What should I get??

[Shepdog]

Can someone with experience reccomend a 90 degree zenith mirror...or whatever its called...and a barlow lense for a gskyler az70400?  I'm very intersted in a celestron zoom but wanna make surr I get what works for this model....also dont wanna soend more than 50.00 for either. And will spend up to that but if there is the generic equivalent please share .  I have poured over every website I can find but I think experience from y'all is the way to go.....hoping for the best i can pull out of this model.

[johninderby]

Where are you located?  Will help in suggesting something if we know what country you are in.

It’s a basic telescope so a basic 1.25” mirror diagonal will do.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gskyer-AZ70400-Telescope-Astronomical-Refractor/dp/B01DBK1GIK

Edited October 4, 2020 by johninderby

[Shepdog]

Im in the U.S in Kentucky ..i saw some diagonals for 15 or 20 dollars...will they do?

[John]

25 minutes ago, Shepdog said:

Im in the U.S in Kentucky ..i saw some diagonals for 15 or 20 dollars...will they do?

We need more information - can you provide links to them ?

 

[Shepdog]

Im in the U.S in Kentucky ..i saw some diagonals for 15 or 20 dollars...will they do?

https://www.amazon.com/SVBONY-Astronomical-Telescope-Cassegrain-Telescopes/dp/B00Y0NDOQK

[johninderby]

While you don’t need a dielectric diagonal and a basic mirror one stay away from the all plastic body and nosepiece and eyepiece barrel.

GSO do a basic one with metal nosepice and eyepiece barrel but plastic body.

https://agenaastro.com/gso-1-25-90-refractor-mirror-star-diagonal.html

Edit:

The GSO now has a brass compression ring and not a simple screw to hold the eyepiece which is much better.

Edited October 4, 2020 by johninderby

[Shepdog]

Thank you kindly Sirs..any advice on a Barlow?  And a zoom eyepiece ? 

[Alan64]

16 hours ago, Shepdog said:

Thank you kindly Sirs..any advice on a Barlow?  And a zoom eyepiece ? 

Barlow... https://agenaastro.com/meade-series-4000-126-1-25-2x-short-focus-barlow-lens.html

You can convert that 2x into a 3x by placing the barlow into the telescope first...

Zoom... https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/202992-REG/Meade_07199_2_Series_4000_8_24mm_Zoom.html

But it's back-ordered, and like a lot of stuff for telescopes, including the telescopes themselves.

Keep in mind that a zoom-ocular is a bit large, and will probably throw the telescope off balance...

I'd use Plossls with the 70/400 achromat.  Plossls...

https://agenaastro.com/eyepieces/1-25-eyepieces/shopby/gso-gso_plossl-gso_superview.html

[Shepdog]

Thank you for that tip Alan64..i had no idea 

[DaveL59]

I recently received an SVBony SV171 8-24 zoom eyepiece and it seems good tho I've not done any real testing yet given the poor weather we've been having over here. There's some reports on CN to say it seems to be reasonably good and at that price I thought it worth a look. Very weighty and feels a quality build and the brief test it seems to work well.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001337671438.html?spm=2114.12010612.8148356.47.38767fb2bhWdu6

Might be a bit heavy for the scope you have tho but they do a 7-12 zoom which is lighter.

Also just ordered an SVBony diagonal but the more expensive metal bodied one and is at a nice price if you can wait for it to arrive:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32881221402.html?spm=2114.12010612.8148356.9.62ae2b74z43HwF

Description says its dielectric so hopefully should perform well.

Edited October 5, 2020 by DaveL59

[Shepdog]

There is a dude selling a celestron 7 x 21 here for $30.00...would that be too much for my scope? Its cheaper than 8 x 24 by alot ..and everyone says 8 x 24 is way to go..what do ya think?