Telescope Reviews: Z10, My First Viewing

· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt

· Submit a Review / Article

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

You are not logged in. [Login]

Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online
FAQ · Calendar

General Astronomy >> General Observing and Astronomy

Pages: 1

Sandytoes1963
member

Reged: 11/24/12

Loc: SW Florida

Z10, My First Viewing new

#5549458 - 12/01/12 10:07 PM

I received my Z10 on Wednesday, tonight was my first official viewing and I couldn't be happier, Jupiter and her moons shined brightly, the clouds of Orion where breathtaking and the Brilliant Moon was so bright through the 2" 30mm I put sunglasses on to enjoy the view less painfully, (:
However, I now understand how when it comes to Astronomical viewing how important a quality eyepiece truly is. The 30mm provided with the Telescope is nice to to use the 1 1/4 9mm was very straining on the eye. Guess I will be looking for good eyepiece bargains.
I have to say that I really liked how easy it is to use a Dobesonian Telescope. It doesn't have the tracking my Meade 90 etx had, but the trade off is I just roll it out on the cart I made and within a few minutes I am watching the stars.

Post Extras:

star drop
Snowed In

Reged: 02/02/08

Loc: Snow Plop, WNY

Re: Z10, My First Viewing new

[Re: Sandytoes1963]
#5549552 - 12/01/12 11:18 PM

Congratulations on your first viewing session! Why was the 9mm difficult to use? Is the eye lens small, does the eyepiece have short eye relief or was it impossible to achieve a sharp image due to an unsteady atmosphere at your location?

Post Extras:

BigC
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 09/29/10

Loc: SE Indiana

Re: Z10, My First Viewing new

[Re: Sandytoes1963]
#5550470 - 12/02/12 02:38 PM

Congrats!

I had a Z10 ,it showed great views but now resides miles away---I have a Z12 now!

2 inch EPs are really nice for big views and especially if you wear glasses while viewing.

Rather than the 9mm you might find a larger EP/Barlow combo easier to view with;I like using my 26mm Celestron 2" E-lux and 2" Zhumell Barlow.If you get a 2" barlow that 30mm becomes efectively a 15mm .And when you want to get closer the 2" to 1.25" adaptor can be dropped into the 2"barlow and 13mm to 17mm plossls (or whatever you prefer) for an effective high power with better eye relief than a 6mm to 9mm by itself.Not too fond of zoom because of narrower FOV.

Seriously consider a 2" barlow and a 13mm plossl as your next accessory purchases.I thought a Moon filter came with the scope?,but you definitely want one with such a large aperture ;viewing the unfiltered Full Moon in even a 6" scope is enough to ruin dark adaption for many minutes.

Post Extras:

Sandytoes1963
member

Reged: 11/24/12

Loc: SW Florida

Re: Z10, My First Viewing new

[Re: BigC]
#5550731 - 12/02/12 05:33 PM

Yes a moon filter came with the 11/2" eyepiece, but I was using the 2" 30mm.
The 9mm seems to have a short eye relief and I found it difficult to keep my gaze in the right spot all the time so the image jumped around a lot

Post Extras:

Sandytoes1963
member

Reged: 11/24/12

Loc: SW Florida

Re: Z10, My First Viewing new

[Re: Sandytoes1963]
#5550849 - 12/02/12 07:07 PM

Ok so tonight, with abit of work, I put M31 in the crosshairs, very rewarding. I must confess it took almost a hour to let the skies darken enough to piece togther the stars to lead me there and figure out how to reverse my movements using the right angle view finder, frustrating and worht every minute.

Post Extras:

panhard
It's All Good

Reged: 01/20/08

Loc: Markham Ontario Canada

Re: Z10, My First Viewing new

[Re: Sandytoes1963]
#5551148 - 12/02/12 09:59 PM

How the heck did you get to use your new scope within the first week. The curse mustn't be strong in your area.

Post Extras:

Astrodj
sage

Reged: 08/24/11

Loc: Missouri

Re: Z10, My First Viewing new

[Re: Sandytoes1963]
#5551347 - 12/03/12 12:53 AM

Enjoy!! Take a gander at the double cluster in Perseus with your 30mm. Then try going deep with the 9mm in each cluster. A great experience.

Post Extras:

csrlice12
Postmaster

Reged: 05/22/12

Loc: Denver, CO

Re: Z10, My First Viewing new

[Re: panhard]
#5551703 - 12/03/12 09:15 AM

Quote:

How the heck did you get to use your new scope within the first week. The curse mustn't be strong in your area.

It's my fault. I just got a rare, clean, 11mmT1 Nagler....figure I'll be able to use it in a year or so.....

Post Extras:

csa/montana
Den Mama

Reged: 05/14/05

Loc: montana

Re: Z10, My First Viewing new

[Re: Sandytoes1963]
#5551832 - 12/03/12 11:00 AM

Congratulations on having two nights of observing with your new scope! You picked a great time for getting it, as it gets dark much earlier, and one of my all time favorites; Orion is now visiting us!

Post Extras:

Sandytoes1963
member

Reged: 11/24/12

Loc: SW Florida

Re: Z10, My First Viewing new

[Re: csa/montana]
#5552226 - 12/03/12 03:08 PM

Here in SW Florida the nights are almost always clear and the temp stays in high 50's - low 60's. Summer on the other hand is not quite so pleasant.

Post Extras:

JimMo
I'd Rather Do It Myself

Reged: 01/08/07

Loc: Under the SE Michigan lightdom...

Re: Z10, My First Viewing new

[Re: Sandytoes1963]
#5552510 - 12/03/12 05:59 PM

Quote:

Here in SW Florida the nights are almost always clear and the temp stays in high 50's - low 60's. Summer on the other hand is not quite so pleasant.

I don't know if you are in the city are rural but just wait till you take it to truly darker skies. I know some folks observe out in Alligator Alley where it's a lot darker that Sarasota or Naples.

Post Extras:

Mary B
Vendor - Echo Astronomy and Electronics

Reged: 05/21/10

Loc: Minnesota

Re: Z10, My First Viewing new

[Re: JimMo]
#5552583 - 12/03/12 06:46 PM

Love my Z10 and M31 is my favorite object to show newbies.

Post Extras:

Sandytoes1963
member

Reged: 11/24/12

Loc: SW Florida

Re: Z10, My First Viewing new

[Re: Mary B]
#5552745 - 12/03/12 08:18 PM

I would say I live in not a city enviroment nor totally rural. We have street lights, but not so many that it causes a glow that a city would. I view mostly in the back of my house and the skies shimmer with viewing adventures.
When I observe M31, that fuzzy spot, it totally blows my mind that not only is it 2.5 million light years away, but I am seeing a "Galaxy" for crying out loud.

Post Extras:

Starman81
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 03/06/08

Loc: Metro Detroit, MI, USA

Re: Z10, My First Viewing [Re: Sandytoes1963]
#5553465 - 12/04/12 07:32 AM

Quote:

I would say I live in not a city enviroment nor totally rural. We have street lights, but not so many that it causes a glow that a city would. I view mostly in the back of my house and the skies shimmer with viewing adventures.
When I observe M31, that fuzzy spot, it totally blows my mind that not only is it 2.5 million light years away, but I am seeing a "Galaxy" for crying out loud.

Pretty awesome huh?

Post Extras:

Pages: 1

Extra information

6 registered and 7 anonymous users are browsing this forum.

Moderator: cildarith, droid, tecmage

Print Thread

Forum Permissions
      You cannot start new topics
      You cannot reply to topics
      HTML is disabled
      UBBCode is enabled

Thread views: 669

Jump to

CN Forums

Home

Cloudy Nights LLC
Cloudy Nights Sponsor: Astronomics