Celestron Astromaster 130-EQ/Bushnell Voyager?

Pixbarmy

Pixbarmy

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Mike
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I've been looking at a used one of these astronomical telescopes (not for photography) and wondered if any of you folks had any experience of them? Most of the reviews say that they are obviously a budget tool but can be worth a look and investing an extra £20 or so in extra lenses, for best effects. I've also seen a Bushnell Voyager??? I've used Bushnell scopes on my rifles and I know that their quality is good??? We've enjoyed looking at constellations and the moon through my binocs but it is difficult to hold them steady enough to get a good view. All suggestions welcome. Mike
 
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Celestron is a well established brand with a good reputation. I've had a quick look at the Astromaster and it looks a decent Newtonian reflector. However........ what's your experience with astronomical scopes/mounts? If you know about equatorial mounts, are competent at finding things (remember you won't be looking at constellations through a scope and you'll soon tire of the Moon and Jupiter) and are happy manually tracking then crack on. If not you'd be better looking for something with a driven alt az mount and go-to. You'll take it outside, plonk it down, align it on 1 or 2 bright stars (planetarium software on your phone can help you there) and use the go-to to find other things. These days they tend to have a wifi dongle and work with a phone app, which is a much better interface than the handset you used to get. Size wise a 130mm reflector is a pretty standard starter Newtonian where there are no additional surfaces to absorb light. The eyepieces you get with scopes are rubbish as everyone buys what they need. Expect to pay between £20 and £40 for a half decent Plossl and start off with larger apertures
 
Thank you for your advice. I have been advised to avoid plastic lenses and am also looking at an old Bushnell. I used to have a Bushnell rifle scope (field target use only - no animals were harmed!) which was the best that I have ever had. I am a bit "old school", so the all singing and dancing electronic wizardry is wasted on me and I prefer to spend my £s on the lenses, not the gimmicks! I suppose that what you pay is what you get as with cameras, so don't want to spend a fortune on something that may end up sitting in the shed!
 
Pixbarmy said:
Thank you for your advice. I have been advised to avoid plastic lenses and am also looking at an old Bushnell. I used to have a Bushnell rifle scope (field target use only - no animals were harmed!) which was the best that I have ever had. I am a bit "old school", so the all singing and dancing electronic wizardry is wasted on me and I prefer to spend my £s on the lenses, not the gimmicks! I suppose that what you pay is what you get as with cameras, so don't want to spend a fortune on something that may end up sitting in the shed!
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In that case the Celestron is definitely not for you. Do you have a tripod and have you thought about mounting your binoculars on it, assuming your bins have a bush and most have?
 
Going to see the Bushnell on Friday, so will report back!
 
Very few 'old names' are what they were, all chinesium now.

If you want a bang for buck telescope look at a Dobsonian, in terms of price you get more quality imaging than other scopes where a lot of your cash goes into the mount or electronics. They tend to be overall bigger and more 'manual' though.
Also whichever scope you buy pay attention to the maximum recommended eyepiece magnification, going over that will make viewing worse, not better.
 
Well! I bought the Bushnell!
Bushnell Voyager Telescope

Bushnell 78-9675
675x4.5"
Focal Length: 900mm
4.5" Main mirror
Eyepieces: 4mm, 12mm, 20mm
Available Magnifications: 45x, 75x, 135x, 225x, 675x

Features: Clock drive ready equatorial mount, Adjustable aluminium tripod, 5x24 finderscope, Barlow lens, Fine tracking controls and Counterweight.

It's been stood awhile I think. Spent the evening freeing lubricating and cleaning and managed to get a quick look at one star before I froze my fingers! Not much more work to do setting up (spotting scope alignment etc). It seems a well put together piece of kit, so onwards and upwards with the looking skywards. It seems that Nikon mounts are available too, so I may have some piccies up and coming, once I get to grips with it all! Happy days and fewer bored nights!
 
Pixbarmy said:
Well! I bought the Bushnell!
Bushnell Voyager Telescope

Bushnell 78-9675
675x4.5"
Focal Length: 900mm
4.5" Main mirror
Eyepieces: 4mm, 12mm, 20mm
Available Magnifications: 45x, 75x, 135x, 225x, 675x

Features: Clock drive ready equatorial mount, Adjustable aluminium tripod, 5x24 finderscope, Barlow lens, Fine tracking controls and Counterweight.

It's been stood awhile I think. Spent the evening freeing lubricating and cleaning and managed to get a quick look at one star before I froze my fingers! Not much more work to do setting up (spotting scope alignment etc). It seems a well put together piece of kit, so onwards and upwards with the looking skywards. It seems that Nikon mounts are available too, so I may have some piccies up and coming, once I get to grips with it all! Happy days and fewer bored nights!
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Well done, the older the better as far as quality goes :)

One very very imporant thing, no matter how dusty the mirror looks DO NOT CLEAN IT !!!
Even the softest cloth will leave scratches on the surface that will ruin it.
 
Jannyfox said:
Hopefully you got it for a good price as it seems it's well discontinued
Enjoy :D
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Yup. Less than a ton and apart from a layer of dust, it seems fine. Been setting up the spotter scope on the local water tower this afternoon. Weather was terrible but managed to get it in synch! Hand held phone pic! Not bad with my shaky hands!
kqeRWUsl.jpg
 
Steep said:
Well done, the older the better as far as quality goes :)

One very very imporant thing, no matter how dusty the mirror looks DO NOT CLEAN IT !!!
Even the softest cloth will leave scratches on the surface that will ruin it.
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I've been watching a Youtube vid on how to clean them by disassembly and washing in the sink with lots of cotton swabs, followed by a rinse with distilled water and a blow dry with a hairdryer! :eek::snaphappy:
 
The dust on the mirror surface doesn't affect the imaging quality at all, just leave it where it is :)

There's a very good astronomy forum called the "Stargazers Lounge" at https://stargazerslounge.com if you need specific advice on anything it's a good place to find it.
 
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