Celestron Travelscope

[Spacerock]

Picked one of these up cheap to take on hols. Couple of questions for you guys!

Is there anything I can do to improve the rubbish tripod? If not, can you recommend a better cheap replacement.

Also, the Barlow and 4mm ep aren't great, is there a range of cheap alternatives?

Thoughts much appreciated.

Clear sky's around midnight - pretty sure I was looking at mars!

[cantab]

Tighten up everything, and possibly suspend a weight below the tripod to help damp the vibrations. Otherwise, I think "cheap" and "good" don't tend to go together well with telescope mounts.

[username]

I picked up one of these on the cheap before I moved abroad. It's ok - nothing special. I think the trick is don't expect too much of it and you'll be happy. Perfectly goos for something cheap to take on hols though.

With the tripod as said before you need to make sure everything is tight on it. You'll have to learn as well that when you tighten the altitude rod up that it will move the scope so you have to predict where it will end up . Don't extend the legs either - find a table to put the non-extended tripod on. It's actually acceptable then!!

IMHO the 4mm with the barlow is too much. The scope has a focal ratio of 5.7 meaing the smallest eyepiece you'd want to use is around 3mm. In fact I wouldn't use the barlow that came with it. The highest power I've used it at is with a 2x GSO barlow and a 10mm plossl so a 5mm eyepiece. This is sort of the limit of the scope for an ok view. The 4mm that came with it isn't too great really

[Spacerock]

Thanks guys. Tightened everything and tried it on a table. Added some oil to the joints so much smoother.

[username]

Yep it's ok with a bit of care

I like them - I have plans of making it in to a big finder scope in the future

[TheNorthernMonkey]

Thanks guys. Tightened everything and tried it on a table. Added some oil to the joints so much smoother.

Jessops to a range velbon photo tripods which will be more sturdy than the one you have, for about £40