Celestron Nexstar 130 slt - sweet!

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jrkirkham United States of America
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Celestron Nexstar 130 slt - sweet!

#1

Post by jrkirkham »


I had a friend call yesterday and ask for help with a new telescope. Someone gave him a Celestron 130 slt and he literally didn't know which end to look through. He had seen some of my pictures and wanted to try his hand at some astrophotography also.

I've never messed with that scope before, but figured I could at least show him which end points up. Our first big hurdle was putting the batteries in. It was a little touchy and I began to wonder if there was something wrong with it. But we finally got the batteries in so the handset would come on when I pushed the power button. From that point on everything was easy. Before the night was over he understood how to set it up, level it, align it, and find his way around the stars and planets. I also let him borrow a universal camera adapter. The next morning he posted his first basic moon pictures on Facebook. I gave him a copy of the new Astronomy magazine. It has lots of targets for the beginners. That sure was a sweet little scope. I always leaned toward 6" or 8" dobs for beginners. That's how I started and I figured they were hard to beat. After last night I may change my mind.
Rob
Telescopes: 50mm refractor, ED80 triplet, 90mm makcass, 10" dob, 8"SCT, 11"SCT
Mounts: Celestron CGX, Orion Sirius + several camera tripods
Cameras: Canon 6D, Canon 80D, ZWO-ASI120MC
Binoculars: 10x50, 12x60, 15x70, 25-125x80
Observatory: SkyShed POD XL3 + 8x12 warm room
AL Projects Completed: Lunar #645, Outreach #0280, Universe Sampler #93-T, Binocular Messier #871, Messier #2521, Messier Honorary #2521, Constellation Hunter Northern Skies #112, Planetary Transit Venus #1, Galileo #26, Outreach Stellar 0280, Meteor Regular #157, Solar System Telescopic #209-I, Observer Award #1
AL Projects Currently in Process: Double Stars, Comet, Lunar Evolution
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Juno16 United States of America
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Re: Celestron Nexstar 130 slt - sweet!

#2

Post by Juno16 »


Cool!

I started with a 130 SLT and still have it stashed in my spare room. I saw 90+ Messier's from my Bortle 7 backyard. I had a great time with that scope!

If your friend wants to use a dslr with the scope, the mirror will have to be moved up. I didn't go that far, but did try with a barlow with unsatisfactory results.

I added an Orion Accufocus to get my hands off of the focuser (shaking) and it made a great difference. Also, a nice addition is the Celestron Sky Portal which allowed me to connect the mount wirelessly to my cell phone and run the show with Skysafari (or the free Skyportal app).

Hope that he has as much fun as I did!
Jim

Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
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Richard South Africa
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Re: Celestron Nexstar 130 slt - sweet!

#3

Post by Richard »


Yes its a nice scope I had 2 in my time but sold them the only problem was that SLT mount , which I like is but its on its limit with that scope so not stable Probably the tripod as well ! , have not tried the auto focus which was a problem for me , but if it works great , I use the SLT with a C5 SCT works well , nice grab and go scope , not great at anything but ok for what it is
Reflectors GSO 200 Dobs
Refractors None
SCT C5 on a SLT mount
Mak 150 Bosma on a EQ5
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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: Celestron Nexstar 130 slt - sweet!

#4

Post by Bigzmey »


Great that you were there to help with the scope Rob! Makes big difference.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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jrkirkham United States of America
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Re: Celestron Nexstar 130 slt - sweet!

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Post by jrkirkham »


It's good to know about the mirror. I assumed a barlow would work.
Rob
Telescopes: 50mm refractor, ED80 triplet, 90mm makcass, 10" dob, 8"SCT, 11"SCT
Mounts: Celestron CGX, Orion Sirius + several camera tripods
Cameras: Canon 6D, Canon 80D, ZWO-ASI120MC
Binoculars: 10x50, 12x60, 15x70, 25-125x80
Observatory: SkyShed POD XL3 + 8x12 warm room
AL Projects Completed: Lunar #645, Outreach #0280, Universe Sampler #93-T, Binocular Messier #871, Messier #2521, Messier Honorary #2521, Constellation Hunter Northern Skies #112, Planetary Transit Venus #1, Galileo #26, Outreach Stellar 0280, Meteor Regular #157, Solar System Telescopic #209-I, Observer Award #1
AL Projects Currently in Process: Double Stars, Comet, Lunar Evolution
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Juno16 United States of America
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Re: Celestron Nexstar 130 slt - sweet!

#6

Post by Juno16 »


jrkirkham wrote: Mon Dec 13, 2021 6:15 pm It's good to know about the mirror. I assumed a barlow would work.

The barlow does work, but the quality was not acceptable to me.

I also tried eyepiece projection and it worked better than the barlow, but still the quality was poor.

I would think that using a cell phone would be the bet bet.

It won't cost much to try. Maybe my results were not typical. Good luck!
Jim

Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
astroimagery Great Britain
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Re: Celestron Nexstar 130 slt - sweet!

#7

Post by astroimagery »


Yes I modified my Celestron 130slt by getting some clips 3d printed and replacing the mirror clips which moved the mirror so I could get focus with a DSLR. It was a cheap and easy fix.

Any body want to know more about this I'll try and did out the video that I used to do this.
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