Well priced telescopes at currys.

[dag123]

Well I have a Celestron 130EQ Astromaster, without the motor drive and I would have to say as a beginner it is certainly good enough for my needs.

Okay the red-dot-finder is not great, but learning how to manually move an equitorial mount from A to B can't be a bad thing. I'd also say that with a 32mm EP the error in the RDF is not that bad.

I'd also say that the mount has adjustable alignment rings so if you go to the trouble of pointing the scope at Polaris you can then point at other stars with known co-ordinates and calibrate the scope such that you can then go and locate other objects. Certainly not a GOTO scope but it is quite rewarding if after setting it up you dial in new location on the mount rings, look through the EP (okay a 32mm EP) and voila, the star I was aiming for!

From other posts on this site I had the understanding that should I decide to stick with the hobby, my main upgrade investment should be better EPs. Spending wisely on these would be better than spending on a new scope, assuming I did not want a large increase in aperture. Do people agree with this?

I am also quite interested in what great-bear said about these scopes being DIY upgradable to something "quite respectable". Other than better EPs what else could I do to better-it?

dag123

[dph1nm]

How about this

CELESTRON Travel Scope 70 Refractor Telescope buy online | Currys

as a cheap guide-scope though?

NigelM

[chemtom24]

dag - it was my first scope, and its a decent one. dont b put off by peoples comments. in fact its funny how peoples attitudes change cos 9 months ago i was told by others not on this forum that celestron made decent enough scopes and that i should buy one as a beginners scope.

yes you are right - if you dont want an increase in aperture then invest in quality ep's - they will give you more comfortable views and will work on any future scopes u upgrade to!

totally agree about learning how to user an eq mount. its not a bad mount at all it really isnt.

tom

[great_bear]

visit your local society and spend no money!

Not everyone wants to hang around those kind of people. Often, the most enjoyment in a new hobby comes from exploring things on your own...

[John]

dag - it was my first scope, and its a decent one. dont b put off by peoples comments. in fact its funny how peoples attitudes change cos 9 months ago i was told by others not on this forum that celestron made decent enough scopes and that i should buy one as a beginners scope....

I don't think anyone is knocking the Astromaster 130. The thread started with a link to an Astromaster 76 which is a much less capable scope.

[great_bear]

From other posts on this site I had the understanding that should I decide to stick with the hobby, my main upgrade investment should be better EPs. Spending wisely on these would be better than spending on a new scope, assuming I did not want a large increase in aperture. Do people agree with this?

It's too much of a generalisation really. Well-matched optics is a bit of a hit-and-miss affair unfortunately, and finding the right eyepieces can be quite a long - and at times, annoying - journey of exploration. If you're happy with a good set of Plossls or Orthoscopics (which is about as good as it gets in optical terms), any extra money is best spent on the other end of the scope - or on its mounting.

I am also quite interested in what great-bear said about these scopes being DIY upgradable to something "quite respectable". Other than better EPs what else could I do to better-it?

Provided the optics are OK on a cheap scope, the areas to concentrate on for cheap, inventive improvements is making the mount sturdier and smoother, making flocking / baffling improvements to the tube, and improving deficiencies in the mounting and alignment of the finder.

The primary one of course, is improving mount sturdiness.

[Madhatter]

Thank you for adding that picture tom:) much easier to understand now! i really appreciate you taking the time to help us improve on one of the scopes main issues!

We are going to try and do a side by side shoot out on the 76EQ vs the jessops T80-800, should be interesting!

One thing im certain of is it is a massively better deal than what argos are selling! i dont know how much the parabolic mirror the celestron 76EQ has effects views as i have never had a scope with one, but check out what argos are selling at double the price!!!

Buy National Geographic Newtonian Telescope 76mm at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for Telescopes.

The funny thing is, even at this price -if you read the reviews you will see more people happy with the scope than unhappy! some happy parents and children having their first views of the moon and Saturn, just goes to show its not so much the scope but the first views that count at this level. Its a shame that they didnt know better than to buy them though at that price-the astromaster 130 would tear that thing apart, but to be fair the deal wasnt out then.

The same goes for this unbranded 76mm-it looks pretty dire, but read the reviews:)

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5800463/Trail/searchtext%3ETELESCOPE.htm#pdpProductReviews

Thats quite a few new people enjoying astronomy who probably would not go directly to a telescope specialist or to a locale astro meet.

[chemtom24]

no worries, am happy to help even if it gets a little confusing! sounds liek u got the gist of it tho.

yea itl be interesting to see the results.

to be honest, i would really like to have a look thorugh one of the cheaper scopes, even a 'plastic' one from ebay - cos id b interested to see how they perform on the moon, how sharp you can get them etc etc. maybe next time i get a bit of money il waste some money haha

[Madhatter]

I acctualy took a picture through my old jessops T80-800 the very first time i used it, this was my first light , and first time i had looked at the moon using anything else but bins as a child-it also got me hooked:)

You do have to bear in mind though that this photo was taken by simply holding a digital camera to the eyepeice and taking a shot, views through the eyepiece looked much much clearer!-this was using the 20mm that came with the scope..the 12.5mm and 6mm let you see more detail at the cost of clarity.

The reason why its blury like this is probably down to tripod wobble when i knocked it with the camera, but not an issue when viewing from the EP, the tripod wobble is the scopes main weakness but once image is stabled (few seconds by memory) honestly the moon was beautiful. second hand the scope cost £30 delivered to my door.

[great_bear]

This one here is a great scope shootout - although not entirely serious :

Tasco vs. Astro-Physics Telescopes

.