- Does what you'd expect from a refractor of this type
- All the parts, so in aggregate, highly portable
- Very easy to assemble and disassemble hardware
- Handling software a little more difficult, but quickly learnable
- German instructions well, but not very good
- Only one of the eyepieces corresponds to the quality of the remaining hardware
- Not for very impatient astronomy beginners, good things come to those who Weil
- Astrophotography not tried, probably will be needed additional optics
- Buy Celestron winterized 12V power supply with the same.
More specifically:
The current (relative to other suppliers) reasonable Amazon price of around 400 euros I find appropriate for this telescope. When I list the non-perfect aspects of the overall package below, that does not mean that I do not regret the purchase. On the contrary, the GoTo Mount makes my nights under a starry sky productive many times, and the telescope itself brings the optical power of a Newton with 150mm diameter - at least.
The tube with dovetail joint is a real featherweight and easy set up and dismantle. Now, after about 10 nights exercise I need 4 minutes to unpack everything and screw together. The built-in circular level to level the mount works (remember red flashlight) prima. The original packaging is now gone and replaced by a padded sports bag with side pockets for eyepieces etc.. The (too?) Lightweight aluminum mounts can be loosely endorse in the other hand.
The first attempt with the star align GoTo was a complete failure. My mistake - I had overlooked the statement which you have to go for the directional stars absolutely right and upwards. Meanwhile, it works better, but mostly I renounce SkyAlign (3-star) and stay at the Two-Star Align (manually). So you is the menu a large selection of Peilsternen available, if you are familiar already in the night sky.
The authored by Baader Planetarium German version of the manual is more detailed and more helpful than the original, despite little quirks like wrong page numbers in the text. Only one request I would have to Messrs: not banish the thing with the backlash / backlash on page 42, but just after the assembly instructions and print an accurate value tasting propose instead "mostly between 20 and 50". The long wait for a left or right swing was the scandal of the early days, and I still do not know whether I's really optimized. In any case, it pays to read the paragraph about the menu item "Settings 2" attention.
The worst on the whole package is the included 9mm eyepiece. A not unknown experience Celestron buyers, I read somewhere. The 25mm is useful. I plan to buy a good 32mm and a 3x Barlow lens.
Optical errors are the ones that always at a achromatic refractor expected, namely the tendency to violet hem at the brightest objects and the distortion at the edge of the field. When tracking it look so far very good. Thus astrophotography would conditionally possible; take long exposure photos plus many Registax machining, and no field filling targets.
I have the expensive battery not even tried, but equally elsewhere ordered the Celestron 12V power supply (OEM's Baader Planetarium, I think). The costs of EUR 24 are saved quickly. Just be aware already that the cable does not get tangled and torn with a long swing in the bracket for the hand-held controller. It should be winterized, we wait and see. A 50m cable drum gives me personally sufficient flexibility. Should I even have to dodge the open field, I think about a PowerTank or car plug.
Conclusion: the Celestron Nexstar 102SLT as an overall package is already in need of improvement, but I love it to work with it. 3.5 Pünkte I would be happy, but since I'm a generous guy, I give four.
