Bushnell 565
klakky
on a whim. I am very much a novice of astronomy, but have enjoyed looking
at the surface of the moon and the 4 moons of Jupiter with it. The man at
the store obviously knew less than I about telescopes, as I returned to ask
him about the lenses and he told me that he had never even looked through a
scope before. It came with two 3X Barlow lenses (one of which I do not
believe even goes with the telescope), a 1.5X Erector lens, and 4mm,
12.5mm, and 20mm lenses. The booklet which came with it explains nothing
about how to use these lenses, but I have managed to toy around with them
observing the moon. I would like to know how to go about using these lenses
to observe planets, if that is even possible. The booklet says that you can
observe the rings of Saturn (when it is viewable), but I have never been
able to do that. I paid around $200 brand new for the complete setup. Is
it a fair telescope or did I get ripped off? It does look cool sitting in
the corner of my living room, but I would like to be able to use it once in
a while. LOL I live in SW Oklahoma, 10 miles out in the middle of nowhere
with no light pollution at all. Any help would be appreciated
--
Daniel van Os
"klakky" <klakky@*nospam*oio.net> wrote:
> I have a Bushnell 565 telescope with tripod
Bushnell is one of the brands you'll be warned not to buy if you
ask "What first scope should I buy?"
but...
> I [..] have enjoyed looking at the surface of the moon and the 4 moons
> of Jupiter with it.
I too believe that you can enjoy a 60mm refractor, I started with one
of those. Mine was on a alt/az mount (ahem, mount???) yours is on an
equatorial mount I believe. Like you I watched the moon, jupiter,
saturn, andromeda and some open clusters.
> The man at the store obviously knew less than I about telescopes, as
> I returned to ask him about the lenses and he told me that he had
> never even looked through a scope before.
That's your typical Bushnell dealer :)
> It came with two 3X Barlow lenses (one of which I do not believe
> even goes with the telescope)
Wow! That's NOT typical.
>, a 1.5X Erector lens, and 4mm, 12.5mm, and 20mm lenses. The booklet
> which came with it explains nothing about how to use these lenses
> but I have managed to toy around with them observing the moon. I
> would like to know how to go about using these lenses
The different lenses (eyepieces) result in different magnifications.
You can put a Barlow lense between the scope and the eyepiece to triple
the magnification and you can use the erector to make it easier to look
through the eyepiece.
Your scope has a focal length of 750mm and thus the magnifications you
can get using the EP's [and Barlow] are:
20 mm -> 37,5 and 112,5
12.5mm -> 60 and 180
4 mm -> 187,5 and 563
Now there's a rule which states that magnifications above 2x your
aperture are useless. So for your scope 2x60 = 120x is the maximum (not
considering the quality of the optics) So, I hate to say it but the 4mm
eyepiece can be discarded. (Have you been able you get sharp images
while using the 4mm EP? I couldn't)
> to observe planets, if that is even possible. The booklet says that
> you can observe the rings of Saturn (when it is viewable), but I have
> never been able to do that.
It is possible, at least I could see them with my 60mm. I also was able
to see the storm bands on jupiter, not the great red spot though.
> I paid around $200 brand new for the complete setup. Is it a fair
> telescope or did I get ripped off?
Well, since you say you've had fun with it I guess the money is not all
that bad spend. But other than that I'd say don't do it again.
Buying a scope is hard, and expensive. I bought the scope when I saw
it, I mean I didn't intend to buy a scope and thought Hey! Let's see
what I can do with that. I had fun with it, in fact so much fun that I
decided to buy a better scope.
I guess the choice for a newcomer is between these two risks:
a) buy a cheap scope that might frustrate you, causing you to hate
stargazing while you might have liked it with a better scope but
wasting only little money.
b) buy a better scope, find out you really don't like stargazing but
wasting quite some money.
just some thoughts...
danieL
--
The xrm_class field is another Xt Intrinsics flag.
Always initialize it to NULLQUARK.
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Before you buy.
klakky
answers I had hoped to hear. I have had the telescope for about 6 years,
and have gotten very little use out of it. It does a good job on the moon
and I have been able to get a fairly good look at Jupiter and its moons. I
have never been able to get a good bead on Saturn. I took a college
astronomy class about 10 years ago and was awestruck when I viewed Saturn
from the college observatory. When viewing through their telescopes, we
were not allowed to touch them and the course involved very little about how
to use one. The viewing sessions are really what peaked my interest in
astronomy, although I find it very complicated.
My telescope is set on an equatorial mount. The barlow lenses are what was
really confusing me. I could toy around with them in the daylight and watch
a farmer tending his livestock about 7 miles away, but when I tried to use
them for celestial gazing, more often than not the telescope just went
black. I found this especially true when I tried the 4mm lens. You are
correct in your assumption that it became more trouble than it was worth to
use it, only to become frustrated. It does quite nicely for viewing
wildlife, etc., but gets very little use other than than these days.
While looking through a magazine awhile back, I saw an advertisement for a
new telescope which made me think that it might be just what I was looking
for. I have enclosed the link to it and would appreciate your opinion on
this model. I should have done more homework before buying the last one,
but hindsight is always better... Please let me know if the one I am now
considering would possibly be any easier for me to use or an improvement
over the one I have for planetary viewing. Thanks again so much for your
explanation of things in laymen's terms.
Ruth
http://www.meade.com/catalog/meade_etx/index00.htm
--
Glenn Smollinger
I picked up on this thread when I saw the "Bushnell 565" subject. Now I
can't believe it when I see the Mead ETX-90EC you are interested in. You
see, my first scope was the Bushnell, and my second is the ETX-90EC.
The answers you got so far on the Bushnell were delicately polite. My honest
opinion of the Bushnell 565, as an owner of one, is that it is an affront to
amateur astronomers everywhere. I regret the purchase of this scope very
much. I own a pair of Bushnell binoculars which are actually quite good,
although not as good as my Nikons, so i thought that the Bushnell scope
would be "good enough" too. Well I was wrong. It cannot be used for any
amount of serious work. In fact, if you do try to spend serious time with
it, you will break the right ascension drive! The finder scope cannot be
aligned with the optical tube assembly, the equatorial mount is totally
frustrating, the optics are mediocre at best, I'm sure no better than 1/2
wavelength... I could go on and on, but you probably already know what I'm
talking about.
Now about the ETX90-EC: Coming from the Bushnell, this scope is
breathtaking. You are now looking through diffraction limited optics. The
right ascension clock drive can hold you on one crater of the moon as you
examine the terracing of the crater walls at 258 power (with 2X barlow and
9.7 mm super plossel eyepiece). It weighs 14 pounds and is only 18 inches
long, so you can carry it to a dark sky site in a compact car, and view dim
Messier objects. Its not perfect though.
These are the limitations, and characteristics of the ETX90-EC I have
observed:
1. Its aperture is too small for serious work. The 125 mm is big enough, but
at $900, you are spending a lot of money.
2. The tripod is inadequate. I recommend the Bogen Manfrotto, with a tilt
head, and the tripod adapter like Scopetronix sells.
3. Its a f13.8 scope, so the field of view is very narrow. This really
limits its usefulness for viewing many deep-sky objects that need a faster
scope with a wide field. A 40 mm eyepiece is recommended to get a good field
of view, but that eyepiece is expensive.
4. The finder scope is a bad joke. Its so tiny you can hardly see through
it, and when polar aligning it is completely recessed behind the right
ascension drive base. You should add a Telrad, if only for polar aligning,
or change to the right angle viewfinder, then get used to looking at star
charts from the back because the views are flipped left for right.
5. The drive system is not intended for astrophotography. Its not stable
enough; in fact you can see the cyclic perturbations in the eyepiece at high
powers. These are not a problem for viewing, but would cause star trails or
blurring for time exposure photography.
6. I'm not sure what the low temperature range is for the drive system and
electronics. This may limit our winter viewing, when skies are clearest.
I don't own the Astro-computer, so I can't critique it. I will soon though.
That should make the tiny finder scope less important, since polar
alignments are not necessary.
My overall opinion is that this scope fills the bill for a 90 mm (3 1/2
inch) compact telescope very nicely. You will not be disappointed with it,
like with the Bushnell 565. You can buy different telescopes for the same
money that are better than the ETX series in certain ways, and maybe you
should look a little closer before you spring. Jupiter season isn't here yet
anyway. I highly recommend a book, "The Backyard Astronomer" by Clarence
Dickinson. This beautiful book is a joy to read, and it has some of the most
drop-dead-gorgeous photos I've ever seen from amateurs. Read through the
begining chapters, and decide what you want from your hobby, then pick out
your equipment.
I will make one other recommendation: Get a good pair of 10X50 mm
binoculars. Looking through any telescope is like looking through a straw.
The binoculars will open your eyes to the sky in a wide angle way that no
telescope can match. The Bogen tripod with a fluid video head on it can hold
the binoculars for rock steady pans and tilts through the constellations. I
use the same video head to hold my ETX90-EC (locked, of course). Its also
great with a camcorder (duh)!
Best wishes,
Glenn
Glenn Smollinger
The Backyard Astronomer's Guide
Terence Dickinson
Alan Dyer
Barry Estabrook (Editor)
w
Have Celestron C90 and am not happy with the focus adjustment. I was
going to buy the Mead ETX-90ec at OTP but was told the C90 was better
for what I wanted to use it for.
Looking at the stars are secondary. Want to use as telephoto lens on
Olympus 2020 camera, now I find out I can not connect the Oly easily to
any scope.
I am ready to exchange the C90 for the Mead ETX-90ec w/electric focus. I
am thinking about putting a ccd chip in the eyepiece and can remote the
whole thing.
Any suggestions? Wayne
James
Glenn you seem to know about the meade scopes and more, mind if I ask
a question. I owned the 564 and you are right about it, I then just
got the etx70ec. It seems to be a good small compact scope for
carrying into the field. Just what is its capabilities and limitations
and can it be charged up with any add-ons. Do youu mind giving a
little insight to my input.
James
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klakky
ETX-90-EC. I too own a pair of Bushnell binoculars and thought between that
and their good sight scopes for rifles, I could not go wrong with the
telescope. WRONG!!! haha I guess I will continue to use it for viewing
wildlife from my porch and for looking at the moon. Jupiter and the moon
are about the only big, bright objects I can seem to get focused on with any
luck.
I am not going to rush out and buy any telescope at the moment. I am in no
hurry and plan to do plenty of homework before making my next purchase. I
have gotten a lot of good information from my original post and wish to
thank all who answered me in this forum and by email. I wish this forum had
been available when I bought the Bushnell. I will continue to read and
learn in here as well as books and articles on the subject. Thanks again
for taking the time to answer my questions.
--
Here's to those that wish us well, and those who don't can go to Hell!
-----------Elaine Benes-----------
"Glenn Smollinger" <gsmo...@snip.net> wrote in message
news:sq91jl...@corp.supernews.com...