Is my telescope any good?

[mark993]

Hi all,

I bought a Zennox 76700 from a car bootsale and was just wondering if anyone would be able to tell me if it is a decent scope and what i should be aiming to see with it.

Thanks for any help.

[Capricorn]

Seems that it is a reflector and appears identical to the Seben offering. These (Seben) are usually reckoned to be poor. However if from a bootsale I guess it didn't cost a lot.

700mm focal length, 76mm dia. I would say that the mirror is spherical. But at f/9.2 it may be reasonable.

Not sure what the eyepiece diameter is nor what you eyepieces you got with it. Stick a tape or ruler across one and I hope they are 1/25" items.

Ignore any claims of huge magnifications, expect nothing more then 70-80x if things are good. Trouble is that a couple of eyepieces will cost I guess more then the scope.

At the end of the day it was (hopefully) cheap and it is a start. You will have to be selective on what to look at. But don't try for the faint difficult things. Think about Open and Globular clusters, Orion Nebula, double stars come to mind.

If it has a finder then attach and align it with the scope, then throw in the longest eyepiece and go looking.

Do you know any of the constellations?

If so try Mizor in The Plough (double star), Alberio(Double with colour) in Cygnus, Orion(nice big nebula easily visable) if up in the early hours of the morning, Pleaides(open cluster) sometime about 11:00-12:00pm.

[mark993]

thanks very much that's a lot of help. At least I have a bit more info Joe and it was quite cheap I already have my eye on a new telescope (Meade NG70mm AZ) have to wait a bit my better half is getting a bit annoyed with me wanting to spend money on hobbies when we have our first baby on the way but like you say it is a start. Thanks again.

[Earl]

we have just had our 3rd

i still manage to find "Toy" funds

[earth titan]

....prepare her for a shock.

Once you get your mits on the Meade, you'll want an even bigger one in the very near future.

Just keep a slush fund handy or sell everything you own on fleebay... Who needs a telly anyway?

[The Warthog]

Could I suggest that you save a ltttle longer and check the used market, too. I don't usually suggest making a serious start with a refractor of less that 90mm or a reflector of less than 5" (127mm) Scopes of this size usually have tripods and mounts that are a little better than the department store models, and better optics and eyepieces, too. Your finder scope should not be less than 6x30. With a refractor you should have a right angle diagonal eyepiece holder. A 70mm refractor will be no more satisfactory than the one you have now. You should get great looks at the Moon and larger nebulae and open clusters with your present scope.

Meade has a 90mm scope in the same range as the one you mentioned for about 30% more. It is f/10 so will have minimal false colour as long as the optics are decent. Still, it is on an altazimuth mount, which is not a terribly bad thing, but it makes tracking a little more difficult. Still, Dob owners have the same issue.

Now speaking of Dobs, you may be able to find a 6" or 8" dob within your budget. The Orion Starblast 6" Dob is a serious scope which costs about the same as the Meade 90mm. It has 2 3/4 times the light grasp of the 90mm Refractor.

You have lots of options. Don't saddle yourself with a scope that is quickly going to exhaust its possibilities for you.

[wils07]

thanks very much that's a lot of help. At least I have a bit more info Joe and it was quite cheap I already have my eye on a new telescope (Meade NG70mm AZ) have to wait a bit my better half is getting a bit annoyed with me wanting to spend money on hobbies when we have our first baby on the way but like you say it is a start. Thanks again.

We have just had our 2nd and last night was the 1st night since buying my scope that she decided to sleep all night" the baby that is not the wife" and i managed to get a hours viewing of jupiter. I was amazed at how fast it moves across my fov as i was not using the tracking feature as i was worries the baby would be up just as i got in to it.