Mr. Ting, As a budding (11 years old) astronomy buff in 1961 I sent away to Edmund and purchased a kit to manually grind my own 6" mirror, from 2 Pyrex blanks, for a basic reflector telescope. It was a personal challenge that I completed, and I sent the parabolic mirror out to have the finished aluminium surface applied. The company said I came very close to my target of F-8 focal length, ended up @ 47.5". While the mirror was being finished I assembled a square Birch plywood tube, painted flat black inside, mounted on a lazy Susan type, ball bearing, turntable with a heavy tripod, equatorial mount. It earned me a A+ in my 7th grade science class. Used a fixed black screen to project an image of the Sun from the eyepiece lens, showing sun spots for the class.
@skulptor
3 жыл бұрын
Great story. i dreamed of doing that in the 60s having read in beginner astronomy books whil ei made do with a little Tasco scope. (I was born in 61 ;) ) Now th eproblem is too much choice of cheap telesopes!
@zevdraven1658
3 жыл бұрын
sorry to be so offtopic but does any of you know a method to get back into an Instagram account? I stupidly lost the account password. I would appreciate any tricks you can offer me.
@zevdraven1658
3 жыл бұрын
@Aries Ahmad thanks so much for your reply. I found the site thru google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff atm. Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@zevdraven1658
3 жыл бұрын
@Aries Ahmad it did the trick and I finally got access to my account again. I am so happy! Thank you so much you really help me out !
@ariesahmad9389
3 жыл бұрын
@Zev Draven Glad I could help xD
@gabehart9092
3 жыл бұрын
A few years ago, I arrived at a star party and saw that someone had set up a Meade MAX 20" ACF. I later learned that only 5 of these $36k scopes were ever produced. We were all curious to see what this unusual scope could do, but the guy never got to use it because the primary never quite cooled down and the corrector got covered in dew! 20" aperture is a tall ask for a dew heater. On the last day of the star party, we all watched in amazement as the scope's owner managed to, over the course of about an hour, disassemble the entire scope and load it into his trailer all by himself using a hydraulic lift cart and some winches. I can confidently say that my 8" newtonian collected more photons that weekend than that 700lb behemoth. As you mentioned, big SCTs can be a lot to deal with, to which I'll add that they certainly don't make good travel scopes!
@Astrofrank
3 жыл бұрын
The main problem with commercially available dew heaters is that they try to heat the glass from the edge and thus via conduction. Glass has little thermal conductivity. I found a better method in a book where the heater was a ring (lateral surface of a conical frustrum, larger diameter to the optics) halfway from the front of a dew shield. The glass loses heat via radiation and the heater replaces the heat also via radiation - far evenly over the surface than possible with conduction.
@GaryCameron
Жыл бұрын
Dew has ruined at least one night with my C9.25 - I recently ordered the dew ring for it, and a 12V powered blow heater. When I was younger back in the 80s I had a homemade cardboard dew shield on my C8 and a plug in hairdryer to get dew off if needed to in a hurry.
@alexisvan222
3 жыл бұрын
The ETX-90 was one of my first scopes. I managed. Forget dark sky... but Jupiter and the Moon were crisp. The Borg 77ED was my most loved scope...
@frankbraker1320
3 жыл бұрын
Collimation is your friend. Every scope is overjoyed when you collimate it. I looked at the user's guide for the MU180 - it shows step by step how to collimate the scope. I always collimate my (not MU180 telescope, mine is something else) in the field, right before connecting my camera, and it takes about 5 minutes or less (with an also well-collimated laser collimator). I don't want to waste an evening with a badly collimated scope - and it's really pretty easy to do, with a little practice and oh so tiny amount of determination. Absolutely worth the effort every single time.
@peter7624
3 жыл бұрын
It's true, when collimation "pops in" it's fabulous. Mars with my LX10 is so detailed when collimated well and when the atmospherics hold still for a moment!
@GoldSrc_
4 жыл бұрын
And here I was, thinking that refractors rarely go out of collimation. You learn something new every day. Thanks for the video, subbed.
@Sharpless2
3 жыл бұрын
Yes, even refractors can go out of collimation. However, that happens rarely. Compared to collimating a Reflector, its only a bit more complicated; it sounds harder than it actually is. You need a laser cheshire for it. Sure the first time trying to collimate a Refractor will seem like its not something one can do at home but the second time, if you ever have to do it again, will take less than 10 minutes.
@jamiboothe
3 жыл бұрын
@@Sharpless2 Do you have any videos that shows how to collimate a refractor, or that show what to look for when using the laser cheshire tool? =)
@Sharpless2
3 жыл бұрын
@@jamiboothe nope, i dont have any videos. I followed a text guide i found somewhere on the internet.
@connieelliott5359
3 жыл бұрын
What exactly is collimation
@jamiboothe
3 жыл бұрын
@@connieelliott5359 It is when all optical components are aligned so the light in the center the light is flat, or what is known as a plane wave. When we view stellar objects at a distance, the light is initially curved because it is coming out equally from a spherical object. However after it has traveled billions of miles, the light wave appears flat to our eye. When we build optics, we try to recreate this flat plane that our natural eye sees.
@CmdrEsteban
3 жыл бұрын
I once bought an 8” dob because everyone said “get a dob!” Hated it. Sold it and bought an ED100 refractor. And lived happily ever after.
@Ethan_is_me
3 жыл бұрын
What made you hate the dob?
@CmdrEsteban
3 жыл бұрын
@@Ethan_is_me Perhaps “hate” was too strong a word. I just didn’t get along with it. Base was too unwieldy to carry with my back issues and I didn’t enjoy having to lovingly embrace the OTA with my right arm in order to find and track objects. I guess I’m just an old fashioned tripod kind of guy.
@Ethan_is_me
3 жыл бұрын
@@CmdrEsteban ease of use is certainly important. If you were to compare the visual quality, is it a big difference between the dob and the refractor?
@CmdrEsteban
3 жыл бұрын
@@Ethan_is_me I have to say I prefer the view through my refractor (I’m mainly a planetary viewer), but in fairness I didn’t have the dob long enough for a proper comparison. And I must admit that obviously the dob’s much greater aperture would give it a significant edge for viewing DSOs, when occasionally viewing them. But that obnoxiously cumbersome base was just too much for my back to bear.
@rudyhahn6017
3 жыл бұрын
Totally agree with that response Ed refractors are The champions of HD
@astrodad656
3 жыл бұрын
Ed Ting! I remember all those on-line reviews you did in the late '90s/early 2000s. Was wondering if YT would ever find you...and obviously it did and I found you. Keep it coming!
@nadirteymurov1
3 жыл бұрын
C14 is a great imaging scope. One of the best planetary images were taken using C14
@c.guibbs1238
2 жыл бұрын
But they are also bulky, heavy, sensitive to turbulence and collimation and, most of all, incredibly expensive for the aperture ! 14" premium dobs can do better at a much lower price.
@nadirteymurov1
2 жыл бұрын
@@c.guibbs1238 I know right. I have 16” dob, but at the same time our club has C14. While aperture wise they are close, SCT is much smaller and lighter, basically can be transported to anywhere where there is a good seeing conditions
@gothicm3rcy426
2 жыл бұрын
@@c.guibbs1238 disagree... my 925 edgehd sct with focal reducer is outstanding.
@gothicm3rcy426
2 жыл бұрын
@@nadirteymurov1 sct is easier to put on a goto
@c.guibbs1238
2 жыл бұрын
@@gothicm3rcy426 I have no doubt about it and it would be the case for any scope more than 8". But a newton / dobson of same aperture will basically be better, as far as visual observation is concerned : wider fov, less obstruction, faster cooling and more stable collimation. But last but not least : much goddam cheaper !!!
@jeffreyburley4033
3 жыл бұрын
Outstanding video. Thanks for your honesty. Most people would just buy it, get frustrated with it, sell it, and never say a word. You, on the other hand, own your mistakes and share them with any who are willing to listen. We need more of this in a industry and hobby jammed packed with hype, over ratings, and nonsense.
@petset77
2 жыл бұрын
Agree, as a newbie in the Rocky Mountains with an acquired Orion 4.5 ...just trying to learn. ...in the meantime, I hear another person empty a 20 round firearm magazine in the dark, two hours after sundown. Different perspectives, I suppose.
@davidborger1808
3 жыл бұрын
Damn, Ed. You're killing it. I just found your channel. Great job!
@jamiboothe
3 жыл бұрын
I bought a Meade 8" 1600mm FL, f6.3 for my first real scope. It is extremely difficult to collimate and it will be sold when I get around to the task. On the other hand, my next scope was a Meade 127mm f9.5 refractor and it is probably the best scope I own.
@SeanRyan-bo6oq
Жыл бұрын
Nice video, Ed, but I'm still a great fan of my Meade ETX-90 bought in 2003. Really crisp optics, highly portable, and simple to use (I chose the ETX-90 RA: 3xAA battery-driven equatorial fork mount, intentionally not a GOTO). Paired with a good star atlas and a 32 mm Plossl eyepiece, it provides lovely views of open star clusters, plus the Sun and the Moon, while the 9 mm eyepiece is great for splitting close double stars and of course viewing the Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, AND it just resolves Uranus and Neptune, i.e. they are noticeably non-stellar, so worth hunting down. I added a red-dot finder (game-changing), and put the batteries on a cable (because the RA on-off switch is under the base, which was a silly design choice). I also increased the diameter of the focus knob to 20 mm to ease the adjustment.
@manorth24
3 жыл бұрын
In the 1980s I had a Meade DS-16, we used to call it the big blue water heater.
@tonyl7418
3 жыл бұрын
My original ET90 is perfect.. Love it for what I use it for. Glass is good, collimation is good. Never a problem.
@joshuariddensdale2126
2 жыл бұрын
My first telescope was a little 50mm Orion refractor that my dad got from one of his old coworkers. In 2012, I upgraded to a Meade 114mm F8 reflector. I still have it. It's not motorized or anything, but it does at least have an equatorial mount. If I could afford it, I'd upgrade even further to a 6-inch or even 8-inch. But those are like $1500, or more.
@jerrygoodson4016
3 жыл бұрын
First time seeing your channel. I like telescopes and skywatching, but I know almost next to nothing about either. I do own a couple of beginner scopes, however. I found this video to be both very entertaining and also very relaxing. More accurately, I should say that YOU are entertaining and relaxing. Subscribed!
@kena9595
2 жыл бұрын
Ed can take something which seems like it's going to be serious discussion and turn it into an informative and really funny video. Great job.
@bobandres5559
Жыл бұрын
Hi Ed, thanks for all the good honest info and advice. First scope i ever looked thru was a 2 inch meade with a wooden tripod my mother in law bought for $15 at a garage sale for my two boys when they were in grade 7 and 8. They never looked thru it once. finally one day i took it out and set it up to look at the full moon. Wow i was hooked. 30 years later i can finally find time for a very cool hobby.
@hudecjohn2110
4 жыл бұрын
I did the same slip on the ice thing only with my new Vixen APP & CG5 only I took the big fall and destroyed the scope. I did cry 😢 but not from the pain...
@jennifer7685
3 жыл бұрын
😢
@hudecjohn2110
3 жыл бұрын
@@jennifer7685 Oh yeah! BUT, the rainbow in the clouds was that out of pure financial situation I had to, 'settle', for an 8 inch f/6 Orion Dob. To my amazement, everything save for wide field sweeps and double stars was considerably sharper in the Chinese newt. Now to be fair, we are talking about a 50 percent size advance. Bottom line, one night at the club I was set up next to a Takahashi TOA 130 completely pimped out owned by the nicest older gentlemen. Both of us agreed that the cheap Dob combined with my Baader Hyperions was simply eclipsing the smaller refractor. Still I did the mandatory kneeling and praying to the Tak for its greatness and allowing me to touch it.😁
@lorinjensen5856
3 жыл бұрын
JMI RB-66 reverse binoculars. I was into the idea of big binoculars. 6" binoculars would be amazing, right? I bought a pair on eBay back in 2005. The setup took a while and it was a constant battle of collimation. Neat idea, but the reality was spending 95% of my time focusing, adjusting, moving the scope, recollimating, adjusting ocular separation, and recollimating. The smallest change meant stopping and recollimating. I also got flustered by the low magnication. They had decent deep sky views, but they were practically worthless for planetary detail. Just not enough magnification and Jupiter was too bright. The moon was too bright. It was blinding. Planetary nebulae were also no longer available. I sold them after 6 months at a small loss and bought a pair of Orion 16X80's which i still have and use.
@peter7624
3 жыл бұрын
Collimating binocs is a pain. Once mine go out I very seldom get them back in successfully.
@c.guibbs1238
Жыл бұрын
Nowadays, you can find binocular telescopes up to 150mm that are thoroughly collimated and remain as such (APM, Oberwerk, Explore Scientific, etc.). The main issue is their weight and their "explosive" price beyond 100mm, especially for ED versions. I have been using a pair of APM 100mm ED for 2 years and I'm still very satisfied with it.
@RaysAstrophotography
3 жыл бұрын
I have a C14" - LOL that is the telescope that is number five on your list. I understand very well why you recommend to avoid
@jimzeleny7213
3 жыл бұрын
They don't look that large in photographs but in person it's a whole different story. Huge!
@danceking40
3 жыл бұрын
@@jimzeleny7213 LOL. It does look huge in the picture.
@mitrovarr
4 жыл бұрын
Mine would definitely be my accursed Criterion Dynamax. I was just starting out again after the first part of my college and stumbled on it at a yard sale. 8" SCTs are good, right? I see them in magazines all the time. I had never heard of Criterion before but it looked like it hadn't been cheaply made. Surely nobody would ever go to all the effort to make a 8" SCT and totally botch it up completely, right? Right????? It wasn't particularly cheap ($600 back in 2002 ish) but I knew SCTs weren't in general. Anyways, I was stuck with that thing as my primary observing scope for something like 10 years. I ended up getting a 76mm refractor for planets. Eventually I replaced it with a $300 used 10" dob that destroyed it in every possibly way. I still have it. It sucks too much to burden anyone else with. I don't really know how I can ethically get rid of it. Maybe to a classic scope collector who understands what they're getting into.
@connieelliott5359
3 жыл бұрын
What are the issues with it
@mitrovarr
3 жыл бұрын
@@connieelliott5359 Terrible optics, mostly.
@noway8233
2 жыл бұрын
Well...i want it
@martinwright6572
3 жыл бұрын
Hi Ed,, Mate I started in Astronomy 21 years ago in Sydney Australia, I observe around an hour west of Sydney. very very dark site, no light pollution from Sydney. My first scoop was a 10" Dob, my 2nd was a 16" Dob. I did have a 80ED on an EQ6, great for planets and Nebula. Dobs are better for Galaxies. I have got Hydrogen Alphs Solar Telescope 60mm Double Stacked at 0.5 Angstroms, great great views of the Sun..I had a mate who was very very new to Astronomy and Photography, after a few weeks he went out and spent $25,000 Australian Dollars. A big big mistake, he didn't know anything at all about the above. I love the Dobs, no polar alligning, no cords around your feet, no RA, and DEC movemnets, just point and look, nice and simple..Great Blog..1st of many I think...
@michaelpatrickmilligan
3 жыл бұрын
Ed, thank you for doing this video! It is so helpful to be able to know the real world issues of particular pieces of equipment, especially high end items.
@lancetaylor7
3 жыл бұрын
The only think he doesn't like about the Meade ETX is the advertising? I used an ETX 125 for 20 years, I learned from an experienced man how to use the autostar better, how to go to something then use the "enter to sync" function to fine tune the alignment.. and it works. He showed me how you can point at the Moon to set the alignment instead of the 2 star system,, I had a great time with the scope, though it takes practice to get it working correctly. The Mak optics give a high contrast image, which I missed when looking through a regular Schmidt Cassegrain telescope, and requires no collimation. It is easy to transport. The motors sometimes don't work correctly when one goes too far out of its limits, but can get back to normal.
@roxybot9840
3 жыл бұрын
For those celestron 14 inch telescope fans, they have a trolley with pneumatic tires (try JMI). You can just wheel it out of your garage. I am thinking of getting this setup. However, if you want to transport to a darker location-Good Luck, the trolley may not help. Recently, I saw a C-20, an older 20 inch for sale on Ebay with a trailer.
@edting
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the tip, Roxy Bot!
@darkwood777
3 жыл бұрын
I made a trailer from scratch, and it has been terrific. I use four 15 inch pneumatic tires which lets me take it anywhere on my property. I have arthritis and just could not carry my scope around any longer, but I can still pull it on the trailer. It also has motorized stabilizers to adjust the leveling.
@Rich-hy2ey
3 жыл бұрын
I had a Celestron Ultima 11, I slipped on icy stairs, landed on my back, but saved the OTA! I also used two 12 inch Meade LX200's which weighed 75lbs and had to be mounted on a tripod, centred and bolted in. Also, the C14 in my opinion was better as fork-mounted because all you had to do was lower it into the registration slots which wasn't too difficult. The ETX's main issue was the fork mount. Creaky plastic, horrible as a goto, noisy. But the original ETX90 had one thing that made it ok to use; a slow motion on the declination, just like the larger SCTs had. So, if you hated the drive system, using it manually was not too bad and the ETX optics are very good and consistent.
@tjzambonischwartz
4 жыл бұрын
I KNEW the Sky90 would be on the list.
@AstroDenny
3 жыл бұрын
I've had some Meade lemons and I like their new SCTs but the best scope I ever had is my 12" Lightbridge Dob. I take it out when I go imaging to poke around visually and it never fails to amaze me what can be seen through that beauty. I do regret buying my ETX125...
@charlesbienvenu6858
3 жыл бұрын
ETX 60 was my first scope. The ETX line more than any others drew new people in like magnets with the beautiful ads and pictures on the boxes taken with the Hubble lol. The reality awakening was a little disappointing but I credit the little ETX with igniting the passion. Keep up the vids, Ed! I spent many nights on your scope review site way back in the early 2000s.
@meropealcyone
4 жыл бұрын
I agree with everything Ed said about the C14. Doesn't mean I don't want one!
@starastronomer
3 жыл бұрын
Same here. Always wanted a 14" Celestron. They looked so cool.
@GHP15300
3 жыл бұрын
Same here
@topcat43truffles15
3 жыл бұрын
Status symbol.... You own a C14? WOW! But I won’t tell them it’s covered in cobwebs... No, I don’t own a C14... ( but I do own a Meade LX 200 10” Paperweight....🙁) and that’s a story I really don’t want to talk about...
@scottinharwood
Жыл бұрын
Late comment, I got an ETX 90 as a throwaway when I purchased a 10" Meade LX 200R with its fork mount. Still have it but the previous owner kept it on its side in a hot shed. The glue on the secondary baffle softened and the cone shifted off center. Still works, but I never use it. Thinking of using it as a finder scope...
@mikenofi281
3 жыл бұрын
Ed, Love your videos! I would like to see you do some videos on telescope accessories (Finder scopes, eyepieces, Barlows, and binocular viewers).
@fnersch3367
Жыл бұрын
My 225 years old Dolland refractor has never needed collimation. It still produces excellent images.
@johnnysager8899
3 жыл бұрын
Great video and information and the aperture fever thing will get you every time and then you just shake your head and deal with it lol I have a few scopes and have found ways to make them easier to move and transport them to star parties. I'm not a big guy and a couple of my scopes are really a challenge for me but the effort is worth it. Really like your videos and information.
@k.h.1587
3 ай бұрын
One of the best views i had of m13 was a mewlon 250 with a nikon 70deg eyepiece. Not mine of course, but the quality of the view was very memorable.
@joedizzelfoerizle
Жыл бұрын
We'd love to see you team up with Astro Biscuit. You too would be a very dynamic duo, myth buster status in the astro community in my opinion. Both of you guys are a pleasure to watch and learn from
@stevehilliard7031
3 жыл бұрын
ETX 125. I had the complete mount and tripod that I purchased from a local pawn shop for an agreeable amount. The scope itself gave some decent, if constrictive, views but the mount drive was squirrelly and the finder was practically unusable. I eventually parted out the mount and tripod and used it as a tabletop mount for a while and yes, I mounted it on a rail to use on an Alt-Az tripod for a short while. I found that despite the 5” aperture my TV 102 gave much better and wider views, not to mention much easier to use despite its greater girth. Eventually sold the tube to complete the purge from my collection. The preamble to this purchase was actually an acquisition of an ETX 90 for my grandkids, they love it.
@DirkDirk1983
3 жыл бұрын
Mister Ting? Are you the reason that I have to wait so long for my astronomy stuff to come in? Greetings from the Netherlands, love your vids 👍🏻
@ratnamaravind
3 жыл бұрын
The new Melon 180c doesn't have collimation issues...at least to me over the past 3 years
@Mike__G
3 жыл бұрын
I once bought a Celestron C5 OTA. For some reason, that scope and I never got along. I always found the views soft. Fortunately it was easy enough to sell. I replaced it with an Equinox 80 and have been happy with the little apo for many years.
@richardkelsch3840
3 жыл бұрын
In 1989,I bought a C14 of a after observing with a friend on his. Built my own fork mount for it, wasn't happy with it, and went to a G-11. Still wasn't happy with it and finally mounted it on a used MI 250, which I'm still using. It's permanently mounted, so I don't have the weight issue to deal with, but I never really had the rig come into its own until I discovered Starizona's Hyperstar system. I would advise as you have, not to buy into a C14 unless you really want it for specific purpose. My main interest is deep sky imaging, and I wish I'd spent the money on a scope that would better have served my needs at the time. I'm using the Hyperstar C14 now, and I'm happy with it, but am considering going to a large refractor or a RASA 11. After all, I'm pushing 80, and the 14 really is too much for me to handle any more. Cheers, Rick
@MrKoMaRoV
3 жыл бұрын
True, c14 is bulky, and is not used too often. but it is so much better for high res planetary than c11 at good seeing, and as for mounting, no problem with the "table trick"
@jjs3287
2 жыл бұрын
Absolutely love youre videos! I rarely ever actually get out and do any Astronomy these days - our 12 inch motorised reflector makes sure of that - but I can identify with so many of your experiences. It brings back many happy memories...and its great to hear you talking about telescopes you owned that I dreamed of but could never afford. And I agree about the Meade adverts! They still inspire me to this day!
@markbuxton2368
3 жыл бұрын
2 old Orion UK Newtonians. The cost of resilvering is more than they are worth but I'm hanging onto them for now, maybe one day I'll get them fixed up. Great Channel Ed, thanks
@peter7624
3 жыл бұрын
Get them aluminised and overcoated and they'll last a lifetime.
@ovalwingnut
Жыл бұрын
1st time viewer and I was glued to every word. GR8T stories and Infotainment. Thank you
@Starphot
3 жыл бұрын
We had a C-14 donated to our club around 2005. It came with a Losmandy Gemini mount that was separate and used elsewhere in an estate. We looked at the C-14 and it came damaged as it was elsewhere in its own travels post estate and before donation. The ring surrounding the corrector plate was cracked with the plate still intact. We got a new ring and mounting hardware and installed it. The images we got from it was horrible. More than a wave off. We looked at the correction plate and found it was a piece of plate glass! Celestron replaced the corrector plate and it worked better. The Losmandy mount on the other hand did its travels before getting to us. We had trouble with it until I hit the RA reverser switch on the controls. It had the McClendon gear upgrade mod done to it. It got the Gemini II controller later then the mount was removed for a better one this past year. We could not get the Losmandy to clutch tight enough. However even pre-COVID, not much interest in it, even though it is in its own observatory at our DSS.
@darkwood777
3 жыл бұрын
A C14 would be great for a permanent observatory mount. Definitely a handful for a tripod.
@ToddHurney
4 ай бұрын
Heck yeah! My meade 12 is a very heavy scope on a tripod and I spent 20 years hauling a 13.1 inch Coulter Dob to hell and back. The meade 12 makes the 13.1 feel tame.
@charlesararat3225
2 жыл бұрын
Yes the Meade ETX-80 is a pain in my neck. It's a love-hate relationship. I just can't get rid of it. It needs repair and I try some things and then put it away for a while. I wrote a letter to Meade about it and apparently Meade has disowned it. Their only recommendation was to remove the OTA and put it on a camera tripod. How disappointing. I'm of the old school where telescopes should last a hundreds of years. Entropy wins out this time. In the 80's I purchased a Meade model 2045 4" Schmidt-Cassigrain. It is made of metal and is still working today but the plastic foam in its carry case has turned to dust. I've learned to hate plastics.
@Jay-kc2pm
3 жыл бұрын
Celestron AstroMaster 114 4.5" F/9. I got it as a gift years ago, well before I knew anything about telescopes, let alone use an equatorial mount. It was used as a coat rack until more recently when I picked up astrophotography. It's listed as a Newtonian telescope, but it is actually a Bird Jones reflector. This means that it not only isn't good for astrophotography, but it is also a pain to collimate. Along with that, the maximum payload of the mount it comes with is almost less than the weight of the OTA, and even thinking about putting a camera on it will cause the mount to slip. The mount doesn't even have a polar scope. And all of that wouldn't be a problem if using an old spotting scope from the 1950s with the same focal length didn't beat it in every single aspect except aperture. The only thing the AstroMaster has on the spotting scope is it's 1.25" eyepiece mount.
@dglass8930
2 жыл бұрын
You are so right about those late 70s-early 80s Meade reflectors, like the one behind you. Meade apparently took a turn toward the gutter in later years, and are still there IMO. I bought a new 12" Meade four years ago and it arrived in INOP condition. Junk, but the optics did look very good. Mechanically junk. It was a nightmare to pack back up, but we did and I returned it, and good riddance.
@MONGIE30
3 жыл бұрын
I regret buying my telescope it was great until the council put a new bulb in the lampost opposite my garden and ruined my veiwing with light polution.
@chrisruthford4492
3 жыл бұрын
A pellet rifle or good size rock would fix that.😂
@peter7624
3 жыл бұрын
@@chrisruthford4492 I have a similar problem and I am going to buy a couple of wielding screens.
@chrisstrobel3439
3 жыл бұрын
Only scope I regret buying was a 1992 Celestron Ultima 8 .. horrible optics, returned it a week later to Scope City and bought a Parks 10” f/5 Newtonian with rotating rings instead .. threw it on an 8” Schaefer mount and I have it to this day.
@BritishBeachcomber
3 жыл бұрын
Anything bigger than 10" needs a permanent installation in a dome.
@michal_king478
3 жыл бұрын
yeah. I wouldnt recommend anyone to buy giant dobsonians etc above 10" unless they just pull it out of their garage or a shed or have it somewhere stationary. One of the most important things ppl often forget when it comes to choosing a telescope and a whole setup is the convenience.
@Mandragara
3 жыл бұрын
I carry my 12" around easily as one piece.
@Cruz474
3 жыл бұрын
If you are an old man, yes.
@Half_theborn
Жыл бұрын
What would be the best value for money for a beginner,can you please suggest
@roordjaxk
Жыл бұрын
Ehhh… CPC1100s are really the upper echelon in terms of portability. 14-inch SCTs are where I draw the line.
@hamletksquid2702
3 жыл бұрын
I honestly think those Meade Starfinders were made for DIY'ers to customize. I have a 2001 model 12.5" which was unusable when I bought it. The plastichrome focuser had a big glob of chrome on the gear rack and it wouldn't even move. The scope has nice mirrors (1/15th wave), but everything else was junk. The original mirror cell was particle board glued to the mirror and the scope would take hours to cool down, the tube didn't balance without ten pounds of counterweight on the back end, and it was generally useless as a telescope. It's a really nice scope now, but no one at Meade would recognize it after all the mods.
@petset77
2 жыл бұрын
Way beyond my ability, but I wanted to hear what you had to say. ...it didn't cover cheap beginners models (perhaps what I wanted to learn more about), but research is research.
@bobsurface908
3 жыл бұрын
Regarding your Sky 90 - when you have a refractor which is not in collimation AT ALL - that's pretty much the main reason for buying a refractor in the first place thrown straight out of the window. I have to collimate my 10in Dob before using it - though it stays in pretty well once set. If I had to collimate, plus chromatic aberration, plus a price tag literally an order of magnitude higher PLUS a third the size of objective: I'd definitely vote no! :-) You're a braver man than I!
@digitalepersempre
2 жыл бұрын
I had the C8Hd water heater and the Mewlon 180c at the same time. I threw the C8HD away. keep it tight too
@uriahheep8470
3 жыл бұрын
Had a dealer tell me to avoid the ETX90 and buy a dob. Sage advice.
@johnwright291
2 жыл бұрын
I'll never forget the night I looked at Saturn with my orion xt8 dobsonian and it had very bright color bands of purple yellow and scarlet. I thought wow something is wrong with my scope. I had never seen these bands before. Then I realized i was just getting a very good view of the planet.
@meadmaker4525
3 жыл бұрын
I know this is an older video, and perhaps you've addressed this in another video I haven't seen, but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on Mak-Newt scopes.
@danno1374
3 жыл бұрын
Need a forklift for that C14!
@dimi911
3 жыл бұрын
I have bought a Celestron 114EQ as my first scope and absolutely hate it!
@edting
3 жыл бұрын
If it's the older version of the 114, those aren't too bad. The new Astromasters are not great, however.
@dimi911
3 жыл бұрын
@@edting it's the Powerseeker. I've collimated it and also bought some decent quality eyepieces, but its capabilities are very limited...
@richardbeasley9084
3 жыл бұрын
The 114 Newt was my first scope and want bad. Got me hooked and was decent optically.
@DJRonnieG
3 жыл бұрын
I use a Telegizmos 365 outdoor cover. It saves me time between setup and polar alignment. If or when I get a C14, it is staying mounted permanently. That all said, I agree about much... I started with a C8 and boy, that was an accelerated learning-curve. For most AP I now use a Esprit 100ED at 550mm. It's much more forgiving about guiding errors. Most importantly, I went with the 100mm refractor because I wanted to avoid collimation like the plague. This is not to say that I am retiring my C8 but I am waiting on a laser collimator to arrive. Before I get a 11" or more, I will have to invest in a good Losmandy mount.
@xTHExSPECIALIST
3 жыл бұрын
Well, I’m just glad the Celestron Nexstar 127mm Maks-Cassegrain I spent $$$ on, isn’t on the list. 😆
@DuderinoDeux
3 жыл бұрын
It's a nice scope. The middle ground portable as I describe it. 8/10 maybe a 9 in time!
@tommyvanpelt2408
3 жыл бұрын
I have a c14 in my garage that hasn't been outside in probably 18 months because it's just too much trouble to set up. If I ever build an observatory, it'll go there... dreams!
@edting
3 жыл бұрын
I sold my C14 for that reason...but part of me misses that thing.
@Cruz474
7 ай бұрын
Ed, I'm at a precipice in life. Like you, finally able to afford a C14. My heart says to buy it, my brain says 9.25"... I'm not exactly a noob. I've been using my 6" SCT for 15 years. And my clubs 14" SCT for astrophotography. Tough choices.
@edting
7 ай бұрын
Here's what I've been telling people in your situation. If you're always going to wonder what it's like to own a C14 and that thought won't let you go, get the C14. But...as soon as you feel yourself not using it, sell it and get the 9.25. The idea is to get it out of your system. And BTW - congrats on your new C14!!!
@helthuismartin
2 жыл бұрын
I had a C14 for watching the Moon with magnificication over 500 and 750X..It was stunning image quality.
@-vermin-
3 жыл бұрын
I built an f5.4 16" Dob to compliment my 4" APO, it was absolutely fantastic. Some of the best views I've ever seen, but it was huge and heavy. My suburban back yard just did not do it justice and it was too difficult to transport. I sold it and bought a C11. I hated that scope. It was easier to transport but even correctly collimated I found the views lacked the contrast I was used to and the FOV was too narrow for my liking. Sold that too. I'm now looking at a 6" APO...
@billmartz4290
3 жыл бұрын
If you would like to have one your telescopes find a new home I have room for one. I recently retired and would need to be able to set in a chair or something to watch the sky. I'm on a low budget. Cheers!
@LiveSteamMad
4 жыл бұрын
Hi Ed, was your Tak Sky90 version 1 or a Sky90 II ? Yours looks like a version 2? Apparently ;- "Version 1 has just three screws radially set at 120 degrees to adjust the tilt of the front (fluorite) element. Version 2 has nine screws in total with six of these seen as three pairs adjacent to each other and a further three single screws. The rear screw in the adjacent pairs adjust the centering of the flint and the front screw adjusts the centering of the fluorite. These six screws are in pairs set at 120 degrees apart. The remaining three screws adjust the tilt of the fluorite". My friend in Japan has a Sky90 and dropped the Sky 90 once out side on his balcony, but he cannot see any difference afterwards looking through it, at high magnification, he got his brand new in 2004 for 165,000 Yen from Starbase in Tokyo. He found the view with the Sky90 was very crisp and white, and even a little sharper than with the FSQ106N, and found the view through the FSQ106N of the Moon to have a very slight warmth in the white tone.
@J5Jonny5
3 жыл бұрын
Great channel Ed! good information on Telescopes. subbed.
@absolutekold
3 жыл бұрын
I have a 12.5" meade of the same vintage as your 6" and I agree. It borders on too big for me to be really happy with but I still drag it out regularly. What would be a decent set of mirrors was wrapped in about the cheapest set of components Meade could get their hands on. Now this did let me get into a large scope for dirt cheap a few decades later and at least I don't feel bad about dinging it up as I was learning or showing my children but collimation issues aside ( I customized the mirror mounts to reduce this greatly and replaced the cheap 1.25" plastic one with a metal one) it's slated to have the mirror checked/cleaned up and be reborn into a truss type when said munchkins become a wee bit older.
@gliderrider
8 ай бұрын
Meade LS 6” Can’t get the program through the app. Other models will download. Just not this one. Nothing but problems. But just pointing to something using the motor works. Beautiful views then. Just don’t expect tracking. Still got it.
@ihbarddx
3 жыл бұрын
Perspective of a recovered hardware nut: If you have five telescopes, you probably regret buying at least three of them.
@scotth6814
2 жыл бұрын
My first scope was a 10" dobsonian. I found it very frustrating that it wouldn't track stars. So I could watch a planet for a few seconds and then try to bump, bump, bump the mount over to get planet into view again. Ugh! It was also very difficult to find objects. Lots of sweeping back and forth, back and forth through the finderscope. My next scope will be a computerized equatorial mount. I like the idea of being able tell a scope "go to M57" and have it find and track it.
@ziggyfrnds
Жыл бұрын
I had a 10 inch dobsonian too, I sold it to fund a motorized mount and then saved up to buy a smaller newtonian. Now I can just "go to NGC-104" (i'm in the southern hemisphere) using my small refractor but I miss the great views that huge lumbering awkward beast of a dobsonian provided :)
@jt66radioguy4
3 жыл бұрын
Mr Ting, that was the best video of yours I’ve seen so far. Informative and entertaining!
@vail8150
3 жыл бұрын
I bought the Meade 16 cat...same experience...too big to be portable
@f-73p21
2 жыл бұрын
Yeah definitely but man I imagine you would get great views out of it away from city lights.
@MikeLikesChannel
3 жыл бұрын
You know the C14 is just *massive* when it's dwarfing the giant C11.
@peter7624
3 жыл бұрын
They're really for permanent setup aren't they. My 8" LX10 and mount weigh a ton to me now, still heavy when I separate the scope and wedge and the tripod!
@offraed6156
2 жыл бұрын
Both the Sky 90 and the FS60 are incomplete without the Extender Q 1.6. Makes a noticeable improvement to image quality. Every FS60 and Sky 90 I have used show some spherochromatism. Put the Extender Q on and that all goes away.
@MRxMADHATTER
2 жыл бұрын
Giant roll of TP!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. My regret was a Meade 16" Dob. It was a chore to move around, much less transport to a viewing site. It had great views. My even bigger roll of TP is gone now and all I have left are the mirrors. I want to use them in a light weight truss tube some day.
@StargazerFS128
7 ай бұрын
I bought a CPC1100 some years ago, was about as dumb as dumb gets cause my scopes are kept in the basement and I must navigate stairs. It tried to kill me twice carrying it downstairs, I sold it double quick.
@thunder7382
2 жыл бұрын
everything right as you say..and I must admit that "less is more"is very true.
@peter7624
3 жыл бұрын
I bought a used equatorial Meade 8" LX10 on a whim, instead of the 4" Apo I was going to buy. Optically it's a good scope, but I tore a meniscus lifting it back in after viewing one night , at 70 yrs old it's just too heavy to lift in and out each night. Light weight and portability are equally as important as aperture and optical design when you have to lug them in and out!
@edting
3 жыл бұрын
Yes, I know people with back problems who have the same issues as you. Those LX10s are decent, though!
@f-73p21
2 жыл бұрын
I bought an 8" LX10 in the late 90's and still use it, but it is heavy. Interesting to listen to his experience with the C14, back in the 80's I thought they were *the* telescope to have but after my experience with the 8" LX10 I would only buy a bigger telescope if I lived in the country far from city lights and could house it in a small observatory.
@lawrence5254
Жыл бұрын
I bought a C14 and got rid of it for the same reasons you stated in this video. Just to big!
@Katrijn_L
3 жыл бұрын
Hi Ed, I just discovered your video channel, which I would rather have discovered much, much earlier! It must be a luxury to be able to talk about bad buys, well,... not really bad buys, but purchases with a footnote attached to it. I myself am pretty hopelessly looking for the right telescope. Actually, I would have liked to buy one this month, but I fell victim to a theft. In the meantime I was able to buy a TeleVue Ranger for two hundred and fifty euros second hand from a very kind person in the Netherlands, who wanted to inspire someone with it and therefore did not want to ask that much for it. It is a good, extremely portable and manageable viewer without many frills actually and perfectly within my budget! Fortunately, even in times of corona, I can continue to work hard and save, so you won't hear me complaining. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge with us, keep up the great work! People like you are the reason why I think KZitem is so fantastic.
@Katrijn_L
3 жыл бұрын
Update: It's a bit weird to hear you advertise the TeleVue Ranger a few hours later in another video (kzitem.info/news/bejne/y46Otpx6cWWDfX4&ab_channel=EdTing) as one of the telescopes you regret selling. :D
@vadimk1004
2 жыл бұрын
My Tak Mewlon-180C is in perfect collimation since I got it from Japan for 5 years already. That scope is real planet killer...the views of the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn it delivers to my retina in good seeing are simply stunning!
@arjunmn04
2 жыл бұрын
You are such a good story teller! I love your videos :)
@AstroBananna
3 жыл бұрын
Hi Ed, just discovered your channel and was sad to see etx 90 on the list as i was planning to buy one for my first scope. You say its good for the moon and planets but wondering if you can give more examples of what it isn’t good for please. Thanks. Subbed.
@ripcat12
4 жыл бұрын
I have had several scopes that I have regretted buying (expectation was greater that reality) first was a C-90 bought during the Halley's Comet fever in 1986 which isn't exactly fair, the scope was a fine instrument. I also purchased a C-9.25 (off e-bay) which was horribly abused and I could never get it collimated. I have several scopes gathering dust because as I get older it's getting to be more of a "heave and grunt" rather than a "grab and go".....
@peter7624
3 жыл бұрын
So true!
@spacemanschannel6380
3 жыл бұрын
Very refreshing and honest video!
@editorrbr2107
3 жыл бұрын
I have always wanted a telescope. My wife bought me a 10 inch SkyQuest Intelliscope - it just arrived today. I have absolutely no idea how to use this thing, or even the vaguest notion of where to point it in the sky.
@terrycooper4149
3 жыл бұрын
Sounds to me like she made a good choice.
@gdfath3r
3 жыл бұрын
Send it over to me, I will figure it out and share with you.
@TheOlgamora
Жыл бұрын
Thanks for that information. I'm just a beginner with this new astronomy hobby . I was just wondering if the Orion 134 mm with the motor motor drive is a good telescope. Thanks again
@C7kizer
2 жыл бұрын
wow people just donated those ex telescopes to ya, i was looking at one on facebook market for 500 bucks today. but still out of my spending amount. some generous people to donate those :D
@marcomeiling9313
4 жыл бұрын
Did by any chance you have Bob's Knobs on the Mewlon, because these knobs don't really work well on any Mewlon.
@edting
3 жыл бұрын
Marco, no this Mewlon had the stock collimation knobs. The whole Mewlon experience was a giant mystery to me. I may revisit it again sometime.
@han-shan
2 жыл бұрын
Which of them would you recommend, ordinary refractor 150/1200 or newton 200/1200, can newton give more light ? Thnx in advance
@alertnav7576
2 жыл бұрын
There is a telescope labeled CASSINI 1000mm x 120mm REFLECTOR TELESCOPE SMARTPHONE ADAP for $ 219 I can't find anything about this telescope... Should I get it as a first telescope
@bernardovargasc
Жыл бұрын
Well, IMO the C-14 isn't meant to be a portable telescope. If you had your own personal observatory at home, you could do professional work with it. But if you're an on-the-go astronomer, a smaller telescope will always be the better choice.
@digitalepersempre
2 жыл бұрын
n 4 is not true. My Mewlon 180 manteined the fabric collimation from Japan to Italy and remained collimated for months
@paddycampbell576
2 жыл бұрын
Celestron Powerseeker 70az is my first and only telescope so far and I have no regrets up to this point as a 55 year old amateur. Any hints on which reasonably priced Telescopes would be a good upgrade?
@edting
2 жыл бұрын
Check out my other videos. I have many buyer's guides. I've been recommending the same handful of models for the past 20+ years. Avoid the AstroMasters and PowerSeekers.
@paddycampbell576
2 жыл бұрын
@@edting Thanks for the reply. I'll have a look at your other videos.
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