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Aldi telescope

E621Keith

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E621Keith

E621Keith

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Aldi is going to be selling a 76mm dob in next Thursday special buy. Anyone want to risk it and tell us what they are like. They are about £10 cheaper than SW and Celestron's 76mm mini dob. Being a dob, it will probably be better than most department store/supermarket scopes.

http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_28104.htm

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nightfisher

nightfisher

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on the assumption the mirrors are reasonable, this looks a good buy. the setting circles are a nice touch. also, it's f5 and has a metal tube. and no, I don't think I am buying it!

I don't think I am buying it! you hesitate sir, maybe you are planning a 76mm suitcase dob, that can be small enough to use as a travel scope in hand luggage :grin:

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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I don't think I am buying it! you hesitate sir, maybe you are planning a 76mm suitcase dob, that can be small enough to use as a travel scope in hand luggage :grin:

more like the size of a fag packet! seriously though this might be a better option at the same price? http://www.tesco.com/direct/celestron-firstscope-telescope/206-3823.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=206-3823

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robert_l

robert_l

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I got this this morning , I already have the sky-watcher version of this telescope , I think the national geographic version is an improvement over the sky watcher I am quite impressed with the alt azz scale

it also comes with a 2x Barlow which you will need for the planets as the focal length is only 350mm , the eyepieces are full size not the small .95 although not as good quality as the sky watcher eyepieces but for 39.99 you cant complain it also has a small planisphere and a cd with stellarium , the build of this telescope is identical to the sky watcher version, you can take it of the dobson mount and buy a 1/38 to 1/14 adapter which you can then fit it to a camera tripod which both telescope and tripod fit in a small back pack , these telescopes are all the same as made in the same factory in china and badged some company's like OVL specify a better quality of eyepiece but the OTA is the same except design of the pictures on tube the national geographic one is a bit like the quastar and spitz moonscope of the 50s with the star constellations ! have not yet tried it out apart from looking at landscape seems ok

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E621Keith

E621Keith

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Wow, I didn't expect anyone brave enough to buy one. I'd be looking forward to hear your opinion on it.

I have a pair of Lidi binocular and for what they costed, they were actually quite good.

Just for the record, a SW heritage 76 is a F4 with FL of 300mm, the Aldi is a f4.6 with a FL of 350mm, so the optics can't be exactly the same.

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robert_l

robert_l

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brief test of it ln the early hours of this morning looked at stars in ursa major and orion with low power eyepiece and the scope looks ok if its clear tonight when I come home from the observatory I will have a shot with it , I already have the sky watcher version and bought the 2x Barlow which was only £9 cheaper than the aldi telescope !

I have know problem with observing with small telescopes I have given a talk on observing with smal telescopes to several astronomical society's it will surprise people what you can see , you can also upgrade them by buying better eyepieces , I have got 3/8 to 1/4 adapter for the aldi telescope so I can attach it to a camera tripod both fit in a back pack

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robert_l

robert_l

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Had a look last night Jupiter with the high power eyepiece could see equatorial cloud belts and 4 moons (sky watcher version required Barlow for this) field of view is not as wide as sky watcher version , also had a look at the Orion nebula this was seen best wit the high power. Unfortunately the Barlow lens is not very good suffering from false colour it is a good little grab and go scope and would benefit from using better eyepieces a bargain at only £39.99 !

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acey

acey

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A 3" Newtonian? Why? Admittedly it would have been impressive at the time of Newton, whose original model had an aperture of about 1.3", but if you want a scope of that size then surely a short-tube refractor is going to be a better bet. I don't know what the secondary size is in these tiny reflectors but if we assume it's about a third of the aperture then a 76mm reflector will have a light-grasp equivalent to a refractor of about 70mm aperture, and will have lower light transmission due to having two mirrors in place of one objective lens.

A dobsonian mount is also pretty useless for a scope of this size: you would need to put it on a table or tripod to use it (or else be very ,very small). You can get a Celestron 70mm refractor with tripod for just under £50 from John Lewis, maybe less if you shop around, and I reckon that would be a better option.

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furrysocks

furrysocks

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I bought one of these scopes yesterday "for my son" knowing fine well that it probably really only costs about £12 and not really worth it at that. However, I am starting to DIY build an 8" dobs so figured trying to use this would be good practice - I'm new to all this.

I got a quick view of Andromeda at 17.5x (20mm) and Jupiter+moons at 58x (6mm) - not great but first light. When I tried using the 2x Barlow and 6mm eyepiece for a view of Jupiter, I could no longer focus at all and then the clouds rolled in. I took it back inside and had a look down the focus tube with eyepiece removed. The seconday mirror is nowhere near centered and the three collimation bolts are nowhere near long enough to engage the back of the secondary holder when centered, by many millimeters. I drilled the cap of a plastic film capsule and cut the bottom off and the confirmed that the secondary is far from center and its refection in the primary far from center, too.

I have found a set of three longer bolts in a junk box and will continue to set this scope up to the best of my ability. It will also give me the opportunity to wash a primary mirror before I get my hands on the pair of 8" and have an eyepiece to hand as I put together a Crayford focuser for the DIY dob.

A £40 positive learning experience. ;)

Matt.

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MAN or ASTROMAN

MAN or ASTROMAN

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The Aldi telescopes eyepieces are described as 'Ramsden' and 'Huygens'. For an extra £8,the Skywatcher 76mm Heritage at least supplies basic useable eyepieces.I can't imagine that the Barlow supplied with the Aldi scope can be much cop at all.By chance,I was in Aldi yesterday(for wine and cheese)and saw some of these 'scopes.I didn't see anyone looking at them,but,even as a 'new returner to astronomy',I would have offered the adviice to spend the extra £8 (and p&P) for the Heritage to any prospective buyer.

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E621Keith

E621Keith

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The Aldi telescopes eyepieces are described as 'Ramsden' and 'Huygens'. For an extra £8,the Skywatcher 76mm Heritage at least supplies basic useable eyepieces.I can't imagine that the Barlow supplied with the Aldi scope can be much cop at all.By chance,I was in Aldi yesterday(for wine and cheese)and saw some of these 'scopes.I didn't see anyone looking at them,but,even as a 'new returner to astronomy',I would have offered the adviice to spend the extra £8 (and p&P) for the Heritage to any prospective buyer.

I thought the eyepieces supplied with the SW 76 were also Ramsden and Huygen.

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E621Keith

E621Keith

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I thought Huygens were really good for solar projection...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not on a Newtonian though.

Huygen is good for solar projection only because it has no cemented elements, so it doesn't melt as easily as Plossl and Ortho. Also it's cheap, so even if it melts, it is cheap to replace. Anyway this is irrelevant because the secondary on a Newt will melt quick enough.

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