rg55
member
Reged: 08/02/08
Posts: 96
Loc: western US
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Hi all,
I am helping a friend shop for a telescope for her 11 year old daughter. My conclusion is that a small MCT would be best in this case, but which little mak? Mom does not have mucho dinero, so we're not talking Questars here. ETX, C90, Orion?
Thanks for helping with this worthwhile project!
Richard
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C8 on AS-CG5 mount
Orion 127 mak
C80ED
Canon XSi
Sony HD videocam
Celestron Neximage
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watcher
sage
Reged: 11/21/07
Posts: 406
Loc: NJ
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The 4" Celestron SE is the same price as the ETX with free shipping at OPT. linky
Joe
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(quote)"That does it! Next Big Bang, someone has got to rethink this gettin' old business!" Joe Daugert
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1986 Celestron c-8 (retired)
Celestron Omni XLT 120
Celestron Astromaster 70 AZ
Vixen GP2 mount on Omni XLT tripod (soon to be driven by iOptron GOTO Nova)
Meade 16x50 binoculars
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Jeronimo Cruz
super member
Reged: 09/01/08
Posts: 141
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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I have an Orion Apex 102 MCT and love it. If you check out the website, you'll see that there are some mounting options. I use mine on almost a nightly basis mounted on a photo tripod. I like the fact that it has no chromatic aberration nor does it have to be collimated. It's perfect for casual planetary and lunar observation. The Apex scopes also come with an correcting prism which allows for daytime use. You don't have to sell a kidney to get one, either.
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Jeronimo
TeleVue 101 + Gibralter
Celestron NS11 GPS/wedge + Hyperstar
Photon Instruments 127mm + SV F50W2
Lunt Solar Systems LS60DS Ha + Celestron CG-5
Naglers, Panoptics, Radians, Nikon binoviewer
Fujinon 10x70 FMT-SX, 7x42 CD; Canon 15x50IS;
Pentax 7x50 PCF WP, 10x50 PCF WPII, 10x50 DCF SP
Work
20" R/C RCOS on Paramount + Tak FSQ
16" R/C RCOS on Paramount + TEC 140
16" Meade LX200 SCT + TV 76
Ethos, Naglers, Panoptics
Coronado Solarmax 90mm Ha
Coronado Solarmax 70mm Ca
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stevenf
member
Reged: 10/11/09
Posts: 31
Loc: Vancouver, BC
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I have an ETX90 as well as a Skywatcher 90mm Mak (same as the Orion, only blue!). My advice would be the Orion on an alt az mount, like an AZ3, over the ETX, even though the optics on the ETX are superior.
I generally use the Skywatcher 90 for casual observing of the moon and planets from my front porch, the ETX is just too much trouble to set up and align. I also use it for terristrial observing with the correcting prism and it is excellent for that. With a 90mm mak, I don't think the GoTo is all that important...most of what the scope can goto doesn't look great with the narrow field of view. Planets and the moon are easy to find though and if the mount has slo-mo controls, easy to keep centered.
If not having mucho dinero is a consideration, I'd go with the simple Orion 90mm mak.
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Meade ETX-60BB
Meade ETX-90EC UHTC
Skywatcher ST80
Orion ST120
Skywatcher 90mm Mak
Meade 9x63 binoculars
Celestron Explorascope
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rg55
member
Reged: 08/02/08
Posts: 96
Loc: western US
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Steven,
Thanks for reading and responding. I've been looking at the little Orion 90mm tabletop mak. I own a 5" and I'm a believer in the Orions. My understanding of the tabletop unit from the catalog is that the OTA can be removed and mounted on a more substantial tripod later (has dovetail?). How do you like your little mak?
Richard
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C8 on AS-CG5 mount
Orion 127 mak
C80ED
Canon XSi
Sony HD videocam
Celestron Neximage
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rg55
member
Reged: 08/02/08
Posts: 96
Loc: western US
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Joe,
It truly looks sweet but a bit over budget...I think. I'll see what I can find out. Thanks for the link!
Richard
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C8 on AS-CG5 mount
Orion 127 mak
C80ED
Canon XSi
Sony HD videocam
Celestron Neximage
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rg55
member
Reged: 08/02/08
Posts: 96
Loc: western US
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Hi Jeronimo,
These Orion MCTs are definitely decent. I love mine. How is the cool down time for yours? And what equatorial mount, as an eventual upgrade, would work best?
Thanks,
Richard
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C8 on AS-CG5 mount
Orion 127 mak
C80ED
Canon XSi
Sony HD videocam
Celestron Neximage
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tim53
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/17/04
Posts: 1459
Loc: Highland Park, CA
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Why not a 4.25" or even a 3" Newt?
-Tim.
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"We`re just waiting looking skyward as the days come down.
Someone promised there`d be answers, if we stayed around."
-Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, "The Romance of the Telescope"
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Billydee
super member
Reged: 01/23/08
Posts: 186
Loc: Winter Haven, FL
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Go to the S&S telescopes and to the Wanted Classifieds and post what you are looking for and your general price range. Tell them what you want it for. There will be some fair offers made and you can look them over.
Luck, Bill
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AlexDJ30
sage
Reged: 09/02/08
Posts: 276
Loc: Monterrey, Mexico
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Well right now Celestron have 100$ dls mail rebate on all SE scopes, so the 4SE you pay 499$ get the mail rebate and thats 399 dls...not bad for a 4 inch Mak and Go to, unless you dont want go to for you kid.
Another goodie is Orions new starblast 6 inch newt (I know its not a mak) but 6 inch itsa good start for your kid and i think the 6 inch normal starbvlast its around 279 dls, but they sell it too with the Object locator at 399 dls.
here look :
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=HP_ProductZone3/~pcategory=HOMEPAGE/~product_id=09964
So its interesting a 6 inch starblast with object locator (if you dont want Go to) at 399 dls and without it 279 dls...
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Equipment:
- ETX 125 AT
- C6 ASGT
- WO 66mm SD
- 2.5X ED Barlow, 8-24mm Zoom Eyepice
- Canon EOS Rebel XSi
- Celestron Nextimagen
- Orion Starshoot CCD cam
Edited by AlexDJ30 (11/03/09 12:00 PM)
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Bugsi
super member
Reged: 09/20/07
Posts: 114
Loc: Sunnyvale, CA
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The Orion 90mm Mak is sold as an OTA, or with the tabletop alt-az mount, or with the Min-EQ tabletop GEM, or with their EQ-1 GEM. I bought it with the EQ-1 GEM for my nephew. They often put that one on sale around the holidays. It has some good and bad about it.
Good: Very good optics. Relatively low cost with a simple but passable GEM tripod.
Bad: No GoTo. No tracking motor. difficult to use finderscope (WHY do they use three thumbscrews to adjust it, when two in an X-Y arrangement is so much easier???). Must buy separately a correcting prism diagonal for terrestrial viewing. Comes with a single 25mm Plossl eyepiece, so you'll need additional eyepieces if 50x isn't your bag.
It becomes a much more usable scope (but without GoTo) when you add a single axis tracking motor, and replace the finderscope with a 2-screw-adjusting RACI. [Edit, I don't know if the 90mm uses the Orion dovetail shoe-mount finder, it looks like it doesn't but that their 102mm does.] If you add those, you're into the price of the Celestron with GoTo, although from what I can tell on the linked webpage the Celestron doesn't come with any eyepieces, and you could still improve it with a RACI and a real star diagonal in place of the flip-mirror it comes with, and again a correct image prism would be another good addition for terrestrial viewing.
Either one can make good use of about $100 or so in upgrades from the stock configuration.
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Orion 150mm Mak, Orion 100mm Skyview Pro Refractor, Orion 80mm ShortTube Refractor.
Foothill Observatory, Los Altos, CA
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AlexDJ30
sage
Reged: 09/02/08
Posts: 276
Loc: Monterrey, Mexico
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I know collimating a Newt will be not fun for your kid at the begining (maks doesnt need this unless it comes real bad misplaced) but heck Dad will want to play with the new daughters toys isnt LOL?
I know the 90mm mak its really grab and go but i think the aperture its very little to see a lot (moon, the planets, the DSO you know maks because of the focal you will not see the entire object) another problem is that if you live in a medium to big city your daughter will be confine to see only the planets, the DSO's are out of the reach (and more with a mak) on this aperture.
I think its better deal the 6 inch Starblast, it will let you see a bite more on planets, see DSO's nice and its not that big to take it if you go to a darksite with your daughter and trully see what a 6 inch can do againt a 90mm mak, it will blow it out of the water easy.
You have lots of options. 
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Equipment:
- ETX 125 AT
- C6 ASGT
- WO 66mm SD
- 2.5X ED Barlow, 8-24mm Zoom Eyepice
- Canon EOS Rebel XSi
- Celestron Nextimagen
- Orion Starshoot CCD cam
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mwedel
super member
Reged: 12/16/07
Posts: 185
Loc: Claremont, CA
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Quote:
Bad: No GoTo.
Not sure if that is a bad, especially since the OP said they were looking for something inexpensive.
Quote:
No tracking motor.
Also not a bad if the scope is on a light alt-az mount. I don't want to refight the alt-az/EQ debate but for a kid's first telescope, I would think a hand-driven alt-az would be vastly simpler to set up and use than an EQ.
Quote:
I don't know if the 90mm uses the Orion dovetail shoe-mount finder, it looks like it doesn't but that their 102mm does.
The 90mm does use the same dovetail mount for the finder. And the pathetic 6x20 finder on the Apex and EQ-mounted versions is the weakest part of the package. I replaced mine with a 6x30 RACI almost immediately and never looked back. If you're thinking of going that route, Orion usually has a pretty good accessories sale after Christmas. Or look for one used.
Quote:
If you add those, you're into the price of the Celestron with GoTo
OR you could skip those add-ons and get the tabletop version of the StarMax 90. It's on a mini-dob mount, with a real dovetail so you can take it off and put it on another mount later. The mini-dob mount itself has a 3/8 well nut in the bottom so you can use it on a tabletop (seems like it might be good for a kid) or put the whole thing up on a tripod and use the mini-dob mount as an alt-az head. Comes with a decent star diagonal, an RDF so replacing the finder isn't so urgent, and 25mm and 10mm eyepieces so you're not, in fact, stuck at 50x. All that for half the price of the NexStar 4.
The StarBlast 6 has been mentioned as an alternative, and it will indeed show a lot more than a 90mm Mak. OTOH, the 90mm Mak will be a lot easier for a kid to carry and set up, takes up a lot less space, has a sealed tube and less need for collimation, and costs less. It does a respectable job on the brighter DSOs and I've never had any cooldown problems with mine except when the outside temperature is below freezing.
IMHO and YMMV!
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Orion XT6 "Shaft"
Little Maks: Orion Apex 90, Celestron orange tube C90, Synta MC90
Edmund Astroscan "Baby Red"
76mm ongoing ATM experiment
Celestron UpClose 10x50
Celestron SkyMaster 15x70
10 Minute Astronomy
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rg55
member
Reged: 08/02/08
Posts: 96
Loc: western US
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Tim,
I started with a 4.25" Mayflower when I was 10...LBJ was president...
If I could have had a little mak back then (I hadn't heard of Questar) I'm sure I would have preferred it. I won't be around to help collimate a Newt (I don't live near them)or to explain the intricacies of a GEM. A dob would probably be okay if they lived in a less light polluted area, but alas, not the case. Maybe for the next scope?
Richard
--------------------
C8 on AS-CG5 mount
Orion 127 mak
C80ED
Canon XSi
Sony HD videocam
Celestron Neximage
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rg55
member
Reged: 08/02/08
Posts: 96
Loc: western US
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Great options, Alex! It's really a good time to be starting out in amateur astronomy. There's products for every budget out there.
--------------------
C8 on AS-CG5 mount
Orion 127 mak
C80ED
Canon XSi
Sony HD videocam
Celestron Neximage
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rg55
member
Reged: 08/02/08
Posts: 96
Loc: western US
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Mwedel (Is that really your name?)  -
I think the Starmax 90 in the tabletop version would probably be the best choice, unless I misunderstand the budget. If it can be transferred to a tripod, or even a GEM or Nexstar mount at some time, that would be even better. But this would be a great start and could be added to easily.
Thanks for the great analysis and suggestions!
Richard
--------------------
C8 on AS-CG5 mount
Orion 127 mak
C80ED
Canon XSi
Sony HD videocam
Celestron Neximage
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Brian L
super member
Reged: 11/17/08
Posts: 119
Loc: The garden paradise of Pittsbu...
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ETX-125 a good choice, not hard to find used. Vixen VMC-110L on a skypod is also something to consider as an inexpensive option that gives you GOTO. I use one as a guidescope and it a pretty nice little scope- much better than the Tasco I started with!!
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WO FLT-110 f/6.5, TEC optics
Losmandy G-11 Gemini
Meade 10" LX200 GPS/UHTC
Questar 3.5" Standard
Vixen VMC-110L
Canon 450D, unmodified
Assortment of TV Panoptic, TV Radian, Vixen LVW, and WO eyepieces
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AlexDJ30
sage
Reged: 09/02/08
Posts: 276
Loc: Monterrey, Mexico
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Brian i want to know about the VMC-110L...does it have image shift while focusing?? i want to buy that scope but i need to know more about..hope you can give some info about it because there arent many people doing review about it.
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Equipment:
- ETX 125 AT
- C6 ASGT
- WO 66mm SD
- 2.5X ED Barlow, 8-24mm Zoom Eyepice
- Canon EOS Rebel XSi
- Celestron Nextimagen
- Orion Starshoot CCD cam
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Brian L
super member
Reged: 11/17/08
Posts: 119
Loc: The garden paradise of Pittsbu...
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Hi Alex-
Yes there is some image shift during focus, but I don't find it problematic. It is an uncommon design called a Field Maksutov Cassegrain. It focuses by moving the primary like a Mak, but it does not have a corrector plate similar to a classical Cassegrain. The corrector is just in front of the secondary, and light is corrected before and after bouncing of the secondary. The open tube is actually nice, as this scope cools down pretty quickly.
It has a flip mirror with two orthogonal axes which is a nice feature that avoids switching eyepieces. Also comes with a nice red-dot finder. I would not recommend this scope for AP, but it is a nice scope for visual observing for the price.
Stars are nice points across the field and images are sharp up to about 200X. It does not take high powers as well as a high quality refractor, but if it did it wouldn't cost 1/10th as much.
At the end of the day, it is important to calibrate your expectations for what you are getting: an inexpensive 110 mm centrally-obstructed reflector. For the price, the scope is a good deal and has a lot of nice features. A great scope for a beginner or a child getting into the hobby. It is far better than the scopes most of us cut our teeth with as beginners.
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WO FLT-110 f/6.5, TEC optics
Losmandy G-11 Gemini
Meade 10" LX200 GPS/UHTC
Questar 3.5" Standard
Vixen VMC-110L
Canon 450D, unmodified
Assortment of TV Panoptic, TV Radian, Vixen LVW, and WO eyepieces
Edited by Brian L (11/06/09 02:58 PM)
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wanderer_oz
member
Reged: 09/24/09
Posts: 13
Loc: Sydney, Australia
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hi,
This skywatcher 90mm acro refractor looks hard to beat in simplicity, value and budget:
Sky-Watcher, USA GreatStart 90AR-AZ3 Refractor $170
http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=1545-12372
Simon
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C6-S CG5 ASGT
WO Megrez 72mm
Eyepieces - 28mm, 20mm, 13mm, 4mm
Fujinon 7x50 FMTRC-SX
Nikon D300
Edited by wanderer_oz (11/06/09 05:42 PM)
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