I have little problem with SLAS giving away scopes, I do think people we give them to should demonstrate a desire to get involved beyond showing up to a star party.
Hi Jay,
Thanks for the input.
Yes, the lack of a finder is one of the reasons there has been talk of dumping the Firstscopes. But so far no one has come up with a replacement.
While better scopes cost more money I'm thinking rather than give away a bunch of cheap scopes maybe we should switch to giving away fewer but higher quality scopes.
And, yes, I also wonder how many actually get used and how many are just gathering dust.
Years ago Brent Watson and the company he was with at the time gave hundreds of very nice scope to schools around the state. Perhaps he can chime in with the outcome of that program. Brent?
patrick
On 02 Dec 2013, at 15:10, Jay Eads <jayleads@gmail.com> wrote:
Patrick,
Here is a link to a review on the Firstscopes:
http://10minuteastronomy.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/cheap-scope-review-the-cel...
Some issues with the Firstscopes are no finder is included. I would think a newbie would need at least a red dot finder attached so they can at least do basic star hopping. Another issue is as the review points out, "for Celestron to produce FirstScopes at their target price point and still stay in business, they could not afford to parabolize the primary mirrors." Thus at F4 the objects even in the center of the eyepiece are not going to look good and those on the edge, well, the observer may think they are observing over the Great Salt Lake or a dump with the sea gulls they see. Last, if the reviewer, an active amateur got tired of messing with the scope afte a couple of months, I wonder where the scopes SLAS has given out are? On a shelf?
On the AWB 5 inch F/5 Dob the review in S&T seems favorable. It has a nice secondary from the view, and I would assume a parabolize mirror for the price. Much like a Sky Watcher dobs, that have collapsible truss tubes, this one is very similar. It has a red dot finder on it, basically like the Orion EZ II finder works. A final huge bonus is that all the profits go to AWB's program. So in a way the club gives back twice, once locally, once overseas.
In that cost range there are two other options. One is the Orion StarMax 90mm for $199.99 at http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes/Cassegrain-Telescopes/Orion-StarMax-90mm...
Mix reviews on the Orion. I think the AWB would be a better deal.
The other is Sky-Watcher Virtuoso 90mm Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope for $250.00 which is motorized I believe. I don't know much about this one. Looks to have basic camera and dvd/smart phone adapter to take some pictures of planets. Probably same issues as what your currently giving away, decent on the moon and planets, not so great on DSO's. Perhaps someone else can chime in.
So I think if your looking to get out of the Firstscope give away, the AWB 5 inch would be a good deal, at least S&T likes them. I would first order one and have it reviewed for ease of setup, ease of use and the images you get out of it. Then if that works out, great, the board can decide if that is the direction the club goes in for scope give aways. If it doesn't work out, well you have a cheap loaner or I'm sure someone would appreciate it. If the scope checks out, I would move that way if it was me. I'm sure others will share their opinions.
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