Beginner's Telescope. Which one to buy?

[Kapil]

Hi,

I am planning to buy my first telescope and need some advice over which one to go for.

I've a budget to buy Celestron Powerseeker 127EQ OR Celestron Astromaster 130EQ. Also I've http://www.tejraj.com/st-127900-eq.html in my mind.

If I go for 130EQ Astromaster, I get a Focal Length of 650mm and 130mm Aperture whereas if I go for 127EQ Powerseeker, I get 1000mm of Focal Length and 127mm Aperture.

However if I go for StarTracker, I get 127mm Aperture and 900mm Focal Length and with that I get Barlow and Moon Filter and other accessories.

I'd like to see Moon, Planets and if possible Galaxies through the Scope I am gonna buy. Suggestions needed!!

 

[PoI-LordBlackwood]

15 minutes ago, Kapil said:

130EQ Astromaster

Motorised? If so, I would go with this. Firstly, I can tell from personal experience that equatorial mounts have quite a steep learning curve. In fact, my first experiences with them ended up with me using them like an alt-az mount! However, with a motorised drive, you get to take time to learn about how to maneuver equatorial mounts. Secondly, I would always go for more aperture for visual astronomy as long as it doesn't compromise too much on portability. This helps us to gather more light (telescopes are practically light buckets) and in turn increases resolution. Thirdly, the quality of the accessories may be questionable. That I cannot say for sure but the accessories included in kits and scopes (?) have been stated as having not very high quality in forums here and elsewhere. 

I hope that answers your question but don't buy yet, I would suggest listening to others' opinions first because a balanced decision is always the best decision.

24 minutes ago, Kapil said:

Galaxies

As the intro to visual astronomy in this forum goes: If you have a 4" you'll see a grey blob of light and if you have an 8" you'll see a bigger grey blob of light. Galaxies are really faint and astrophotography is, in my opinion, the best way to view them in great detail. However, I'll leave which path you want to take up to you. Whether visual or photography, I wish you all the best. 

Clear Skies 😉

[lenscap]

Hi Kapil, and welcome to SGL.

1 hour ago, Kapil said:

If I go for 130EQ Astromaster, I get a Focal Length of 650mm and 130mm Aperture whereas if I go for 127EQ Powerseeker, I get 1000mm of Focal Length and 127mm Aperture.

I would avoid the Powerseeker. It achieves it's 1000mm FL, within a fairly short optical tube, because it has a corrector lens fitted in the focuser drawtube.  This "Jones-Bird" design gets poor user reviews & can be more difficult to collimate than a classical Newtonian.

I am not familiar with the "Star Tracker" brand which is not marketed in Europe. It may be OK - perhaps an SGL member from the sub-continent will come in with an opinion.

Of the three, I would go for the Astromaster. My first scope was a smaller version of this model, and it has decent mirrors.

Regarding accessories, a moon filter can useful in reducing the glare from a full moon in a larger scope. I don't think you need one for a 130mm aperture.

I think a Barlow is useful when you only have a few eyepieces. If the Astromaster doesn't come with one perhaps you could ask your dealer to include, say, a  GSO 2X Barlow to clinch the sale?

Whatever you decide I hope you enjoy this wonderful hobby.

[jonathan]

I would prefer the Astromaster 130EQ as a good starter setup, it is an f5 scope so you should be able to get the full benefit from high quality eyepieces (which need not cost the earth, look at the BST, Celestron X-Cel or Explore Scientific ranges), the Celestron EQ mount should be reliable and the tripod has tubular steel legs which I prefer to the square aluminium type.

After you've got used to the scope for a while you could look at replacing the red dot finder with a 9x30 straight-through or a right-angle corrected finder, that should make finding small or faint objects easier, and buy a middle eyepiece somewhere around 14mm to compliment the supplied 20mm and 10mm.  I don't think you would need a barlow lens to begin with, personally I never use one.  Later, as funds allow, you might want to acquire a 25mm eyepiece and perhaps replace the basic 10mm with maybe an 8mm (almost anything is going to be better than the supplied 10mm).

Enjoy!

Edited June 30, 2020 by jonathan

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @Kapil and welcome to SGL. 

Another +1 for the 130EQ Astromaster.

As it is a 'classical' Newtonian, it will/should be a lot easier to collimate too.
'Bird-Jones'/'Jones-Bird' type 'Newtonians' are notoriously tricky to collimate
and are best avoided. 

[AstroMuni]

Hi Kapil,

Welcome to SGL.

I have the 130EQ and its not a bad beginner scope. The mount is not the best and shaky, so at higher magnifications (eg. while looking at planets) the smallest touch will cause a jitter that takes a couple of secs to subside. Do NOT buy the MD version as the tracker motor is more of a pain than advantage. The eyepieces that come with the 130EQ are very basic and you will need to set aside money for getting better ones. The red dot finder that came with mine (a few years ago now) was rubbish and I ended up buying a Telrad. But I had heard that Celestron has changed the finder in newer scopes, so you may not need to buy another finder.

After adding all these extra accessories I have enjoyed the scope and even managed to take pictures of the moon & Jupiter using a phone camera, by using an adapter attachment to the eyepiece.

If you are cost constrained then you should get more value for money with a Dobsonion. So something to consider as well. Here in the UK the Skywatcher brand is quite popular. I notice that the link you have provided sells Orion branded Dobs and my understanding is that these are essentially Skywatcher under a different name.

A couple of factors to consider before you embark on buying a scope

- are you interested in visual or astrophotography : these can impact decisions for EQ vs Alt-AZ/Dobs mount, manual vs computerised.

- how far do you have to carry the telescope to setup for viewing: the weight of the scope + mount will matter

- And I retiterate, set aside budget for extras 🙂 Its a bit like buying a printer - ink catridge costs as much or more than printer Similarly eyepieces can be expensive in this hobby.

Good luck and enjoy.

[Dr Strange]

I am beginning to sound like a broken record on this but... I am a huge fan of the Skywatcher AZ-GTi mount and the 130mm Newtonian telescope. It is a comprehensive package with everything you need to observe. It is very affordable and works really well! With it I would suggest a comfortable chair and the Pocket Sky Atlas from Sky & Telescope. The chair isn't for your rear. It is for your eyes. You see more when comfortably seated. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-explorer-130ps-az-gti.html

https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/the-pocket-sky-atlas/

Comfortable chairs are really up to you. I use the Starbound chair but it is expensive all things considered. A Drummer's Throne would work well also. 

Edited July 2, 2020 by Dr Strange