£5 scopes first light

[Stu1smartcookie]

Last night , an unexpected clear spell meant i had the chance to try out my newly acquired Bresser skylux 70/700 , on its EQ mount . 

SET UP 

So , no dramas here ... just a quick , plonk the mount down , attach the scope and visual accessories and point to target . Whole process took less than 5 minutes . I could do with an Alt Az manual mount rather than the EQ mount , but hey , i am not complaining . 

FIRST VIEWS 

Not entirely true ( i did look at a couple of terrestrial targets on Sunday ) , but first astronomical views , were of Arcturus , where i did a star test ... everything seemed spot on . Focusing was very tight ( the focuser isn't the scopes strongest point)  there was a very small sweet spot which took me a little while to get right but in the end the stars were as pin point as my older eyes needed them to be . I then switched to Vega before looking at Mizar and its companion ... and then onto Albireo which showed the colour difference between the stars well. I was only using a 25mm EP . Finally i was lucky to catch Antares , which for me , is between two houses in the SSW . It was the first time i had seen this giant star , it was a wonderfully bright orange colour . I was amazed that i had seen it at all  

CONCLUSION 

Ok , so lets be realistic ... this scope is literally a quick set up , look at the moon and bright objects F10 which will not win any awards against the fantastic APO's that adorn our wonderful hobby . But , as a 'grab and go' it gives respectably clear views . The real bonus was , the scope and mount were bought for £ 5 !!! . I'm sure this scope is  classified as a beginners scope  but  I for one will get a lot of use from it . Telescopes come in all price ranges and sizes , but their worth is calculated by the usage and the enjoyment they give , and as such ... this is a little gem . 

Anyone else picked up any "little gems" and total bargains that they wish to share ?... 

Thanks for reading , 

Stu 

 

[AstroMuni]

43 minutes ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

The real bonus was , the scope and mount were bought for £ 5 !!! . I'm sure this scope is  classified as a beginners scope  but  I for one will get a lot of use from it . Telescopes come in all price ranges and sizes , but their worth is calculated by the usage and the enjoyment they give , and as such ... this is a little gem . 

Great buy. I have a pair of 50x10 Bresser bins that I bought for around £10 and these give great views.

[Stu1smartcookie]

9 minutes ago, AstroMuni said:

Great buy. I have a pair of 50x10 Bresser bins that I bought for around £10 and these give great views.

Nice one  . Binos are something missing from my astronomy armoury ... must fix that 

[tuckstar]

1 hour ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Anyone else picked up any "little gems" and total bargains that they wish to share ?

A few years ago I had the opportunity of going to a house clearance via a friend. An old guy had passed away and had loads of camera equipment and a few scopes. Hadn't been in to astro long at that point. Saw a frac that I didn't recognise and didn't know what it was. So to cut a long story short, I walked away with a x2 skylux, a rubinar 250 mirror lens and a smallish white frac for £150. Sold the rubinar for £250, both skylux for 30 each and the white scope, turns out it was/is a zeiss telementor 2!! Thats a keeper and cost me minus £. My friend also picked up a tal 1. So much camera gear, if I knew then what I know now I would of took the lot and worked out a percentage. They were just throwing away camera lenses and binos. Heart breaking looking back.

[Peter_D]

Nice deal for 5 pounds!

I seem to remember there are two versions of the Skylux 70/700: the older model has a blue, straight dew shield and the newer model has a black dew shield. The older model's EQ mount is pretty decent from what I read.

[Stu1smartcookie]

12 minutes ago, Peter_D said:

Nice deal for 5 pounds!

I seem to remember there are two versions of the Skylux 70/700: the older model has a blue, straight dew shield and the newer model has a black dew shield. The older model's EQ mount is pretty decent from what I read.

The one i have is the blue tube with the black dew shield , but i would go along with the fact that the eq mount seems fairly decent . I just need to get a couple of fixing brackets for the spreader plate , 3d printed  

[wookie1965]

2 hours ago, AstroMuni said:

Great buy. I have a pair of 50x10 Bresser bins that I bought for around £10 and these give great views.

Dont talk to me about bino`s sent for 4 pair from well known auction site all for less than £20 every pair out of collimation.

 

[AstroMuni]

58 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

Dont talk to me about bino`s sent for 4 pair from well known auction site all for less than £20 every pair out of collimation.

Sorry to hear this. In my case I bought mine at the Lidl store so it was a case of lucky dip 😉

[doublevodka]

Am always on the hunt for a bargain, much to the wifes dismay  

Nexstar 102gt on a goto mount for £60 because of a broken spreader clip

Helios 8 in reflector (predecessor to the skywatcher 200p) on an eq3-2 (skyscan 2001 but it's the same mount) with RA motor drive, £120

25 mm (ish) eyepieces made from the Bresser binoculars mentioned above when they finally broke (my favourite eyepiece, lovely wide angle)

Various 12v power supplies from from discarded electronics

Also, with your bargain, maybe worth a look at this?  - http://www.homebuiltastronomy.com/kidpeek/index.htm

[Stu1smartcookie]

22 minutes ago, doublevodka said:

Also, with your bargain, maybe worth a look at this?  - http://www.homebuiltastronomy.com/kidpeek/index.htm

My DIY skills are non existent lol so i will look for a bargain Alt Az mount head  ... some great finds there though .

[Alan64]

5 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

The one i have is the blue tube with the black dew shield , but i would go along with the fact that the eq mount seems fairly decent . I just need to get a couple of fixing brackets for the spreader plate , 3d printed  

That looks to be an EQ2-class equatorial mount, perhaps inching towards an EQ-3.  You should be able to transform it into an alt-azimuth.  You would need to use the counterweight still, and both slow-motion controls can be used as well...

[Stu1smartcookie]

Alan ... that is brilliant ...lol , i never even thought of that . Many thanks  

[Cosmic Geoff]

I used to have a Bresser Skylux 70/700 - it is in my signature image. Performance was disappointing and I eventually realised that the objective lens was no good. As for the mount, it made me determined to avoid EQ-2 mounts in the future.  I later acquired a 70mm vintage brass Ross scope which performed far better.

[Stu1smartcookie]

Why was it disappointing , Geoff ? Obviously one has to see it for what it is 

[Cosmic Geoff]

1 hour ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Why was it disappointing , Geoff ? Obviously one has to see it for what it is 

I think mine had a Friday afternoon objective. Other owners seem to have had better luck.  I suppose the mount is typical of budget outfits but I did not like it.

[Stu1smartcookie]

2 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

I think mine had a Friday afternoon objective. Other owners seem to have had better luck.  I suppose the mount is typical of budget outfits but I did not like it.

Yes , its unfortunate when there seems to be a difference in a mass produced product . I think my initial enthusiasm was enhanced by the price i paid lol

 

[domstar]

I started out on a Bresser 70/700 from Lidl. The finder was a real pain and I had to change the eyepieces but it set my on the right path. I never would've paid for a decent scope if I hadn't started on a cheap one. It was really important that I could set up just for short observing sessions to get me into the hobby. It also taught me not to get a EQ mount. It was great for a first view of Jupiter, first galaxy and first double. I have very fond memories of it. 

[Stu1smartcookie]

7 minutes ago, domstar said:

I started out on a Bresser 70/700 from Lidl. The finder was a real pain and I had to change the eyepieces but it set my on the right path. I never would've paid for a decent scope if I hadn't started on a cheap one. It was really important that I could set up just for short observing sessions to get me into the hobby. It also taught me not to get a EQ mount. It was great for a first view of Jupiter, first galaxy and first double. I have very fond memories of it. 

As it was so cheap , it was a "no brainer" to buy it ... the EQ Mount is now very much set as an alt-az , and was used last night with the 70/700 .... lol ive used this scope more than my other two er , "better" scopes in the last week . I agree that the finder is utter rubbish ... i put my Raci on it ( the RACI is 10 times more expensive than the scope and mount  ) . I like the mount in the alt az configuration , with my Mak . 

Edited July 9, 2021 by Stu1smartcookie