Finderscope for Astromaster 130

[karlernst]

Hi!

I have been using my Celestron Astromaster 130 for a while now and im thinking about getting a real finderscope for it. The red-dot isnt working as well as i had hoped. I found several cheap ones on ebay, amongst other "Seben 6x30" can be found very cheap.

Is this a good idea? or do i need to spend more money than that?

[ronin]

Usually Seban are poor.

Next there are about 4 basic types of finders: Straight through, Right Angle, TelRad, Red Dot.

People tend to find that one suits them better then the others.

The question is therefore which one suits you best?

Someone that has a Tel Rad will rave about them, people with a red dot will praise them, people with a right angle will say how good they are and finally people that like the straight through will point out they do everything are simple and a lot cheaper.

However just one will suit you and be easy and comfortable to use.

Your problem is which one. :evil: :evil:

I have a red dot and like it, and a friend has a straight through and likes it.

So which of us is right ? (=Neither) :grin:

[brantuk]

Yup you need to try them out to decide what you're most comfy with. I use a raci finder and a telrad on one scope, but multi reticule red dot finder only, on another. If you're a beginner then a red dot finder on your scope should be ok - but I'd choose a better quality one cos the standard one supplied with your scope isn't too hot. Hth

[AstroTux]

Have a look at the Rigel QuickFinder. The AstroMaster 130 isn't a large 'scope so a Telrad is a bit big for it, but I've used a QuickFinder for some time now and find it very easy to use with this 'scope. As it came with two bases I also use it on the 250px dob and have found it just as easy as a finder 'scope, and very much better than the RDF supplied with the 130 ( which in my humble opinion is terrible :grin: ).

Hope this helps,

Alan

[Schorhr]

As my heritage 130 is a 130/650mm telescope I think I can relate.

The red dot finder is great for it's value, but has it's limits when the light pollution prevents you from seeing vital stars in constellations in order to locate an object...

A 30mm Plossl for 15€ shipped works well to show the maximum field on a 1.25" focuser, resulting in not quite two-and-a-half degree in the sky. A 32MM plossl or 40mm plossl will show a tad more, but the 32mm is more expensive and the 40mm exit pupil is too large and the apparent field of view narrow. These eyepieces give you 16-20x at 650mm focal length, around 50 degree afov, usualy sufficient in combination with the red dot finder for star hopping.

The 5x24, 6x30 and similar finder scopes are pretty horrible imho. I have a few of each on different starter scopes, and in my humble oppinion it is hard to view through and not worth it. A 6-10 x 50 finderscope, better one that takes eyepieces and a diagonall , would be ideal but heavy and expensive... But allowing to view through it comforably while showing more details, especially when searching faint deep sky objects.

The Rigel quickfinder is great with the right maps or a set of circles on a transparent sheet for an existing atlas.

Another solution would be one of those inexpensive firstscope/heritage clones ontop of the telescope, as they cost only 20€ sometimes and with a 30mm eyepiece have 10x magnification. I Still haven't done it with mine as currently I fear my main telescope can't handle the weight. But there are also some cheap 60/400 scopes, perhaps they are lighter.

Of course one would have to add a crosshair or buy a ch ep... So the cost of either solution stays the same.

So as conclusion, if you don't have one, go with a low magnification eyepiece, and center it roughly, I usualy eyeball it, then I insert the 20 or 8mm eyepiece.

The 30mm eyepiece I have is from seben/orbinar by the way, and not as bad as some of their reviewed products would suggest... The 40mm I have is from some random china reseller, probably from the same factory by the looks of it. Both work fine, though lack of a eyecup, which can be made out of pipe isolation or similar.

[nicks90]

as a 130mm celestron owner - i sympethise and decided to piggy back my very light weight 70mm fast scope on to the camera bolt on the ota ring.

that picture was just a mock up, since i found it worked well - the red dot finder is gone, and so is the straight through little finder. I just reckon the scope up by eye in the general area and then use the little frac as my finder scope. Works a charm. Ep I use is a cheapy 20mm plossl i got for free with a 0.5x focal reducer i picked up for a couple of pounds. so effectively a 40mm ep giving x9 mag and a really good fov. not had any balancing issues either. The only time it doesnt work well is when the light pollution is bad (facing east towards street lights) as the sky is very pale with such low mag and wide fov.

Nick

[karlernst]

Thanx for all the input! Ill have a look around and see what might be sutable for me. Ill stay away from the 10$ 6x35