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Meade 70mm

Walky

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Walky

Walky

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A friend is handing me down a Meade 70MM (I think). It is old and he never used it because it was a gift to him.:icon_scratch: Is it any good to see planets? I don't have it with me but he sent me a photo. It's black, wide and short. He did not say anything about a mount. I looked around and it seems is a discontinued model. How much can I see with it? Of course, as a first telescope it couldn't be any better. I want to start learnin the basics.

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Demonperformer

Demonperformer

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My first regularly used scope was an ETX80, which is (not surprisingly) a little bigger. Honestly, for planets, it is limited, but you will see the cloud bands and satellites of Jupiter, and the rings of Saturn and Titan. Where it will excel is in the extensive star cluster/cloud areas. Check out M45 (Pleiades) and you will be hooked.

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steelfixer

steelfixer

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I purchased a 70mm Meade refractor off astroboot to try and use as a guide scope.

As a guide scope it is a pretty useless but as a grab and go set up it is brilliant.

In fact I quite often use it insted of using my obs set up.

You will get some great views of Jupiter and her moons.

It has already been said about M45 and they are right, the view will astound you.

I have mine set up on an old EQ3 mount.

Have fun with it.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Walky

Walky

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SEEMS THE TIME FOR IT TO ARRIVE IS COMING AND I THINK IT will sufficemy needs for a beginner trying to understand how to deal with telescopes and cameras. I hope to meet M45 soon enough, maybe in a week.

For the future. I am looking at the Orion Sirius ED80 on EQ6 GoTo. What do you think?

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E621Keith

E621Keith

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Quote : "ED80 on a EQ6 is totally different level of performance."

Does that mean much better?

Yes. The EQ6 is a very solid mount and the ED80 is an apo. That means you can use it at much higher magnification without mount vibration or chromatic aberration degrading the image.

While the 70mm achro won't be much good on planets, an 80mm apo can give you some nice views. However, unless you want to image, you will be better off getting a large reflector. For the price of an ED80, you can buy a 10" Newt or a 6" CAT.

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patomlin76

patomlin76

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Had the ETX-70 (just sold) and have loved it - you'll see quite a bit through it... Saturn's rings can be quite clear in the right viewing conditions, and as others have said, things like M42 and the twin galaxies (think M81 and M82) do look nice.

Just don't overpower the scope - I used the supplied 9mm and 25mm with a 3x barlow and that was perfect for me... I did get a 5mm Plossl but it was too much magnification and uncomfortable to see through...

Enjoy!

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Walky

Walky

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well, Thank you... I will have a taste of it and hopefully I willcontinue with the hobby and learning.

I want to ask: (the scope has not been sent, my brother is known for his procastination "skills")

In the meantime, I want to do DSLR AP with my Canon T2i, and would like to know on what mount with goto capabilities can I mount it without an overkill. I know that some time in the future I will add a better telescope, but right now I am doing baby steps.

My main problem now is location,location... How can I direct the camera to the right spot. It is impossible to see if I am focusing on the intended nebula or galaxy.... I plan to use my 55-250 lens to do some of this and mostly, using my 18-55 for the wide shots.

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E621Keith

E621Keith

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In the meantime, I want to do DSLR AP with my Canon T2i, and would like to know on what mount with goto capabilities can I mount it without an overkill. I know that some time in the future I will add a better telescope, but right now I am doing baby steps.

My main problem now is location,location... How can I direct the camera to the right spot. It is impossible to see if I am focusing on the intended nebula or galaxy.... I plan to use my 55-250 lens to do some of this and mostly, using my 18-55 for the wide shots.

My EQ4(5) could take a DSLR with a normal lens and get around 5 minutes exposure. There are a lot of cheaper options if you use camera lens for AP (excluding big telephoto). Motorised EQ5 will do the job, I think so will a motorised EQ3-2. What ever your choices the mount has to be equatorial though.

An astrotrac or the Vixen Polarie are designed for DSLR astrophotography with camera lens. However, both of them only track in RA and do not have goto. The Astrotrac when properly upgraded can be use as an equatorial mount for telescope and based on info on their site could handle a 4" APO.

I don't know about Canon lens mechanics, but I'd consider getting a 50/1.8 or 35/1.8 prime instead of using kit zoom lens. The Nikon kit lens I have suffers from zoom and focus creep, which render them useless for AP.

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Walky

Walky

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I have the 50mm f/1.8 but I want to try the 250mm to see if I can get a small hint of a nebula or galaxy. Not possible with the 50mm. Are these EQ-5 shipped anywhere from the United States?

This was taken with a 70-250 @ 250mm 6768762103walky-albums-moon-picture15405-moon-jan2012-settings.pngwalky-albums-moon-picture15405-moon-jan2012-settings.png

walky-albums-moon-picture15405-moon-jan2012-settings.png

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E621Keith

E621Keith

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Sorry I didn't realise you are in USA. I think EQ5 is sold by Orion as Skyview Pro.

It's a good idea to list your location under your display name. Equipment prices varies in different country. In UK, a lot of US branded product is sold for the same price but in GBP. $1000USD telescope in the US often cost around £1000GBP here. Equipments that's cheap and good value for money in the US can be very expensive here. The reverse is also true.

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Walky

Walky

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My EQ4(5) could take a DSLR with a normal lens and get around 5 minutes exposure. There are a lot of cheaper options if you use camera lens for AP (excluding big telephoto). Motorised EQ5 will do the job, I think so will a motorised EQ3-2. What ever your choices the mount has to be equatorial though.

An astrotrac or the Vixen Polarie are designed for DSLR astrophotography with camera lens. However, both of them only track in RA and do not have goto. The Astrotrac when properly upgraded can be use as an equatorial mount for telescope and based on info on their site could handle a 4" APO.

I don't know about Canon lens mechanics, but I'd consider getting a 50/1.8 or 35/1.8 prime instead of using kit zoom lens. The Nikon kit lens I have suffers from zoom and focus creep, which render them useless for AP.

:icon_salut:

I have seen many AP with Canon, could not be better.

It has taken me some days to read some information and I am liking very much the astrotrack that is sold with Manfrotto heads and tripod. It looks light and movable.

Then I would need like a software in a pc to make it move or go to a place? Or I would have to position manually which I find almost impossible. Remember I am a newbie, I may be asking the obvious or a very ridiculous question. Maybe this setup assumes one will be ASTROPHOTOGRAPHYing only The Milky Way? Otherwise how do I aim precisely where I want to? With a zoom at 200mm I cannot really get to the subject by looking at the screen or a monitor.

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E621Keith

E621Keith

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I answered your question in the other thread. You need to frame the Astrotrac manually. You find objects using good old fashion star hopping. If you cannot do that then you will be better off with a mount that has GOTO, such as a HEQ5 (Orion Sirrus EQ-G).

Astrotrac is just a lightweight but very accurate 1 axis equatorial mount. It does not have GOTO or even ability to correct in DEC. There are only three settings: Tracking On, Tracking Off, and northern/southern hemisphere. However, it does what it's designed to do and does it very well.

There are many amazing DSO images taken with the Astrotrac, it's certainly able to do much more than just the Milky Way. The PE of an Astrotrac is a fraction of most mass produced mount and good enough that it can be used unguided.

Astrophotography DSLR CCD Webcam and AstroTrac Gallery

If you want more information about an Astrotrac, it's best to start a new thread.

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Walky

Walky

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The Meade is just about the same thing as my Canon dSLR with lens 55-250. I can see more detail with my camera, but to really know what a "red dot pointer ", diagonal mirror are... it is unsurpassed.

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