First new scope bought

[night_owl]

Hi all.

I joined SGL in 2011 when I thought I was going to retire? However, that did not happen till last month and just bought my first (Beginners) scope yesterday for £50. It's a Celestron 114EQ Astromaster on a CG2 mount, a 10mm eyepiece with moon filter and 20mm all in excellent (New) condition but no CD-ROM (Sky level 1 software) for charts/maps, can I get/buy/download a copy of this?

My main question is what will I need to enhance the viewing aspects of the 114EQ. I have purchased an Orbinar Plossl 4mm 31.7mm (1.25) eyepiece and a Achromatic 2 x Barlow (BA) both from Seben of Germany. Both have very good value for money reviews but will I need/require other eyepieces to enhance the scope? I have also been told that the Star Pointer scope is very poor and may need to be replaced with a better alternative........ but which one?

Any advice/Help would be greatly appreciated

[Schorhr]

Hello night_owl,

for 50gpb that's not bad at all!

I have a few Orbinar Plössl, also the 4mm, it has a verrrry short eye relief... Use a 9/10mm Plössl and a barlow or get one of the great BST/TMP eyepieces with 60 degree aparent field of view :-)

The Plössl >9mm are not bat for their price.

Their plössl is as well.

If you can try to change the 4mm plössl, perhaps get their 30mm EP as it gives you the maximum field of view on the 1.25" Focuser.

In the long term BST 60deg eyepieces 40gpb+ or the cheaper 27gbp 66degree eyepieces (not as good regarind sharpness on the outer field, their performance is similar to Plössl but with an amazing wide angle view).

The Catadioptre may cause you trouble regarding collimation and high power magnification.

A 5 or 4.5mm eyepiece should be th absolute maximum regarding magnification, 4mm will have a too small exit pupil and views just get dark and loose contrast.

The mount should be acceptable as the catadioptre system is short...

As you have gotten the telescope for a decent price, it's an okey scope to start with, for the original price it's a insult to beginners... Many of those starter sets are either of questionable stability, optics, or both. The manufacturers are to blame :-( They try to keep the prices low and save wherever they can. Exceptions are the Heritage 130p or a 130/650, 114/900 on a stable mount (NEQ-3 and up).

The 114mm telescope will show you a lot, you can google freestarcharts, download Stellarium and Cartes Du Ceil.

Turn left at orion is considered a great book that will show you where to search and what to expect :-)

Have fun!

[rowan46]

don't spend a lot on this scope, as you said its your first beginners scope. enjoy the moon, the rings of saturn, the bands of jupiter, m42 and a few others besides but if you use use this scope for any length of time you will probably want a bit more. the book suggested by schorr is a great idea but other than that leave your cash in the bank ready to go towards your next scope. This scope is designed as a beginners scope a bit like those after shave tester samples they give away, if you like it you go out and get a full bottle. Save your money for the full bottle. Use the scope you have and enjoy it but don't spend a lot on it. A cheap eyepiece in this scope is a cheap eyepiece in your next one conversely an expensive eyepiece in this scope will never show its full potential in this scope

[gkec]

Use it, push it to it's limits, find the limitations, enjoy what you can see and achieve.  Maybe try a bit of webcam astrophotography.  Then decide where you want to go next. 

As for the skymap as others have said use Stellarium.

If the finder scope is straight though and near the eyepiece at the aperture end of the scope, move it to somewhere where you can actually see through it. Like near the mirror end.  And/or get a red dot finder.

[night_owl]

Schortr, Thanks for your very quick reply much appreciated, I will take in what you advise, I wasn't sure which way to go and should have asked before I bought.... ! But at the price I can't complain and will look at you're suggestions. I will get a larger scope once I master this one. This one will go to Turkey where I spend a lot vacation of time.  

Thanks once again.

John

[andyman]

As rowan says use it have some fun with it if astronomy is for you upgrade at a later date

[Reeny]

Hi Night Owl,

Stellarium is free to download, and better than any CD software package I have seen.

If you need to invest bigger money to get quality eyepieces, try before you buy.

The best place to do this is to meet up with other stargazers at a club meeting or event.

Google Sunderland / Newcastle / or Northumberland Astro club events, and see what might be on offer to try out.

Your 20 / 10 / 4mm might be OK on their own without needing any more eyepieces or a Barlow.

At 1000mm that will give you 50x / 100x / 250x magnification

You can test the Barlow's optical quality by comparing the sharpness of the 10mm with the 20mm x2

Focus on the moon craters when it returns.

The x2 image should be no worse than using the standard 10mm eyepiece.

If all is well, you have a useable 2x magifier

If the 2x is worse - the Barlow might be causing distortion.

[rowan46]

Night owl for £50 you have a decent intro into astronomy you haven't wasted your money enjoy those dark nights in turkey

[night_owl]

Thanks ALL, I should have known that you're all night hawks and, would not have to wait till tomorrow for a response    The chap I bought it from just wanted rid of it and had only used it a few times, the scope, box and packing are still New. He said that he paid £139.00 last year, so a bargain. I have travelled all my working life and seen dark sky's in some really remote locations and always had an interest in astronomy. I've had a summer home in Turkey for 30 years and can see the milky way with the naked eye.

Reeny. I will look up a local Astro Club and see what I can learn.

All good advice Chaps.

[Schorhr]

I ment to write barlow instead of Plössl twice in my Post ;-)

The Seben achromatic barlow is a decent way to Experiment with magnification, it's quality is okey, some color fringe visible but overall Not as Bad as the plastic lens barlows :-)

Enjoy your views, under dark skies it really doesn't matter what telescope you use, it will Show more then even a Bit larger telescope in alight poluted city.

As you got it so cheap the resale value will be Good, if you ever plan on upgrading that is :-)

I myself started with a used, weakly mounted telescope, it shows you what to watch out for on your next purchase ;-)

[night_owl]

Not a problem Schorhr, I guessed that! I have been doing some day light viewing this morning and all seams fine with the scope and quite surprised at the quality and magnification but starting to see what the additional eyepiece's may bring.

I have been to Germany many times and driven right through it on 4 occasions when going to Turkey, in fact worked in Hamburg for a year designing 2 condensate  storage tanks for Shell West Africa, I worked for Shell in Africa for almost 15 years, then in the later years in Holland, I loved Germany and the people.

I down loaded Stellarium ver 0.12.4 and found it informative but lots to learn just getting to grips with.

gkec (Star Forming) Mentions Webcams and would like to try that with an old Webcam I have. I have just rebuilt an old Dell laptop which, I could use rather than my Mac, do I need to modify the webcam? I have read (Youtube) that you need to remove an internal lens sensor!!!