Bushnell 900x114mm Telescope

[fredbloggsXIII]

Hi.  I have the chance to select a Bushnell 900x114mm Telescope as part of a long service award scheme at work.  It is the 'go to' version with remote control for locating and tracking objects quickly and easily.

Has anyone got any experience of this scope and is it worth it?

I've got a Skywatcher at the moment but find it really hard to find and keep 'locked on' to objects without the motor so am considering this as an alternative.

Thanks for any input.

[Cornelius Varley]

For £369 (slightly less than the smaller 900x114 Northstar) you can get a Skywatcher Star Discovery 150. The 114 x 900 would probably be a backward step from your current Explorer 130 x 650 .

[fredbloggsXIII]

Thanks for the advice.  I don't use my skywatcher much due to difficulty I find in tracking things.  It has the mount that I can attach a motor too, maybe I will have a look along the lines of motorizing my current one.

I am constrained to the model from my service award options unfortunately so am unable to pick and choose.

[Cosmic Geoff]

This is clearly a beginner scope and reading between the lines of the Amazon reviews it does not have a great rep. What's the alternative? If it's cash, take the cash. If it's a clock or something, you can decide whether to take the scope and cross your fingers that it will be useful for something. Maybe you can mount your 130mm reflector on the GoTo mount. (You should be able to, if it uses a standard dovetail bar).

[fredbloggsXIII]

There quite a few different options.  We cannot take cash but I could research which is worth the most and attempt to sell it.  I did read some amazon reviews and thought I would come here for some proper advice  

I think I will forget the Bushnell and explore options of making my current scope 'go to' instead.  I have seen a few things with it including saturns rings and neptunes stripes and the orion nebula but the view literally lasts seconds before they rotate out of view then I lose the object.  It is hindering my motivation to try and do more with the scope and it's just sat collecting dust.

[Ricochet]

If you polar align your eq mount then keeping an object in view in theory only requires turning one slow motion cable to keep the object in view. However, the EQ2 is not the best mount so is the wobbliness of the mount an issue or are you not polar aligning? Adding a motor to this mount won't make it go-to, just motorised. You will still have to find the objects yourself and properly polar align so that the motor keeps the object in view. Do you have any budget for a new mount/telescope that isn't this gift from your company? Skywatcher offer a few different alt/az goto options in the £200-300 range that could handle your current scope and if the budget is an issue you could keep an eye on the second hand market. With the new az-gti on the market I would imagine we might see a few star discovery and az synscan mounts appear in the classifieds.

[fredbloggsXIII]

I need to look into a bit more I think.  Maybe I'm not aligning it properly to start with.  I was a complete beginner when I got the Skywatcher and I probably remain in that bracket at the moment.  Just seeing the Bushnell as an option has sparked my enthusiasm to get out there and giving it another go.

[Ricochet]

Have a look at these videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plx6XXDgf2E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdkB5NCnFps

[fredbloggsXIII]

1 hour ago, Ricochet said:

Have a look at these videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plx6XXDgf2E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdkB5NCnFps

I will do, thanks

 

[AstroKerr]

Yeah, skip the Bushnell - reviews I've seen say 'trouble ahead'. You seem to be on the right track with tracking motor and a little study-up as the lads have said. Tracking motor ought to be included with any or every EQ mount - it's a nice 'one less thing' addition. If ya still fancy some goto - those old ETXs can be had inexpensively as can SLT/NexStar mounts with handsets and they're mad fun =) - mind the payload limits if ya pickup a 'goto' - your Scope's ~Kg 3,7 / lb 8.1, so you'd be safe with, say, an NexStar 6/8 or equivalent. 

You'll get this done, I am sure!

Clear Skies & Sharp Eyes & Thanks everyone for posting - I always learn something!

Jim  

Those are handy vid links!

[fredbloggsXIII]

I've just come back to this conundrum and have obtained the Model number for the telescope.  It is a Bushnell 900x114mm Telescope, Model number 788846.

Would I be able to use the mount and go to for my Skywatcher 130P?

[Ricochet]

Looking at photos of the "rear" of the mount it looks like the telescope is bolted onto a custom saddle so I don't think the mount is going to easily fit any other telescope. In addition, the tripod looks particularly flimsy and looks to be built into the bottom of the mount head rather than a replaceable part. I think that even for free, this looks like a telescope that should be avoided.

[fredbloggsXIII]

Thanks for that, I think I will take your advice and maybe look at getting a Go-to for my scope instead.