Celestron FirstScope
My first telescope was the Celestron FirstScope, a tiny table top 76mm Newtonian reflector. I soon added the accessory kit which added a finder scope, carry bag, moon filter and additional eye pieces. |
| FirstScope w/accessory kit. Image from celestron.com |
Orion XT10 Intelliscope
The relatively large XT10i was my first serious telescope, and remains my favorite for viewing sessions. Sporting a 10" primary objective, this hefty Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian base can resolve more objects than I think I'll ever have time to see. |
| Orion XT10i. Image from telescope.com |
Meade ETX 125
One day, I heard the news that Meade was discontinuing the ETX lines of telescopes. I was interested in picking up a smaller go-to scope as a quick-ish grab 'n' go, especially to take camping. Having gotten used to a larger aperture newt, I decided nothing but the largest ETX would suffice, the 127mm.
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| Meade ETX 125. Image taken atop a mountain in the Catskills |
I found an online store that still sold 'em and picked up a discount since they were being discontinued. The ETX (like most of Meade's other scopes) sites on an alt-azimuth fork mount.
I was a little apprehensive about buying this telescope. Meade is in the unfortunate position of being known for great optics, but lousy mechanics.
Sadly, my ETX was no exception. The very first night I took it out, I got error beeps and boops while it was powering up.
As it turns out, the act of plugging and unplugging the hand controller pulled out the pins of the RJ-ll socket on the main control panel circuit board, crossed them, and caused several problems.
I shipped the scope to Meade under warranty and got it back several weeks later. They replace the entire control panel and the right ascension motor which has been wrecked by the crossed pin wires.
That wasn't the end of my woes, however. After taking it out a few times, I discovered that shoddy, cheap construction made the legs of the tripod unable to be securely tightened while extended, risking the collapse of the whole thing. Note to Meade, when engineering a fastener, try not have the greatest point of stress be between a piece of plastic that's holding a brass ferrule in place. Instant point of failure.
Despite these mechanical issues, the optical quality of the ETX 125 is superb. The 127mm Maksutov cassegrain gives marvelous planetary views and sharp pinpoint stars. While it's able to resolve brighter DSOs, the image is very definitely dimmer and fuzzier than my 10" reflector.
I was a little apprehensive about buying this telescope. Meade is in the unfortunate position of being known for great optics, but lousy mechanics.
Sadly, my ETX was no exception. The very first night I took it out, I got error beeps and boops while it was powering up.
As it turns out, the act of plugging and unplugging the hand controller pulled out the pins of the RJ-ll socket on the main control panel circuit board, crossed them, and caused several problems.
I shipped the scope to Meade under warranty and got it back several weeks later. They replace the entire control panel and the right ascension motor which has been wrecked by the crossed pin wires.
That wasn't the end of my woes, however. After taking it out a few times, I discovered that shoddy, cheap construction made the legs of the tripod unable to be securely tightened while extended, risking the collapse of the whole thing. Note to Meade, when engineering a fastener, try not have the greatest point of stress be between a piece of plastic that's holding a brass ferrule in place. Instant point of failure.
Despite these mechanical issues, the optical quality of the ETX 125 is superb. The 127mm Maksutov cassegrain gives marvelous planetary views and sharp pinpoint stars. While it's able to resolve brighter DSOs, the image is very definitely dimmer and fuzzier than my 10" reflector.
Celestron C6-NGT
The C6 is my newest telescope and it marks a more serious attempt for me getting into astrophotography. It's a 6" Newtonian reflector atop a great german equatorial mount. While not the most heavy duty mount, it can handle a substantial load, well within reach of the beginner astrophotographer such as myself. It's been fantastic.
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| Celestron C6-NGT. Image from celestron.com |
The C6 is my first german equatorial, and after using three telescopes that all use alt-azimuth mounts, this was definitely its own learning experience. Mounting, balancing, and orienting the optical tube and aligning the mount was very interesting. Much like any other computerized scope, you give the computer an awareness of its spatial orientation by aligning the OTA against benchmark stars.
What I thought was neat about the CG5 mount, however, was that after performing a regular two star alignment, you're given the option to add additional calibration stars to fine tune the alignment. It's utterly fascinating watching the stars slide more and more accurately into place through my reticuled eye piece with each added calibration star, until goto commands dropped target DSOs dead center in the eye piece. Every time.
On top of this fine tuning, Celestron introduced the All Star Polar Alignment function in their newer hand controls. I use the every time when I go on a photography outing. This function is done after a regular alignment and requires the actual nudging of the mount in the right ascension and declination axes to place a star in the center of the eye piece. This helps to more accurately align the mount itself to the north celestial pole (somewhere around Polaris).
On a good night, using the All Star Polar Alignment, I've been able to approach one minute subs.
What I thought was neat about the CG5 mount, however, was that after performing a regular two star alignment, you're given the option to add additional calibration stars to fine tune the alignment. It's utterly fascinating watching the stars slide more and more accurately into place through my reticuled eye piece with each added calibration star, until goto commands dropped target DSOs dead center in the eye piece. Every time.
On top of this fine tuning, Celestron introduced the All Star Polar Alignment function in their newer hand controls. I use the every time when I go on a photography outing. This function is done after a regular alignment and requires the actual nudging of the mount in the right ascension and declination axes to place a star in the center of the eye piece. This helps to more accurately align the mount itself to the north celestial pole (somewhere around Polaris).
On a good night, using the All Star Polar Alignment, I've been able to approach one minute subs.
Meade LX200-ACF
Okay, this isn't really my scope, buy I'm lucky enough to be able to use it whenever I want. This telescope is a beast. It's basically a monster version of my ETX 125... apparently with more reliable mechanics.
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| Meade LX200-ACF 10" |
