| The Celestron NX SLT go-to computerized altazimuth mount can hold optical tubes up to a 102mm fast focal ratio refractor, a 5" reflector, or a 5" catadioptric (SCT or Maksutov) in size (up to a maximum payload of 8 lbs). The economical NX SLT mount’s single fork arm is made of die-cast aluminum. It is rigid and damps vibrations quickly. The mount has a no-tool quick-release Vixen-style dovetail slot for fast set-up, take-down, and balancing of any lightweight optical tube that has an appropriate Vixen-style mounting dovetail.
The Celestron NX SLT mount has pre-installed enclosed dual DC servo motor drives. One moves the mount in altitude (up/down) and the other in azimuth (right/left). The combined motion of the two motors allows the mount to move your optical tube smoothly in an arc across the sky, following the seemingly curved path taken by the stars and planets. Built-in electronics let you select the appropriate lunar, solar, or sidereal (star) tracking rate to keep each specific kind of object centered in the field of view so that several people can observe at their leisure without having constantly to adjust the position of the mount. The electronics also give you a choice of nine different slewing and centering speeds for locating objects (4°/sec, 2°/sec, 1°/sec, 0.5°/sec, and 32x/16x/8x/4x/2x the sidereal rates).
A compartment in the drive base holds eight user-supplied AA batteries for powering the mount. All power connections to the motors are internal. This eliminates the cord wrap problems you often find with competitive mounts powered by an external battery pack that connects to the mount through a dangling power cord.
To conserve battery life when the mount is being used in your backyard, an optional AC adapter (#2338N) is available to operate the mount from an extension cord connected to a normal household 110 VAC electric outlet. The Celestron Power Tank (#4512V) is also a highly recommended optional accessory if you observe away from home a lot. This is a 7 amp-hour capacity multi-purpose rechargeable 12V DC battery that can provide several nights worth of observing from a single charge when you’re in the field away from backyard AC.
The preassembled adjustable-height tripod has stainless steel legs that damp vibrations quickly. The center leg brace holds a convenient no-tool quick-release accessory tray to keep your eyepieces and accessories up and out of the dew-soaked grass. The locking levers for the tripod leg height adjustment face are on the sides of the legs, so they won’t snag your clothing as you move around the tripod in the dark.
The mount’s drive base is held in place on the tripod by one large hand-tighten knob in the underside of the tripod. Assembly is fast and foolproof. There is no need to fumble with multiple mounting bolts, or try to align mounting bolts in a tripod with holes you can’t see in the base of the mount, as is the case with competitive mounts.
The supplied Celestron NexStar-technology SkyAlign computer hand control has an illuminated numeric keypad and a two-line 16-character LCD display. When you are ready to observe, simply input the date, time, and your location into the hand control and use your optical tube’s finder to point your optical tube at any three bright stars, or to two stars and a bright planet or the Moon. The NX SLT computer system will automatically align itself on the sky. Then, a few keystrokes on the NX SLT hand control lets you select any of the 4,033 objects in its memory and automatically slew to that object and track it for as long as you want so you can observe at your leisure. The object library includes the complete Messier and Caldwell catalogs of famous deep space objects; a selection of the brightest and best deep space objects from the Revised New General Catalog (NGC), including over 600 galaxies and 300 star clusters; selected SAO stars, including the best variable stars and dozens of beautiful binary and multiple star systems; the planets; the Moon; the Sun; and more.
With its patent-pending Celestron SkyAlign technology, you don’t have to know Altair from Zubenelgenubi or know how to read a star chart to line up your mount on the sky. Simply input the date, time, and your location into the computer hand control. The computer will normally default to your last observing site automatically, but can remember up to ten different favorite observing locations for you to choose from.
Once you’ve entered the date, time, and location, use the finder on your optical tube to align the optical tube on any three bright stars, or to two stars and a bright planet or the Moon. The NexStar computer system will automatically determine which objects were chosen and then generate an internal map of the sky that lets it move automatically to any star or object you select for the rest of the night.
After the mount has aligned itself on the sky, it takes only a few keystrokes on the computer hand control to have the mount move automatically to your night’s first observing target and start tracking it so you can observe at your leisure. You can find hundreds of fascinating deep space objects your first night out, even if you have never used a telescope before. No matter what level of experience you start from, your NexStar SLT mount will unfold all the wonders of the Universe for you, your family, and your friends.
The computer’s hand control/database software and motor drive software can be flash upgraded via the internet so you will always have the most up-to-date software version available.
The Celestron NX SLT mount comes with a CD-ROM of TheSky X – First Light Edition planetarium and star charting software. This program is a computerized sky map that features a 10,000 object database, 75 color images, horizontal projection, custom sky chart printing, and zoom capability. It will let explore the Universe on your PC or Mac when skies are cloudy and print out custom star charts of the sky to help you find faint objects that are not in the NX SLT computer’s database.
In addition, you also get the NexStar Observer’s List (NSOL) control software. This program lets you connect your NX SLT mount to your Windows-based laptop or PC (with an optional RS-232 cable). It brings up on your computer screen a list of all the objects it the mount’s database. Simply click on any of the objects in the list and the mount will slew to that object (if it’s above the horizon) and start tracking it for you to observe.
| 
Printer friendly version
Email page link to a friend
Do you have a question about this product?
