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celestron help

elliojak

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elliojak

elliojak

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recently purchased a celestron powerseeker 50 for 10 pounds from a local auction, thought it would be fun to look at the moon etc with the kids in the back garden, and also its small enough to take camping with us to look at the awesome sky in north wales at night. unfortunatly it appears it has no eyepieces with it ( my fault, i know nothing about telescopes) obviously cant return to auction house(sold as seen etc) has anyone got any suggestions for a cheap and cheerful solution to get us going?

cheers jake

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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I assume its this one http://www.astronomics.com/main/documents/celestron/21039_ps50.pdf

There are two versions - if yours ios the older silver coloured one then it uses eyepieces which are sized for .965.

Generally speaking thats an older size and its not been used for a while.

The scopes so cheap that I doubt it would be worth buying an adapter but never fear take a look here AstroBoot

If you scroll down the page you will see there is a 3 piece Eyepiece set there in .965 fitting for £3 - how good is that :)

You need to check if you have the diagonal with the scope as wella s you will need it - theres a .965 diagonal on that page as well for a few quid. Dont get carried away and spend lots of money of the scope though.

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  • 3 weeks later...
elliojak

elliojak

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ok where hooked! we saw jupiter tonight! we want more but are limited by the scope. any recomendations for a more powerful scope of similar dimensions for ease of transport on a budget of £100 pounds? new or pre-loved.

cheers jake

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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A Skywatcher 130 would be the business - it would be roughly the same size and weight but with a better mount. 130PM scopes come up typically for around £90 to a £100 second hand and they are really an outstanding beginner telescope.

I did a review of mine - I restarted the hobby using one - the review is here Review of the Sky-Watcher 130PM the small pic at the top will give you an idea of its size.

The TAL-1 would also be a good one - they come up on ebay quite often at anywehere between £35-£90 - if you buy make sure its a recent one sont buy one thats older than say 2000. The earlier ones can be very problematic for beginners. Absolutely pay no more than £90 top whack for a perfect/pristine one with all of its accessories. Its a bit bigger than what you have in size and a lot heavier but its built like a tank and for the money is probably unsurpassed in the quality of its views.

Either of those two scopes would fit in your budget and would give seriously good views of all the bright objects like planets and the moon as well as pretty good views of the brighter deep space objects.

Glad to know you got at least something with your existing scope - even if it only fired you and your families imagination. £10 for a whole new range of experiences and sights has to be a bargain.

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bcfcciderhead

bcfcciderhead

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Thats it thats another one hooked lol, thats how it got me and now my son who will go blind if he looks at the moon anymore, Like many, me included go for the Skywatcher 130P i got mine s/hand for £100 from ebay, always some on there, that was 3 months ago i have spent £600+ since....enjoy:D

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John

John

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thanks once again for your prompt reply astro baby, and to you to ciderhead. i've started trawling ebay for a sky watcher 130.

cheers to you both

jake

Good plan Jake - I've seen them for less than £100 there. It might also be worth keeping an eye out here:

U.K. Astronomy Buy & Sell

I've bought and sold many times on that site and it's free with no registration needed for buyers.

PS: When on e.bay, don't get tempted by "impressive" looking scopes with branding such as Seben - Stick to the reputable brands, eg: Celestron, Meade, Skywatcher. There is quite a lot of stuff on e.bay which is not much good to be honest.

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John

John

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astro baby is this ebay item along the right lines

330494009176http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330494009176&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en

cheers jake

As Astro_Baby of offline right now, I'll reply - that's a great 1st scope. Just bear in mind that it's collection only from Yorkshire and that the retail price is £159.00 in case the bidding gets out of hand :)

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bcfcciderhead

bcfcciderhead

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thanks for keeping an eye out for me ronin, its in london but i'm down there fairly often, how necessary is a motorized drive for this telescope?

cheers jake

Not all that necessary, the slow motion controls are quite simple to use but the motor drive makes this even better by tracking an object for you, if you can i would go for the motor drive...just my thoughts of course

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elliojak

elliojak

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picked up my skywatcher 130 today hurrah! all i need now is clear skies. i've just realised that along with playing cricket i've managed to take up another hobby that is also dictated to by the weather! brilliant i now can have 365 days of frustration! its so shiney in its box,maybe i could look at clouds at night?

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bcfcciderhead

bcfcciderhead

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well done on your new scope, and a good choice (i would say that..I HAVE ONE!!) and now you have it more cloud is on the way, its the law lol.

If you have a spare cricket bat/kit bag it makes a good bag for the scope, thats what i use and have it padded inside with a camping mat, you will get all the help you need with it here and learn all you need to get going.....

dark skies to you

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