Celestron Powerseeker 675 eq - 114/900mm Reflector Review

[Adrian]

My wife bought me this scope (my first scope) for me birthday back when she was my girlfriend because I had always been interested in astronomy but had never got myself a telescope. I have just upgraded, so I thought I would put down a few thoughts on it before it is sold.

I used this telescope a couple of times when I first got it, but didn’t do polar aligning and just tried to get magnification. Obviously that was a frustrating and disappointing experience so when I went to university and moved around, the scope stayed in its box in my friend’s garage loft for 4 years. After I bought a house and retrieved the telescope it still stayed boxed for another couple of years because I remembered the annoying wobbly mount and the dim images

Finally, last year, I set it up in my room so I could just take it out when I wanted to. Jupiter was coming around and I could get help and advice from places like SGL. I also read the instructions properly this time and so understood polar alignment and collimation etc. Since then I have been enjoying and regularly using the scope, have started webcam imaging and have a good idea of what I want from my next telescope and astronomy in general (for now).

Now for the details:

Mount

The mount is an EQ1. Whilst I soon got the hang of polar alignment once I tried it (thanks to the pretty good instruction manual) and I love that I can track objects using just one control, this mount is way too flimsy for this scope. When you brush the eyepiece with your eye the wobbles take 5-7 seconds to disappear and it isn’t worth getting the telescope out if there is more than the slightest breeze. This is with the legs retracted on a patio – with them extended it is worse.

Accessories

6x24 finder: Not very good. Not only can I see more stars without it, but it loses alignment putting on or taking off the cap.

K20 eyepiece: 20mm Kellner (45x). I like this eyepiece and still use it. Nice sharp, bright images.

SR4 eyepiece: 4mm Symmetric Ramsden (225x). Giving the theoretical maximum magnification of the scope, this eyepiece is not very useful. I have only found it to be useable on the moon, and then it is not very good due to it pushing the limit of the telescope. Because I get a sharper, brighter and wider image from my 8mm Hyperion with both FTRs (4.3mm), I have only used this as a dust plug for my 500mm camera lens conversion in the past year.

3x Barlow: Plastic body and possibly plastic lens! Fairly poor. This introduces a lot of chromatic aberration. It was useable with the K20 but as I could pick out more detail on Jupiter last year without the barlow I stopped using it. I got a second hand Orion Shorty Plus 2x which has been fantastic.

Essentially the SR4 and the barlow are only included to give the 675x magnification for the box/advertising.

The scope

By far the best part (as you would hope). When used with the K20 it gives nice bright views of planets. I also found M13, M31 and M57 with this combination. Using a Celestron Omni 32mm I have enjoyed the wide views and fitting my Hyperion (8/6/5/4.3mm with FTRs) has brought out good detail on the moon and planets.

I was really surprised by the images I got of the Moon and of Saturn (I have attached a couple below). I didn’t think this scope was capable of that kind of picture, bearing in mind that these were on my first (Moon) and second (Saturn) imaging sessions.

Verdict

Overall this scope has done exactly what it is supposed to – shown me views of the moon and planets as well as a few DSOs, getting me hooked on astronomy and showing that I have an interest – all at a reasonable price.

Despite all this, I cannot recommend this scope at the original price point (~£140) as Skywatcher have a couple of very good entry level scopes here, especially when you consider the far more useful accessories that Skywatcher supply with their scopes (10mm and 2x barlow rather than 4mm and 3x barlow). If I were starting out now then I would go for the heritage dob.

[kris h]

Nice review Adrian , the pics you took with the scope look great

[hellothere123]

nice pics

[hellothere123]

looking at getting celestron 6se this month

[spaceboy]

I have to admit I'm blown away by the images you managed to get from this scope. Stands testament to how good registaks is I thought these were only good for waste paper, umbrella stands or make believe bazookas for the kids. I had something similar when I was toying with the idea of astronomy and I agree it got me hooked despite the less than desirable views and mount.

[Adrian]

Cheers SB

When I first used it the views were less than ok until I overhauled it (after joining SGL) - by which I mean that I took out the mirror cell to mark the mirror's centre and loosen the mirror supports a touch as I seemed to have pinched optics, removed the spider to make sure everything was straight and then collimated with a cheshire from scratch.

The secondary had been nowhere near central to the focusser (you couldn't see all of the mirror down the drawtube, even without the cheshire in it )

After that the views were much better... I've been able to make out shadow transits on Jupiter, not clearly defined but I could see there was a black area on the disc, and checking online has shown a shadow at that time.

[spaceboy]

After that the views were much better... I've been able to make out shadow transits on Jupiter, not clearly defined but I could see there was a black area on the disc, and checking online has shown a shadow at that time.

I read transits were only possible with apertures of 8" and over, or was it the GRS I forget now. Either way I'm shocked at what you were able to achieve with some what simple equipment. Do you have any images of Jupiter from this scope ?

[Adrian]

Oh I had no chance of seeing the actual moon transit, but the shadow gives huge contrast so you can see that something black/dark is moving across the face of the planet.

The first time I saw it I ran inside to check the sky & telescope app (Jupiter's Moons) to see what it was, as it didn't look right for the GRS. The app showed a shadow right where the dark patch was.

The scope really surprised me in the end... The mount didn't.

[Lux1]

I read transits were only possible with apertures of 8" and over, or was it the GRS I forget now. Either way I'm shocked at what you were able to achieve with some what simple equipment. Do you have any images of Jupiter from this scope ?

I have seen several belts on Jupiter and the GRS in a moment of clarity last year. I also saw the Cassini division on Saturn and its prominent cloud band below it rings.

This was with a 130mm scope and a trained and dark adapted eye!

[spaceboy]

I have seen several belts on Jupiter and the GRS in a moment of clarity last year. I also saw the Cassini division on Saturn and its prominent cloud band below it rings.

This was with a 130mm scope and a trained and dark adapted eye!

Would that be in a heritage 130mm dob?

[todd8137]

i can not get pics like that with a spc900 of saturn did you use the arlows ? how long was the video and how many was in the final stak ?

[Adrian]

I used the 2x shorty plus barlow (same as celestron ultima).

The video was around 1200 frames. I used virtualdub program (free) to remove the patches of poor seeing/gusts of wind/fiddling with motor speed wobbles and stacked most of the resulting frames. Probably around 400 frames.

It was good seeing too. Most of the time they have come out like this photo

[todd8137]

I used the 2x shorty plus barlow (same as celestron ultima).

The video was around 1200 frames. I used virtualdub program (free) to remove the patches of poor seeing/gusts of wind/fiddling with motor speed wobbles and stacked most of the resulting frames. Probably around 400 frames.

It was good seeing too. Most of the time they have come out like this photo

i tried to download the anti shake pluggin for v dub could not get it to work and every time i load v dub up now it crashs a lot but nice shot of saturn all the same

[Adrian]

I didn't know there was an anti shake plugin. I just do it manually, and only on the AVIs that seem worth it because it takes a bit of time.

[Lux1]

Would that be in a heritage 130mm dob?

Yes it was the 130 mm dob on my Goto tracking mount.

I am luckly to have a very dark sky and spend alot of time at the eyepiece. Faint detail is still there in smaller apertures, it just requires practice to see. I've resolved Uranus to a disk.

However, bigger is always better! Roll on Christmas.

[Terrynak]

Cheers SB

When I first used it the views were less than ok until I overhauled it (after joining SGL) - by which I mean that I took out the mirror cell to mark the mirror's centre and loosen the mirror supports a touch as I seemed to have pinched optics, removed the spider to make sure everything was straight and then collimated with a cheshire from scratch.

The secondary had been nowhere near central to the focusser (you couldn't see all of the mirror down the drawtube, even without the cheshire in it )

After that the views were much better... I've been able to make out shadow transits on Jupiter, not clearly defined but I could see there was a black area on the disc, and checking online has shown a shadow at that time.

When I first tested the Powerseeker 114EQ a few weeks ago, I put it on a more substantial Skywatcher AZ4 alt-azimuth mount and took a look through it without checking collimation, using my own Plossl eyepieces. Could barely see the two main equatorial belts of Jupiter and the stars in the Trapezium wouldn't focus sharply, remained blurry. A few weeks later, after removing the rear end of the scope to center-spot the primary mirror and loosen the rubber clips holding the mirror, I collimated it using a Cheshire eyepiece. The second time I tested it, Jupiter and the Trapezium were too low down the horizon for another look, so I pointed it at the double stars Castor and Gamma Leonis (Algieba) using 140X (with a 6.3mm Plossl). Both pairs looked good but I thought the views could be better (compared with what I remember through my other smaller Newtonian reflectors). Perhaps the slight haze in the sky affected the views, but the clouds rolled in before I could test it on other stars or on Saturn as it was coming up from the East.

Need to test it a 3rd night on Jupiter (and possiblly Saturn) and the Trapezium (and other doubles) before i can make judgement on the optical quality of this scope. I also have the much smaller Celestron Astromaster 76EQ - another long focal-length Newtonian - and the optics on it are surprisingly good. Surface detail on Jupiter was sharp the first time I looked through it using the supplied 10mm Kellner EP and Gamma Leonis was easily split with almost perfect Airy disks at 140X (10mm Kellner + my 2x Barlow).

I see that Amazon UK has the Powerseeker for £104.14 - I bought mine for US$110 or £72. Although I have many other small telescopes, I ordered this one because of the reputation the classic 4.5" F/8 size Newtonian has, but also because i wanted the EQ1 mount for my Short Tube 80 refractor. My shorter focal length 4.5" F/4 Newtonian (Orion Starblast 4.5 with parabolic mirror) is mounted on an EQ1 and is quite steady on it.

[jcgolov]

This post is getting old so I do not expect many answers. However here is my problem just in case. Some years ago I purchased the Celestron Powerseeker 675 too. I got extremely busy the last 6 years so it stayed in a caravan unused. Now that I am quieter and the pressure is off, I took it out, oiled it etc, and made a list for new eyepieces and a laser collimator to collimate it. I watched most of the videos in YouTube, read many pdf docs on the subject but I am still uncertain about one thing. How do you put a central dot on the primary mirror? Do you have to take the primary mirror completely out to do this?

[Adrian]

Yes, you will have to remove the primary mirror to do this. I didn't do it myself (I used a Cheshire eyepiece rather than a laser), but it may be easier to remove the entire bottom supporting ring, rather than just the end cap.

Be careful of sharp edges if you do it that way.

[jcgolov]

many thanks for the reply. I think I am going to have a go at removing the whole of the back supporting ring. I think it is only 3 screws, and I will follow the procedure to put that mark. I have ordered new lenses and a collimator from Amazon and if I mess up the procedure I will just have to get another more recent scope. I was very impressed with your pictures and this pushed me to have another go with the 675. Many thanks for this and you reply.

[Adrian]

My complete & absolute apologies. When I read your post I had a quick think back, but couldn't remember marking the primary - I could remember collimating using the 3 primary mirror clips, so:

Yes, you will have to remove the primary mirror to do this. I didn't do it myself (I used a Cheshire eyepiece rather than a laser), but it may be easier to remove the entire bottom supporting ring, rather than just the end cap.

but this was the secondary collimation. Reading my earlier post:

When I first used it the views were less than ok until I overhauled it (after joining SGL) - by which I mean that I took out the mirror cell to mark the mirror's centre and loosen the mirror supports a touch as I seemed to have pinched optics, removed the spider to make sure everything was straight and then collimated with a cheshire from scratch.

It would appear that my memory now has more holes than material! I cannot remember how I removed the mirror cell (Or even removing it at all!), but I assume from my earlier advice to remove the entire end that this is the method I used.

Now I'm off to reboot my brain & check its backup settings

[jcgolov]

I removed everything in this telescope, cleaned everything and then had a pretty bad time fiddling trying to put back the spider properly. This is mainly due that your have to completely unset everything to get this piece of hardware out of the scope. No hassles with the primary mirror though. I did a quick collimating using a pierced cap to check if everything was right and I am awaiting for a Seben collimator to do a proper job. I have found the Net and YouTube very helpful to complete all these tasks. Whist I was at it, I decided to get a new red dot finderscope, a Seben 8-24mm eyepiece and next month I will get a new Barlow and 4 new Plossl eyepieces. Then I will be able to see something without struggling if e overcasting stops! It has been days that we have not seen a clear sky up here.

[Terrynak]

Here's what the primary mirror looks like when I center spotted it and put a notebook reinforcement ring over the dot:

Saturn looks sharp in this scope compared to my smaller and faster F/5 80mm short tube refractor and my F/4 100mm Newtonian scopes. I can easily see Cassini's division at 100X and 150X. Here's a link to my recent review of this scope:

http://www.cloudynig...hp?item_id=2880

I've been using it mainly to seek out deep-sky objects, although I'm pleased with its performance on Saturn. Haven't had a chance to look at the other planets through this scope yet, but I'll try Venus. Many have referred to these 4.5" F/8 Newtonians as "planet killers".