BaldyMan

Yo! Welcome! You can always squeeze in another eyepiece, maybe some filters

Happened with graphics cards during the crypto boom. You couldn't get hold of a card for love nor money and prices sky rocketed. What happened is that consumers just got accustomed to the new prices and that was that. The performance increase that you expected for say £250 was now costing close to £400 and prices have stayed there since. Look at smart phones too. A "flagship" iPhone or Samsung used to cost in the region of £600-700 for the latest model, now customers are expecting to pay over £1,000 for the latest handset (obviously rolled up into contract payments) Once consumers accept a new price point then that price tends not shift.

I wonder what we will fill up with junk first. The oceans or the atmosphere?

It's an 80mm refractor, 900mm in length. It's a tough ask to get anything to split but I've definitely got them on a clear night.

There has been a triple whammy of effects all caused by covid really. 1. Furlough has meant people stuck at home have decided to take up astronomy as a hobby. This is great for the hobby itself and hopefully they all stick around but it means all stock in the country has now been gobbled up. 2. Production plants in China are lagging behind due to covid lockdown. There is a lot of demand to meet and this is affecting every sector. 3. The shipping container crisis. Since Western Europe still hasn't got to grips with the virus there are no products to ship to China. That means containers that should should returning to China with our products for their market (think Brompton bicycles and stuff like that) are all laying empty in our ports as nobody is willing to send empty containers halfway around the world. So to summarise. Demand has rocketed up, supply cannot meet demand and costs have increased to get the products to market. It's a perfect storm and it is affecting all kinds of sectors.

There's a guy on YouTube called Astrobiscuit. He took his scope to a farm and the farmer's daughter claimed she could see it in purple too. I don't know how it works, I think it's something to do with the rods and cones in your eyes deteriorating with age. My wife has glaucoma so astronomy is a no go for her, she got diagnosed at 27 which is really rare for her age at the time, but if/when I get a chance to speak to her eye specialist I'll ask the question.

Wait. So the strange black bar I see is due to it being an erecting prism and not a manufacturing issue? I only notice it when I focus in a certain amount. I'll be sure to buy a star diagonal then for night time observations

I bought it in the knowledge that I would likely need to upgrade the eye pieces pretty quickly. I'll be keeping the 25mm to attach to one of those mobile phone camera mounts. Having read and watched reviews of this particular telescope I do believe it is simply down to the manufacturing process and the cheap components bundled in whilst the actual scope and starsense kit is of reasonable quality. I have arriving soon a SVBony zoom eyepiece. I had looked at the OVL, Celestron and Sky Watcher Zoom eyepieces but stock is very low everywhere so I took the plunge with a cheaper model. Another thing I have noted is that the tripod is very short, I'm always having to kneel to view anything and that's not ideal on cold ground. I will be keep this scope to give to the children as it is light enough for them to handle and operate on their own. I'll be investing in an 8" dobsonian like the Bresser or Sky Watcher models. Wife thinks they're reasonably priced and has no concept of how big they are haha

I have the identical scope with the identical issue. I have used and not used the Starsense app. I can pinpoint Mars in the sky and have the same problem. The eyepieces and accessories are utter trash. If you are using the 25mm eyepiece alone you can spot Plaedies and a few other open clusters quite easily, even punching through cloud to enjoy some clusters. But trying to magnify on to a planet or even use the 10mm and/or Barlow lens is an utter waste of time. I have very mixed feelings about the scope. The app is great, when it works. You need very clear, dark sky for it to plate solve or you need to move slowly and star hop to help it out. You can't just view Orion and swing round for Polaris, it will just lose it's baring unless under very good sky. The tripod is very lightweight and shakes in very mild gusts, it's also just too small and I believe designed for children. I have to kneel for everything I view through it. The only thing I can view standing is Sirius atm. Eyepieces aren't plossl, not sure what they are but they're not fantastic. Will be saving the 25mm to use for attaching to a mobile phone mount. Everything else will get binned.

Hi, I have the identical telescope to you and am 100% sure I'm viewing Mars through it and seeing exactly the same as you. My conclusion, the optics are trash. I've ordered a new zoom lens, for simplicity, and a new diagonal. My issue with the diagonal is that I can see some sort manufacturing moulding through it and I can see 3 lumps which I assume are screws when I tinker with the focuser. I believe the scope itself is of reasonable quality but the eyepieces, Barlow lens and diagonal are little more than plastic toys and will be replacing the lot. I've seen Mars as a rust coloured star through the scope and used all kind of aids to pinpoint it and still, as soon as I try to magnify and focus in I just lose it and can see a black bar down the middle of the eyepiece. It's definitely a manufacturing flaw that I believe is in the diagonal. Replace it immediately and I'd consider replacing all of the eyepieces and Barlow at some point too. The thing was built to a price point and they bundled ultra budget accessories to accommodate the Starsense kit

I'm an utter newbie. I find the orion nebula with ease. If you look at Orion's belt currently in winter it is south facing and tilts diagonally down to the left. There are 3 small stars just below it which make up "the sword". The centre of these 3 stars is the nebula and once you put any kind of scope on you should see it. It took me a few seconds because you need your eyes to adjust but then it just pops out, a big grey smudge all around and you can usually see 2 or 3 stars in it actually. My 9yr old daughter insists she can see it in a pinky purple colour. I didn't believe her but she hasn't googled anything and apparently it's true that young kids can see it in colour

Managed to do Castor again tonight and get the older daughter out to have a go and separate her from her mobile phone. We got a chance to split Castor again tonight before clouds rolled in and taught her to find Polaris and Orion. Still too much light pollution and I'll be round the neighbour's tomorrow to fix her nuisance floodlight once and for all. I'll even buy her a new one myself if needs be

I got a good look at Castor Aa and Ba on Wednesday night. I haven't the scope or experience to go for the 6 but will target it in the near future once I have some upgrades arrive. At the moment I'm just looking to identify points in the sky. I can spot Castor and Pollux immediately, all of Orion, Taurus, Plaidies and then northward I can pinpoint Polaris via the big dipper and Cassiopeia.

Had a good first proper session last night. I've had the scope out other nights but cloud cover has made it difficult. Actually got Starsense to align and guide to a few objects but light pollution seems to affect it a lot and I needed to star hop to help it along. Got a good look at Plaedies and the Orion Nebula, my little girl actually claimed she could see it in colour saying it was purple not grey. Light pollution made anything dimmer just impossible but I was able to see the beehive cluster and split Castor. So all in all a good first proper night I'd say

That's interesting to know. I have plans to get an 8" dobsonian eventually but that's dependant on whether we are moving house or not. If I do get a better scope I can cannibalise the old one and rig the mount up to a new one. The Celestron isn't terrible, its just not anywhere near as good as I'd anticipated but at least I know any purchases I make for eyepieces etc won't be wasted as they can be used on any scope.