Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

Celestron Astromaster 70


Recommended Posts

Hi I have just bought my first telescope, a Celestron Astomaster 70, and was wondering if anyone had any advice for me regarding it, (and before anyone suggests it I will upgrade to something better once I can afford it  :wink:), for instance should I change the diagonal for a better one, what about eyepieces, it came with a 10mm and a 20mm but I presume there are better out there, can't afford the top spec ones but there must be something that will make the scope perform better without breaking the bank plus I would presume it would be a good idea to have a few different ones to use. Having a bit of trouble with the Star Pointer Finderscope at the moment as well, just can't seem to use it properly as when I think I have a star lined up it turns out I haven't, I'll probably suss it after a while mind. Also I'm not too sure exactly what I'm supposed to see through the scope, now I know that sounds stupid but what I mean is how good an image of a star will I get with this setup, I used it last night and have to say that I saw far more stars than with my naked eye but they still just looked like bright dots in the sky haha........will have to wait for the moon to appear again and also I'll hopefully be able to find a few more planets. Right well my apologies for posting questions that have more than likely been put up countless times before but hopefully some of you can help me.

Cheers

Lee

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When do you intend/expect to get a better scope, álso what is better?

Reason I ask concerns the cost of new eyepieces.

At this stage I would stick to inexpensive plossls. FLO do Skywatcher Plossls at £20, say the 10mm, 12.5mm and 25mm. That is 2 for high power and 1 for low.

Now if you were to get a better scope in s few weeks and say something like the 200P I would suggest ones like the BST Starguiders and basically purchase some now that will work on the future scope. In effect buy for the next scope and use whatever you get now on the 70.

Alternative is to do as most of us really do - collect lots of eyepieces.

Changed plossl focal lengths, just found the scope is f/12.8.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When do you intend/expect to get a better scope, álso what is better?

Reason I ask concerns the cost of new eyepieces.

At this stage I would stick to inexpensive plossls. FLO do Skywatcher Plossls at £20, say the 10mm, 12.5mm and 25mm. That is 2 for high power and 1 for low.

Now if you were to get a better scope in s few weeks and say something like the 200P I would suggest ones like the BST Starguiders and basically purchase some now that will work on the future scope. In effect buy for the next scope and use whatever you get now on the 70.

Alternative is to do as most of us really do - collect lots of eyepieces.

Changed plossl focal lengths, just found the scope is f/12.8.

thanks, it will probably be into the new year or even later before I get another scope..........would I be right in saying the 10mm & 12.5 mm are the high power ones or does it work the other way round, I presume most eyepieces fit most scopes?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am pretty new to this hobby too.

If the scope has a 1.25 fitment then any scope that has that fitment takes a 1.25 eyepeice so yes eyepeices can be used across scopes.

For now I think I would get Turn Left at Orion book it will get you started with finding stuff by season and covers from binocculars to large telscopes.

I would hold off on a new eyepeice just yet and save a bit.

Your 20mm is probably fine the 10mm is out of the two most likely the weaker performer but it will get you started.

A red light torch or a torch with red paper on the end (or red nail polish) is useful to preserve night vision when outside.

The lower the number the higher the eyepeice magnification.

Your scope being 70mm has a useable (subject to that night's seeing conditions) magnification of x140 (twice the apperature of your scope) but you do not need to use that high a number to see stuff, the Moon looks fab at just x25 and I saw Saturn's ring at x65 in my scope.

Often making the image bigger makes it fuzzy and dimmer. A smaller tighter brighter image will look better.

A good read.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196278-what-can-i-expect-to-see/?fromsearch=1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All as above.

My tuppence worth would be that, if my experience of 'with scope' eyepieces is the same as yours, the 10mm is not very good. I was extremely disappointed with the one that came with my scope. The 25mm was a much better experience.

Any EPs you buy as an upgrade will fit in with any upgrade of scope. I guess it all comes down to budget and what you want to see with the scope you have. And you will get a shed-load of advice on that from fellow SGL members - to name names would not be fair; so many are so very experienced. Suffice to say that these folks have been there and done that! Several threads from the knowledgeable are easily accessible and they have helped me enormously.

Just be careful - they're more than happy to spend your money for you ... !

As a rider to that, I would suggest that if you 'invest' in quality there's less likelihood of having to 'reinvest' in upgrading again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right, I've decided I will get one of the Skywatcher SP Plossl for now and see what I think...........what size do I go for though?, I reckon the 20mm that came with the scope should be fine for observing the moon, (I can't see a thing out of the 10mm that also came with it though), so want something that will give me a decent view of stars and other planets, 12.5mm? 17mm? or any other recommendations?, I don't want to go too mad at the moment because I can see myself upgrading the scope next year

Link to comment
Share on other sites

to be honest i'd go for a BST starguider/explorer from skies the limit on ebay.

he has an extremely good reputation for exchanging stuff if it doesnt suit you or your scope and they are very highly regarded mid range eps that seem to punch well above their weight,

IMHO they're definitely worth £50 and will work in pretty much any scope and really are a big step up from the standard plossl you get bundled with scopes or the usual mid priced plossls from skywatcher etc. Unless you go for a vixen or teleview plossl, i would put the BST ahead especially in terms of ease of use.

as for size, replace your 10mm with something simillar between 8mm-12mm and you'll have 2 useful powers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, and welcome from another newbie.  :-)

If you haven't yet, read the first post in http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/43171-eyepieces-the-very-least-you-need/ : some straightforward advice on selecting a basic but complete set of lenses for a various types of scopes.

Stars will be points of light. It's not you, it's them. More magnification won't help. Magnification can help, however, for interesting groups of stars: e.g., doubles (two stars that appear to be or actually are very close to each other), and clusters of various sorts.

In addition to Left Turn at Orion, I found a basic star wheel helpful for learning the constellations. Once you can identify a few of those, it becomes much easier to locate objects of interest nearby. And it's rewarding in its own right.

Have fun! -- Joel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Joel, yes I've read the article and if I've worked it out right it recommends ep's of 7.5, 17, 25, & 40mm , (rounded to the nearest mm). Nick I appreciate that the BST's will be worth the money but as I only paid £65 for the scope and I'm pretty skint I'll give them a miss until a later date, £20 for the skywatcher sp plossl's will do for now so I was just asking which one I should go for out of the 4 sizes I've indicated..........ie which one will be of more use to me atm, cheers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is why I said reasonable but budget plossl's and asked when the next scope may be due, if the scope was £65 seems difficult to spend £50 on a single eyepiece, at least at this stage.

Not many planets around, and the scope is 900mm focal length.

For Jupiter you will want 80x and above, Saturn really needs 120x and above.

On a 900mm scope that is an eyepiece of 11mm for Jupiter and/or 7.5mm for Saturn.

I would suggest you abandon Saturn until the next scope.

So a 10mm or 12mm plossl will be fair for Jupiter, warning is Jupiter does not really make itself known until early next year, it is sort of present now but in the early hours of the morning.

Stars will just be points of light, Try clusters, both open and globular.

Plossls come from around the £20 to £80 area.

FLO have the Skywatcher plossl at £20 and they have a 7.5mm.

May be a better idea to get say a 12.5mm from there and use that more as a medium power eyepiece and if all goes well get the 7.5mm when Jupiter appears at a more convenient time.

A 12.5mm will give a magnification of 72x and a view of about 2/3 of a degree.

72x is nice but thinking ahead 2/3 degree will not quite fit all of the Orion Nebula in and that will be making an appearance soon.

But you have the 20mm and that should be wide enough.

So if 1 eyepice at minimal outlay, then the Skywatcher 12.5mm plossl.

Shame there is no 15mm offering.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

alternatively - there is a 9.7mm meade 4000 series plossl in the classifieds on this very forum for simillar money. I would suggest that this would be a better ep than the £20 sw plossl.

I can't see a classified section, where is it?.........ordered the other one now!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi I have just bought my first telescope, a Celestron Astomaster 70, and was wondering if anyone had any advice for me regarding it, (and before anyone suggests it I will upgrade to something better once I can afford it  :wink:), for instance should I change the diagonal for a better one, what about eyepieces, it came with a 10mm and a 20mm but I presume there are better out there, can't afford the top spec ones but there must be something that will make the scope perform better without breaking the bank plus I would presume it would be a good idea to have a few different ones to use. Having a bit of trouble with the Star Pointer Finderscope at the moment as well, just can't seem to use it properly as when I think I have a star lined up it turns out I haven't, I'll probably suss it after a while mind. Also I'm not too sure exactly what I'm supposed to see through the scope, now I know that sounds stupid but what I mean is how good an image of a star will I get with this setup, I used it last night and have to say that I saw far more stars than with my naked eye but they still just looked like bright dots in the sky haha........will have to wait for the moon to appear again and also I'll hopefully be able to find a few more planets. Right well my apologies for posting questions that have more than likely been put up countless times before but hopefully some of you can help me.

Cheers

Lee

At last, someone has the same scope as me! :grin:

I had one for my birthday last October. I said at the time I would see 12 months out before I even thought of upgrading. I didn't want to spend good money on a hobby that I may get bored of.

Regarding eyepieces I managed to talk Santa into bringing me the Celestron 94303 eyepiece kit. The 6 & 8mm along with the fileters are a struggle but the others I use. The moon filter gets used regular though.

If you upgrade at somepoint don't forget these are compatible with other 1.25 eyepiece scopes so you have lost nothing.

The star pointer can be a struggle. I find it easier sometimes to have the 17mm, 20mm or  32mm in, then line it up so the top of the eye piece, the scope end and the area in the sky you want to see line up. Then work down your eyepieces until you get the best view you can.

There will be times when you get frustrated and think you are doing things wrong when there are pictures on here of views others have got but all we get is a white dot.

Saturn and Jupiter are well worth the wait though, cracking views, even with this scope.

Stick with it, its a cracking little scope for anyone on a tight budget or trying to into astronomy.

Also if it hasn't been mention the book 'turn left at orion' is a must

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.