Celestrom widefield 102mm refractor

[kidlands]

I was just cruzing the net and noticed these at around £100. I was wondering if its worth a dabble with one just as cheap grab and view type scope and maybe a little try at some imaging.

What do you guys think of the scope for the money?

Or should I bite the bullet and get a Vixen 80mf from FLO?

cheers

steve

[NGC 1502]

Hi Steve, most of these short focus achromats are good at low power / wide field.

I have a 90mm dia, 500mm focal length, ( Orion ST 90 ) It is brilliant for its

intended purpose. But if I push the magnification above about 80x, then things

start getting fuzzy. Plus of course, blue haloes around bright objects. I don't do imaging.

So good for its intended ( but limited ) purpose.

HTH, Ed.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Ed is right. For £100 you cant go too wrong. My Celestron 70mm (450mm F/L f5) widefield scope cost about 100 and for what it is intended.........it works very well. Not so well at high mag though.

[neilm]

Agree, I have one! (assuming it's the same model), low to medium mag fine with a decent eye piece. I've used it for afocal imaging with a P&P and it isn't bad at all. http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-lunar/114714-more-last-night.htmlThere is a full review on cloudy nights, I tried to find it again this afternoon but it looks like their site is overloaded or down at the moment.

For £100 I think it's pretty good.

Cheers

Neil

[neilm]

I see cloudy nights are back up an running again, here's the link, Celestron 102mm F/5 Wide View Refractor - Review . I could be open to offers on mine, haven't got the space for more than one scope and would like something better. Six months old, I've telfon taped the focuser for a smoother action, other than than it's like new.

Neil

[Merlin66]

I have one I use for white light solar observing. Bang per buck its very good value for money and being a full 4" aperture is an ideal starter telescope and can be used for almost any astronomical observations. I can get full magnification from mine, up to x200 on double stars.....

Ken

[johninderby]

I agree the 102 is good value for money. The optics are actually fairly sharp and CA isn't a real problem as long as you don't use high mag. The focuser is the real weak-point of the scope, but with cleaning out the heavy grease and some adjusting it's usable.

Here's a simple afocal Moon image taken with a 102 which shows a small amount of CA on one limb. It's really not too bad at all.

John

[neilm]

I agree the 102 is good value for money. The optics are actually fairly sharp and CA isn't a real problem as long as you don't use high mag. The focuser is the real weak-point of the scope, but with cleaning out the heavy grease and some adjusting it's usable.

Here's a simple afocal Moon image taken with a 102 which shows a small amount of CA on one limb. It's really not too bad at all.

John

John,

Teflon tape, works wonders,a single layer around the focusing tube and it's smooth action and a much better fit.

Neil

[johninderby]

John,

Teflon tape, works wonders,a single layer around the focusing tube and it's smooth action and a much better fit.

Neil

I've found that while some of these focusers will respond to that type of fix, some never work that well no matter what you do to them. Differences in manufacturing tolerances and the amount of wear I suppose.

John