What accesories and eye pieces should I get?

[Gibc5363]

hi

i am new to star gazing.   I just got handed to me a Bushnell Reflector Voyager 100mm x 4.5 inch telescope.   Is this type any good?  

I tried using it last night but it was cloudy....I was able to see some stars, not really clear and a Satalite.  I want to add some accessories and I am hearing that I should get Barlow eye piece.....is there a specific size?   I am hoping with some accessories I would be able to see some planets, the moon in good detail, etc.  

Any help and your opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank 

Chris

[rwilkey]

Hi Chris, what eyepieces and accessories do you have already?  And what do you most want to see in the night sky?

[Gibc5363]

Hi Robin,

I only have a 27mm eyepiece. 

Is it possible with the scope that I have to look at the moon? Maybe a detailed look at it.  Hopefully Saturn, mars, and any other planets.

I am new to this and so is the telescope that I have not a great one? 

Thanks for the response.

Chris

[NGC 1502]

Hi Chris. If you could post a link to the exact scope you have, that would help, or failing that, a fuller description please, or pics, together with any eyepieces etc, and an idea of what you can spend.

Most telescopes will allow a lot of good astronomy to be done, but the trick is to use it within the limitations.  

One example is that many modest telescopes are advertised as giving very high magnifications, like 500x, but if you try that, disappointment is guaranteed.

Another problem is to manage expectations as to what you will see.  If you are expecting "Hubble like" views, again, disappointment is certain. Last December, at my local Asda (Wal Mart) they had 50mm Celestron refractors on sale at £40, with glorious technicolour pics on the box, with detail completely beyond the capabilities of the scope.

That's not to say the views with a modest scope are not worthwhile, far from it, but "Hubble" they are not, also, a lot can be seen using the lowest magnification the scope can give, running up to around 100 or maybe 125x.

HTH Ed.

[Gibc5363]

Hi

Here is exactly what I have:

it's the Bushnell Reflector Voyager scope with the ball on the bottom, this is what it showed for specs:
100 x 4.5 reflector
Focal length: 400mm
Eyepieces: 27mm
Magnifications: 16 100
Cradle mount
Precision rack and pinion focuser
Tripod adaptable
1.25 format

I am just hoping to see the moon, and few planets and hopefully a little bit more then that.

For how much I would be looking to spend is around $150.00.

Thank you for getting back to me, I really appreciate it.
 

[ronin]

I looked for this yesterday and from the initial description all I could come up with was a 4.5" 900mm reflector, I assumed a slight typo, but the copied specification shows 100x4.5.

The copied specification now implies something else with the 400mm focal length bit.

If this is the scope that bears resemblance to a chemistry lab "beaker" that you added 2 chemicals to and heated them up then I would ignore it. Other description is a bit like a "Wibbly Wobbly man". A sort of plastic blue ball with a "chimney" coming out of it ?

The mirror is poor and you cannot change the eyepieces, they are threaded and dedicated to the scope.

Really need a link to the scope itself, the one given just gets me on to a page on AstronomyForum Wiki and not to a post on a specific scope.

If it is a 4.5" 900mm scope then is more often referred to as 114/900mm over here. Why Bushnell combine imperial and Metric I have no idea.

The 114/900 on the Bushnell site look right (not a short tube) and it will have a spherical mirror. Will do fairly good for the moon, and will pick out the brighter clusters (often depends on how dark it is) and you should be able to seperate a number of double stars.

I am really puzzled by the 100x4.5 reference?

[NGC 1502]

Hi again. I'd try the scope as it is, see how you get on. The specs you posted mention a 27mm eyepiece.  That will get you going for low power.  It also says 16 and 100 magnification, but no mention of an eyepiece to give 100x.  Nice to see specs that don't try to get you to silly high powers, 16x and 100x is good, opens up a whole lot of good astronomy.

There's so much to choose from, and so many opinions, however, this Canadian store looks like it has a wide choice of eyepieces http://www.canadiantelescopes.com/Accessories_2/Eypieces/

With your 400mm focal length scope, you would need a 4mm eyepiece.  ( 400/4 = 100x ). A problem with many less expensive 4mm eyepieces is short eyerelief, that means you have to get your eye very close indeed to see anything.  But your $150 budget gives you the choice of something better.  Look for an eyepiece that gives decent eyerelief between 10 - 20mm, and it will be much nicer to use.  Your focuser is 1.25" fitting, so look for eyepieces with that spec.  I'd not bother with filters for now, that could come much later, if at all.

But see what others say, so many differing and valid options.  Joining or visiting an astro club is often a good idea, most are friendly and helpful.

HTH Ed.

Edit - just read post # 6, can you comment please on what ronin mentions ? Thanks.

Second edit - is it this one  https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A2KLj.vnttBTVkkA4SpNBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTI0aWxjaW84BHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZAM5NjRiMjcxMDFmYzNhNmZkOTIwNDVjNGUzZDRmMjQ3YwRncG9zAzEzNwRpdANiaW5n?back=https%3A%2F%2Fuk.images.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dbushnell%2Btelescopes%26_adv_prop%3Dimage%26va%3Dbushnell%2Btelescopes%26fr%3Dush-mailn%26spos%3D24%26nost%3D1%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D137&w=365&h=240&imgurl=images2.bushnelloptics.com%2F365-240-ffffff%2Fopplanet-bushnell-100x45-voyager.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bushnelloptics.com%2Fbushnell-telescopes-782010.html&size=+7.2KB&name=%3Cb%3EBushnell%3C%2Fb%3E+Voyager+100x4.5%26quot%3B+Compact+Reflector+%3Cb%3ETelescope%3C%2Fb%3E+782010+%24130+OFF+...&p=bushnell+telescopes&oid=964b27101fc3a6fd92045c4e3d4f247c&fr2=&fr=ush-mailn&tt=%3Cb%3EBushnell%3C%2Fb%3E+Voyager+100x4.5%26quot%3B+Compact+Reflector+%3Cb%3ETelescope%3C%2Fb%3E+782010+%24130+OFF+...&b=121∋=128&no=137&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=11t1r7bbj&sigb=14sq7pfvr&sigi=12egfnq2o&sigt=12sgjtueq&sign=12sgjtueq&.crumb=ahlGPuNDL.M&fr=ush-mailn

That particular model had a spherical mirror, it only worked well at low power, so ok for that, but not higher power, so stay with the 27mm eyepiece, lots to see, as with low power binoculars.

[Gibc5363]

Here is a link to show my exact telescope and what it has:

Amazon.com : Bushnell Voyager 100mm x 4.5" Family Reflector Telescope : Reflecting Telescopes : Camera & Photo

The eyepieces are not threaded, I can take out the 27mm one and change it.    I was talking with someone and they told me to look for a Zhumell 1.25inch 8-24mm zoom adn that will really help.  Wht do you guys think?   Should I also get the barlow 2x eye piece?  

Thank you for sening the link on where i can get eye pieces, that really helps.  

I will look at joining as astro club that is a good idea, any help I can get would be great.  I will scout one out. 

thanks guys for your ideas, anything else would be most welcome. 

I was looking at stars last night and I wasn't able to see clearly saturn or mars, it looked like a light still from far away, would that eye piece above help to focus in on it better?

Thanks

Chris

[NGC 1502]

Hi Chris, here is a review of your telescope http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=908

It's best thought of as a low power wide field telescope, great for no hassle quick set up viewing, and it will be easy to fit into the car for out of town trips, or on holiday (vacation).

However, the Bushnell Voyager did have a spherical mirror, that hampered it's use at higher power.  The Edmund Astroscan, a very similar scope, apart from the red colour, had a parabolic mirror, and performed better at higher power, up to about  60 - 80x.   Your Bushnell does have a better focuser than the Astroscan.

That's not to put down your scope at all.  I think your best bet is to use a binocular guide, online or print, it will point you to a huge number of objects well seen at low power.  Of course your scope is not a binocular, I realise that, but as it works best at low power wide field, is the same as a binocular in that respect.

You could try it at higher power, but that's not what it's good at, whatever any adverts may have said when they were on sale a while back.  Hope you don't mind me saying that 

Just to repeat, not putting your scope down at all, it's great at what it does best.

If you want to spend money on it, you could get a top quality low power wide field eyepiece, like a TeleVue, that would perform better than the supplied eyepiece, but of course that's your call.

Have fun with the Voyager, regards, Ed.

[Gibc5363]

ah, well the good news is I got it for next to nothing from a friend.  That was a great article that you found, thank you for that.   So i will be setteling on this scope for now but I think I want to look for something in the next few months that can go a little deaper.  

I am still a little confused and I think it's because I am a newbie.....I thought the higher the mm eyepiece would give a closer look.  So a 2x barlow eye piece wouldn't really do anything?  or a 8-24mm eye piece wouldn't really help?

For a teleview eye piece would a 8-24mm teleview focus a little better on the moon and planets?  

Unfortunately out here we haven't had a full or close to full moon yet so I haven't been able to see the moon at all.  

When looking for a telescope where i want to see the planets more clearer and see the rings around Saturn and mars what should I look for?   I gather from the article I won't be able to really see any of that with this telescope?  Am I right on that? 

Thanks again for helping me. 

Chris

[NGC 1502]

High again Chris. To work out the magnification, divide the focal length of the scope by the focal length of the eyepiece.

Example - if your scope has a 400mm focal length, a 27mm eyepiece gives 15x magnification - 400 / 27 = 14.8x ( rounded to 15 )

A 10mm eyepiece - 400 / 10 = 40x.

So the lower the number on the eyepiece, the higher the magnification.

To see the moon and planets at higher magnification is possible with your scope, but that's not what it does best, and I think that the Cloudy Nights review bears that out.

If it were me, I'd not purchase higher power ( lower number ) eyepieces, but if you can meet up with an astronomy club, hopefully someone there may let you try theirs, see how you get on.

As to another scope, I'd get some observing done with what you have, and again, at a club, you will get a first hand look at what else is available, maybe try it, and get to chat to the owners.

I'd not rush to buy, take your time, the stars will still be around if and when you want to get something else. And I'd hang on to the Bushnell, a great little very portable wide field scope that in a couple of years you may well appreciate more.

HTH, Ed.