5145 replies to this topic

[OrdinaryLight]

Agreed, for a unit finder, the supplied RDF works about as well as anything else. For me the real improvement comes when adding a magnified finder in addition to the RDF, which requires drilling two holes in the tube to mount a Synta style finder base.

[SteveG]

Firewire - just a high level look at it (I don't have any dimensions) the mount does look like it could work with the factory base, it is at least very similar. If you can find dimensions of the MRF finder I can compare them to my OneSky.

 

That being said, is there a reason for wanting to purchase this? I find the red dot that comes with the AWB extremely helpful

That Stellarview RDF on the link is much nicer, but I don't think the base will fit. The stub on the upper tube ring is very small - maybe 1/2" wide.

 

I just mounted a standard Synta shoe on the metal tube. It sits very low, so that method wouldn't work well for an RDF, but I'm just using a laser.

[stevenf]

I think you might need something like this to adapt the Stellarview RDF to the One Sky:

 

http://www.dx.com/p/...47#.U-6QMfldV8E

 

I used one of these rails to mount a green laser target sight on one of my scopes. works pretty well.

 

You could also get the same RDF for half price:

 

http://www.dx.com/p/...39#.U-6QxvldV8E

[jlandy]

Good find!

[jlandy]

I think I broke my DSLR taking this one, but none the less... M20!

 

I also attached the red line image... should i look to get a replacement on the camera? its only a month old

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[jlandy]

Turns out the t3 died, upgraded to the t3i... Hopefully the added weight doesn't ruin anything

[howard929]

For anyone who happens to have one of these telescopes, do you think a Baader zoom would be too heavy, too something else or would it be OK? 

[jlandy]

I dont know how the weight compares to the Celetron Zoom eyepiece, but it is usually my go to for casual observing. The only time weight was ever a problem was when i attached my camera to the zoom piece

[howard929]

That sounds good. Thank you.

[SteveG]

For anyone who happens to have one of these telescopes, do you think a Baader zoom would be too heavy, too something else or would it be OK? 

If you dont mind using a zoom, I think it would be an excellent choice. The scope is mounted via a long dovetail, so balance is not an issue. With a zoom, you would balance it once.

[Firewire]

Oops, i had to work this weekend and could not reply to the wonderfully helpful responses i got about the RDF Finder. My original reasoning was that on my Celestron firstscope it is hard to star hop with the included red dot finder which is oddly very very similar from the pictures i've seen of the AWB onesky.  Now my AWB still hasn't arrived on my front step to confirm this but i have a good feeling that the red dot finder scope on both are the same. What makes it difficult to star hop is the fact that the finder scope is very small and i live is a orange-red zone which hides a lot of the fainter stars. Having a bigger view of the sky from the RDF seems ideal for my situation but i read some posts that a magnifying finder would be better in a red zone. I've decided not to go for the RDF finder for my AWB and instead wait until my telescope arrives so i can have a proper look at what i need to purchase rather than speculating and potentially wasting my money on things i will never end up using. I guess i am getting too excited for my own good. Anyways thank you all for the wonderful responses!

 

 

Jlandy, how dark are your skies where you've taken those amazing images? 

[jlandy]

 

 

 

Jlandy, how dark are your skies where you've taken those amazing images? 

 

I think I'm in an orange-ish zone, I have a large casino north of me, and a large town south of me. Fortunately both are fairly blocked by a bunch of trees. There is a lone streetlight that is very much a nuisance. I think the success in the pictures comes mostly from exposure time and the Orion Starshoot Autoguider with PHD. I've said before, I've never once thought that the telescope was limiting, it has always been a poor mount, or no guidescope, or autoguiding... etc

 

Just took this one tonight to test the new DSLR (t3i) - M6!

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[Firewire]

Oh man you caught one of my favorite clusters! This summer when i went to Oahu i brought along my celestron skymaster 15x70 and accidentally discovered IC 4628 and NGC 6231 when i sat down to look at scorpio from our hotel room balcony. Shortly after i pulled out my pocket sky atlas and discovered that there were more clusters near by: M6 and M7! It felt like a once in a life time experience even if the image came from my humble celestron skymaster. Scorpio holds some of the most beautiful sights. I had no idea you could see these clusters on the northern hemisphere... I always thought scorpio always stayed low on the horizon, blocked off by all the light pollution. Thanks for sharing Jlandy! One question, what 160mm tube rings did you use to attach your ST80 and where can they be purchased?

[jlandy]

I had a similar experience with M6 and M7 - I was borrowing a pair of binoculars at a star party and wanted to compare their view of Lagoon to my telescope when I stumbled upon M7, and it was pointed out to me that M6 was immediately adjacent. It was a fun experience discovering something new!

 

The tube rings were purchased here - http://www.kwtelescope.com/accessories/mechanical/tube-rings-ota/sky-watcher-160mm-tube-ring-set.html

 

Their customer support was pretty good, but I did get the impression that online sales weren't their primary income - i had to specifically ask for a tracking number on the purchase.

[MSimmons]

I had a similar experience with M6 and M7...

 

I had a similar experience with my first telescope, a 4.5-inch Newtonian. I was packing it in for the night when I noticed a bright object rising. I set the scope back up and took a look to find I had "discovered" Jupiter and the Galilean moons. I knew what it was, of course, but it was an amazing moment, one of my best ever. Accidental discoveries continue all the time but they are less spectacular these days.

[jlandy]

Not as densely packed as M13, but kinda neat to see so many stars around it - M22

 

20 mins (10X 2 mins), no darks... was mostly to test the new camera

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Edited by jlandy, 18 August 2014 - 01:06 PM.

[howard929]

 

For anyone who happens to have one of these telescopes, do you think a Baader zoom would be too heavy, too something else or would it be OK? 

If you dont mind using a zoom, I think it would be an excellent choice. The scope is mounted via a long dovetail, so balance is not an issue. With a zoom, you would balance it once.

 

Thank you Steve, I was hoping to hear more conformation on that. I'm plotting a partial re-shuffle of my astro gear and always pined away for one those small truss dobs. Shame on me for not following love at first sight but I've finally decided to get it right this time.

[jlandy]

Conditions were I think the best I've seen last night, which was perfect because I had planned on taking this picture... M27, The Dumbbell Nebula!

 

 

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[SteveG]

That is an excellent image!

[Firewire]

Telescope arrived but it didn't arrive in the condition i hoped it would. Minor things and i don't know if this happened to everyone but it did concern me. The first thing was that the telescope arrived dusty and i had to clean it, i don't know if it's cardboard dust but it's of concern since dust can get in the optics. Secondly, the front of the OTA was all scratched and dirty as if it had been used before, i wonder if it was from the cap rubbing against it but i had to clean it as well. Thirdly, there is a noticeable blemish on the stand were it seems the plastic has been burned or melted revealing a bit of the particle board. Fourth, the nut that holds the swivel table top was loose and i had to tighten it, this was an easy fix but otherwise the table would have been wobbly. Fifth issue was that the secondary mirror had 2 pinpoint black blemishes were the coating has come off, i don't know how badly it will effect the optics but it brings me a bit of concern knowing that the optics aren't that clean. Finally the nylon or plastic thumb screws that hold the collapsible bars feel super flimsy and one of them has worn threads because it was inserted incorrectly, it still holds the bars but i don't like how flimsy they feel when i twist them. I might have replace them but i don't know what screws they are. On another note, the eyepieces that came with the telescope feel cheaper than what i would have liked, specially the 25mm eyepiece. It has sub par injection molding and the plastic which feels really cheap, it's not a huge issue and will probably serve as a good workhorse (a piece i don't have to baby) but even the sticker is "SUPER" vague about it's specs. "Wide Angle" ???????????. Moving on the 10mm eyepiece i don't think this is a plossl since the Celestron K10 eyepiece that came with my Celestron Firstscope is exactly the same inside and out except for the fact that the SUPER 10mm has a rubber eyecup. I could be wrong but knowing celestron, they just ship or repackage the same things with all their telescopes. Maybe it is a plossl, just cheaply packaged. 

 

Anyways i feel like i bashed my telescope enough and need to comment on some of the good things about it. I know i said a lot of bad things about the scope but i am just sour about it's imperfections. First of all ITS HUGE. Wow i don't think i can ever own a bigger telescope than this. Every action and movement feels sturdy and i really appreciate all the metal parts on the OTA. The OTA is all metal and has a really nice finish and i see no imperfections. I much prefer this OTA to the firstscope's which is  vinyl wrapped plastic and has many air bubbles.  The helical focuser is a BIG improvement over the one that my firstscope comes with, which is also used on competing telescopes such as the orion starblast 4.5. The focuser feels smooth after i applied silicon grease and you can make really really fine adjustments which i could not do on my firstscope. Parabolic mirror is amazing to look at and it's just too bad that i can't test it out for another since it's going to rain all week. The AWB is graceful for it's size. It is just the size i was hoping in terms of portability and storage. 

 

I guess not all telescopes are perfect but the AWB is close to perfect for my needs. I know i listed a lot of imperfections but they are mostly cosmetic or can be dealt with real easy.    

[MSimmons]

Firewire, I'm concerned about some of the things you mentioned. The telescopes are not opened after leaving the factory -- or, at least, they're not supposed to be -- so if there's any indication that it's been used then we'd want to look into it. It shouldn't be dusty. It should be in a plastic bag that keeps it from getting dirty once it leaves the factory, though you never know what someone at the factory in China might have done. I haven't seen any arrive dusty, though. Loose nuts and blemishes shouldn't be there. It doesn't sound like what you described with the secondary will affect performance but the optics should be pristine in a new scope.

 

I've set up a number of these and had people play with them and I never noticed a flimsy feel to the thumb screws. That one was screwed in wrong is weird as well. Note that they don't need to be backed off more than a half-turn. I'm sure they'll wobble in the threads if they're backed out more. Do they feel like they might break or not hold well?

 

The eyepieces are definitely Plossl's, and reasonably good befitting the scope's good optics, despite the cheesy packaging. The barrel may be the same as the cheap Kellners that came with the Firstscope but the optics are Plossl. You'll see the difference once you use them.

 

If you have any concerns about the condition of the telescope or what it's gone through since leaving the factory (or *in* the factory) please write to products@astronomerswithoutborders.org about it.

 

As for the size of the telescope I can only say that now you've started down the path of aperture envy you're in for a lot of shocks as you go through your life savings in search of The Perfect Telescope. The OneSky's compactness is a very big part of its popularity but you just can't make a scope smaller than what the mirror needs (beyond collapsing it in one dimension). SkyWatcher USA has a line of collapsible scopes from 8" up to look at next.

 

Mike

[Firewire]

It's not extremely dusty but enough for one to notice. It was wrapped in a bag but who knows, foreign particles can make it through. It does not appear to have been used as it was just the front OTA that was a bit scratched and dirty, the dirty part emphasized the otherwise small scratches. Honestly it's not a big issue. As for the thumbscrew the top one screws in fine but the bottom one is harder to unscrew and when i unscrewed it i saw why: It was inserted improperly and the threads had been a bit worn out as well. They still work but when i twist the screw i have to give it more force which is too much torque for the thumbscrew and you can see the to twist a bit. The loose nut was fixed it just had too much wiggle room for my taste and was adjusted to my liking. The blemish on the secondary mirror is tiny, really tiny and i first thought it was just a dust speck but when i clean the mirror it would not come off. I don't think it will be an issue at all and i'm sure the views will be perfect!!! No dust made it to the primary mirror but the baffling (i think thats what its called) or small black piece that is opposite of the focuser was dusty. I will attach an image of the damage to the stand. Eyepieces i can deal with, they are workhorses from what i see and besides, my other eyepieces arrived this week . I don't think i can afford to have aperture envy, i don't have the space in my home! I also think this is about as big as i can get for a portable telescope, bigger and i'd have to take it apart in separate pieces which just seems super cumbersome. A nice refractor would likely be my next scope for planetary viewing though i think the AWB will be good enough for some planet viewing.  Thanks for your concern Mike but they aren't major problems that affect my viewing or use of the telescope.

 

 

 

Edit: bonus image of size comparison Absolutely amazed at it's size compared to the firstscope. Really glad i went with this telescope and not the orion starblast 4.5.

Edited by Firewire, 20 August 2014 - 06:28 PM.

[jlandy]

Wow, seems like you had a run of bad luck! Mine is only now starting to see a bit of dust after probably 30 nights of looking. The truss kinda snaps into place before tightening (note though, you *must* tighten to hold collimation!). I only have the celestron kit to compare to, but the image in the provided lens are at the same level

[BFaucett]

Firewire,

 

My scope arrived in perfect condition. (And I'm VERY happy with it, BTW!)  I think you just may have gotten a "lemon" that slipped through quality control.  It happens.  Personally, I wouldn't want to keep using it as the imperfections would always keep bugging me in the back of mind.  Frankly, if it were mine, I'd do as Mike Simmons suggests and contact AWB about returning it for a replacement.  I'm sure AWB and Celestron will make it right.

 

I'd bet AWB, and Mike Simmons, want to make sure these telescopes maintain a good reputation in the marketplace.  It's an important part of AWB's income (as Mike has explained previously).  Besides, you're communicating with the President of AWB right here!  Of course, I can't speak for Mike but I'd wager that he would be glad to take a little time to communicate with AWB's customer service folks about this.  I can't say that for certain but Mike comes across on here as that type of guy.

 

Just my two cents worth....

 

Cheers!

-Bob F.

[Firewire]

It bugged me but come to think of it, it's not bad at all. The thumb screw seems to be working fine, the telescope is all clean and shiny, swivel is nice and tightened, and about the blemish on the swivel top stand... I can live with it, it's only cosmetic. I know that if i returned it, it would either cost me or awb/celestron to ship it back. The replacement would also cost celestron/awb money and that small amount of money that they make off of the sale would be lost. I'm not about to do that just over a blemish if the whole scope works, and boy does it work well ^ - ^ I can probably flake off the blemish and patch it with some black acrylic paint if i really wanted to.