Ordered a new telescope!

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StarBru United States of America
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Ordered a new telescope!

#1

Post by StarBru »


After much debate within myself:
"Should I get it?" "Should I not get it?"
"I already have 9 working telescopes and 2 other telescope projects!"
"My wife won't understand if I buy another telescope!"
And then finally reading a post from a member of another club I belong to: The60mmTelescopeClub@groups.io, and from watching this video review below, I decided to pull the plug!

https://youtu.be/4cVid9aXkD8

It's called the Sarblue Planet Mate 60mm Maksutov. It has a focal length of 750mm and includes a nice little 20mm reverse kellner eyepiece for 37.5x magnification, a phone adapter, and a not so good tabletop tripod. The interesting feature of this scope is that it has a lid on top of the OTA that opens up to reveal the internal mechanism, I imagine for the educational value.

I ordered it yesterday from Amazon for $109.99 and it arrives today!
Bruce

Refractors: Meade AR-5 127mm f/9.3, Meade ST-80 f/5 and Meade 60mm f/12, Jason 60mm f/15 #313, Jason 60mm f/12 #306 S7, Bushnell Sky Chief III 60mm f/15.
Reflectors/Catadioptrics: Meade 10" F/4 Schmidt-Newtonian, Galileo 120mm f/8.3 Newtonian, Meade 2045D 4" f/10 SCT, Meade ETX-90EC f/13.8 & Sarblue 60mm f/12.5 Maksutov-Cassegrains.
Mounts: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro & Meade LXD55 Equatorial mounts, ES Twilight II and Meade 2102 ALT/AZ mounts, a modified 10" SkyQuest Dobsonian mount, various 60mm EQ mounts.
Misc: Celestron 20x80mm binoculars, Revolution II Imager/accessories, & lots of optical accessories/eyepieces.
Projects: 8" f/2.9 and 65mm f/10 reflectors, Dobson-style binocular mirror mount.
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Lady Fraktor Slovakia
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Re: Ordered a new telescope!

#2

Post by Lady Fraktor »


Interesting, I look forward to your thoughts of it.
See Far Sticks: Antares Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser BV 127/1200, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, AXJ, AXD
Az/Alt: AYO Digi II/ Argo Navis, Stellarvue M2C/ Argo Navis
Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102
Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Takahashi prism, TAL, Vixen flip mirror
Eyepieces: Antares to Zeiss
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Re: Ordered a new telescope!

#3

Post by MistrBadgr »


Congratulations Bruce! :) I will be interested in reading what you think about it also.
Bill Steen
Many small scopes, plus a Lightbridge 12, LX 70-8R,6R,6M
Many eyepieces, just not really expensive ones.
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pakarinen United States of America
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Re: Ordered a new telescope!

#4

Post by pakarinen »


Yup. Will be curious to read your thoughts / experiences.
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I drink tea, I read books, I look at stars when I'm not cursing clouds. It's what I do.
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AT50, AT72EDII, ST80, ST102; Scopetech Zero, AZ-GTi, AZ Pronto; Innorel RT90C, Oberwerk 5000; Orion Giantview 15x70s, Vortex 8x42s, Navy surplus 7x50s, Nikon 10x50s
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The Happy Parrot
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Re: Ordered a new telescope!

#5

Post by The Happy Parrot »


Neat little telescope and what a great review. Interesting reverse Kellner and prism diagonal.

Curious to see your first light report Starbru.
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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: Ordered a new telescope!

#6

Post by Bigzmey »


Congrats Bruce! Looking forward the first light report.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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John Donne United States of America
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Re: Ordered a new telescope!

#7

Post by John Donne »


The price isn't too debilitating.
I look forward to reading of your experience with is little gem.
SCOPES :ES127 f7.5, SW100 f9 Evostar, ES80 F6, LXD75 8" f10 SCT, 2120 10" f10 SCT, ES152 f6.5.
MOUNTS: SW AZ/EQ5, MEADE LXD75, CELESTRON CG4, Farpoint Parallelogram.
BINOCULARS: CL 10X30, Pentax 8X43, 25X100 Oberwerks.
EP: Many.

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Greenman Great Britain
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Re: Ordered a new telescope!

#8

Post by Greenman »


Ooo, that is very interesting I’m thinking of my Grandson with help from his dad... both for terrestrial and a bit of astronomy...

Looks like a fun, but performing scope. Enjoy, please add me to the list to hear your thoughts.
Cheers,

Tony.

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Smart Scope: Dwarf II - Club and outreach work.

AP Refractor: Altair 72EDF Deluxe F6;1x & 0.8 Flatteners; Antares Versascope 60mm finder. ASIAir Pro.Li battery pack for grab & go.

Celestron AVX Mount; X-cel LX eyepieces & Barlows 2x 3x, ZWO 2” Filter holder,

Cameras: main DSO ASI533MC; DSO guide ASI120MM; Planetary ASI224MC; DSLR Canon EOS100 stock.

Filters: Astronomik IR cut; Optolong L-Pro; Optolong L-Enhance.

Binoculars: Celestron 15 x 70.

Latitude: 52.219853
Longitude: -1.034471
Accuracy: 5 m
Bortle 4 site. https://maps.google.com/?q=52.21985,-1.03447

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John Baars Netherlands
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Re: Ordered a new telescope!

#9

Post by John Baars »


Nine telescopes already!!
:character-oldtimer: I recognize this. A typical case of morbus telescopio. I have it too. Incurable, you must learn to live with it. The well known medicine "buy quality, cry once", doesn't work long.
There is only one medicine for minor cases: go out and observe as much as you can with all of them. That will keep the fever down a bit. When clouded keep inventing innovations for them. Once you stop observing, you will be lost :D and upgrade to the most expensive final stage: collector. :D

Never mind this nonsens,
Have a good time with your new telescope!
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
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Re: Ordered a new telescope!

#10

Post by helicon »


Congrats on the purchase. One can never have too many scopes or binos.
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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StarBru United States of America
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Re: Ordered a new telescope!

#11

Post by StarBru »


I received the little 60mm MAK yesterday just before the sun set. I was surprised how light the package was! I was also a little surprised after opening that box, how little the box is containing the scope. Looking outside, I noticed the sky already clouding up! After dark, the clouds were everywhere with just a few bright stars poking through. So First Light will have to be postponed until the clouds clear!

I opened the well-packed box to find the telescope with capped prism diagonal attached, eyepiece with caps, phone adapter, and tripod , all covered individually with plastic bags and placed tightly in separate compartments within the styrofoam. The OTA is plastic, as is the diagonal, phone adapter, and eyepiece barrel. The tabletop tripod is mostly plastic with metal legs and hardware. The tripod is more stable than I thought it would be, and is easy to operate smoothly with just enough stiffness to it. You would think the use of plastic would be a negative, but in this case it is well executed, with none of the telescope accessories having excess plastic showing. The OTA seems very robust.

The very basic "finder" is made of two in-line plastic protrusions pre-formed in the removable plastic "hood". I will definitely upgrade the finder to either a laser, red dot, or small raci finder. The included tabletop tripod I would use in a pinch, but a full sized camera tripod would be easier to use. I will post again when seeing conditions allow. It looks like clouds again tonight!
IMG_20210308_064456629~2.jpg
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IMG_20210308_064815940~3.jpg
Bruce

Refractors: Meade AR-5 127mm f/9.3, Meade ST-80 f/5 and Meade 60mm f/12, Jason 60mm f/15 #313, Jason 60mm f/12 #306 S7, Bushnell Sky Chief III 60mm f/15.
Reflectors/Catadioptrics: Meade 10" F/4 Schmidt-Newtonian, Galileo 120mm f/8.3 Newtonian, Meade 2045D 4" f/10 SCT, Meade ETX-90EC f/13.8 & Sarblue 60mm f/12.5 Maksutov-Cassegrains.
Mounts: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro & Meade LXD55 Equatorial mounts, ES Twilight II and Meade 2102 ALT/AZ mounts, a modified 10" SkyQuest Dobsonian mount, various 60mm EQ mounts.
Misc: Celestron 20x80mm binoculars, Revolution II Imager/accessories, & lots of optical accessories/eyepieces.
Projects: 8" f/2.9 and 65mm f/10 reflectors, Dobson-style binocular mirror mount.
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Re: Ordered a new telescope!

#12

Post by MistrBadgr »


With the ability to open up the scope easily, it will be easy to inspect the optics and see if it needs to be cleaned. :)
Bill Steen
Many small scopes, plus a Lightbridge 12, LX 70-8R,6R,6M
Many eyepieces, just not really expensive ones.
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