Refurbished Celestron Nexstar 114GT 114mm Go-To Reflector Telescope

Rating:
Summary: This Product is Great!!!
Review: A while ago I purchased the Nexstar 114GT. I was impressed at the amount of features that came with the telescope. Celestial objects catalogs, alignment options, tracking, ability to connect with a PC, tour, etc...

The tripod is of fair quality. It is stable and light. The 'deluxe' tray would be better if it had holes for eyepieces. The finder is basic as well. Easy to tune and operate. I am considering upgrading to something better at some point.

By contrast, the tube is made of higher quality, and the optics are good. The 2 eyepieces that comes with the telescope are of entry level, but will provide a very good and clear picture. I was very satisfied with what I was able to see, as well as the quality. Mounting the tube on the arm, and the arm on the tripod is a snap.

The hand control is ok. Once you understand your way around the menus there's a lot you can do. The auto-align works well, and tracking too. I recommend going on the web, there's a site dedicated to the 114GT packed with very useful tips to get the most of this telescope. Perusing the manual, no so user friendly, a few times will also help in operating the telescope and get some good results.

Now, about customer service; and this is going to contrast from a previous reviewer's review. After some time, the azimuth drive started to show signs of weakness: it wasn't as fast as usual. It thought the telescope did not get mounted properly and I opened the holding arm to see if I could do something. I was able to tighten some of the clutches as they were loose. But a while after that the motor ended up dying. Opened the arm again, tested the drive and came to the conclusion that I had to change it. Having opened the arm several times and messed around with the inner mechanics I thought that Celestron would just cancel the warranty and have me pay for the reparation.

Anywasy, I called Celestron's customer service and explained my problem. They gave me a Return Authorization number, and I sent them the arm along with the hand control. About a week later, the arm came back with a brand new motor and power connector. In addition they had adjusted the clutches and tested everything. And this cost me a grand total of $0. Thumbs up!