Celestron NexStar 102 SLT Telescope

Comments about Celestron NexStar 102 SLT Telescope:

This is a great scope, easy to setup and use. I was staring at Saturn the first night. I was amazed I could see the rings in some detail with the default eyepieces, so it promptly made me get online to go buy more eyepieces and filters to get closer and detailed viewing of planets and stars.

The computerized NexStar GOTO is excellent and easy to setup for hands free remote operation and quick sky tours for the most part. I found that it was pretty accurate once setup by viewing different stars, planets and clusters and then going picking an already viewed object to see how well it aligns in the scope, seems at most just slightly off in some cases to get it in the center of the view.

The only downside is the tripod is overall stable, the telescope is very sensitive, so at times it's hard to focus without it wobbling too much and you have to slightly focus, check, focus more, check, etc. I'd say that's the only drawback to the overall design but I'm working on solutions to try and remedy most of the focusing shakiness annoyances.

Comments about Celestron NexStar 102 SLT Telescope:

This is the perfect grab and go scope for anyone young or old. It has a 2" very steady and smooth focuser that lets you step up into real quality eyepieces that turn this nice scope into a Great Scope. A little false color, who cares! I love it! I have no problem at all with the Star Pointer Red dot finder, I have read other reviews that say it is worthless, but I can only say that they are not using it right or they have gotten ahold of a bad one. It is not a Telrad, but is completely functional, and satisfactory. I have several other Telescopes, Meade LX50 10" SCT, 3 Meade GO TO's, 60AT , 90EC, and a 125EC ETX, a 5" Celestron Newtonian, Celestron C90 MAK,and a 10" Zhumell Dobsonian. I love them all but the SLT 102mm Refractor, gets the most use, perfect for spontainious use. No weight lifting, no complicated Polar alignment, no tedious leveling or back breaking mounting the heavy scope, base and forks on the superwedge. In 5 minutes you are enjoying the heavens. When you are done, or if it starts to cloud up or rain, just release the OTA from the mount arm, unscrew the arm from the tripod and you are done! Yeah this little baby is a real keeper, I have yet to find anything I don't like about it. I am no "expert" but I have been a amateur astronomer for a long time, and this little telescope does everything I would expect of it considering price and much More! I love to use it for A focal astrophotgraphy, with my Celstron Universal Digital camera mount and Nikon p60 digital camera. For what this telescope costs you would be hard pressed to find any better for just casual use and travel grab and go. I really enjoy astronomy, but it can be hard work, and I am not getting any younger and this sweet beauty does does it all, and does it well. I can enjoy it and not be worn out, before I even start looking through it. Buy one and you will not be disapointed

Comments about Celestron NexStar 102 SLT Telescope:

I had a reflector scope when i was a kid and have always wanted to get another one. I originally bought another brand and was not happy with the construction and the very small focusing knob and ended up with this one that doubled my initial investment but well worth it. Telescopes.com was very good about returning the first one. This 102mm x short tube scope fits the bill. It has all the extras and easy to use but, I am still learning the "GoTo" part. Its been very cold outside so I have not been able to go out yet but looking at the moon through the window is very impressive, I can see the details of craters very clearly. Viewing land based objects are also very clear. I also bought the eyepiece/filter kit and the AC wall adapter. It will take a long time to outgrow this scope.

Comments about Celestron NexStar 102 SLT Telescope:

This is an easy telescope to operate after you've read the instruction book. The quick set-up isn't enough if you are a beginner like me. I am having trouble switching to the higher power lens. I lose the object that I am focusing on. I'm sure I will get better as I become more experienced.

Comments about Celestron NexStar 102 SLT Telescope:

This is a nice 4 inch refractor. Very easy to use and light weight too . . . . you can just pick the whole thing up and carry it anywhere.

Provides very good views of the moon.

Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, star clusters, double stars, etc. are also within the reach of this scope. It has a surprising amount of light gathering for a medium size telescope. Very clear images at low and medium power (up to 80 power or so), the view gets a little blurry after that, but not too bad up to around 150 power.

This is a perfect size telescope for easy transporting to the park or other dark areas, I just wrap it up in a quilt and throw it in the back seat !

Works great in the daytime too, thanks to the alt-azimuth mount. Great for bird watching, with nice clear views.