Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums
Privacy Policy |
Please read our Terms
of Service | Signup and
Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu.... uh, User
Cygnus_x1
Sketcher Extraordinaire
Reged: 11/17/04
Posts: 2094
Loc: Isle of Wight, England
|
|
I lodge with a friend who has a bit of an interest in astronomy and some months ago (before I came to live here) he bought a small refractor in a supermarket (a European chain called Lidl which sell cheap food and other items) for £79.99 (approx $154).
I had an opportunity to give this little scope a go last night, and quite frankly, while I was expecting it to be very bad, it was actually very, very good. The tripod it came with is extremely sturdy and solid, the equatorial mount is metal construction and good quality and the optics are good, too.
I looked at the Moon, and with the supplied low power eyepiece I had sharp clear views with almost no colour abberation and no fringing. Stars appear as little points of light and the thing is sharp to the edges.
The finder is a bit small and the slow motion controls are a bit temperamental with some backlash in them, but nothing that can't be altered. I'd also change the eyepieces (except the low power one which is actually good) and Barlow lens (plastic) for better quality ones.
We all tell people not to buy cheap supermarket (or elsewhere) telescopes as they are frequently rubbish - which they all too often are. But this thing is the exception - it's great. I have actually seen someone on another forum claim that he had performed a side by side test with the Skylux and a Meade ETX 70 and that the Skylux came out on top. After using it (and using an ETX several times in the past) I can believe that - apart from anything else the Skylux is easier to focus.
--------------------
Visual Deep Sky Observing
Visual Astronomy blog
Fotopic astronomy gallery My photos from astronomy events, etc
8x42 binoculars 'light thimble'
4" refractor and 4" Meade SCT 'light cups'
12" Dobsonian 'light bucket'
Various TeleVue eyepieces
|
Jim Easterbrook
professor emeritus
Reged: 02/25/04
Posts: 547
Loc: Surrey, UK (N51.36 W0.25)
|
|
The Lidl scopes get cheaper each year. Two years ago I paid £80, last year they were £70 and this year they're only £60, and I expect they're already sold out.
I've put a bit of info about them, including reworking of the mount, on my web site.
--------------------
Jim (N51.36 W0.25)
9¼" SCT & 4" Mak. 6" f/5 achro, 80mm f/7.5 apo & 66mm f/5.9 apo refractors.
EQ-6 SkyScan & NexStar 80 mounts. CoolPix 4500 & EOS 350d cameras.
|
Cygnus_x1
Sketcher Extraordinaire
Reged: 11/17/04
Posts: 2094
Loc: Isle of Wight, England
|
|
Apparently they are less than £50 now. Unfortunately I'm skint otherwise I'd get one for myself, as I think it would make a very nice second scope once my Dobsonian is finished.
You have got some very useful info on your site there, Jim.
--------------------
Visual Deep Sky Observing
Visual Astronomy blog
Fotopic astronomy gallery My photos from astronomy events, etc
8x42 binoculars 'light thimble'
4" refractor and 4" Meade SCT 'light cups'
12" Dobsonian 'light bucket'
Various TeleVue eyepieces
Edited by Cygnus_x1 (12/01/04 01:11 PM)
|
GermanSkywatcher
member
Reged: 11/19/04
Posts: 27
|
|
Lidl is a supermarket chain with origin in Germany. Now they are present in many european countries. The Skylux is not sold the whole year through here in Germany, just two times a year. Ordering by phone or internet is not possible, you have to go to the Lidl store to get one. In 2004 we had a Skylux sale in the springtime, i dont remember the precise date and we will have the traditional "Christmas/Winter" sales beginning today, Dec 2nd. The sales price here in Germany will be 70 Euros(OTA, mount, tripod + some Astro software - on the CD a "Meade" label is printed  ), a price cheap enough to let people queue up before the store in recent years. This probably wont happen any more because pretty much everybody right now got one of these Skylux here in Germany because of the sales in recent years. Nevertheless it is expected that these scopes will be outsold rapidly. As Cygnus_x1 already wrote, the skylux is an exceptional bargain especially for its equatorial mount ("Astro3") that normally is sold in telescope shops for much more than a 100 Euros. I can only confirm what Cygnus_x1 wrote about the details of this scope. I just want to point out that the quality of the objective lenses is a gamble. You might get a good pair (its a 2 lens achromat) thats diffraction limited or you dont. If you got a pair that does not perform well, there are user groups here that have some DIY troubleshooting clues that might help, because not in every case bad optics are the reason for poor optical performance. But naturally you can always return the scope if your not satisfied by going to the store. But not everyone of the buyers is a startester experienced enough to distinguish between good and bad optics . There could be said much more about this scope because there are many ways to tune up its mechanical performance for little money. Here in Germany its truly become a cult object for hobby astronomers. If i think how much time i spent i.e. to improve the tripod stability (Yes: i also own a Skylux!) it probably would have been more reasonable to buy a Vixen GP and the result would have been more convincing  .
BTW: This year the Meade ETX70 (i think it was 180 Euros or so) is also sold by Lidl. Many stores in Southern Germany will sell the only the ETX, in the northern part of Germany only the Skylux which IMHO is the better deal.
Edited by GermanSkywatcher (12/01/04 09:43 PM)
|
Jim Easterbrook
professor emeritus
Reged: 02/25/04
Posts: 547
Loc: Surrey, UK (N51.36 W0.25)
|
|
Quote:
Lidl is a supermarket chain with origin in Germany. Now they are present in many european countries.
Yes, this week my Skylux web pages have had "hits" from Ireland, UK, Portugal, France, Netherlands, Germany and Poland.
Quote:
The Skylux is not sold the whole year through here in Germany, just two times a year.
Same here, once or twice a year.
It was buying the Lidl scope two years ago that rekindled my interest in astronomy, which had been dormant since childhood. I daren't add up how much money I've spent since then.
PS Welcome to Cloudy Nights, "GermanSkywatcher"!
--------------------
Jim (N51.36 W0.25)
9¼" SCT & 4" Mak. 6" f/5 achro, 80mm f/7.5 apo & 66mm f/5.9 apo refractors.
EQ-6 SkyScan & NexStar 80 mounts. CoolPix 4500 & EOS 350d cameras.
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
|
Hi Folks,
Just been reading the thread as I picked up the Skylux from Lidl last night.
Heavy fog so haven't even had a chance to look yet, and this is my first scope since my younger days - a long time ago 
I'm a dabbler, so this will be for the odd foray rather than serious work so I'll declare my intentions.
Now I intend connecting my Minolta Z2 digicam if possible to get some pics.
Any advice in this area would be much appreciated.
Many thanks.
Regards,
Dougie.
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
|
I bought one this morning at the local Lidl store.
Here in Portugal it sells for 99 Euros. As always, these products are much cheaper in other Lidl stores all over Europe.
Anyway it“s a bargain. It comes with 3 eyepieces (20, 12 and 4mm), one mirror diagonal and one 1,5x inverter lenses.
I'm at work now, so in the weekend I will put it all together. I just hope that the optics are OK.
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
|
I just got one of these here in Spain for 79 Euros. My first ever telescope. I read up on the map of the sky and managed to find my way about with the equatorial mount.
A fantastic view of Saturn, it was so beautiful.
The 20mm lens seems OK, but I will get some additional eyepieces in due course.
|
antyqjon
member
Reged: 12/24/04
Posts: 72
Loc: Tarnów, Poland
|
|
Skylux is the only "supermarket scope" that I can recommend. I've tested it on many objects such as globular & open clusters, some double stars, Moon and Saturn. With the telescope there were 2 EPs - Kellners (20 and 4 mm) and this 'erecting eypiece'. I bought a Vixen Plossl 32 mm and soon I'm going to buy another Plossl (9 or 10 mm). From the included eyepieces only 20 is quite good. 4 mm has almost no eye relief  However, looking at Moon with 175x is great! The erecting eyepiece is something rather not useful, I removed it from my box for eypieces and put there PL32 instead It is a good lunar and planetary scope, but under dark sky it can show DSOs quite well, I managed to see M74 with averted vision, but not 'averted imagination', it definitely was there. The equatorial mount is Astro-3 - something like the old EQ3. I've found a website with some information:
Astro-3 mount
--------------------
binoculars: 8x30, 10x50, 12x60
scope: Skylux 70/700 refractor
Edited by antyqjon (12/31/04 05:12 AM)
|
Jim Easterbrook
professor emeritus
Reged: 02/25/04
Posts: 547
Loc: Surrey, UK (N51.36 W0.25)
|
|
Quote:
4 mm has almost no eye relief However, looking at Moon with 175x is great!
I attempted to measure the focal length of my Lidl 4mm eyepiece, and got a figure nearer 6mm. Still a rubbish eyepiece though.
|
antyqjon
member
Reged: 12/24/04
Posts: 72
Loc: Tarnów, Poland
|
|
That would give 117x. If I had any better short focal length EP, I would probably use this Lidl 4mm as a glass for drinking vodka
--------------------
binoculars: 8x30, 10x50, 12x60
scope: Skylux 70/700 refractor
|
Jim Easterbrook
professor emeritus
Reged: 02/25/04
Posts: 547
Loc: Surrey, UK (N51.36 W0.25)
|
|
Quote:
If I had any better short focal length EP, I would probably use this Lidl 4mm as a glass for drinking vodka
Now there's a good idea. Mine's a Zubrówka. Cheers!
--------------------
Jim (N51.36 W0.25)
9¼" SCT & 4" Mak. 6" f/5 achro, 80mm f/7.5 apo & 66mm f/5.9 apo refractors.
EQ-6 SkyScan & NexStar 80 mounts. CoolPix 4500 & EOS 350d cameras.
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
|
I bought a 32mm and a 9 mm Plossl, a X2 Barlow and a 90 deg prism from Owl services in the US. Got the lot for $79 plus 13 postage.
All a lot better quality than what came with the Skylux scope, and I think a good investment.
Better views of the sky all round
I have also seen this scope sold online as the Bresser Mars Explorer 70, for over twice the price LIDL are charging.
Edited by oldnewbie (02/13/05 06:05 PM)
|
Jon Isaacs
Postmaster
Reged: 06/16/04
Posts: 12070
Loc: San Diego, California
|
|
Just a note here:
The SkyLux is 70mm F10 scope, the ETX-70 is a 70mm F5 scope. One would expect the SkyLux to soundly trounce the ETX in every possible way except for Field of View, but there, its still more than adequate, a 32 mm plossl should provide a TFOV of about 2.2 degress, plenty to frame the Pleiades.
The false color inharent in an Achromatic Refractor is increases as the focal ratio is reduced so the 70mm SkyLux ought to be quite a bit better than the ETX-70 in this regard. One rule of thumb says that for false color in an achromat to be "acceptable" the focal ratio should be atleast 3 times the diameter measured in inches. For the SkyLux this number is 3.6, for the ETX-70 it is 1.8.
Take care, clear skies
jon
|
Beast
sage
Reged: 01/31/05
Posts: 286
Loc: Belgium, Westmeerbeek
|
|
so to summarize, the skylux 70mm is a decent little scope, you just need some accesory decent eyepieces. Right???
--------------------
Happy hunting and clear skies.
Beast
Helios Evostar 120 f/8.3 achro (flocked dewshield, blackened lensedges, flocked internally, Baader Crayford, TV Everbrite 2", 8x50 RACI, heavy duty wooden tripod, tuned LXD-55)
Orion Skyquest XT6 classic (curved spider, 8x50 RACI, GSO crayford, fully flocked)
Stellarvue Nighthawk original(Telepod style altaz mount)
Meade ETX70 (grab-n-go)
TS Optics 10x50 & 15x70
|
sixela
Postmaster
Reged: 12/23/04
Posts: 9267
Loc: Boechout, Belgium
|
|
Yup.
The sad thing is that in *some* countries (not in France, but in the Netherlands, to give just two data points), they've replaced the tripod under that EQ2 with something with excellent tubular legs but lots of plastic around it.
In France, the 70mm f/10 still has last year's appearance and all-metal tripod top under that EQ2 mount - in fact, the mount has almost the same appearance as the EQ2 sold by Telescope Service.
The sadder thing is that this is one of the reasons they keep getting cheaper, and that this new plastic tripod appears to be the wave of the future :/.
Ah well - at least the optics are decent, and it's not an f/5 achromat .
--------------------
400mm f/4.46 David Lukehurst truss Dobsonian on Tom Osypowski equatorial platform
Orion Starblast (114mm f/4 reflector, Alt/Az)
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
|
This forum has convinced me to buy a 'Skylux' this thursday
when they go on sale at Lidl for £49.99.
Thanks to your critical acclaim I buy one knowing that the price is good and the content is good.
Please keep up the god work for beginners like myself.
Cheers - Dave B
|
IanMWatson
professor emeritus
Reged: 11/07/05
Posts: 649
Loc: Elgin, Bonnie Scotland
|
|
Hi, I bought the etx70 and the skylux and personally I think they're both superb value for money. A go to scope with great accessories for £119, sounds like a good deal to me. My skylux was £39.99, not £49.99 from lidl in antrim, additionally I went back yesterday and they had 16 skylux and 12 etx70 left.
The skylux mount may have plastic bits on it but mine at least is performing beyond what i expect of a mount of its size.
Ian.
--------------------
Ian Watson
Berlebach UNI-18/Super Polaris Driven
Zenithstar 80 FD
Orion Optics 8" F6
TV powermate 5x
UO HD/Antares Ortho 7,9,12mm/LVW 13,22/Paragon 40/TMB planetary 4mm.
350D/SC1 Webcam
|
Rainbow
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/27/04
Posts: 656
Loc: Norfolk, UK
|
|
£39.99 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow
--------------------
Meade ETX 90 UHTC, 497 Autostar, 884 tripod, right angle finder.
CALIBRATE MOTORS and TRAIN DRIVES!
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
|
Does anyone have any idea where and how much, I could get an R A motor for this scope?
|
|
|
Previous
Index
Next
Threaded
Edit
Reply
Quote
