What is the Celestron Travel Scope 70 Refractor Telescope like?

[Scott1]

Hi

Got talking to a friend today and I mentioned im looking at buying a telescope one topic lead to another and he mentioned to have a look at the CELESTRON Travel Scope 70 Refractor Telescope as it might be something to start off with. Can anyone advice on this product?

Scott

[Dunkster]

Welcome Scott!

Optically it's not a bad little scope, but the eyepieces aren't up to much (bundled ones usually aren't!) and the worst part is the tripod. It's a little on the flimsy side and moving the telescope on the tripod would try the patience of a saint I'm sure if you already have a good quality photographic tripod, it should mount on their no problem though, as I believe the thread is the same.

The best advice would be to look into whether there's an astronomy society/club/group near you and visit on one of their open sessions. There you'll get to see a variety of different telescopes and their equally varied owners and get to see what's what. Just to set your expectations, there are good (and slightly larger) telescopes that start at a little over £100, but obviously that is a little more than the travel scope 70

[robhatherton]

Given that its only 70mm it really is quite good,nice for bird watching in the day time too. The 10mm eyepiece is not good at all but the 20mm is decent. The finder scope is tricky to align but I don't bother with mine as sighting along the telescope tube will get me where I want to go ok. Replace the tripod with a second hand photo tripod or set it up on a camping table without extending the legs.

[Daddystu]

For what it is I believe its a great little scope. I managed to pick it up new off ebay for around 40. The eyepieces aren't too bad especially the 20mm which sees quite a bit of use. The carry bag it comes with has now become my imaging laptop bag. Optically i'm very surprised with its performance which isn't a great deal shy of my ED-80 for wide-field. I've viewed M57 and M31 through it in recent nights using my QHY5 (whilst selecting a guide-star). I would say it deserves a much better mount/tripod than the 'trash' they bundle with it.

[Keener_7]

The Travel Scope 70 was my first scope and I didn't regret it one bit. I spent many nights out in my yard tracking down and viewing objects with it, it got me hooked. Though it wasn't long before I upgradded to a larger scope. Even now, I still use it often. Its small size and weight make it great for a grab and go scope when you just want to have the quick look and I always take it on camping trips.

For the price point it's a pretty decent scope, and if turn out that its not "your thing" then it would only be a minor loss of investment. As others have said, you may want to get a half decent tripod, the one that is provoided it pretty much useless.

[Schorhr]

One of my first telescopes was a 20€ firstscope or heritage76 clone.

Given that you can get even the originals for 25€ on sale sometimes.

Same trouble. With the cheap eyepieces, but Saturn is amazing with a 2.5mm eyepiece, or 6mm + barlow.

For deepsky I would not recommend anything under 4.5" aperture, but then, those usualy start at 100€...

[LukeSkywatcher]

The Travelscope while being a pretty good scope has limits. Its sold as a widefield scope and thats what it is good at. It will give great views of certain objects like clusters, starfields etc. Its not great on planets or nebulae. It prefers to work at low magnifications and really struggles at magnifications needed for observing planets etc.

The tripod it is supplied with is really bad and would need replacing with something bigger and more sturdy. Then you would stand a chance of using higher magnification for observing the Moon.

It does what it claims to do but not much else. Its a really well made scope and nice to use it for what its intended to be used for but as i said...........it has limits.

[Schorhr]

So considering you can't magnify high on planets due to chromatic aberration, the weak tripod and the not-so-good eyepieces, a Heritage 130p or 6" dobsonian doesn't sound so bad :-))

Especially for deepsky aperture is key...

Under 100€/£ get a cheap used 76/700 newton (should sell once in a while for under 20€) and build a dobsonian mount (dead simple, under 5€ and all you need is a saw and preferrably electric screwdriver/drill).

A reflector/mirror telescope has the advantage that there id no chromatic aberration at high magnifications, while a smiple fh refractor with 500mm focal length won't perform too well at maximum magnification...

[LukeSkywatcher]

CA isnt the issue with planets at high magnifications. The scope just isnt happy using such high powers. Not to mention the 70mm lens. I cant say its impossible.............it just wont be rewarding by any definition of the word. Its just not a scope for planets or deep sky.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Put it this way:

I wouldnt be buying a Travelscope 70 and plan to use it as my main scope for observing as it is limited in what it does. It does what it says it does.............nothing more,nothing less. A much better choice depending on what you can use and store and lift is either a 8-10" Dob or a smaller Dob like the Heritage. If dobs are not your thing you can always go for a newt which is essentially the same design as a Dob except it is on an equatorial mount.

Look up the Skywatcher Explorer 130(p). Popular scope.

The name "Dob" refers to the stand design that the scope comes on, and not the scope itself.

An EQ mount will also allow you to do imaging if that aspect of astronomy floats your boat.

[mikehab]

Interesting topic... I too have been wondering about the Celestron Travelscope 70 - just as a portable / mini 'fun' scope. 100% of the reviews confirm that the tripod is a total waste of space - so throw that straight in the bin and ignore that... so just taking the scope on its own - any thoughts on how it would compare to the Celestron 76mm firstscope which is currently only £39.99 on Amazon?

Travelscope: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-21035-Travel-Scope-Telescope/dp/B001TI9Y2M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374252861&sr=8-1&keywords=travelscope+70

vs

Firstscope : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-21024-76-mm-Firstscope/dp/B001UQ6E4Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374252347&sr=8-1&keywords=firstscope

70mm refractor vs 76mm dob.... which would be the better choice...or are they much of a muchness?

I guess the obvious difference is that the firstscope dob couldn't be used out of the box for terestrial viewing as the image would be inverted and it doesn't come with an erecting diagonal (whereas the travelscope does). Would the image from the travelscope be sharper than that through the firstscope (the images on Amazon would seem to indicate that to be the case)?

Just wondering...

Thanks,

Mike

[bomberbaz]

I bought a skywatcher 90/900 as a grab and go type arrangement, its more than double the price but the altaz3 mount that comes with it is very much up to the job and it will let you go to x150 with ease. Bigger, heavier and more expensive yes but thats what you would get. I am just in the planning stage of making a box for car boot for the winter, although its getting enough use atm for quick half type sessions.

[Schorhr]

Mike, the firstscopes don't suffer chromatic aberration so work well on high magnification but at f/4 the outer field of most eyepieces will suffer from coma and blurriness. But for the price it's not as bad as it sounds, and if you use a barlow it'll reduce the problem. Also if the flipped image bothers you, you can use an errecting eyepiece/tube, sure, but I never bothered. The small dobsonian firstscope won't be much fun without a table though.

[Scott1]

Hi Bomberbaz the scope you have which is 90/900 does the type have a name e.g. explorer?

Scott

[bomberbaz]

Hi scott, its this one http://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-90-az3.html

[Scott1]

Thanks

How do you find using that scope? do you get good quality vision? What you normally looking at with this scope?

Scott

[bomberbaz]

Thanks

How do you find using that scope? do you get good quality vision? What you normally looking at with this scope?

Scott

I have had reasonable success with Saturn up to 150x and quite a few messier open clusters and M13 also, although admittedly from my garden the view wasn't fab but I am hoping for much better results from darker skies. I also like to use it for scanning the sky at low magnification with a 40mm (x22.5 & 2.2 TFOV) and its great to use with the moon. Looking forward to having a go at Orion Nebula when she finally comes back into view with it and also Andromeda from a dark site too. As mentioned I am making a box for the back of the car for it, I do lot of driving around the region with my job and in the winter frequently pass through dark areas and sometimes I find myself just wishing if only. Well this is where this baby will hopefully come into its own, set up time, less then five minutes, cool down time, none (or very little) if its out of the box from boot of car.

For what I paid I am very happy for it. Being F10 the views are pretty good with the EP's I am using, none of which are premium pieces. The most expensive one is a GSO 32mm

Weight isnt that bad at all either, I reckon about 7kg fully assembled

[LukeSkywatcher]

My apologies. Most of my comments about the Travelscope 70 have been a bit negative. I only mean to point out that it is not a scope to buy as a beginner scope, because of its limitations (being a widefield scope). I dont think i've given any advice on what would be a very good starter scope in the same price range.

So here it is:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html

Its a fantastic scope for anyone at any "level". Its a good all-rounder which will show planets,DSO's and the Moon. Its not a lot more money then the travelscope but certainly performs a hell of a lot better. Ive seen some amazing objects with it.

The Travelscope is (as stated above) a scope to take on holiday with you for a bit of fun observing. The Heritage 130P is a serious scope for every night observing.

Paul

[CedricTheBrave]

can these be used as a guide scope as a second use?

[Daddystu]

Yes the travelscope is an effective guidescope and very lightweight.

[PlanetGazer]

I'm a beginner but I have used this scope personally... First thing you should consider is how serious are you to get into astronomy? that will decide whether to start with such a scope or invest into more better one.

The mount on this scope is really terrible, don't bother using it. I bought a normal tripod to use it with this scope. You get what you pay for. check reviews of the product in this page

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B001TI9Y2M/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

As for the scope, it's good for the price. Can be used for fun and to teach the kids.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Is a guide scope the same as a finder scope?. If so then the 70mm travelscope would be fine for the use of.

[KeironKK]

As a wide field 'scope, its pretty good, not up there with the apo's of the world, but not to be sniffed at either. The over all construction is solid, but the dew shield, I find, is a little on the short side. (Anyone know where to pick up a longer one?) The supplied eyepieces, 20mm and 10mm MA's, are all right, with the 20mm being the better out of the two of them. Word of caution though, the finderscope is worse than useless. I upgraded it to a cheap red dot finder, you can pick them up for around £15, much simpler to use and easier as well. As mentioned, the supplied tripod is extremely flimsy. I use mine on an Astromaster EQ.

My own Travelscope 70 with the red dot finder attached.

[sungazer]

I have one which I find ideal as a grab and go, but I use a good Brandon 25mm eyepiece which seems to be good to the edge of the field. The tripod is only really useable fully closed. I have a monopod/walking stick which has a standard 1/4" whit threaded bolt, and the scope can be screwed onto this for use .Good value secondhand in my opinion ,with better eyepieces. John.

[hoops86]

This is a great little scope for beginners! Well it was for me anyway. Takes seconds to setup. Optics are very good. The user manual is actually very good too. Mine came with a 20mm, 10mm, 5mm and a 3x barlow.

I knew absolutely nothing about astronomy when I got this scope and the manual helped me understand the basics very easily.

As others say though.... the tripod is a nightmare! When you move to an object you must aim high above your target (so it’s out of view) then let go and it will drop back down. Can be very frustrating! Also sneeze in its direction and it might fall over.

I got my first views of Jupiter through this scope and I was blown away by it! However due to the tripod its a case of 20 mins to locate and centre the object then 30 secs of viewing before it drifts out of view again! But this was enough for me to be sucked into the world of astronomy.

I would totally disagree with others here though. In regards to buy this then get a better tripod. That will be 40-50 for the scope then another 30-50 on a tripod. That’s just a waste of money. I would say buy this and try it out to see if you get interested with astronomy or not. If you do… sell it and buy a better one with a better tripod. I would advise getting a small goto scope after this. They can be picked up for around £100.

I bought a meade 90mm goto refractor after a couple of months using the travelscope. The difference was incredible! No more frustrating nights trying to centre objects for a 30 second view.

So… I would say for a beginner not looking to spend a huge amount on a scope its great. However if you already know astronomy is your thing…then just go straight for a decent scope around the £100 mark (you will not regret a goto)

However don’t be fooled…this is not a cheap scope in the long run!!! Once you get bitten by the astronomy bug using this scope… it wont be long till your wallet takes a pounding upgrading to a better setup