Evostar-102 (EQ3-2) Advice

[suttonguitar]

Hi everybody. I have come to the forum to seek your advice. I have been looking skyward for the last 18 months after my wife bought me an ETX70 as a Christmas present. I found I could not get on with it and after, what I thought was plenty of research! bought an Evostar-102 (EQ3-2) from a reputable telescope dealer.

I live just outside Birmingham, UK with plenty of light pollution and have to make use of a circle virtually overhead for my observations.

I was given the impression that a 4” refractor was equal to a 6” reflector and would find it easier to handle, especially as I have a back problem. I am now disappointed in what I can see and I don’t know if I am expecting too much from this scope or if I am going about it in the wrong way.

The planets fail to reveal the detail suggested in the Sky At Night Mag for example Jupitor’s red spot, despite using all my lenses (32/25/15/9mm). When I seek out the deep sky objects such as M13 the resultant images are little better, if at all, than what I can see with my 10X50 binoculars. I am now finding that I am only using the scope to look at the moon and spend the rest of the time with the binoculars.

I know I am never going to see images like those printed in magazines but I was hoping for a little more than what I am seeing especially for example M13 as only a grey smudge.

I would really appreciate your advice as to whether I have gone down the wrong road and with my viewing location and a limited budget should cut my losses and go for a different option or it is me rather than the scope.

I apologise for the length of this post but eagerly look forward to your coments.

[GordonCopestake]

You might be better off with a 10" dob

[col]

Hi everybody. I have come to the forum to seek your advice. I have been looking skyward for the last 18 months after my wife bought me an ETX70 as a Christmas present. I found I could not get on with it and after, what I thought was plenty of research! bought an Evostar-102 (EQ3-2) from a reputable telescope dealer.

I live just outside Birmingham, UK with plenty of light pollution and have to make use of a circle virtually overhead for my observations.

I was given the impression that a 4” refractor was equal to a 6” reflector and would find it easier to handle, especially as I have a back problem. I am now disappointed in what I can see and I don’t know if I am expecting too much from this scope or if I am going about it in the wrong way.

The planets fail to reveal the detail suggested in the Sky At Night Mag for example Jupitor’s red spot, despite using all my lenses (32/25/15/9mm). When I seek out the deep sky objects such as M13 the resultant images are little better, if at all, than what I can see with my 10X50 binoculars. I am now finding that I am only using the scope to look at the moon and spend the rest of the time with the binoculars.

I know I am never going to see images like those printed in magazines but I was hoping for a little more than what I am seeing especially for example M13 as only a grey smudge.

I would really appreciate your advice as to whether I have gone down the wrong road and with my viewing location and a limited budget should cut my losses and go for a different option or it is me rather than the scope.

I apologise for the length of this post but eagerly look forward to your coments.

Hi suttonguitar, i think there are a few factors that could have effected your views,one and possibly the worse one is the seeing,if the sky is not good for seeing even the biggest scopes can dissapoint,also is your mount and tripod rock solid,as the slightest movemoent can cause a bad view,i also wonder if possibly you might have been dissapointed becouse you may have hoped for more??the bigger the scope the more you can see but it still isnt what some might expect unless you take pictures with long exsposures and stack a lot of pics in special programmes,i have a 4 inch and im very happy with my views,as a last thought ,? is your equipment faulty in some way? im not very knowledgable on this subject but it might be worth getting your scope and eyepieces looked at by someone who knows,just to make sure alls well with them, then you could try again on a clear night .

col

[FLO]

Hi,

Welcome to Stargazers.

First the good news: You have not bought a lemon

The Evostar 102 refractor is remarkably good for its price and the EQ3 is a little gem (ok, it could do with a sturdier tripod but that is easily fixed).

Light pollution effects most of us to some extent; here are a couple of threads that might help:

http://stargazerslounge.co.uk/index.php?topic=4954.0

http://stargazerslounge.co.uk/index.php?topic=2527.msg25872#msg25872

The views produced by a good refractor (including yours) have a particular quality and purity that make them especially pleasing. However, though the 4” refractor will appear brighter and show more contrast that an equivalent reflector, the 4 = 6 inch quote is an exaggeration.

You can do a great deal of worthwhile astronomy with a 4” refractor. Directly above us now are the constellations Cygnus, Lyrae and Hercules. Within them, there are several objects that are well suited to your scope and relatively easy to find. four are positioned in a line that stretches above and below the head of Cygnus – Dumbell Nebula (M27), Albireo (double star at the head of Cygnus), M56 globular cluster and the Ring Nebula (M57).

When observing, position yourself away from the house and in particular, concrete. Concrete stores heat in the daytime and radiates it through the night; if you try viewing through the heat, you will see a turbulent image that appears to ‘boil’. The best time to observe is from midnight til about 3am, when it is dark and cool.

Centre the object (or its location if you cannot see it) in the finder-scope then, starting with your least powerful eyepiece (32mm), gradually increase the magnification until the object reveals detail. The ‘right’ magnification is the lowest mag’ that frames the object - include some dark space around it for contrast. Be careful not to push the magnification beyond that which the telescope will support – around 200x in ideal seeing conditions.

An 8-10 inch Dobsonian reflector telescope would compliment your refractor nicely. Its large aperture will gather more light and so enable you to observe fainter objects. It also makes it easier to use light-pollution-reduction filters, nebula filters and the like. (These filters reduce light so are less useful in small aperture telescopes that need all the light they can get).

Let us know how you get on and post as many questions as you like – we like questions

[Rob]

Welcome to the forum, you at the right place for help!.

Firstly, nice one Steve.. good reply & advice there.

I to would recomend an 8" Dob / Newt to compliment your current setup. If you want purchase another scope keep an eye our Buy n Sell area here on the forum, failing that keep tabs on UK Astro buy n sell.

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php

always some good deals on there.

Regards

Rob

[suttonguitar]

Sorry for the delay in replying but I have been away for a few days. Many thanks for the advice, Iwill give your advice a try and see if I get any improvement. I have just been given a 6" reflector to try out so I hope that the sky gods are in a good mood and give us clear skys. Suttonguitar