Newbie - 114mm reflector worth a try?

[ThunderStorm]

New to astronomy.
Found something not sure if worth a try:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=301139048397&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en

This is a buy it now for $140.
Looks a nice try for both of me and my kid?

[Amaranthus]

I think they mean 1000 mm (focal length), not 1000x magnification! (which would be useless for this setup or indeed under any terrestrial viewing conditions no matter what your equipment, even if you could theoretically achieve it with their EP/barlow combination). Also, resolving power should be 1 second, not 1 inch... The Kellner eyepieces are probably going to be poor performers.

Hard to tell who makes this - it doesn't look like a Synta. But whoever wrote the package description doesn't know much about astronomy. I'd be leery.

[Varangian]

G'day, is there any possible way of stretching the budget to this which is the perfect starter scope? I realise it's twice as expensive but it will be worth it and you and your son will appreciate it. The telescope in your link looks to be very fiddly to use. If you're interested ask the seller to post you a photo of inside the tube (i.e. the primary or main mirror).

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DOBSONIAN-SKYWATER-TELESCOPE-8-COLLAPSIBLE-/131173525338?pt=AU_Cameras_Telescop es_Binoculars&hash=item1e8a8d275a&_uhb=1

It will be waaaaaay easier for you and your son to use and you'll see heaps more in a shorter amount of time than what you will with the telescope in your post. Comes with superior eyepieces and collimation tools too - i.e. all ready to go. Any questions just ask:thumbsup:

Regards, John.

[The Mekon]

Definitely NOT worth a try.

if you are on ebay click the "used" section of telescopes. There are some better scopes much cheaper.

[brian nordstrom]

:mad2: Sorry to say , but please 'Don't Touch It' as already said .
I especially like the 1000mm fl 'Synthesized' , that means it has a built in Barlow in the focuser and these scopes give a POOR! image , sorry to say .

Save a few more dollars and grab a new 6 inch Dobsonion from a reputible astro shop like , Bintel , Andrews or a few others, a better scope in all ways or that awesome 8 inch collapsible John mentioned , that's a good buy ! .

I see 'OZ scopes 'have a 6 inch Dob for only $329 with a 25mm 10mm and 6.3mm eyepieces , a great scope as well and they have a link here on the right hand side of the page , 3 down .

Brian.

[julianh72]

Yes, this is a 1,000 mm FL telescope, which is actually a 500 mm FL mirror with a 2x Barlow permanently integrated into the focuser. It's the same optical arrangement as the Celestron 114EQ Newtonian reflectors http://www.celestron.com/browse-shop/astronomy/telescopes/astromaster-114eq-telescope , and in fact the 3-leg secondary spider looks very similar to the spider in the Celestron 114EQ , so it might come from the same factory as the Celestron telescopes? I would personally go for a Celestron 114 mm over a no-name 114 mm, if you can find one, but you won't get a new one for that price.

I would imagine that the whole assembly will be pretty flimsy and plasticky, which would appal any keen amateur, but may not be a huge issue for an absolute beginner who isn't even sure if astronomy is "their thing".
The supplied eyepieces are not great, but my experience with these little Newtonians is that they often give a "reasonable" image of brighter objects (Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, bright clusters, etc) which is good enough to whet the appetite of a beginner. The EQ mount can be a bit fiddly for beginners, but shouldn't be a deal-breaker.

Yes, as others have said, there are certainly better beginner telescopes around, but they cost more than $130. You'll do better if you're prepared to spend a bit more, but I'm going to take a contrary postilion: If your hard limit is around $130 - why not?

If it fails to excite your interest (or your kids') - well, you've only blown $130, and you can probably get $50 or so back on eBay when you sell it again.

If it convinces you and your kids that you need more aperture and better optics - well, you've only blown $130, and you can probably get $50 or so back on eBay when you sell it to fund your first upgrade.

[Varangian]

Same with the Skywatcher Alan. Excellent resale value you'll sell it for what you bought it for...

[Renato1]

It might be okay - I still use my 114mm 900mm focal length reflector, but it's not barlowed.

Only problem is the ad mentions two sets of eyepieces,
the H20mm, SR4mm which are junk eyepieces, while the Kellners listed further down are not great, but useable.

Also, cheap telescopes tend to cheat on the finders - they look like 6X30s or 5X24s, but when you look inside them they have an aperture mask to make their poor optics sharp so that they are actually hopeless 6X15s or 5X10s. You wouldn't find much in the sky with the latter, except for bright planets.

If what is being sold had a decent finderscope, and came with the Kellner eyepieces, well - you could make some use out of it for a while finding the brighter deep sky objects. Providing it delivered decent images that is.

In other words, there are a lot of unknowns. But the price is cheap.
Regards,
Renato

[astro744]

If that's all you want to spend then may I suggest you spend it on a $140.00 pair of binoculars, say 10 x 50. You'll get more use out of them in the long term.

A Barlowed short focal length, small aperture Newtonian mirror is just not going to perform well. If you can find a non Barlowed version then maybe although I would suggest a 150mm mirror as a minimum for a Newtonian telescope.

[CJ]

$300 is the starting price. I'd be surprised if it went for that. I'll be keeping an eye on that.

[doppler]

I have a similar scope 114mm f 8.9 short tube. I needed a focuser for another scope so I took the focuser from the 114mm and unscrewed the "intergrated" barlow lens from it. I am wondering if I put the focuser (minus the barlow lens) back onto the old 114mm scope would it then be a fast f4.5 rich field scope?

Rick

[brian nordstrom]

:D No one has mentioned the mount yet , so here I go .

I had one of these horrible EQ mounts once under a 114mm f9 no brand scope ( It was blue :lol: ) and while the optics were quite good I had to , as said change the finder (it was a 4x20? ) , fixed that easy but the mount ,,,,,,, I have never seen such poor engineering in my life .
As it was it was totally un-usable , poor every thing :shrug: m, terrible .
It took lots of work to get even usable but luckily I had a well equipped work shop and after weeks :eyepop: of work ( washers , gears , worms , machining :help: , castings , basic fittings ,,etc, ) basically a total rebuild because after one problem was fixed the next part inline showed its deficiencies ,,, on and on .

After it was fixed I gave it to a budding young astronomer in our club and he got years of joy out of it as said it had good optics being a true longish fl scope without that horrible built in barlow it performed very well .

I still say that 6 inch dob its a much better scope in all ways .:thumbsup:.

Oh yes Alan and family :welcome: to IIS . A GREAT PLACE .
Brian.

[OzStarGazer]

Apart from all other considerations an EQ mount is not for kids and difficult even for adult beginners, so if your kid wants to use the scope on his/her own he/she will be disappointed. This is probably even worse with cheap scopes. :(

[OzStarGazer]

It's "local pickup only" though...

[CJ]

Yes, I had spotted that. It just tweaked my interest. Nice scope for $300. I have the solid tube 8" GSO which I'm very pleased with. For the money, I'm amazed by it! :D

[ThunderStorm]

I just wander what is the downside of collapsible telescope? Compare with the "normal" Dob that has a whole casing around the primary and secondary mirror, so they are always in alignment.
For the collapsible one, if you "fold" and "unfold" then will they small secondary mirror out of alignment with the primary big mirror?

[raymo]

Solid tube Dobs do not always stay in alignment. They need fairly frequent collimation tweaks. Truss tube Dobs need tweaking every
time they are assembled. Collapsible Dobs like the Skywatcher
Flex Dobs hold collimation very well.
raymo

[brian nordstrom]

:) Yes Ramo is right here as over the years I have observed with quite a few people using collapsible Dob's (GSO's and LB's) and every one has gone up sweetly with minimum fuss and very close to being collimated only requiring a small tweek to be spot on .i
These scopes are well designed and built .

Here is a friend's 16 inch GSO being assembled in the field , it takes about 10 miniutes to assemble and collimate .

Brian.