Replacements for Skywatcher 114/900

[Bendy (Ben)]

Hi everyone,

I recently picked up a Skywatcher 114/900 cheaply and am keen to replace the dodgy finder scope and eye pieces.

Any suggestions would be most welcome!

Bendy

[Bendy (Ben)]

Forgot to mention, the eye pieces are 1.25", an s10 and s25...

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

good score , any chance of a photo ? , some of the cheaper scopes out there have the finder 'Hard Bolted' directly to the tube , better finders like a good Sky watcher's etc. use the dove tail method that bolts on and the finder can be mounted and removed via this .

Personally I would stay away from the very cheap red dot ( zero magnification ) style finders instead going for the EXCELLENT ! Telrad at $80 is a great finder , so easy to use but not sure if this includes mounting base .

Bintel sell good 6x30 finders and bases for very little and you can up grade to a 50mm later , they pop up here from time to time at very good prices , so you need a mounting base for starters , these are $19 and a 30mm finder about the same , yes the finders on these scopes are horrendous !! sometimes stopped down to 5mm or less , , totally useless .

I would forget updating the eyepieces just now as they will be of ok quality to get you stated being 1 1/4 inch .

Brian.

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Just noticed there is a GSO 8x50 finder , stalk and base in the classifieds now for $50 incl. post , good buy this .

Brian.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

A couple of EP's that won't set you back a mint and will work well in almost any scope are the GSO Superview 15mm and 20mm. They were my first buys and are still my most used. They will make a difference in your 114\900.

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

I agree here. , I use my SV's exclusively for outreach , thro up views not far behind my aTV Panoptics high praise indeed.
Brian.

Originally Posted by ZeroID

A couple of EP's that won't set you back a mint and will work well in almost any scope are the GSO Superview 15mm and 20mm. They were my first buys and are still my most used. They will make a difference in your 114\900.

[Bendy (Ben)]

Hi Brian and Brent

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. I'll certainly keep and eye out for the GSO superview EPs in the classified section.

Pic of my scope attached. The finder is attach via thumbscrews. Do you think the GSO 8x50 would attach ok i.e. are the holes likely to line up?

I know the scope has had some mixed reviews but I figured that I couldn't go too wrong with the $130 I paid for it. It's already proved to be better than the dodgy binos I'd been using. Saw the four Jovian moons and hints of Jupiters main cloud belts the other night... So I think!

Ben

[Renato1 (Renato)]

The problem with an 8X50 finder is that, while you can see fainter objects with it, it has a narrower field of view which makes it a bit harder to point to stars with, and to hop around with when you've got that star. I usually use a 1X red dot finder in combination with an 8X50 to make things easier.

Regardless of whether you get a 6X30 or 8X50 straight through finder, remember the trick when lining them up with stars is to keep both eyes open - this makes things much easier than just aiming with one eye like with a rifle.

20 years ago, one could buy inexpensive 6X30 finders, and get good stuff. Nowadays, if you get an inexpensive 6X30 finder off Ebay, you can more often than not expect junk with lots of chromatic aberration.

In my old 114mm 900mm focal length reflector, when collimated I got excellent views of the planets, with high power inexpensive plossls. And for the brighter deep sky objects, I was always using a 25mm eyepiece in preference to say a 17mm eyepiece which technically is better for faint DSOs.
Regards,
Renato

[Bendy (Ben)]

Thanks Renato

Great tip about keeping both eyes open, I hadn't heard of that!

Regards

Ben

[Tropo-Bob (Bob)]

From my experience, these are not bad telescopes, but they barely balance on the mounts. So best not to attach anything that has a bit of weight in it. A red dot finder would probably be useful. Also a cheap, light 20mm wide-field EP would make observing more enjoyable.

[Andy Walters (Andy)]

Hi Ben another great option for a finderscope is Rigel Quickfinder, I have 3 of them now, and I personally prefer them to the Telrad.
cheers Andy.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Originally Posted by Bendy

Hi Brian and Brent

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. I'll certainly keep and eye out for the GSO superview EPs in the classified section.

Pic of my scope attached. The finder is attach via thumbscrews. Do you think the GSO 8x50 would attach ok i.e. are the holes likely to line up?

I know the scope has had some mixed reviews but I figured that I couldn't go too wrong with the $130 I paid for it. It's already proved to be better than the dodgy binos I'd been using. Saw the four Jovian moons and hints of Jupiters main cloud belts the other night... So I think!

Ben

Ha ! they are probably the two EPs you won't see in the Classified section. The are just too useful to let go. Bintel or Andrews will have them and as I said the new price is not over the top. Good value for money.