Celeston Powerseeker 114 EQ upgrade advice needed

[KevD65]

So I have dabbled in Astronomy for years on and off using binoculars, but recently took the plunge and bought a beginners scope, the Celestron Powerseeker 114EQ. The package I bought included the celestron motor drive for the EQ mount to track objects. I'd read a lot of reviews regarding the scope, and like all beginners scopes it has pro's and con's. For this model the con's listed are the included eyepiece quality and the EQ1 mount and tripod being a little on the light side for this scope, making the setup a bit wobbly. I knew when I purchased the scope that I was going to have to upgrade the eyepieces and at some point the mount and tripod.

So my plan is to purchase a couple of higher quality eyepieces first, and then maybe for Christmas or my Birthday get myself a sturdier mount and tripod for steadier viewing and control. Whilst on the mount supplied with the scope I'll confine myself to viewing the moon, and planets, and easier to find stars and nebula etc.

The tech spec for the telescope is that it has a 900mm focal length, with a focal ratio of 7.89, and supports 1.25" 

 

So I have 3 main questions really, and bear in mind since I'm a beginner I don't want to spend a fortune on top of the range equipment (yet 😃 ). I'm looking for equipment that can get the best from my current scope and me as a beginner;

1 - For lunar and planet observing, plus looking at some of the easier to find stellar objects, what sort and make of eyepieces and filters would you recommend. I'm not looking for high mag at first since the mount is a bit wobbly and aligning and tracking at high mag is tricky. I know practice on my part will help. I just want to be able to view the objects and make out some detail on the planets.

2 - The supplied finder scope is plastic and not very good. Can you recommend a good reasonable level one that will fit and work within the range of my scope and mount limits, Not to mention my own !.

3 - Final Question. I know that at some point in the future, I'm going to have to upgrade the tripod and mount to something sturdier and stable to get the best from the optics this scope has. Again I don't want to break the bank as I'm a beginner, but do you have any recommendations on makes and models I should consider. Being able to track objects would be a plus, but I don't want to go for a computerised mount yet.

 

I hope I've given even info for you to be able to give advice. If you need to know anything else please just ask.

 

[John]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

On the eyepieces, if you can spend £47 apiece, the BST Starguiders are a great upgrade and will do well in future scopes you might own:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces.html

If you want to spend a little less then the Vixen NPL plossls are good quality and value currently:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixen-eyepieces/vixen-npl-eyepieces.html

3 focal lengths giving you low, medium and high power would make sense so perhaps something in the 30mm-25mm range, something in the 12mm-10mm range and something in the 8mm-5mm range.

Personally I would not bother with filters just now but some folks find the moon a bit bright so a moon filter, maybe. I don't use one myself though.

For a finder upgrade, the Rigel Quikfinder would do a great job:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/rigel-quikfinder-compact-reflex-sight.html

For a mount upgrade, I think the EQ3-2 mount would do a much better job with the 114mm 900mm focal length tube than an EQ1 or EQ2:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq3-2-deluxe.html

Of, if you would like to try alt-azimuth, the AZ-4 is pretty solid:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-az4-alt-az-mount.html

Do bear in mind that upgrading the mount will entail investing nearly as much as a 150mm aperture dobsonian would cost and that would give you quite a lot more performance than you current scope has.

Buying used stuff will make your budget go much further of course.

The other upgrades would compliment a larger scope if and when you move to one and have an element of "future proofing" about them.

Hope that helps - other ideas will be forthcoming soon I'm sure

 

 

 

[Ricochet]

1 hour ago, KevD65 said:

recently took the plunge and bought a beginners scope, the Celestron Powerseeker 114EQ. The package I bought included the celestron motor drive for the EQ mount to track objects.

How recently? Is it recent enough that you can still return it for a refund? The reason that I ask is that you've already spent somewhere in the region of £150 for a telescope with a mount that you know from the outset is not good enough. You're planning to upgrade the mount, and @John has given the most reasonable options, which will cost you another £170-£180. Your planned spend on this setup is over £300, but at the end of the day you will still only have a Powerseeker 114. If you were to spend all of that money at once now, you could buy a Skyliner 200p Dob or an Explorer 150p on either of the mounts John suggested, any of which will give superior views on all objects.

[KevD65]

6 hours ago, Ricochet said:

How recently? Is it recent enough that you can still return it for a refund? The reason that I ask is that you've already spent somewhere in the region of £150 for a telescope with a mount that you know from the outset is not good enough. You're planning to upgrade the mount, and @John has given the most reasonable options, which will cost you another £170-£180. Your planned spend on this setup is over £300, but at the end of the day you will still only have a Powerseeker 114. If you were to spend all of that money at once now, you could buy a Skyliner 200p Dob or an Explorer 150p on either of the mounts John suggested, any of which will give superior views on all objects.

I can't work for medical reasons, so money is tight. The upgrades I plan are over an extended period of 12 to 18 months. I chose this scope because it has reasonable optics, and I wanted a beginners scope so I could start getting to grips with using a telescope sooner rather than later. If I had over £300 to spend now I would have gone for a better scope and mount, but I simply don't have that money available now.

 

I hope that makes sense.

[Neil H]

Hi mate I had the powerseeker 114eq it was ok , I did take Johns advice with better eyepieces that I could use later on with better telescope, second hand is a really good way to go on a tight budget, I did get my hands on a skywatcher 150/750 fast telescope on a EQ3-2 mount is solid as a rock that set up was £120 the motor off the powerseeker fits the EQ3-2( older EQ3-2)

So upgrade your eyepieces to the ones John linked you to then learn with that telescope while saving and looking through the adds on here and astro buy and sell , e bay is good too but if you see something you like ask on here before you buy so not to get stung 

[John]

That does make sense.

Have a go with the scope with the accessories that it comes with. While not perfect the stock eyepieces will work decently because the scope is F/7.8 so not too demanding on them.

The stability of  mount can be improved by having a weight hanging from the centre of the tripod eg: a milk bottle filled with sand or water.

Hope you have some fun with it

 

[KevD65]

14 hours ago, John said:

The stability of  mount can be improved by having a weight hanging from the centre of the tripod eg: a milk bottle filled with sand or water.

Now that is a damn fine idea, I'll try that !

[Neil H]

Hi you can also fill the lower legs of tripod with sand to add weight