Celestron astromaster 130 or skywatcher explorer 130p

[flashbennett]

Hi just wondering if anybody could tell me which one is the best out of these two, I don't have a lot to spend that's why I'm going for 130, any info will go along way, Thanks

[rowan46]

The optics are the same and are made by the same company. But the skywatcher version is a slightly better product. it has less plastic on the mount so is a little steadier and the red dot finder is a lot better and easier to adjust

[flashbennett]

Ok, but it says that the celestron has a eq3 mount and s/w has eq2 mount, doesn't that make celestron the better one?

[rowan46]

The celestron cg3 is the same as a skywatcher eq2 but has more plastic

[flashbennett]

I'm a total beginner so thank you very much for your info

[DeepThought]

I was looking at these a short while ago. I believe the Celestron has a spherical mirror and the Skywatcher has a parabolic one.

In other words, the Skywatcher has better optics.

[garethmob]

Wouldn't a AZ mount be better for you? Eq mounts can be difficult at times to use and get used to took me about 4 observing sessions to get it right in the end.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk please ignore any spelling typo thingys

[nicks90]

I was looking at these a short while ago. I believe the Celestron has a spherical mirror and the Skywatcher has a parabolic one.

In other words, the Skywatcher has better optics.

no the astromaster 130 is parabolic.

see this thread here - http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/133179-celestron-130eq-info/

so there is nothing really between them optically.

as for the celestron mount.... i cant see any plastic on mine...... eq3-2....... other than the case around the RA motor.

[DeepThought]

no the astromaster 130 is parabolic.

see this thread here - http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/133179-celestron-130eq-info/

so there is nothing really between them optically.

as for the celestron mount.... i cant see any plastic on mine...... eq3-2....... other than the case around the RA motor.

I stand corrected.

You'd think Celestron would do a better job of bigging up their own products.

[rowan46]

no the astromaster 130 is parabolic.

see this thread here - http://stargazerslou...ron-130eq-info/

so there is nothing really between them optically.

as for the celestron mount.... i cant see any plastic on mine...... eq3-2....... other than the case around the RA motor.

The mount on the astromaster series isn't an eq 3-2. an eq3-2 costs more . this is an eq3

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq3-2-deluxe.html

[inedible_hulk]

I looked at both in the 'flesh' and the build quality on the Skywatcher seemed a lot better. Also I noticed that there were quite a few reviews on Amazon and the like which mentioned problems with the build quality on the Celeston's mount. The red dot finder is reputedly better on the Skywatcher. Personally I had no problems with operating the EQ mount and there's plenty of vids on You Tube showing you how to set up and operate.

[pel]

I wouldn't buy the Astomaster 130eq. The mount fell to pieces on mine.

The control cable screw sheered off (weak metal)

The plastic end came off of the lattitue control.

There was too much play in the controls.

The RDF (red dot finder was rubbish).

If you get the RA/Dec motors, they get in the way.

On the other hand, I haven't heard anything bad regarding the SW 130.

[AstroTux]

I use an AstroMaster 130 EQ and have to say that I am very happy with it. However, I bought it second-hand for an absolute 'snip' and with the attitude that I was going to use it to learn and experiment with. So far I have achieved a fair amount of success with it and am learning a lot that will be very useful when I decide to upgrade to a better 'toy'.

If you are not prepared to start experimenting yet, have you thought about a dobsonian mounted 'scope? Whilst I like an EQ mount as I can experiment with low-level astrophotgraphy ( good astrophotography requires a lot of cash ) this may not be your requirement and you could probably get a bigger mirror ( = more light ) on a dobsonian mount for the same money.

My quibbles with the AstroMaster are:

• The red dot finder. Some like it, I don't - so have fitted a Rigel Quickfinder instead.
  
• The RA motor. I bought one and found that it varies in speed too much for what I need so I have designed my own motor and control system to replace it.
  
• The initial collimation. Whilst this could be out on any telescope, mine was very poor. This was probably because it was second-hand and had not been looked after and had also been shipped poorly. You will have to learn collimation if you use a newtonian 'scope at some point in the future, so this is not a show stopper.
  

Apart from this I think it's great, but then a SkyWatcher 130 owner would probably say the same about their 'scope.......

Hope this helps,

Alan