Beginner Scope

Chris562 · Guest

I haven't had a telescope since I was in high school. Now my 9 year son wants one. I enjoyed mine and I figured it would be a good educational tool. I have researched a bit and looked around. I live in a small town north of Lexington, Kentucky and have really good clear skies. My funds are very limited with a max expenditure of about $150 for a scope. I have been eyeing the Celestron PowerSeeker 127 EQ Newtonian Telescope 21049 for him. Can anyone tell me if this is a good telescope for a beginner? If it isn't, can anyone give me a better recommendation? Any replies will be greatly appreciated.

opticsplanet.com · Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2005 9:21 am Post subject:

Hi Chris

I like the 127mm aperture of the Powerseeker 127, but the Powerseeker mount is rather light, which accounts for its lower price.

Although a bit smaller, any of the following will have a more stable mount. In the long run, it is more practical to have a smaller scope on a stable mount, than a larger scope on a flimsy mount.

Celestron Firstscope EQ 114, http://www.opticsplanet.net/celestron-firstscope-114-eq-short-first-telescope.html The Firstscope series differs mainly in its better quality mount - a standard Celestron CG-2

Tasco 1000x114 Galaxsee, http://www.opticsplanet.net/rasco-1000x114-galaxsee.html Although Tasco is not a name associated with high quality optics, this model is a real sleeper. I would rate it as one of the best reflectors available under $200.
_________________
----------------------
Your personal optics expert
Joanie (Jne) K
http://www.OpticsPlanet.com
Phone: (888) 263-0356
Fax: (847) 574-6820

Chris562 · Guest

Ok.....is there a warranty difference or major differences between the "DEMO" version and the "NEW" version of the Tasco scope you recommended?

scopy · Guest

After several days of research, I was about to place an order for Celestron powerseeker 127EQ telescope AND i happened to read this. Now i am not all that sure. I have limited budget of a maximum of $250.

I have compared lots of telescopes. Always wondered why the Powerseeker 127EQ inspite of having 5" aperture and eyepieces of 20mm (50X) and 4mm (250X !!!) in addition to barlow lens 3X is so cheap !

However a celestron 114EQ firstscope series telescope is costly at about $180-$250 even though it has less aperture size and two eyepieces giving just 50X and 100X maginification.

I was about to buy Powerseeker because clearly it is giving much more for so less money. But your statement has put me in doubt. Could you explain more clearly about powerseeker's mount? Is it so bad? i mean i read online that unstable mounts are shaky. Is that the case with Powerseeker? What are the serious effects? Or are shaky mounts manageable? Are Firstscope mounts way better than powerseekers' ?

I have still not placed an order. I am ready to put in some more money and get 114EQ Firstscope although i dont like the fact that its diameter is half inch less(which is squared as the area of circle is proportinal to square of radius) and it gives max power of just 100X and I dont want to buy extra eyepieces. Please suggest!

- Mitesh Vasa.

scopy · Guest

by the way, I am familiar with the fact that magnification is not that important. Powerseeker gives magnification of 250X while using 4mm eyepiece. Thats the optimum i would say considering that the aperture size is 5" and maximum useable magnification is about 40-60X per inch. Obviously, using barlow of 3X with 4mm eyepiece would be useless as the image would be extremely blurry at 750X magnification. But I can use barlow lens with 20mm eyepeice, which would give me 150X power. Considering even these factors, would u still suggest Firstscope because of weak mount design of powerseeker?

Nikhil · Guest

Hi
I'm an amateur from Mumbai, India. I had that scope brought from the US.
Very frankly, i'm not very impressed with this scope.
It's mount isnt't that unstable once you balance it properly.
However, the eyepieces are crap. The only usable eyepiece is the 20mm.
The 4mm is useless and should be thrown away.
The barlow i suspect is 2x and can only help for viewing the moon.
I have looked at jupiter from a highly ppolluted sky, and i havent been able to see its belts at all using the 20mm. The 20mm does give sharp images though..
I'm considering buying 1 quality eyepiece with maybe 16mm.....
Look around and make your decision.
Nikhil.