Astromaster 76EQ, Is It Any Good?

[JonnyAlpha]

Hi;

We bought ours son an Astromaster 130EQ for Christmas and feeling like we wanted to "get in on the act" spotted an Astromaster 76EQ on a local Facebook sales page.

is the 76EQ any good? and what can we expect to get out of it?

What are the restrictions based on the smaller diameter of the tube?

Many thanks

[cantab]

Well the larger scope has almost 3 times the light gathering power and 1.7 times the resolution, making it a more capable instrument. The smaller scope comes on a lighter mount so I don't know which will be more stable. Other than size they probably are fairly similar. The two important questions I think are how is your son getting on with his scope and how much is the one you're considering. If he's getting on well with his and the one you're looking at is less than £35 I'd say consider it, otherwise you might be better off looking at something else. (The price is base on a new Skywatcher Heritage 76 being £50 and the rule of thumb that used costs about 2/3rds of new.)

[Biggazza88]

A 130mm reflector is about as small as you would want to go for a Newtonian really. Just remember with the cheaper kind of scopes especially, apature is king.

[JonnyAlpha]

I forgot to mention in the post that we did actually buy the 76EQ, we paid Euro 45 (About £37) for it. Its basically in excellent condition and only needs a new battery. The mount is the same as the 130EQ and its pretty solid.

The Celestron Astomaster 76EQ is about £70 new from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-AstroMaster-76-EQ-Telescope/dp/B001ILOZD8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1358084603&sr=8-3

I think I got a bargain but understand that it will be restricted because of the small aperture. If I get into the subject I will upgrade?

Thanks for the replies guys.

[ianfiat]

I have this telescope and its OK for looking at planets and double stars. For deep space objects, I have seen the ring nebula with it- very fuzzy though.

Don't bother getting a new battery for the red dot finder though- its worse than useless- remove it and buy a Telrad instead.

[ronin]

If you make use of the scope and get some fun/enjoyment out of it then it is a decent purchase.

It should show Jupiter and the moon, it may struggle to show Saturn with any detail, point it at Orion, search out the assortment of clusters that are up there.

There are many of what are termed Binocular Objects in the sky and the scope will handle them pretty good.

Try this site for a list of programs to view: AL

2 binocular lists and others.

[JonnyAlpha]

I have this telescope and its OK for looking at planets and double stars. For deep space objects, I have seen the ring nebula with it- very fuzzy though.

Don't bother getting a new battery for the red dot finder though- its worse than useless- remove it and buy a Telrad instead.

Without Googling whats a Telrad?

[Biggazza88]

It's a kind of finder scope, it's like a heads-up display on the windscreen of sports cars in that a red set of circles are "projected" on a flat zero magnified piece of glass.

[Terrynak]

I forgot to mention in the post that we did actually buy the 76EQ, we paid Euro 45 (About £37) for it. Its basically in excellent condition and only needs a new battery. The mount is the same as the 130EQ and its pretty solid.

The Celestron Astomaster 76EQ is about £70 new from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.co...58084603&sr=8-3

I think I got a bargain but understand that it will be restricted because of the small aperture. If I get into the subject I will upgrade?

Thanks for the replies guys.

I got my Astromaster 76eq in January, shortly after I returned from holiday in Dublin (where the only scopes they sell are Celestrons). It was there that I got a close-up look at this scope and was pleasantly surprised to find that it had a collimatable primary mirror, so I figured it could be a decent scope. Some of the better 76mm (3") aperture 700mm focal length scopes have a good reputation for planetary and double star performance and i was hoping this could be one of them. I finally opened the box and tested the scope on Friday (March 1st), without checking the collimation.

I was not to be disappointed - the first target I looked at was Jupiter and with the 10mm (70X) eyepiece, it looked very sharp, showing the two main Equatorial cloud belts, a hint of a third equatorial, and what appeared to be a polar band as well. One of the moons was about to be occulted by the planet and it was a beautiful sight. I don't recall getting a view this sharp through my larger, shorter focal length scopes. I then pointed the scope at Castor and inserting my 2X Barlow between the focuser and the 10mm eyepiece (140X), I got two nice-looking Airy disks. Also looked at Gamma Leonis (in the constellation Leo) and I also got nice Airdy disks using the same magnification.

I had trouble targeting the scope on other objects because of the useless Star Pointer supplied on the Astromaster line of telescopes, so I ended my session early. I subsequently removed the Star Pointer from the OTA and taped a plastic straw on the far end of the tube as a temporary sighting device. I also collimated the primary and secondary mirrors - it was easy to do with this scope. Looking forward to taking this scope out on the next clear night, this time away from my light-polluted home and to darker surburban skies, where I can test it out on deep sky objects.

You got a good price for it used, I paid US $98.09 or £65.22 new.

Are you pleased with the performance of this scope so far?

[JonnyAlpha]

I got my Astromaster 76eq in January, shortly after I returned from holiday in Dublin (where the only scopes they sell are Celestrons). It was there that I got a close-up look at this scope and was pleasantly surprised to find that it had a collimatable primary mirror, so I figured it could be a decent scope. Some of the better 76mm (3") aperture 700mm focal length scopes have a good reputation for planetary and double star performance and i was hoping this could be one of them. I finally opened the box and tested the scope on Friday (March 1st), without checking the collimation.

I was not to be disappointed - the first target I looked at was Jupiter and with the 10mm (70X) eyepiece, it looked very sharp, showing the two main Equatorial cloud belts, a hint of a third equatorial, and what appeared to be a polar band as well. One of the moons was about to be occulted by the planet and it was a beautiful sight. I don't recall getting a view this sharp through my larger, shorter focal length scopes. I then pointed the scope at Castor and inserting my 2X Barlow between the focuser and the 10mm eyepiece (140X), I got two nice-looking Airy disks. Also looked at Gamma Leonis (in the constellation Leo) and I also got nice Airdy disks using the same magnification.

I had trouble targeting the scope on other objects because of the useless Star Pointer supplied on the Astromaster line of telescopes, so I ended my session early. I subsequently removed the Star Pointer from the OTA and taped a plastic straw on the far end of the tube as a temporary sighting device. I also collimated the primary and secondary mirrors - it was easy to do with this scope. Looking forward to taking this scope out on the next clear night, this time away from my light-polluted home and to darker surburban skies, where I can test it out on deep sky objects.

You got a good price for it used, I paid US $98.09 or £65.22 new.

Are you pleased with the performance of this scope so far?

I do like this scope but you seem to be getting along a lot better than me, I am a complete beginner and although I have followed some guides and balanced the scope I have not yet set the scope up properly (Northern Plane) for a proper nights viewing, neither have I yet got a Planasphere (All of which I know are essential. All I have done so far is a quick point focus and look!!! I have managed to get some pretty awesome views of the moon using the 20mm erecting eyepiece but views with the 10mm albeit larger the image was not as clear? I have found Jupiter which with the 20mm eyepiece appears as a large dot and I can only just make out a single band with the 10mm it would not really focus. Admittidley I was viewing from insode the house with a window open so this would not help.

You say that you have collimated yours do I need to do mine?

And I see that you have a 2 x Barlow do you recommend that I get one?

i have found some accessory kits on Amazon but I'll ask for comments in another thread.

[John]

..... Admittidley I was viewing from insode the house with a window open so this would not help......

Probably about the worst place to view from for an astro scope.

Before fiddling with collimation or buying additional accessories I'd take the scope outside, give it 20 minutes to cool down and then try it again. Astro scopes are much better used away from houses / heat sources

[cantab]

Yup, warm indoor air meeting the cold stuff outside will cause lots of turbulence and thus appear the same as bad "seeing". If you must observe from indoors it can actually be better to keep the window closed.

[JonnyAlpha]

I guess im gonna spend the next few months setting this scope up and using it properly and then either buy some.additional lenses or upgrade. Thanks for all the advice so far.

[Terrynak]

I do like this scope but you seem to be getting along a lot better than me, I am a complete beginner and although I have followed some guides and balanced the scope I have not yet set the scope up properly (Northern Plane) for a proper nights viewing, neither have I yet got a Planasphere (All of which I know are essential. All I have done so far is a quick point focus and look!!! I have managed to get some pretty awesome views of the moon using the 20mm erecting eyepiece but views with the 10mm albeit larger the image was not as clear? I have found Jupiter which with the 20mm eyepiece appears as a large dot and I can only just make out a single band with the 10mm it would not really focus. Admittidley I was viewing from insode the house with a window open so this would not help.

You say that you have collimated yours do I need to do mine?

And I see that you have a 2 x Barlow do you recommend that I get one?

i have found some accessory kits on Amazon but I'll ask for comments in another thread.

Sorry for not responding sooner, but I've been so busy with work. And the skies haven't been good here lately either...

Hopefully you're getting some good views through this scope by now. I haven't used mine since that first (and only) short observing session I had with it that I described on my email you responded to.

I collimated my scope indoors - haven't really tested it out on the stars (a properly collimated scope will show a bright star at high power as a dot with concentric rings when slightly out-of-focus).

The scope already has a long enough focal length (F/9.21, or 700mm focal length divided by 76mm aperture = 9.21), so that a 6mm eyepiece will give you 116X. But it doesn't hurt to get one if you want higher mags for the planets or to split double stars.

Good luck!

Terry

[ianfiat]

After I bought this scope my first two purchases were

1 A Telrad- so I could actually find things

2 A 15mm Vixen NPL eyepiece (about£30) - I never used the supplied eyepieces again after buying this, far better for not much money

[ianfiat]

Oh-one more thing

With this scope I never bothered to align it to North- I just used it however it put the eyepiece in a not too inconvenient position

[phill28]

I recently got this scope and can say i am more than pleased with it. I used it for the second time the other night and was well pleased when i saw saturn through it. Ok was not very big but image was crisp and clear .

[rowan46]

I recently got this scope and can say i am more than pleased with it. I used it for the second time the other night and was well pleased when i saw saturn through it. Ok was not very big but image was crisp and clear .

Welcome to Sgl phil good first post now pop over to the welcome board and tell us a bit about yourself so we can give a proper welcome. Look forward to seeing more of you