SkyWatcher Explorer 130 or Celestron Astromaster 130EQ

[conor0072]

Hi guys, i am completely new to this kind of thing but gives me great interest.

i was nearly there with deciding on which piece of kit to get myself started with and read many reviews about skywatcher and them being the guys to go with but came across the celestron astromaster both around the same price was just wondering which one will be the best scope

hope you guys can help

Thanks Conor

[c3po]

Hi guys, i am completely new to this kind of thing but gives me great interest.

i was nearly there with deciding on which piece of kit to get myself started with and read many reviews about skywatcher and them being the guys to go with but came across the celestron astromaster both around the same price was just wondering which one will be the best scope

hope you guys can help

Thanks Conor

Hi Connor,

I wish i had researched first and bought second.... As it happens, i didn't even know about SGL before i bought my scope, and opted for the Celestron 130EQ. How i wish i hadn't, the mount is, as i've come to find out, pretty inferior to the SkyWatcher and the focuser design of the 130EQ means that swapping it out for a low-profile one (for Astrophotography) is a very involved process cutting away some of the plastic moulding used to attach it and the spider vanes/secondary mirror platform to the OTA. Not to mention teh 130eq's woeful attempt at a red-dot starfinder,i found it to be near useless, and in the end i removed it completly fitting a 8x25 RACI finder scope in its place - much better!

All in all, i'd say the SW 130p is the better scope in terms of future expansion and after-market additions, but not having owned one i can't give a fair representation of it.

[conor0072]

thanks a lot, great advice. From what i have read around, Skywatcher seem to be the the brand that people go for more.

[conor0072]

Also I was just wondering if the celestron poweseeker accessory kit would fit the SW 130?

[cantab]

The accessory kits are generally just 1.25" eyepieces, filters, and sometimes a Barlow, so it should fit. However there might be some focal length duplication, and anyway you may be better off just buying quality accessories individually.

[c3po]

Also I was just wondering if the celestron poweseeker accessory kit would fit the SW 130?

Both scopes use 1.25" EPs, so it should work fine. However for a very reasonable £100 (new), and certainly cheaper 2nd hand, you can pick up the Revelation EP and Filter Photo-Visual Set. Curretly out of stock at FLO i think, but as it's highly recommended by many sources that's to be expected.

Compared to the Celestron kit with only 15mm & 9mm Plossl's plus a few filters, the Revelation Kit contains the below for a little over double the cost:

• Plossl 9mm
• Plossl 12mm
• Plossl 15mm
• Plossl 20mm
• Plossl 32mm (projection/visual)
• Barlow x2
• T adaptor
• 1.25" ND96 Moon Filter
• #11 Yellow Green
• #25A Red
• #47 Violet
• #82A Light Blue