Vivitar 114 900 Scope - Advice Please

[feisar]

Hiya guys, i have been reading through this forum all afternoon whilst waiting for my confirmation email. For sure I have found the place I'm looking for.

I had a cheap tasco scope when I was a kid and loved spending hours in the back garden looking at the moon. Ever since then I have always been fascinated with the sky at night. I'm in my 30's now and have never picked up a telescope since, but this xmas my parents bought me a scope and it has got me excited again.

I know I have come to right place and you will tell me as it is... Is this telescope any good, please advise, what is it capable of? It looks the part but wot do I know. I've looked on the net for it but cannot find it anywhere.

I might be asking a few more questions in the near future, so just bare with me, I know very little but want to know more.

Many Thanks

[Casus belli]

Firstly a warm welcome to SGL. I've had a search too and worryingly I cant find anything about it either.

If your parents are keen astronomers then its probably OK, if not then I'm afraid its liable to be a High street store telescope which tend to be a waste of money. ( I feel like such a Scrooge telling some-one that his Xmas present from his loving parents is probably rubbish) I'm afraid the general consenses is that binoculars are better than store bought telescopes.

Option one is to see if it can be returned. Use that money and add a few quid yourself and try some of the specialist telescope dealers (First light optics are very well thought of here) Before you buy anything, ask! There are a few good, affordable scopes out there but it all depends on what you want to see, whether or not you want to take photos, how portable it is (Some scopes are too heavy to move and end up as expensive living room ornaments), theres lots to consider.

Option two is to give it a try. It might be OK. Get a pair of binoculars as they are great for finding things to point your scope at and wrap up warm. 8X50 or 10X50 are fine and these can be store bought. I hear Liddls do a decent pair for a tenner.

Download this free, safe, easy to use program. It brings the sky to your computer room where its warm and there are always clear skies.

stellarium.org

I might be wrong about your scope and I really hope I am. If I'm not chalk it up to experience and start saving. I started this hobby 18 months ago and I'm hooked. Ive been frozen to the bone, short of sleep and thwarted by clouds on a weekly basis but I still love it.

[feisar]

Thanks Cassus, I appreciate your reply. Its been cloudy since xmas so I havn't had chance to look at anything. Is there anything I can say that would tell you if it is rubbish. What would you look for?

[supernova]

Can you post a picture that may help finding it on the net?

As for what to look for, give it a go because I bought a Rubbish £100 scope off ebay 18months ago and it was outside every night that was clear , and I learnt a hell of a lot from it eg, collimation, the sky, star hopping, polar aligning ect,ect. And I thought it was fantastic .

I still have it .

Bernie.

p.s Welcome to SGL

[barkis]

Hi. Feisar.

Is this anything like your scope?. If it is, I see no reason why you should not get some very reasonable viewing out of it

A friend of mine owned and still owns, a 4.5" reflector, and he is very satisfied with it. It will have limitations of copurse, with it's small light gathering capacity, but the moon and several planets will be observable to a small degree. Mars will be a good challeng for you, and with the aid of an orange and a red filter, you may pick out some detail on the planet. A lot will depend on seeing conditions though.

Ron.

(click to enlarge)

[AlexG]

Hi Felsar

Welcome to SGL. I've had a hunt around and think I have found your Vivitar. It appears to be a straight forward small reflector rather like the old Helios offering.

http://www.twenga.co.uk/dir-Photo,Binoculars-and-telescopes,Telescope-4485 Not a very helpful picture! Wave your cursor on the picture and there is a short specification list.

The question really is how good the optics are. If it is well-made you can put in some decent eye-pieces and look at the moon, Saturn and Jupiter, Orion Nebula - the usual small telescope sights. If it is wonky though you will be wasting your time and better off with a nice pair of binoculars. I will leave it to the more experienced people on this forum to give their views on the optics...

Hope it proves to be a good present!

Regards

AG

[Casus belli]

Any specs at all. What size and make are your eyepieces what size is the mirror just anything at all about it. Does it say on the box "600X magnification!" (Always a bad sign!) Maybe the best way is to try it some cloudless and wind free night.

The moon is always a good target. Mars is high up at the moment but its a difficult target to see any detail on. Saturn rises before midnight, you might be able to see its rings. (Its an amazing sight when you see it for the first time).

Beyond that well I dont know as Im only going by my own experiance of store bought scopes. All I saw with the one I had was the moon. I never found anything else with it. I used it twice then binned it and used binoculars instead.

With a decent small scope or pair of binoculars you will see glorious star fields, globular clusters, binary stars and galaxies. If its not decent then you wont.

Try your scope from as dark a site as you can. Give your eyes time to adapt to the dark. If you use that scope more than a few times then its ok.

[feisar]

AlexG, thats it, I think the description is a little different tho. I'll tell ya wot I've got:

2 x Barlow

1.5 x Erecting Eyepiece

K10mm eyepiece

K25mm eyepiece

1 x moon filter

1 x sun filter

God knows how I can tell how big the mirror is, it just says Objective Mirror: Concave mirror, hard-coated

The box does not say 600x or anything like that, it just says Equatorial Reflector Telescope

D114mm F900mm

1.25" K9

K20 & H12.5

3 x Barlow

Resolving Power: 1"

Visual Magnitude: 12M

In fact looking at it, the box has the same desc as the one in the pic but whats actually inside is diff.

Are Vivitar any good at making cameras cos that seems to be what they're selling.

And its blumming cloudy again so I still cant test it

[Rob]

[glow=red,2,300]Caution on the sun filter.. I would not feel happy in suggesting you use that.[/glow]

This scope looks like Tasco re-brand job, it should function fine and allow you to ease into the hobby. The eyepieces will not be great, and as a first option I'd look to pick up some plossl's. David Hinds have some in there sale 'Celestron Nexstar'. These are good eyepieces, at a good price.

Rob

[Sam]

Feisar,

What is the mount like, is it stable or does is wobble for ages every time you move the telescope?

Sam

[barkis]

Those figure put it at about f7.

Ron.

[feisar]

Thnx and forgive me but wot are 'plossl's'? You think better lenses will improve the quality of picture? I think I will take a look at that sale, wot do u suggest I buy?

And yes the stand seems very sturdy I am very impressed, wot is it EQ1?, but I have nothing to compare it to, only the cheap one I had as a kid and that was 1 handle that you move and tighten.

[feisar]

Wots that barkis, f7?

[daz]

feisar

You've got a 4" reflector which will give some very nice views of the planets and some brighter DSO's.

From your specs you've posted, the D=114 is the size of the mirror (114mm, ~4"). The F=900 is the focal length, the point from the mirror that the light focuses - 900 mm. Divide 900 by 114 and you get 7.8 which is your focal ratio.

First thing you want to do is throw the sun filter as far as you possibly can - DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE IT ON THE SUN!!!!

The K's on the eyepieces stands for Kellner, a design of eyepiece. These wont give the best views at all, but they'll do for now.

[daz]

Just seen your question on the f/7. Don't worry about it for now.....

All you need to know is that the 900 divided by the number of the eyepiece gives you magnification.

900 / 9 = 100x - easy, eh?

Plossls are much better than Kellners and will improve the views dramatically!

[Rob]

Thanks Daz.. beat me to it!

[feisar]

OK thats 2 people that have told me to get rid of the sun filter, so thats gone.

I've had a look at David Hinds Ltd and had a look at the Plossl. Are they all a standard size, will they fit my scope. Also what I found strange was that a 32mm eyepiece is a lot more expensive than a 10mm, have I got this right... the 10mm eyepiece magnification is greater that the 32mm.

I wouldn't mind seeing what my eyepieces are like and then buying the plossl to compare.

Thanks for explanation Daz

[Rob]

Yes, by all means try the eyepieces that come with the scope. The 1.25" range will fit ok. The 32mm will have more glass in it and tend to cost a little more. The other option is Ebay for eyepieces.. there are a number of sellers with new Celestron plossl EP's for sale on there, you could pick up a 12mm / 13mm & 32mm at a later date. I've bought a few in the past and they have been fine.

Glad you binned the solar filter!! - phew. Go you the scope and enjoy.

Rob

[legion48]

...I wouldn't mind seeing what my eyepieces are like and then buying the plossl to compare.

Don't wait too long mate. Barkis (Ron) still has a 20mm Plossl in the For Sale section for a tenner!

[feisar]

and wot are the super plossl lenses

[Rob]

...I wouldn't mind seeing what my eyepieces are like and then buying the plossl to compare.

Don't wait too long mate. Barkis (Ron) still has a 20mm Plossl in the For Sale section for a tenner!

Cant go wrong for £10!!

[Rob]

and wot are the super plossl lenses

Try this link for details on eyepiece designs... don't worry, there is a lot to learn in our great hobby. Its not a race!

http://www.aoe.com.au/eyepiece_types.html

Rob

[Casus belli]

It sounds as though that scope might be ok. Im so glad. I felt horrible telling you that it might be rubbish. Blame my Scottish background. (we're a doomed ah tell ya, doomed!)

Glad you chucked that dangerous sun filter away. There ought to be a law against them.

Do let us know how you get on with it. Hopefully it will encourage you spend the rest of your life freezing your bottom off, cursing the cloud gods, for the odd sight of something spectacular, just like the rest of us do.

[Rob]

I think the scope will be just fine. I've done some research and it looks like these models mostly sell in the USA and on Amazon.com.

As both myself & Daz already mentioned, the weakest area will be the cheap Kellner EP's.. this issue is easy solved (when ready), and the scope will provide many a great night in the backyard!.

I started with a Helios 114 reflector, that scope came with 2 Kellner EP's.. I used them for a year before swapping to the plossl's, boy it was like another scope!. the 50 Degree field of view was a huge bonus + much sharper.

Worry not, use the scope and enjoy it!. check out the free sky maps and plan your first target... the moon maybe?. Followed by Mars!

Rob

[Sam]

Try this link for details on eyepiece designs... don't worry, there is a lot to learn in our great hobby. Its not a race!

http://www.aoe.com.au/eyepiece_types.html

Rob

Excellent website Rob, thanks.