advice needs

[Isleofwight]

I'm looking for some help in regard to my equipment  , let me start  by  saying that money is tight for me what with having young children and all the bills like so many other people so please don't just reply saying" just go buy a new decent scope" i think it would also be useful to say that most of my observing is mainly planets  so deep sky huge power is probably  not so important  for me .

I have a few points and questions so I guess the best way is to just list  my concerns and that will probably  be easier to reply to 

I have recently  upgraded from a small refractor  straight tube telescope to a celestron powerseeker 127eq also I had been given a 60 mm objective zoom shooting type spotting scope , 

trouble is when using my new telescope I am finding it not very good , it's ok using the 20mm  eyepiece but when using the 4mm  eyepiece it is almost impossible  to focus  I am finding that my spotting scope is much brighter and clearer and way easier  to use , 

I am thinking that I will upgrade my eyepieces to celestron omni plossi ones as they have been recommended to me , I have been told that for what I need I will mainly need one around the 25mm  size for finding and a 9mm will be a good  sensible  size for  reasonable  close up , and also the quality of the rack and pinion type  focuser  is also bad and hard to use with precision , 

my main questions are along the lines of 1, should my scope with a 9mm eyepiece  out perform my 60mm  spotting scope

2, I am thinking that slowly I could wait for a second hand focuser  with minute adjust and upgrade that , upgrade eye pieces but is it worth it , ? are mirrors just mirrors or are they bad quality too surely a tube us just a tube and no upgrade will be needed , if you tell me mirrors are probably bad no matter what eye pieces  i use etc then I will have to admit defeat 

thanks for reading I look forward to your input 

 

[Cornelius Varley]

Hello and welcome to SGL. The Celestron Powerseeker 127 uses an optical design known as a Jones-Bird. The telescope has a focal length of 1000mm but you will have noticed that the tube is about half that length.  The focal length is achieved by the use of a corrector lens built into the focuser, the lens also corrects spherical aberrations created by the spherical primary mirror. Not all mirrors are the same, the majority of newtonian telescopes use parabolic mirrors, which are optically better than the cheaper spherical mirror used by the powerseeker. Because the focuser also houses the corrector lens you will not be able to upgrade this. The 4mm eyepiece will give a magnification of 250x which is probably too much for the telescope, the eyepiece probably isn't very good either.

[Timebandit]

Hello and welcome to SGL. Mirrors do vary from batch to batch and from scope manufacturer. In all fairness most mirrors produced from such as GSO and synta are reasonable quality. I am not sure if you are using the stock eyepieces which came with the scope. But usually the stock eyepieces are not that great a quality, they are good to get you up and running.

But if it was me I would see if you can lend some quality eyepieces off a friend and try them in your scope. If views improve to a good standard, then your mirror is ok and obviously some decent eyepieces are needed. If views do not improve and there are no focal issues or collimation issues causing a problem then I am not sure about throwing money at a scope. Do remember also going to high a magnification on your scope will also cause a blurry image , so make sure you are not trying to push the magnification to high for your scope limits.

Lastly i see money is tight and you do not have funds to buy a new scope. But don't be tempted to throw money at a scope if you are not going to get much improved views. You are better off looking for a used scope that has good performance and a respected following. Two such  scopes are those like the skywatcher 150p and 200p and are a good second hand buy and can be picked up for reasonable amounts. I have purchased most of my kit used and this may be the way for you to go if the suggestions posted on here do not improve your current scopes. All the best.

 

 

 

 

[Ricochet]

I think your powerseeker should out perform your spotting scope for astronomical targets, unless the corrector lens on these models is especially terrible. The extra apperture should give you better resolution and light gathering. I'm also assuming that your spotting scope doesn't allow the use of alternate eyepieces to reach the magnifications you would want for planetary viewing. 

I would certainly give upgrading the eyepieces a go. AstroBoot often sell decent Plossl eyepieces for £15 each and you may find some second hand in the classifieds here or on astrobuysell. 

Magnification is the focal length of your telescope divided by the focal length of the eyepiece. With 200x as a rough guide to the most you will get under UK skies this equates to a 5mm eyepiece so you can see why your 4mm is not performing (in addition to it being generally of poor quality). For observing planets I would suggest an eyepiece in the 5-7mm range, but with a Plossl the eye relief will be quite tight at those lengths so something like a 12mm Plossl and 2x barlow will be much more comfortable. 

[Knighty2112]

The highest magnification your scope can take is 300x. The 4mm EP like Cornelius said will give you 250x magnification, so should be OK for your scope. The 2 mains things limiting a good view of the planets at that magnification on most telescopes is the seeing conditions. Most times an averag UK night will allow between 200x to 250x maximum. The other issue most likely is the EP itself. I have a stock Celestron 4mm EP too and it is very poor optically when I compare it to either my 6mm or 4.5 EP, which are much better at coping with higher magnifications, so with these two issues that more than likely is why you can't get a great image with any planets. You might do better to getting a 9mm or 6mm better quality EP and you should see an improvment in the image. As funds are tight I would go with Celestron Omni 6mm plossl. Although the view is restricted still like the 4mm EP you have, the quality of the image should be much better.

Anothe tissue could also be the telescope needs collimating, which for that kind of scope is quite a hard job to do been a Jones-Bird type of scope, so I wouldn't undertake that lightly. Get a 6mm EP first and see how the image is with that first.

[Knighty2112]

BTW: a 6mm EP will give you a magnification of 166x which should be much sharper. 

[Cornelius Varley]

36 minutes ago, Knighty2112 said:

The highest magnification your scope can take is 300x. The 4mm EP like Cornelius said will give you 250x magnification, so should be OK for your scope. The 2 mains things limiting a good view of the planets at that magnification on most telescopes is the seeing conditions. Most times an averag UK night will allow between 200x to 250x maximum. The other issue most likely is the EP itself. I have a stock Celestron 4mm EP too and it is very poor optically when I compare it to either my 6mm or 4.5 EP, which are much better at coping with higher magnifications, so with these two issues that more than likely is why you can't get a great image with any planets. You might do better to getting a 9mm or 6mm better quality EP and you should see an improvment in the image. As funds are tight I would go with Celestron Omni 6mm plossl. Although the view is restricted still like the 4mm EP you have, the quality of the image should be much better.

Anothe tissue could also be the telescope needs collimating, which for that kind of scope is quite a hard job to do been a Jones-Bird type of scope, so I wouldn't undertake that lightly. Get a 6mm EP first and see how the image is with that first.

The maximum practical magnification for the powerseeker 127 is nearer 250 than 300. But, in real terms, 250x is probably too much for UK skies. Sometimes less is more.

[rockystar]

Some good advice above - I'd say a 6mm giving x166 will probably be the most effective for your scope (and is probably about the best mag for Jupiter, Saturn will take more, though it's much lower in the sky, and I've never seen Mars as anything more than a bright orange mushy blob) and the UK skies. Are there any astro clubs on the Isle of White that you can attend? If there are, I'm sure someone will be able to check the collimation of your scope and offer advice on eyepieces and probably even lend you one for the evening.

 

[Charic]

3 hours ago, Isleofwight said:

" just go buy a new decent scope"

 

Its not what you want to hear, but you have answered your own question ?

You would have more fun using and operating some Binoculars  rather than the 127EQ, although binoculars will not display the  intricate planetary details you so desire. Its tiresome using the GEM, requiring continuous adjustments and resets for each and every target? The views are  poor, even using better eyepieces, eyepieces alone won't help, as the scope here lets you down, you need a better scope and eyepiece setup. 

By all means get some experience from the 127eq, but don't spend anymore money  on it! If you bought better eyepieces, they will show their merit, not on the 127eq,  but on its replacement? The 127EQ 'Powerseeker' is about as useful as a chocolate fire guard on anything except the Moon, or daylight use with the correcting eyepiece.

My 8x40 binoculars allow me to see an 8° view of the sky, my 10x or 15x allow me to get a little closer, but not anywhere as much detail as my Skyliner provides. I'm not sure what the next telescope will be for you, as you mention that funds are tight, but by saving a little here and there, rather than trying to improve the 127eq, it wont be long before you would have enough money for a better scope, even second hand. 

I too have a 127eq in the shed, I learnt a lot from it, EQ setup, tracking, alignment, collimatiing ect, but oh so quickly  I discovered its  many pitfalls,  and yes it was my first true proper scope, but what a lemon it became, yet the supply of books I received in the purchase, and the 3 hour trip in the car was worth it, but now,  cant even give the scope away?

To be honest a 5" scope should provide something, and it does with the Moon, but the Jones-bird construction on this scope, the spherical mirror, which only needs visual collimating, no lasers?  limits  its performance and what you can do with the scope. 

Its obvious I  don't rate this telescope (127eq) and don't recommend its purchase or any  upgrade/improvements. but maybe save through the Summer, and have/own an improved scope by the Winter when the darker nights return, nothing up there will be missing if you wait a little longer! A 6" Skyliner Dobsonian will give you better results and a much  easier setup  over your 127, but I would suggest  the 8" as a minimum. The results under the right conditions are stunning.

Welcome to the SGL.

 

[Isleofwight]

 wow that was a good response  , thank you, I think your right I guess I made a mistake , I have had bino,s before and like I said have a half decent spotting scope now but I might just save up and get a bigger size spotting scope for home and join my local observatory club for a cess to a decent scope 

 

[Stu]

12 hours ago, Isleofwight said:

 wow that was a good response  , thank you, I think your right I guess I made a mistake , I have had bino,s before and like I said have a half decent spotting scope now but I might just save up and get a bigger size spotting scope for home and join my local observatory club for a cess to a decent scope 

 

I wouldn't spend more money on a larger spotting scope, that seems to be a waste of limited funds to me. I tend to agree with the previous poster that the 127 will be limited, but that's not to say you can;t get some reasonable results from it until you can afford something different. Make sure it is collimated properly, and stick to around x150 max and you should be ok. My first scope was a bird-jones design, 150mm newt. I din't even know what a bird-jones design was when I bought it, and probably didn't find out until after I sold it! I gave reasonable images, very good to a beginner, but ran out of steam above x150 even with good eyepieces.

Use it to learn the basics of the sky, and an EQ mount, then save up for a 150mm dob or similar. The 127mm will have some resale value on ABS or here so you can put that towards your upgrade.