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Celestron Astromaster Series

Spoon

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Spoon

Spoon

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Hi, i've just got into astronomy not 3 months ago. At the moment have a Powerseeker 50 and i am interested in buying either an Astromaster 114eq or an Astromaster 130eq. any ideas? if i get the 130eq i might get the motor drive version for an extra £15

Thanks :(

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garethmob

garethmob

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Posted

hello spoon

just a courious question, why would you like to upgrade to a similar like scope?

i did a google and i found the 130 for about (ironicly £130) give or take, would you be ok with a alt azimuth mount instead?

usally its best to go for one of the skywatcher scopes but i noticed even the cheapest (it would be the star travel 80 on a az3 mount) is more than the other 2. an even better might be (if your ok at waiting a little while) to keep an eye out for a TAL scope, fantastic and litterly bomb proof, and you can pick up older ones (which are identical to the ones still being made) for around £50 second hand, im actually buying one now

whats the time frame for the new scope?

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rory

rory

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trouble is you'd have to spend more money straight away as the finders on the astromaster series and nothing short of a disgrace if im honest.might as well have a bog roll tube taped on the scope.

i know i had one !

have you thought about dobsonian mounted ? like the 130 heritage or 150 skyliner ?

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  • 3 weeks later...
dag123

dag123

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Generally the rule is get the biggest apperture you can afford. So with your listed options if you can afford the 130EQ go for that. I bought the motor for mine later when it became obvious I could not keep Jupiter in the webcam view for long-enough to take a decent capture. Prior to that I was using the manual controls without any worry. Now I have the motor I do tend to use it day-to-day. One minor gripe is that the motor housing does get in the way in certain tube positions, but this can be overcome if you pre-think your movements.

Personally I do not have any issues with the red-dot-finder. In fact I never actually use the red dot. As I tend to star hop to my targets I just sight up the OTA through the finder to line up with my first bright star and with my 32mm EP I'm pretty much on target every time. That said, this technique was learnt from experience. I'd never be able to directly line up on something faint like M81/82 or M57!

dag123

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Spoon

Spoon

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I got one the other day. Red dot is poor. I just use the hinges on the other side to where you lock the OTA in place. My minimum mag is 32.5 times. Should I get a focal reducer or a 30/35mm eyepiece?

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garethmob

garethmob

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Well the ones I have (vixen npl) are ok around 30-40 their around the best budget but not the best I find in a fast scope (f6 and below). Then you have the baader genuine othos (40-50) BST(can't remember these name) and the scientific explorer 70 degree (about 50)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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dag123

dag123

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Remember you can always reuse the investment in a good EP in any future scope.

I am very happy with the 32mm EP that came with the Celestron EP kit. A quick web search shows this to be about £32.

dag123

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Baz Pearce

Baz Pearce

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I use a 0.6X reducer with a 25mm MA eyepiece to give me a 3 degree FOV. Enough to fit in M45 with room to spare. The motor is unreliable and chews up battery power for fun. I pulled out the guts of the red dot finder and crammed in a 6X20 instead. It's position is slightly of center with the scope, but it's easy to remember the right spot to get my target in the large field before ramping up the power. Be very careful with the mount when it isn't on the tripod, there's more glue on a cigarette paper than on the plate that holds the worm and main gear in place. Mine broke when the mount tipped over on it's side while i was setting up, and now i have to bandage the whole thing up like a mummy to hold them together. Having said all that the optics are well worth the money. But before long you will want a goto mount anyways. I'm saving for an AZ4 right now. Eyepiece kits may seem like a good idea, but once you get it you may find you only use a couple of them regularly. Better IMHO to buy a zoom EP and a good quality 2 or 3X barlow.

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Baz Pearce

Baz Pearce

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Quite simple, but it will void your warranty. If that worries you, don't do it. Take the finder off the tube 1st by undoing the bottom screws (but don't lose 1 like i did lol). Just remove the 2 small screws about half way up the finder assembly to get at the insides and remove the plastic windows. Then force the new finder through from the front thin end 1st as far as it will go and screw in an adjustment screw to hold it fast.

Here's an image of what it should look like when done:-Finder.jpg

?action=view&current=Finder.jpg

Hope it works, 1st time i've put an image in here. If not go to Better than a DOT picture by BazPearce - Photobucket

Baz.

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