw up! If you don’t, the whole thing vibrates at the minutest knock!
Took quite a few goes to get it sat in nice and snug (will speak to the engineers I work with and get a plate made up to remedy this)
2. Power consumption of the Motors & “Goto” is ridiculous! 8 x batteries lasted only an hour which in todays day & age is pretty appalling! And there is little info to go on as the what mains adaptor (and output requirement) is needed along with the suitable size adaptor pin.
If you’re not electrically minded, this will cause you a lot of problems – last thing you want to do is use an adaptor that fries the handset and motors!
Why they couldn’t supply a mains adaptor is any-ones guess!!
For using in the back garden, using the mains won’t be an issue. If you go mobile though, you will need to invest in a decent power pack which will set you back another 80+
3. No supplied cables for linking up to your PC or Laptop – Again, this is pretty poor and could cause problems for those not technically minded.
4. Handset doesn’t has a memory backup either so every time it’s switched off, date, time, location settings are all wiped and you have to mess about inputting them every time!
Overall though, I’m happy with the Scope – If it wasn’t for the downsides, it would get the full 5 star
Due to the few niggling issues, I would rate this more of intermediate than a beginners Scope.
This model was purchased at Christmas as a first telescope for complete novices, largely on the strength of the computer governed motorised Go To function and the good size of the mirror at just over 5 inches. The Go To makes it easier to locate objects, and the size of the mirror means that faint objects well beyond the capacity of the naked eye can be seen. It also provides some basic detail of the the planet Jupiter.
The kit arrives with everything you need bar batteries to power the motors (8 AAs not supplied). No complex assembly of parts is needed. The tripod folds out and a plastic tray for odds and ends sits between the three legs, also providing some bracing of the legs. The motor and telescope support arm has some weight but is easily managed, locating on the top of the tripod and secured by screwing up a large plastic nut by hand under the tripod head. The optical tube assembly, OTA, slides into a place locating a metal bar in a dovetail fixing on the support arm. It is secured by tightening a nut by hand, though the OTA needs to be cupped in the arms underneath to lift it fully in place to get the nut tight enough to take out slack and make the connection solid, which is essential. Not the best of design but it works ok with some patience. Once fixed you probably won’t have to undo it again. The direction finder slides into a dovetail on the OTA. This is a good design. It contains no lenses. A red LED (not laser so safe to look at) shines against a piece of glass in the finder as a dot with adjustable brightness. The telescope is moved until the red dot is directly over the object of interest. In theory it should then be in the middle of the field of view of the telescope but the finder will more than likely need to be aligned. It is easier to point the telescope during the day at something like a distant chimney, centring the object in the telescope viewfinder by eye and then aligning the finder to match. Two thumb screws shift the pointing direction of the finder left/right and up/down if necessary. In our case there was insufficient travel on the left right adjuster and this required undoing the screws fixing the finder to the OTA with a pozi screwdriver until JUST loose (there are nuts inside the OTA which you don’t want to come off and hit the mirror). Then shift the finder. The optics all need to be lined up and should come perfect in the box. They are tested by looking out of focus at any star. You should see perfectly circular haloes. Luckily we did. If not, the telescope needs to be ‘collimated’, requiring a tool not supplied – see You tube videos.
The eyepiece holder fits in the focuser tube and has an adapter to take 2inch eyepieces (which is useful but unlikely to be needed, most eyepieces and accessories at this level being 1.25 inches in diameter). The focuser is ready assembled and an eyepiece is inserted in the tube and two thumb screws tightened to hold it in place. Primitive but seemingly a universal means of fixing whatever you pay for a telescope. The controller hand set plugs in a clearly marked socket. There is another socket for a mains adapter (not supplied) or a separate rechargeable 12v battery pack, a so called “tank” available for around 55 incorporating a torch. The scope will move up and down by hand but not turn sideways without the motor on so power is an essential. Batteries don’t last long so are expensive. We found we had an AC/DC adapter on some other equipment providing 12 volts DC at a sufficient max current (2amps is fine) and we used that with an extension lead in the garden. You soon realise though that you need to fork out for the portable battery tank for practical and safety reasons.
The big selling point of the scope is the Go To function and there are a number of options for using this. The general approach is to point the telescope at a star or stars (planets can also be used), using the motor to move the scope to another star. The more names of stars you know the quicker it all is but if you know none at all it’s fine. The telescope needs to be pointed at three objects in succession reasonably well spaced in the sky and at different altitudes. The computer should then work out how it is aligned and then will go automatically to any of the objects in its database just by selecting them on the handset. We got this alignment to work on the second attempt but it is not foolproof. You need to enter the time on the handset accurate to the second preferably before you start. It is rather annoying that the handset does not have a clock built in so this needs to be done every time the scope is switched on. You also need to enter your latitude and longitude but getting this spot on is not so essential. You can also use the pre programmed locations in the handset though there are only four or five for the UK. In our case London is good enough though we are 25 miles from the centre. But it is simple enough to put your post code in the internet or consult a sat nav to get the
required figures accurately. It only needs to be done once and the handset retains the info. The scope will also track objects once set up so they are kept in the field of view with little adjustment using the hand set.
So on to using the scope! What do you see. Forget the Hubble telescope pictures. Using the supplied 9 mm eyepiece (72times magnification) you will be easily able to see four moons of Jupiter as dots, and on a good viewing day, two weather bands as stripes on the surface of the planet showing as a small disk. It is possible to see galaxies as white smudges, very hard to find without the Go To so it comes into its own. The bigger star clusters and nebulae are the forte of this telescope and one can spend ages staring at them. The moon craters will have you going “wow” too.
Two issues are relevant. One. The supplied eyepieces are very budget and while it is not essential it seems pointless to buy a telescope at this price and optical quality and not use its full potential. In other words be prepared to spend another 100 or more to get some good eyepieces. You can pay over 500 each ! but we chose the Celestron x-cel lx at around 65 each, which we find are very good, being brighter with better contrast and giving a much wider field of view that makes viewing far less tiring not having to squint. These lenses give real wow moments when you first view say the nebula in Orion M42 (dial it up in the handset to get there) or the Pleiades. Two. The focuser has to be the worst piece of engineering ever, hence four stars and if it was a separate item two stars. Shame on Celestron. The tube with the eyepiece moves on a gear rack to focus and has enormous play. The mechanism is lubricated with very viscous gunk that makes it hard to turn the focusing knob. We find it is best to focus by turning the knob quite quickly from out of focus through focus to out of focus again and then coming half way back to get pin point sharpness. This is undoubtedly an acquired skill but made much harder by the cheap engineering. Some adjustment is possible, not described in the hand book (which is generally useful and in proper english if somehow rather old fashioned – download off the Celestron site to get more insight about using the scope before purchase). Two small set screws sit either side of the focuser locking screw and can be tightened using a small Allen key. This gets rid of most of the play but you have only to use a proper two speed focuser to realise just how poor the one on the 130 is. But don’t let this put you off at all. Of course you expect better at the price, but again focusing is an art worth developing as for one thing, touch the focuser and the magnified image in the eyepiece will dance about regardless of how good the focuser is. You can of course easily pay 5000 for a sturdy mount! Make the adjustments to the focuser and take the design limitations as part of the fun.
Thirdly, be prepared that the Go To is generally a bit out due to the gears and motor as well as any errors in setting up. Use the low power 24mm eyepiece first to check where you are. This may sound frustrating but you rapidly discover that a big part of the fun is hunting the objects and developing the skills to see faint things.
Can you take photos of what you see. 25 will get you a clamp to fix any holiday snaps point and shoot digital camera to your eyepiece and it works remarkably well though. Use the self timer to avoid shake when you press the shutter button. Fiddly to set up but download free software like GIMP (free photoshop equivalent) to bring up the levels and what looks like three white dots turns into a nebula. We also bought a very modest CMOS webcam and using the supplied software produced a very detailed photo of Jupiter including red spot after half a dozen attempts and observing sessions in the back garden. If you have a DSLR you can take off the lens and connect to the telescope using connectors for around 20 and take some remarkable long exposure shots, though you are limited by the mount that results in objects turning in the field of view due to the rotation of the earth. (An equatorial mount is needed and the 130 slt cannot be easily adapted).
In conclusion, use the vast resources of the internet to find out what to see each month. You Tube videos are a really useful source of information and expertise not least on astro photography. We were able to see the supernova that had emerged the previous week in M82 and which is gone in a few more weeks. These happen at a rate of about once every thirty years per galaxy so you can be party to some special events with this equipment. This telescope isn’t the best of course and it could be better. But it has excellent optics and the ability to put you in awe of the universe. Prepare to spend more money to maximise the initial investment. Observing as a family is great fun – let me have a look, let me have a look! This telescope is recognised as a very good one and no one would think you had wasted your money on it. If you decide to join a club first and see whether you get the bug, if you did, almost certainly you would end up saving up and paying two or three times the cost of this kit, but in the end it might be cheaper. Highly recommended, strangely as much for the flaws which add a challenge, as for the good.
I have now moved on to using a DSLR and you can get good results, see M81/M82 galaxies image
The other way to use an SLR is with Prime Focus which means there is no lens between the camera and the star … just mirrors. No! … not possible without modification. The focal point for a star (or the moon) is at the point where the focus mechanism has just gone inside itself so there’s nowhere to clamp the camera onto. You can use prime focus for shorter distances. But infinity is outside the focal range of the mechanism. One guy in the states found a way of mounting the primary lens further up the tube to bring it into focus, but you have better luck finding moon dust than locating the screws (M4 female thumb screws).
What I’ve done is changed the focus mechanism to a low profile focuser (SkyWatcher Dual-Speed 2-inch Low Profile Crayford Focuser for Newtonians). This doesn’t fit the scope directly and you need to bore holes in the tube to mount it. Also, I constructed a silicon (window sealant) gasket to fill the gap between the tube and the focuser. This really works and feels incredibly stable. For deep space viewing you really need to use video and then process the output. With very high resolution video resolutions on the near horizon (well beyond HD and 4K) this setup becomes future proof because photographic resolution will tend towards the resolution of the primary mirror without the limitations of the t-piece.
This all sound very negative, but astrophotography isn’t cheap, and going from this telescope anything better, will cost you your next holiday in Spain. This is a good telescope it can be upgraded. That could just stop you from sticking it in the attic and for it never to be seen again.
It has a maximum magnification of 250 and with a 6mm and x2 Barlow you can get close to that. Out of the planets I’ve only really had a chance to look at Jupiter but the bands on its surface were clearly visible. Using it to look at the Moon reveals craters within craters as you can get in really close. I love this telescope and it has really expanded what I can see. Read my experiences with it here: InTheGutterStaringAtTheStars.wordpress.com
The pros:
– Very portable, easy to setup. You will probably get to use it more than larger telescopes.
– Great at planets. Couple it with an inexpensive webcam and process through Registax and you will get impressive photos of Saturn, Jupiter etc
The cons:
– Not well-suited for “large” deep space objects, such as open clusters. I upgraded from a smaller newtonian and I was underwhelmed by some of the DSO views, due to the limited field of view. There is a way to fit an (expensive) f/6.3 reducer, however the thin 1.25″ barrel limits your field of view, so the reducer is not really a solution.
– Not sturdy enough tripod gives a lot of vibrations (when you touch the focuser, when the wind blows etc). See tips below.
So, overall, this is a very easy to set up and use scope that is great for viewing and even photographing the moon, sun (with a filter) and planets. If you have looked through a wide-field telescope the deep space object performance may disappoint. I would say this is a great telescope for an urban location, as the GOTO will be useful when there are few stars visible to use as pointing guides and also planets are anyway the best targets when there is light pollution.
Tips:
– The Celestron Vibration Pads are a good investment, halving the vibration if you are setting up on a hard surface. When using the vibration pads you can also try putting some weight on the accessory tray, I had good results with the vibration pads + at least 5kg weight on the accessory tray.
– A good and inexpensive choice for an eyepiece that will improve your planetary viewing is the skywatcher Ultra Wide Angle (UWA) 6mm (or even the cheaper “Ultrawide 6mm”). It provides 250x (which is the max you would ever want to use and it is usable more often than not – depending on seeing conditions), a generous field of view and eye relief.
– An illuminated reticle / crosshair eyepiece will make the initial alignment easier/faster.
– Don’t even try the batteries. Get an AC adapter. A generic will do, although I have to use a rubber band on the arm of the mount and pass the cable through it before plugging it in so that the cable is not pulled when the telescope is moving around (the more expensive Celestron AC adapter screws on, so no issue).
– Get a solar filter and it will give you something to do with your telescope during the day! The least expensive solution is to get the Baader solar film and create your own cardboard holder (instructions are widely available). Careful: NEVER point at the sun without a solar filter IN FRONT of the main optics.
I am attaching a couple of photos of Jupiter shot through the movie-crop mode of a Canon 550D, just for an idea.
Brilliant scope for quality and value for money. I cannot at this time add review on visual sightings due to very light nights sorry!
I would agree with some previous comments; the mount should be a bit chunkier, on high magnification just a light touch on the eyepiece causes the image to wobble a lot and it takes a while to settle down. Also you have to be very accurate for the alignment to work properly, And make sure you choose alignment stars a good distance away from each other – nothing worse than having aligned three stars and then the handset telling you ‘alignment failed’!
This scope eats batteries, so it’s well worth getting a 12v dc adaptor.
The GoTo calibration isn’t always accurate and it might take 2 or 3 attempts to get the telescope aligned before you can start using it. It’s important to set the time correctly and to make sure the tripod is absolutely level before you begin. There’s a spirit level for this purpose, but you have to be spot-on. Once aligned, the GoTo functionality is easy to use.
I almost regret getting a GoTo telescope because I haven’t actually learnt all that much about astronomy (although I have had fun). With a manual telescope I would probably have learnt more, but used it less – swings and roundabouts!
The telescope takes 8 AA batteries and runs them flat in a couple of hours, especially if it’s cold. Rechargeable AA batteries don’t work well because of the lower voltage, so you do need to invest in good alkaline batteries. Alternatively, the telescope has a DC power socket so you can use an external power source. You could hook it up to a 12V lead-acid leisure battery which will keep it running for many observation sessions, or if you plan to use it in your garden, you can use a 12V DC transformer and an extension lead. Make sure to check the maximum current rating because the telescope is quite demanding.
Optically, this Cassegrain-Maksutov telescope is better suited to planetary viewing. If you want to look at galaxies, nebulae and other DSOs, you would be better off choosing a Newtonian formula telescope such as the SLT 130. Newtonians have lower magnification but better light-collecting ability.
You can easily get a T-mount for this telescope and attach a digital SLR camera in place an eyepiece for excellent astrophotography. The motors in the mount seem happy enough with a reasonably heavy camera piggybacking on the telescope.
Do take note that this telescope has an altazimuth mount, rather than an equatorial mount. This means that throughout the course of the night, the field of view shown in the telescope will rotate. Bear this in mind if you are taking long exposures for astrophotography. An equatorial mount is the “real deal” for astrophotography.
I probably wouldn’t recommend this telescope to a complete beginner, but it’s excellent for a second telescope after you’ve learnt the basics on something a bit smaller.
When the scope is working, it’s fantastic (see below if you have a non-working scope with a boot loader failure). The Newtonian design is comfortable to look through – the eyepiece is at the front of the scope, and it is positioned around eye-level when standing. Newtonian optics are also simple, which keeps the cost down (and minimizes light lost to lens absorption).
The optic properties of this scope are outstanding. The 650mm focal length and 150mm (about 5-1/8″) aperture are great specs, especially when paired with the highly-recommended Celestron accessory kit (Celestron Model 94303, available on Amazon). The scope comes with a 9mm and 25mm eyepiece, for magnifications of 72 and 26 power (magnification is focal length divided by eyepiece length, so magnification increases as focal length increases, and decreases as eyepiece length increases). The big 130mm aperture of this scope gives the scope a maximum useful magnification of about 307 power, using the rule of thumb that you can magnify 60 times for each inch of aperture.
At a focal ratio of f5, this is a fairly “fast” scope, meaning it lets in a lot of light for it’s focal length. The f-number is the focal length divided by the aperture size, and the lower the f-number, the faster the scope. Faster is (generally) better. F-numbers will be familiar to photographers, and telescopic “lenses” operate on the exact same concept as fast photographic lenses. In photography, a lens is “fast” because it allows a shorter shutter speed (because it lets in more light), meaning you can capture faster motion that would be blurry with a longer exposure (as would be required by a “slower” lens).
The auto-orientation works like magic, but it’s better to give it very precise time and location. Use a GPS for location; don’t just tell it what city you are in (you can choose your location input method). For some reason, the controller can remember your last location and the time zone of your previous observation, but the controller does not keep time when it is switched off, so you must enter the (exact) time again whenever you switch the power off and back on (C’mon, Celestron – seriously?)
You can orient the scope by pointing the scope at ANY three bright objects (you do not need to know what they are) or two objects if you know what they are (but this is said to be less precise). The scope must be level (it has a built-in level bubble). Although this scope is not really classified as a “beginner’s scope,” it is great for beginners – you don’t need to know anything to begin viewing amazing things, and a beginner will not “outgrow” this scope anytime soon. The only comparable computerized Newtonian scope that I could find in this price range is the Orion StarBlast 6i IntelliScope, but it is available only with a table-top mount (???). If that Orion scope (750mm focal length, 6-inch aperture) was available with a sturdy tripod mount in this price range then I would be writing this review for that scope, because I would have bought that scope instead, without a doubt. Orion lost my business because they expected me to have a study TABLE available at each observation site.
The optional Celestron accessory kit includes (among other things) 6mm, 8mm, 13mm, 17mm, and 32mm eyepieces and a Barlow 2X adapter. With a 6mm eyepiece and a Barlow 2X adapter (which effectively doubles the magnification of the eyepiece, making it a 3mm focal length), the scope can achieve a magnification of 216 power (pretty respectable). You could purchase shorter eyepieces or a 3X Barlow to push the magnification near the 307 power limit, but I don’t think you will find yourself wanting to do so – you will be amazed at what you can clearly see (the bands of Jupiter and its Galilean moons, the rings of Saturn, etc). Note that the 307-power limit cannot be exceeded with eyepieces or Barlow lenses – the image will be pretty much worthless if you try to exceed this limit, which is a function of how much light the scope can gather (which is determined by the aperture size). As you approach this limit, the image quality decreases, so you will probably find images much more satisfying at low-to-mid-200 power than you would at theoretical maximum 300+ power.
The gray moon filter in the accessory kit is especially useful for bright objects (such as the moon, of course, but also Venus and Jupiter).
The longer eyepieces are needed for viewing large objects such as various asterisms, galaxies, and nebula. Some of these objects span 2 or 3 degrees of sky (or more) – which is really big (the sun and moon are 0.5 degrees.) Some objects can only be fully viewed at very low magnification (such as afforded by binoculars), so don’t make the mistake of assuming that high magnification is always better. If you attend a star party, expect to find binoculars (usually mounted on a tripod) in use. The Pleiades star cluster, for example, is best observed at lower magnification.
The eyepieces that come with the scope (and the accessory kit) are 1.25″ diameter, but the scope can also accept large, very nice (and expensive) 2″ eyepieces – just remove the 1.25″ adapter which comes with the scope.
The tripod mount is good, but will wiggle a bit in the breeze, especially at higher magnifications. It helps to add some weight – the tripod has a small shelf which lends itself to this purpose. A couple bags of rice or beans will do, but I bought a 20-lb theatrical-grade sandbag (double zippers keep sand out of my optics, and sand doesn’t attract bugs or rodents). Put that weight on your tripod and don’t touch the scope while viewing (take your hand OFF of the focus knob) and you should have a steady view, even in breezy conditions. Stiff winds may require additional measures, such as springs attached to the legs and anchored to stakes in the ground.
I was told by someone at a Star Party that this mount is not well suited for long-exposure deep-field photography. As it tracks objects across the sky, the mount makes slow adjustments, but it does not adjust azimuth (side-to-side) and altitude (up-and-down) at the same time, but in succession, in a stair-step pattern. The eye won’t notice, but a long-exposure photo will see blurring. Alas. But I have not verified this info. In any event, it should work fine for short-exposure shots, like the moon (you will need a camera adapter, of course).
The motorized mount goes through batteries pretty fast, especially if it is tracking something all the time. The default power source of eight (standard alkaline) AA batteries will probably last a night, but I would not push it to two nights if I had been tracking the whole night before. You can hook it up to a car battery and it will run forever. I use a wheelchair gel battery – they are smaller and lighter than car batteries, and will take the deep-cycle use (charge and deplete, charge and deplete). Buy a trickle charger and use it when the battery is not being used, to keep the battery fresh and extend its life. Or you can get the Celestron Power Tank. You can use an AC adapter if you have access to AC – any adapter that puts out 12 volts DC at 2.5 amps or more with a 2.5mm barrel plug (negative on outside, which is standard) will work just fine (you can have all the extra amps you want – it won’t hurt anything). There are scads of suitable adapters on Amazon that are a whole lot cheaper than the one Celestron sells.
This is a Newtonian scope, and Netownians are subject to collimation errors, meaning that the two mirrors are not precisely aligned. I recommend the Celestron Collimation Eyepiece (Celestron Model 94182, available on Amazon). This will allow you to quickly and easily (and accurately) calibrate your scope for an absolutely perfect image. Some people do this each time they transport their scope, because any sort of vibration can cause the mirrors to drift (though it seems to be a rather minor problem for this scope, in my experience). The instructions that come with the eyepiece are excellent.
Get a red flashlight. Celestron makes one that has a dimmer. Red won’t mess up your night vision nearly as badly as other wavelengths.
I rate this scope at five stars, despite the BOOT LOADER problem (solution below).
========= BOOT LOADER PROBLEM ====================================================
Within two days of getting this scope, it failed to “boot” (the mount is computerized, and it needs to successfully “boot up,” just like any computer. If it cannot boot, it is useless). When the hand controller was turned on, it said, “reading packages” and then stopped with an error message, “BOOT LOADER Invalid Pkg: 0080.” This renders the scope dead – it cannot be moved, even with manual arrow buttons.
Fixing the problem is a bit tricky. You need to flash the firmware in your hand controller (which has somehow become corrupted), but it’s not as simple (or as well-documented) as it should be.
First, you need to buy a serial cable to connect your computer to the controller. It’s 9-pin RS-232 (female) on one end and a modular connector on the other end (it looks like a telephone plug). The Celestron model number for this cable is 93920, and you can buy it on Amazon.
If you have a reasonably modern computer then you probably don’t have a serial port. If you have a 9-pin MALE D-connector then you have a serial port (though it may be disabled in your system BIOS settings). Otherwise you need to buy serial capability – I recommend a USB to Serial converter (also available on Amazon from many suppliers).
Connect the computer to the controller. Make sure you are plugging the serial cable into the base of the handheld controller, and not into the body of the motorized mount. Both the controller and the mount have modular serial connections (and both can be flashed), but you are flashing the handheld controller, not the mount.
You need to download and install the Celestron Firmware Manager (CFM) from Celestron’s website (it’s in Support/Downloads/Software, near the bottom of the list). It’s a Java application, so it should work on any computer platform. But it will be downloaded as a zipfile – you must extract the contents and then run CFM.jar (on Windows, just double-click it). You can’t run it within the zipfile – it must be extracted. Make sure your scope is connected first.
THIS IS IMPORTANT: There are two types of Celestron motorized controllers. There’s the Alt/Az (which is used by this SLT mount, as well as LCM, SE 4/5/6/8, and CPC) and the Equatorial mount (used by CGE, Advanced, and CGE*). In the CFM menu (along the top of the CFM window), select “Hand Control” and make sure the proper type of control is selected for your model of scope (this CST scope is Alt/Az). THIS IS THE REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT PART – Under the mount type selection you will see three radio buttons. The first one is selected by default, and it tells CFM to automatically detect the mount type. This is NOT GOOD. CFM thought I had an Equatorial mount. Even if I select Alt/Az, my selection will be overridden by the “Auto Detect” option. Select the Second option, which says “Always do what I selected this time” and CFM will then respect your selection.
Now flash the controller in the CFM, and you should be good to go.
And if you go to a remote site or star party, it’s a good idea to bring a laptop with CFM (and your cables), just in case you need to do this again. I was 160 miles from home (beneath a rare Class-1 darksky!!!) when I had this problem. Fortunately it was only an hour before sunrise, so I didn’t miss too much.
Secondly, this is quite a bulky object and I have to dismantle it every time I finish using it which is a bit of a bind but rather that than face the wrath of ‘er in doors. Only buy if you have the space to store it.
Thirdly, when I tried to ‘Sky Align’ it wouldn’t work. I attempted this at least ten times and when it did say that the process was successful it was actually 90 degrees out so the ‘go to’ feature was useless. I eventually managed to align it with the ‘Two Star Align’ and when I did my faith in human nature was restored and I spent a number of hours in my garden looking for ‘things’ in the sky.
I think this is a great telescope and I would recommend this to anyone.
I have given this a 4 star rating due to the ‘Sky Align’ not working, if it had I would have given it a 5 star rating.
The two lenses that come with the scope are of a good quality especially the 9mm eyepiece. I would however recommend investing at some point in the Celestron eyepiece kit which has several better quality lenses as well as a Barlow x2 and several colour filters and a Moon filter, however the two eyepieces that come included here are more than adequate to start off with.