The XT4.5 was my first telescope and also the best bang for the buck imaginable. It is a perfect grab and go scope for a family - especially with a couple of nicer eyepieces.
I picked up a C90 a few years back. Oddly enough, I wasn't even planning to buy a telescope, but was in the market for a long telephoto lens mainly for shooting the Moon. After exhausting nearly all options as being too cumbersome, too expensive, or just not rating high on reviews, I came across the C90, which at the time was selling for about $150. Without hesitation I bought it, and haven't been disappointed with it. It was great to hear about your 13 day clear weather streak and that nice Moon montage you were able to get.
I got the C90 last week, so when I saw the title of this video I wanted so bad this to see it on this list... and I wasn't disappointed :) . I put it on a AZ-GTI GoTo Mount, this tiny mount fit in the C90 backpack in addition to all my eyepieces and accessories ! It's a fantastic travel telescope and the little goto ALT-AZ mount can even work as an EQ mount, I'm ready to share wonderful views with my friends :) .
Thank you, the wife and I are enjoying our table top starblast 4.5. The last 4 days have been a very enjoyable experience. Spending every night in the backyard til 2-3am. We are usually in bed by 10-11. And now we are already considering an 8" dobsonian. You did it and we are in.
Just looked at Jupiter 7/13/2021 under less then Ideal conditions with my very old Celestron C102-AZ refractor model 21011 and resolved the shadow/moon on Jupiter's surface a nice black dot using a 8 mm and a 2X barlow both Televue and a Orion Prism diagonal , not bad. That I think would be less then 1arc second. Amazing
Ed - you should also review and include SVBONY 70, 80 and 102 ED refractors. For the money they seem to be well made, have great optics, sharp with very less CA. I have both the 70mm and 80mm. Also comes with a quality dual speed R&P focuser that also rotates for ease of camera use.
Astro-Tech JUST announced a new AT70ED that's got the same glass types as the mk1 AT72ED, but with a 2 speed rack and pinion and at only around $300. Looks like a great scope.
i just looked at it online (from astronomics). the specs aren't much different from my orion st80. the at is a 450mm whereas the st80 is 400. both have doublets. the st80 was $175. is there anything that really optically separates them?
I think Zhumell is also a good brand that seems to not get mentioned very often. The Z130 is a great beginner scope, but slightly too big to qualify for this list, but the Z114 would qualify in the 4.5” range. It’s nearly identical to the Z130, can be found on sale for well under $199 with eyepieces, and although it doesn’t come with a tripod (just a table top mount), it does come with good quality metal construction, including the rings and mount.
I have a zhummel dob, its one of the few that has a very nice 2in focusser. My wife also has the zhummel version of the cwlrstron astro binoculars... theyre pretty much identical but a little cheaper... really like both
So happy to see the C90 praised here, and that linar sequence is awesome. I do only planetary so far, and just upgraded to the C9.25 XLT. But the C90 was my first telescope, and I still love using it and will never give it up. Once I learned more about imaging, and put a Powermate, an ADC and goud cameras on it, I got pictures of Jupiter which, though they certainly didn’t resolve finer details, nonetheless shocked experienced friends that they could come from a 3.5” aperture. Really glad the C90 is on your list.
The Celestron Onyx ED 80 would be my addition -- available used only, of course. It's f/6.3 with excellent color correction. There's a Vixen size mounting shoe with 1/4x20 tripod sockets as well. The single speed focuser rotates and clamps. A 2 speed knob is available from Agena. A padded hard case with space for eyepieces was included with the scope. One other thing about small scopes (that Ed hinted at): they're great for outreach.
great video once again ed :) Ive just been amusing myself looking at amazon comments on cheap scopes... common one is "can you see the rings of saturn" was a cheap 80mm scope (I use the term scope loosely) one of the answers was "you can see the rings of saturn on any scope with 50x magnification or over" ..... I had to leave the page
I live in Santa Fe NM. We haven’t had many astrophotography-compatible nights for the past 4 y!😢 in fact, 15y ago we had more clear nights than cloudy. Now, just a couple of clear nights a month. This year has been no exception. And the few clear nights we get inevitably fall on dates with mostly full moon.😮
Thanks for this. Sharing your knowledge for the amateur like me is of great help. As a curiosity, is there a similar line of thinking on mounts? I am now seriously thinking of buying the Televue or Vixen having watched this. Without spending my life savings, I need a mount that is going to support them for astrophotography.
I have a C90 from the 80's. I got it at Montgomery Ward. The only photos I took with it were with the solar filter, and got some OK shots of some sunspots. It also gave me my first view of M31. I have no complaints about it at all, other than the .965 eyepiece barrel size. It came with a Kellner eyepiece, and I know I bought an Orthoscopic for planetary viewing.
an 4.5xt fits perfectly on a 5 gallon bucket, then is the same eyepiece height as a 6", 8" or 10" dob. they are cheap at home improvement stores, and if you put some sand or other ballast in it it's nice and stable
Saving up for a C90 as a college student, getting real close to my goal, I'm counting down to the days and the money till I'm getting one. I'm really excited
Hey Ed! Excellent effort of reminding all of us that fun can be had in smaller apperture too. On that subject I was looking for a smaller scope to either travel to darker sites or just mount on the southern side of my apartment on a small DIY eq mount. (My cg5 mount and newt don't really fit ... I have them on my balcony looking North) What do you think of the Bresser 102 460 Xs? I know it's only an achromatic scope supposedly with an ED element to help with fringing. I was thinking that if I find it so disturbing I could stop down to say 80 mm and get a semiapo F6 for really cheap :) Or should I just stick with a small apo? There is another choice ... Get a comacorrector from TS 0.73 reducer for my newt and get it to F 3.65 :)
I found the 90mm Apex Maksutov-Cassegrain sold by Orion some years back to be quite a nice astronomical telescope, though mine was sold as a spotting scope. It does fit my AVX mount and it does work well for lunar and solar imaging too. It's sharp and works well with any 1 1/4-inch eyepiece and a quality 90 degree star diagonal. The thing is so portable it goes virtually anywhere. The price is reasonable too.
By luck I happened across a Questar Field Model for cheap which I've been using on a Skywatcher Allview. Lots of fun! If they burned up in a fire, I'd probably buy the C90/Virtuoso package for a similar experience
@@edting I’m a fan! I promoted your channel on the website for the new fourth edition of The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide, coming this autumn. See backyardastronomy.com/youtube-channels/
Glad to see some love for the c90. It was my first telescope and even now still has its place as a solar system grab and go scope. Great vids Ed! Keep it up
for a high quality doublet apo if you want to get into apochromats without breaking the bank, I recommend a william optics zenitherstar 81, gorgeous scope, beautiful quality. Comes with a high quality adjustable flattener which can be used with my other refractors.
Hey Ed! love your videos! i am planning to buy an 8-10 inch dobsonian reflector telescope can you please give me suggestions on which company should i go by?
The Orions are the most popular but any of the current models are good - Zhumell, Apertura, Sky-Watcher, Explore, etc. Your big challenge as of this writing is finding one in stock.
yes Ed, there was one other thing, not on your list, that i believe is underappreciated....you! thanks for all of your work on putting this video together. on a side note, how about a video on the bikes that you own. i would be very interested in that too! best wishes.
So I just got my first telescope today I only bought a small entry level telescope and its only a 4 inch. With zero experience I had it set up and could clearly see saturn and its rings as well as Jupiters bands as well as 3 of its moons. It took me less than 10 min from taking it outside for the first time.
You are a pathological seller! You have great stuff…keep it!!! I recommend running possible sales though a committee of well meaning astrophiles! We will help you! BTW…keep up the awesome work. Love your videos.
@ 8:15 . . . 'the odds were astronomical.' Just bought your book on Amazon. Don't have a telescope yet. Just using a150mm and 400mm Pentax telephoto on a 645z.
Hello, Ed. Looking for a beginner scope for our 7 year old, and us. Many of the things you recommend are out of stock...any insight into when that might change?
Yes, everything is out of stock and prices have gone up as well. We're all in the same boat. While waiting for the situation to change, you might try an inexpensive pair of 7X35 or 7X50 binoculars and a set of star charts or a planisphere.
I had a cheapo 60 mm refractor, in Early 2000s, ok for moon watching. Everytime I took ot out to look at The moon, every kid in the neighbor Hood was there to have a look. I Hope some of them continued After I moved away
I don't have an XT 4.5, but I have looked through a couple owned by others in our club, and they are actually really good! Edit: I do have the AT72. A red one. Love it!!!
Another great video, but I do have one request. When you put text on the screen above you, could you please use a color that doesn't blend in so well with the background? It was difficult to read the white text on the white window coverings. Thanks!
bit bigger and costs more than the ones you have in the video... but the explore scientific ar102 is seriously underrated I think.... for an achromat the CA is very minimal, images are really nice and the focusser is great.
Very informative videos, always with helpful content. What advice can you give a telescope user who is obliged to wear glasses? What eyepieces work best, and any specific tips?
Here's the conventional wisdom. Just take off your glasses and refocus using the focuser, unless you have astigmatism. In that case leave your glasses on. If you have to wear glasses while observing, you need eyepieces with longer eye relief. Check out the TeleVue Delos series, or (if you can find them) the now-discontinued Radians.
Awesome video Ed! I have a question tho, Im thinking to get a 130mm Newtonian reflector with a focal length of 900mm and hooking up my canon t3i to it to take some night time astrophortography photos of the planets bright nebula and others. So im looking for your advice on whether this is a good setup for astrophortography or not, if not can u recommend a better telescope but it has to be under 300 CDN thats my budget, stay safe!
You can try it but I think you're going to run into frustrations. If it's a Dob the weight of the camera will nosedive the front end. You will likely have focus issues. If you get that sorted out, you might be able to get some quick snaps of the moon but that's about it.
Get a SW130PDS. NOT P. The PDS. Thing is I believe they don't sell in the US. Got mine from Germany. Re astrophotography capability - just look in stargazerlounge. They're already on page 137 of the review. Mind blowing. Cult following. They nicknamed it "the APO killer", for good reason. The focusing tube goes way way into the OTA to be able to achieve camera focus. Kinda funny. You'll need a very decent tracking mount (I plan to get an HEQ5pro, since I saw that the vast majority of photos were taken either by it or by the EQ6/Atlas mounts). A gem.
Hmmm i mean it'll be abit expensive to get a mount and eyepices but ill see, thanks clear skys! Edit btw i checked out the sky wtacher starquest 130P and im debating on whether getting this or the PDS this is obvi abit cheaper but what exactly is the difference?
The way I see it if the focuser works OK who cares what its made of. From what I have gleaned the longer the focal ratio the better the contrast and fine detail. No thats not a mistake I meant ratio not length. Ed I have an eye piece that you would go Ga Ga over. It was made in 1903 and I bought it at an antique shop. Its all brass and the diameter was slightly smaller than inch and a quarter so I had to wrap duck tape around it to get it to fit my focuser. Its quite large and its a variable power eye piece. It has a brass sleeve inside that has a sliding lens for adjusting the power. The machining on it is amazing. It has three lenses besides the sliding one, that have tiny threads and are removable for cleaning. It has a very narrow field of view but I swear it is my best eye piece for Saturn. And I have a 9mm abbe orthoscopic.
XT4.5 is pricing itself out of existence, barely 5 months later it's up to $330. I know inflation is hitting everything, but when the XT6 is being sold at an even $400 now (which used to be 8" money), I think they're going to lose sales on the 4.5. Lucky for me, I snagged a used XT4.5 couple days ago for $200 less than that. I had one before, liked it well enough but decided to change things up. Rediscovered the 114mm f/8 in the form of one of those spindly mounted Newtonians (Tasco Luminova), the one I have was sold as broken, parts only... for $10. Anyone else would've thrown most of it away, but I had all the parts to fix it, upgrading various things along the way and did so. Enjoyed the heck out of it for shorter planetary sessions under my Bortle 8/9 skies, decided I was either going to make a Dob base or get the XT4.5.... and the XT4.5 fell into my lap.
The problem with this model is the optical tube's long focal length is too much for the table top mount. You are going to be frustrated finding and tracking objects. It is a myth that Maks are "portable". Any wins you get from the small optical tube are wiped out by the size of the mount you have to buy to hold it steady.
I'm not that thrilled with the "Sloots". In this design, go for at least the NexStar, and even on those, if you watch my videos, I have mixed-to-slightly-positive views on those.
I would also skip it in favour of the 4SE 5SE having owned all of them. Optically the 130p is absolutely fine with it's 130mm parabolic mirror, and the 2" focuser is a nice touch on an entry AZ goto. However, the mount is just too flimsy for the 130p optical tube in my opinion. Without fettling the tripod to stiffen things up the goto's were always off. The 5SE is a cracking little scope by comparison, but of course it costs more.
@@edting oh! By what some other people have reviewed, it seems to be a really decent product! Ed, I really like your reviews. Would you please review the Sarblue Mak 60 as well?
You won't go wrong with either, but I just get the "plain" solid tubed ones. The collapsible truss doesn't save you any weight, and the major space savings are in the vertical direction, which isn't where most people are compromised for space.
@@benjaminoaks3293 it's only been a month since your question and backorders probably haven't cleared yet. Ed's pretty sweet on Orion, but this is all really a preference thing. All the commercial 8s are great. I ended up with the collapsible Skywatcher after owning many different 8" Dobs. I have to drive over an hour to get to even Bortle 4 skies, the size of the tube when it's in your vehicle can matter a lot more than when it's sitting assembled pointing vertically in your home somewhere. Skywatcher vs Orion, I prefer the Skywatcher tension knob to Orion's springs (Ed is the opposite), but truly, I balance my scope with a heavy magnet wrapped in felt anyways, the Skywatcher lets me put minimum tension on at the knobs and do what I need to with the magnet. I also have a 12" Skywatcher collapsible, the last time I used it I forgot to use the knobs at all, it just sat in the cradle by way of gravity. My magnet system kept everything balanced and happy. At this stage, you're best off getting whatever 8" will actually show up and get you observing with it, that could be used off of a marketplace site like Craigslist or Facebook, or new from one of many vendors. I've had much better luck searching frequently locally than going with new purchases. Of course, your geographical location can have a huge effect on that.
I managed to get my hands on a TV-85 earlier this year, couldn’t find them anywhere. Buying the rings and accessories for it is getting expensive fast.
The standard stuff still applies - Orion Short Tube 80 (needs sturdy tripod/mount) or Starblast. 8 is a little young. Sometimes kids that young have trouble focusing on virtual images. Also, be there to supervise her, to make sure she doesn't point it at the sun, etc.
I've viewed several of these videos, and always catch the part where you explain your club "tricks out" a telescope you donate to libraries. I work for the city of Santa Fe in NM, and would love for our libraries to be considered for that donation. We have beautiful skies devoid of light pollution, and I know we would spark so much interest with a donation like that. Please let me know what I can do!!! Please feel free to contact me for my personal contact information!
Thanks for reminding me that I need more telescopes.
The 'n+1' hypothesis is strong.
Me too. Lol 🤣
Yup😆
The XT4.5 was my first telescope and also the best bang for the buck imaginable. It is a perfect grab and go scope for a family - especially with a couple of nicer eyepieces.
I picked up a C90 a few years back. Oddly enough, I wasn't even planning to buy a telescope, but was in the market for a long telephoto lens mainly for shooting the Moon. After exhausting nearly all options as being too cumbersome, too expensive, or just not rating high on reviews, I came across the C90, which at the time was selling for about $150. Without hesitation I bought it, and haven't been disappointed with it.
It was great to hear about your 13 day clear weather streak and that nice Moon montage you were able to get.
Ive Had Mine Around 3 Years Or So,and Paid Around $220,I Know It Was A Little Over $200.Their Almost &300.Mine Is My Grab And Go.
I got the C90 last week, so when I saw the title of this video I wanted so bad this to see it on this list... and I wasn't disappointed :) . I put it on a AZ-GTI GoTo Mount, this tiny mount fit in the C90 backpack in addition to all my eyepieces and accessories ! It's a fantastic travel telescope and the little goto ALT-AZ mount can even work as an EQ mount, I'm ready to share wonderful views with my friends :) .
Good minds think alike. Now, if I can only get my C90 back....
I have heard of buyer's remorse but seller's remorse must be something telescope lovers would appreciate...
i make use of a milk crate to raise a dob when needed. also handy to carry out gear with.
Thank you, the wife and I are enjoying our table top starblast 4.5. The last 4 days have been a very enjoyable experience. Spending every night in the backyard til 2-3am. We are usually in bed by 10-11. And now we are already considering an 8" dobsonian. You did it and we are in.
Just looked at Jupiter 7/13/2021 under less then Ideal conditions with my very old Celestron C102-AZ refractor model 21011 and resolved the shadow/moon on Jupiter's surface a nice black dot using a 8 mm and a 2X barlow both Televue and a Orion Prism diagonal , not bad. That I think would be less then 1arc second. Amazing
Ed - you should also review and include SVBONY 70, 80 and 102 ED refractors. For the money they seem to be well made, have great optics, sharp with very less CA. I have both the 70mm and 80mm. Also comes with a quality dual speed R&P focuser that also rotates for ease of camera use.
Astro-Tech JUST announced a new AT70ED that's got the same glass types as the mk1 AT72ED, but with a 2 speed rack and pinion and at only around $300. Looks like a great scope.
Wow, I didn't know that, thanks!
i just looked at it online (from astronomics). the specs aren't much different from my orion st80. the at is a 450mm whereas the st80 is 400. both have doublets. the st80 was $175.
is there anything that really optically separates them?
I think Zhumell is also a good brand that seems to not get mentioned very often.
The Z130 is a great beginner scope, but slightly too big to qualify for this list, but the Z114 would qualify in the 4.5” range. It’s nearly identical to the Z130, can be found on sale for well under $199 with eyepieces, and although it doesn’t come with a tripod (just a table top mount), it does come with good quality metal construction, including the rings and mount.
I have a zhummel dob, its one of the few that has a very nice 2in focusser. My wife also has the zhummel version of the cwlrstron astro binoculars... theyre pretty much identical but a little cheaper... really like both
A new video from Ed and sunday coffee! Awesome as always ..
Exactly what I'm going right now. Sunday a.m. and coffee...lol
So happy to see the C90 praised here, and that linar sequence is awesome. I do only planetary so far, and just upgraded to the C9.25 XLT. But the C90 was my first telescope, and I still love using it and will never give it up. Once I learned more about imaging, and put a Powermate, an ADC and goud cameras on it, I got pictures of Jupiter which, though they certainly didn’t resolve finer details, nonetheless shocked experienced friends that they could come from a 3.5” aperture. Really glad the C90 is on your list.
The Celestron Onyx ED 80 would be my addition -- available used only, of course. It's f/6.3 with excellent color correction. There's a Vixen size mounting shoe with 1/4x20 tripod sockets as well. The single speed focuser rotates and clamps. A 2 speed knob is available from Agena. A padded hard case with space for eyepieces was included with the scope.
One other thing about small scopes (that Ed hinted at): they're great for outreach.
great video once again ed :)
Ive just been amusing myself looking at amazon comments on cheap scopes... common one is "can you see the rings of saturn" was a cheap 80mm scope (I use the term scope loosely)
one of the answers was "you can see the rings of saturn on any scope with 50x magnification or over"
..... I had to leave the page
I live in Santa Fe NM. We haven’t had many astrophotography-compatible nights for the past 4 y!😢 in fact, 15y ago we had more clear nights than cloudy. Now, just a couple of clear nights a month. This year has been no exception. And the few clear nights we get inevitably fall on dates with mostly full moon.😮
Wow, and you live in NM, where conditions are good. It's been awful this year in the northeast with all the wildfires.
Thanks for this. Sharing your knowledge for the amateur like me is of great help. As a curiosity, is there a similar line of thinking on mounts? I am now seriously thinking of buying the Televue or Vixen having watched this. Without spending my life savings, I need a mount that is going to support them for astrophotography.
I have a C90 from the 80's. I got it at Montgomery Ward. The only photos I took with it were with the solar filter, and got some OK shots of some sunspots. It also gave me my first view of M31. I have no complaints about it at all, other than the .965 eyepiece barrel size. It came with a Kellner eyepiece, and I know I bought an Orthoscopic for planetary viewing.
Ah, the times when you could get Celestron products at Ward's...
an 4.5xt fits perfectly on a 5 gallon bucket, then is the same eyepiece height as a 6", 8" or 10" dob. they are cheap at home improvement stores, and if you put some sand or other ballast in it it's nice and stable
Hey, thanks. I would never have thought to do that!
@@edting I saw it online somewhere else.
it works great
@@TheJonstolte thanks for sharing :)
Saving up for a C90 as a college student, getting real close to my goal, I'm counting down to the days and the money till I'm getting one. I'm really excited
Hey Ed! Excellent effort of reminding all of us that fun can be had in smaller apperture too. On that subject I was looking for a smaller scope to either travel to darker sites or just mount on the southern side of my apartment on a small DIY eq mount. (My cg5 mount and newt don't really fit ... I have them on my balcony looking North)
What do you think of the Bresser 102 460 Xs? I know it's only an achromatic scope supposedly with an ED element to help with fringing. I was thinking that if I find it so disturbing I could stop down to say 80 mm and get a semiapo F6 for really cheap :)
Or should I just stick with a small apo?
There is another choice ... Get a comacorrector from TS 0.73 reducer for my newt and get it to F 3.65 :)
Al Nagler personally uses a TV-85 as his primary scope these days.
I found the 90mm Apex Maksutov-Cassegrain sold by Orion some years back to be quite a nice astronomical telescope, though mine was sold as a spotting scope. It does fit my AVX mount and it does work well for lunar and solar imaging too. It's sharp and works well with any 1 1/4-inch eyepiece and a quality 90 degree star diagonal. The thing is so portable it goes virtually anywhere. The price is reasonable too.
Love these overviews Ed, being new to the hobby there just plain interesting and give a useful insight of the equipment landscape. Cheers Ed.
love your videos :) Telescope videos are alive again with your content! keep up the good work
New to the hobby, enjoy your channel.
I lot of great information for me.
Nexstar 5 Gen 1.
By luck I happened across a Questar Field Model for cheap which I've been using on a Skywatcher Allview. Lots of fun! If they burned up in a fire, I'd probably buy the C90/Virtuoso package for a similar experience
Ed, great video as usual. I own a Skymax 90 Mak/Cass and it is really good.
Thanks! I see a Stowaway in the background! When does the bidding start! 😉 A telescope I once had and sold, imparting seller’s regret as well.
Good to see you here, Alan!
@@edting I’m a fan! I promoted your channel on the website for the new fourth edition of The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide, coming this autumn. See backyardastronomy.com/youtube-channels/
Thanks for adding more confusion to the small refractor list..
But I like the idea of a nice ED refractor.
I've got 8" 10" and 11" SCTs...
Hi Ed,Another Great Video,and The New Mak90 Is My Grab and Go,Had It About 3 Years Now,and Still Love It,Clear Skies❤️🙏🏼✨🌏🔭
Glad to see some love for the c90. It was my first telescope and even now still has its place as a solar system grab and go scope.
Great vids Ed! Keep it up
for a high quality doublet apo if you want to get into apochromats without breaking the bank, I recommend a william optics zenitherstar 81, gorgeous scope, beautiful quality. Comes with a high quality adjustable flattener which can be used with my other refractors.
Great video 👍
Amen! regarding the AT72ED gen I. I have captured many wonderful images with it. Nothing gives more bang for the buck.
I have at AT72ED, but the newer version with the Aston Martin Grey and the ED glass. its fantastic. And it was under $500.
Hey Ed! love your videos!
i am planning to buy an 8-10 inch dobsonian reflector telescope
can you please give me suggestions on which company should i go by?
The Orions are the most popular but any of the current models are good - Zhumell, Apertura, Sky-Watcher, Explore, etc. Your big challenge as of this writing is finding one in stock.
You are simply the best at this!
yes Ed, there was one other thing, not on your list, that i believe is underappreciated....you! thanks for all of your work on putting this video together. on a side note, how about a video on the bikes that you own. i would be very interested in that too! best wishes.
Wow, thanks for the nice comments!
This year, we’ve had cloudy nights each night here in Santa Fe New Mexico for months now….
So I just got my first telescope today I only bought a small entry level telescope and its only a 4 inch. With zero experience I had it set up and could clearly see saturn and its rings as well as Jupiters bands as well as 3 of its moons. It took me less than 10 min from taking it outside for the first time.
Hi. Which telescope did you purchase? Thanks
@@RubyCube2022 I bought the nexstar 4se And I am crazy excited because I just ordered the celestron c6 and it should be here tomorrow
@@mambastang Thank you 😊
I have a celestron 80 refractor f11that is awesome. Metal fouscer solid little scope.
My first and only imaging scope is the Astro-Tech AT65EDQ Quad and I just love it...
You are a pathological seller! You have great stuff…keep it!!! I recommend running possible sales though a committee of well meaning astrophiles! We will help you! BTW…keep up the awesome work. Love your videos.
@ 8:15 . . . 'the odds were astronomical.' Just bought your book on Amazon. Don't have a telescope yet. Just using a150mm and 400mm Pentax telephoto on a 645z.
Hello, Ed. Looking for a beginner scope for our 7 year old, and us. Many of the things you recommend are out of stock...any insight into when that might change?
Yes, everything is out of stock and prices have gone up as well. We're all in the same boat. While waiting for the situation to change, you might try an inexpensive pair of 7X35 or 7X50 binoculars and a set of star charts or a planisphere.
Ed. Will you bring out the Sharpstar edph2 in white and black, rebrand it and price it double as the original version? Let me know please
Thanks for the video.
I have an old busnell north star 3" aperture 750mm focal length.
Lots of comma though.
Thank you Mr. Ting!
When you sell the c90, probably you make someone else happy...
I had a cheapo 60 mm refractor, in
Early 2000s, ok for moon watching.
Everytime I took ot out to look at
The moon, every kid in the neighbor
Hood was there to have a look. I
Hope some of them continued
After I moved away
Will you do a review of the 6" Celestron refractor? Curious what you would think or recommend this model?? Clear skies
I have a review of the CR150 on Scopereviews. If I can get my hands on a current sample, I'll look at it again!
Nice video, do you know anything about the Orion Star last ll 4,5. Thanks
I don't have an XT 4.5, but I have looked through a couple owned by others in our club, and they are actually really good!
Edit: I do have the AT72. A red one. Love it!!!
Ed, what do you think of the Televue 76 or 85? Would love to see a video review of these.
"..well, okay, I'm glad you figured out what makes you happy, not all of us know that.." lol classic
Another great video, but I do have one request. When you put text on the screen above you, could you please use a color that doesn't blend in so well with the background? It was difficult to read the white text on the white window coverings. Thanks!
Thanks. I use the "drop shadow" function but maybe I need to revisit this.
Still have to this day!!!.....from the look behind you Ed, it don't look like you ever got rid of of anything lol!
For the XT4.5 riser, buy one of those mini-foldable tables from IKEA.
bit bigger and costs more than the ones you have in the video... but the explore scientific ar102 is seriously underrated I think.... for an achromat the CA is very minimal, images are really nice and the focusser is great.
Very informative videos, always with helpful content. What advice can you give a telescope user who is obliged to wear glasses? What eyepieces work best, and any specific tips?
Here's the conventional wisdom. Just take off your glasses and refocus using the focuser, unless you have astigmatism. In that case leave your glasses on. If you have to wear glasses while observing, you need eyepieces with longer eye relief. Check out the TeleVue Delos series, or (if you can find them) the now-discontinued Radians.
@@edting Thanks, Ed; indeed astigmatism is the issue. I'll look out for your recommendations, and thank you again.
How does the Vixen ED81s compare to the Tele Vue 85?
Awesome video Ed! I have a question tho, Im thinking to get a 130mm Newtonian reflector with a focal length of 900mm and hooking up my canon t3i to it to take some night time astrophortography photos of the planets bright nebula and others. So im looking for your advice on whether this is a good setup for astrophortography or not, if not can u recommend a better telescope but it has to be under 300 CDN thats my budget, stay safe!
You can try it but I think you're going to run into frustrations. If it's a Dob the weight of the camera will nosedive the front end. You will likely have focus issues. If you get that sorted out, you might be able to get some quick snaps of the moon but that's about it.
@Adrian McCormick Hmm ill check him out thanks!
@@edting So what would you recommend? My other option would be the orion astroview 90mm refrector.
Get a SW130PDS. NOT P. The PDS. Thing is I believe they don't sell in the US. Got mine from Germany.
Re astrophotography capability - just look in stargazerlounge. They're already on page 137 of the review. Mind blowing. Cult following. They nicknamed it "the APO killer", for good reason.
The focusing tube goes way way into the OTA to be able to achieve camera focus. Kinda funny. You'll need a very decent tracking mount (I plan to get an HEQ5pro, since I saw that the vast majority of photos were taken either by it or by the EQ6/Atlas mounts).
A gem.
Hmmm i mean it'll be abit expensive to get a mount and eyepices but ill see, thanks clear skys! Edit btw i checked out the sky wtacher starquest 130P and im debating on whether getting this or the PDS this is obvi abit cheaper but what exactly is the difference?
ED , have you ever reviewed the star sense. From celestrom or neximage10 camera? Any opinions to offer?
Odds of getting 13 consecutive clear nights in the NE- 1,000,000 to 1. That is about right, lol.
The way I see it if the focuser works OK who cares what its made of. From what I have gleaned the longer the focal ratio the better the contrast and fine detail. No thats not a mistake I meant ratio not length. Ed I have an eye piece that you would go Ga Ga over. It was made in 1903 and I bought it at an antique shop. Its all brass and the diameter was slightly smaller than inch and a quarter so I had to wrap duck tape around it to get it to fit my focuser. Its quite large and its a variable power eye piece. It has a brass sleeve inside that has a sliding lens for adjusting the power. The machining on it is amazing. It has three lenses besides the sliding one, that have tiny threads and are removable for cleaning. It has a very narrow field of view but I swear it is my best eye piece for Saturn. And I have a 9mm abbe orthoscopic.
What do you think of the Orion star last 90 mm? I’m thinking of getting this kit as a starter.
You should try the crlestron Schmidt camera
I would add an Askar FRA400 to the list. Low CA Petzval for $1200.
Is there a field flattener for this scope that does not reduce focal length? Maybe the Orion 1?
Ed, obviously, you collect telescopes. Would you entertain doing a video on what you use them for? I.e. Moon, planets, messier, etc.
What happened to true parabola 114 mirrors. Meade, Orion, Skywatcher?
Hey Ed. I missed this week's video. Are you OK? you are mostly constant on your postings and since this Sunday came and went, I got concerned.
Thanks for checking up on me! Yes, I'm working on more material.
Really want a better eq tracker mount for heavier payload, but theres so many out of stock
Would like your opinion of the Sarblue Maksutov table top scope. Thanks.
Please avoid.
XT4.5 is pricing itself out of existence, barely 5 months later it's up to $330. I know inflation is hitting everything, but when the XT6 is being sold at an even $400 now (which used to be 8" money), I think they're going to lose sales on the 4.5.
Lucky for me, I snagged a used XT4.5 couple days ago for $200 less than that. I had one before, liked it well enough but decided to change things up. Rediscovered the 114mm f/8 in the form of one of those spindly mounted Newtonians (Tasco Luminova), the one I have was sold as broken, parts only... for $10. Anyone else would've thrown most of it away, but I had all the parts to fix it, upgrading various things along the way and did so. Enjoyed the heck out of it for shorter planetary sessions under my Bortle 8/9 skies, decided I was either going to make a Dob base or get the XT4.5.... and the XT4.5 fell into my lap.
Ed-ting is full of passion.
I took the ‘Are you obsessed with telescopes’ quiz again today and my score has gone from 2-4.
Haha!
Ed what is your opinion on the Orion Star Max Cassegrain 90mm Table Top Telescope? 👩🏻🚀🔭
The problem with this model is the optical tube's long focal length is too much for the table top mount. You are going to be frustrated finding and tracking objects. It is a myth that Maks are "portable". Any wins you get from the small optical tube are wiped out by the size of the mount you have to buy to hold it steady.
Whats your opinion about the skywatcher evostar 72?
Hi Ed. Do you have a vintage c8? Either an orange tube or one from the 80s/90s? Do you think an ultima 8 is a good buy if I can find one?
Yes, all the C8s are good scopes. As long as it's in good condition and hasn't been abused, go for it!
is the celestron nexstar 4se better than the c90?
Been looking at the Celestron Omni XLT 102 and 120. Are they any good? Both have equatorial mounts
In that line, get the 102. The 120 is getting to be too heavy for that mount.
Hello guys! Did anyone have a recomandation for a small telescope with maximum focal length of 560mm (is good a refractor?)with a decent price?
Is it possible to buy a ok mount and tripod for under $200 for the c90?
I don't think so. The C90 has a 1250 mm focal length. That is the Catch 22 of any Mak. The OTA is small, but you have to buy a big mount to hold it.
I'd really like your feedback on the Celestron 130 slt??
I'm not that thrilled with the "Sloots". In this design, go for at least the NexStar, and even on those, if you watch my videos, I have mixed-to-slightly-positive views on those.
I would also skip it in favour of the 4SE 5SE having owned all of them. Optically the 130p is absolutely fine with it's 130mm parabolic mirror, and the 2" focuser is a nice touch on an entry AZ goto. However, the mount is just too flimsy for the 130p optical tube in my opinion. Without fettling the tripod to stiffen things up the goto's were always off. The 5SE is a cracking little scope by comparison, but of course it costs more.
The astrotek 72mm is like the Skywatcher ED72?
Hard to tell. The cosmetics look different. But there aren't many 72mm refractors out there so they may be based on the same platform.
@@edting Here in Europe the Skywatcher is the most known refractor for start in astrophotography. Cheap enought, but with a doublet lens.
Greetings.
Im surprised why the Sarblue/Acuter Mak series isnt here?
Those things are kinda junky.
@@edting oh! By what some other people have reviewed, it seems to be a really decent product! Ed, I really like your reviews. Would you please review the Sarblue Mak 60 as well?
It isn't worth reviewing
Can someone tell me if a Meade Polaris 130 mm Newtonian Reflector is a good buy for a beginner, and what it's good at viewing.Please, I need Help.
Get the Orion XT6 instead. Hope this helps.
@@edting Thanks! I'll look into it.
Have you ever used a planewave telescope
You should have taken a road trip to get the other moon pictures in the series.
Which 8 inch is better collapsible or non-collapsible.
You won't go wrong with either, but I just get the "plain" solid tubed ones. The collapsible truss doesn't save you any weight, and the major space savings are in the vertical direction, which isn't where most people are compromised for space.
@@edting Thank you Sir, for your help.
Also what brand of 8 inch.
@@benjaminoaks3293 it's only been a month since your question and backorders probably haven't cleared yet.
Ed's pretty sweet on Orion, but this is all really a preference thing. All the commercial 8s are great. I ended up with the collapsible Skywatcher after owning many different 8" Dobs. I have to drive over an hour to get to even Bortle 4 skies, the size of the tube when it's in your vehicle can matter a lot more than when it's sitting assembled pointing vertically in your home somewhere. Skywatcher vs Orion, I prefer the Skywatcher tension knob to Orion's springs (Ed is the opposite), but truly, I balance my scope with a heavy magnet wrapped in felt anyways, the Skywatcher lets me put minimum tension on at the knobs and do what I need to with the magnet. I also have a 12" Skywatcher collapsible, the last time I used it I forgot to use the knobs at all, it just sat in the cradle by way of gravity. My magnet system kept everything balanced and happy.
At this stage, you're best off getting whatever 8" will actually show up and get you observing with it, that could be used off of a marketplace site like Craigslist or Facebook, or new from one of many vendors. I've had much better luck searching frequently locally than going with new purchases. Of course, your geographical location can have a huge effect on that.
Links
StarBlast
Keep watching my videos. The StarBlast is one of the most frequently recommended beginner's scopes, both here and elsewhere.
If I'm not mistaken, Orion has purchased Meade Telescopes. Not a good future for Meade.
You forgot the ST80!
I managed to get my hands on a TV-85 earlier this year, couldn’t find them anywhere. Buying the rings and accessories for it is getting expensive fast.
Yes, but it's worth it, and TeleVue products hold their value quite well.
Boss Ed.. im looking for a gift for my 8 yr old niece.. something around 200 bucks or less.. any suggestions?
The standard stuff still applies - Orion Short Tube 80 (needs sturdy tripod/mount) or Starblast. 8 is a little young. Sometimes kids that young have trouble focusing on virtual images. Also, be there to supervise her, to make sure she doesn't point it at the sun, etc.
I've viewed several of these videos, and always catch the part where you explain your club "tricks out" a telescope you donate to libraries. I work for the city of Santa Fe in NM, and would love for our libraries to be considered for that donation. We have beautiful skies devoid of light pollution, and I know we would spark so much interest with a donation like that. Please let me know what I can do!!! Please feel free to contact me for my personal contact information!