Nexstar mount quality

[MortonH]

Am contemplating a Nexstar mount for my William Optics Megrez 90. Wondering if anyone out there has used this mount for a similarly sized refractor and can comment on stability, particularly at high power (around 200x). Any other useful info/tips would be welcome.

Thanks

Morton

[gb_astro]

Hi Morton.

I had a NexStar mount with my Celestron NexStar 102 f6.5 SLT refractor
which I calc. about 4cm longer than your Megrez.

The big problem is the tripod, very flimsy.
Also the tripod is quite short, too short for a refractor.
You will be on your knees a lot of the time.

I took the mount off the supplied tripod and put in on a surveyor's tripod. This made it a lot higher and steadier.
Still not the best. A long scope like the 102 put a lot of turning force on that little mount every time I touched the focuser end.

Also the altitude axis is always engaged so you cannot balance the scope while it is on the mount
unless you have marked the balance point/points beforehand. Balance was not critical but it did help the goto pointing a bit.

To me this is a mount for stumpy SCTs or similar.

gb.

[MortonH]

Thought as much. Thanks, GB.

[gb_astro]

Morton, I just realised that the NexStar mount
sold with the SLT102 is not the same as the one sold with the SE series SCTs.

The SE series mount and tripod do look more heavy duty but I have never used one.
I see the Alt axis is near to being over the centre of the tripod so that could limit movement near the zenith with a refractor.

Perhaps someone else can comment on these.

gb.

[casstony]

Even with a SCT the Nexstar SE mounts shake when focusing, but you quickly develop a light touch to avoid most of that. The lightness of the scope/mount/tripod accounts for most of the shake; counter-intuitively the SE mount is more stable with an 8" sct than with a 6" due to the extra weight. Hanging the jump-start battery pack from the tripod would probably improve things significantly, though the shakes are only when focusing and settle quickly.

Providing you observe seated, the only real problem I see with a refractor is with clearing the base.

[rider]

Also,
I understand that the SE mount that comes with the 6 and the 8 inch SCT is a stronger version than the one which comes with the smaller scopes.

Including the supplied 8inch SCT they come in at under 16kg - great for grab and go.

I'm after one of these mounts as a light travel-scope mount, but, I dont think you can get one without the telescope.

If they are available separately, can someone tell me where?

Except for the exotics like the disc-mount, the only other light option available which will carry an 8inch SCT are the Ioptron towers.
Nice units, if you get a good one, but costly, and there are some very nasty reviews about varying quality.

[casstony]

The Nexstar hand control is very easy to use too - no wading through menus to select an object. Currently these mounts without a scope are only available on the used market. The 6" sct doesn't get the recognition it deserves imho - it's a compact grab-and-go scope that generally out performs a good 4" refractor; I haven't done a side by side since I haven't owned the two scopes at the same time, but I think the 6SE wins on brightness and resolution and probably ties on contrast.