I used to dream about getting one of these when I was a kid. But, of course, I had no money and $200 was a lot of money for a kid back in the 70's. Then along came Coulter and I quickly forgot about the Astroscan! But I still had no money and never got a Coulter either! It's so strange as you were flipping through that Edmund catalog, I remember those pictures and I haven't seen them in over 40 years. I must have spent hours staring at those pictures so that it became ingrained in my mind. Now I think I will try to find one of those old catalogs on eBay just for nostalgic reasons.
Agree. Was about to buy edmund 28mm rke eyepiece for almost $100,glad I saw Ed make this video! Saved me from buying this eyepiece as I read all the hype
@@amarbirk8987 I dunno. I've had a 28mm RKE for going on 45 years and it does do a cool thing. The image seems almost to float out of it, 3D like. Of course, Ed has used more eyepieces than I have.
@@brentjablonski3730 that is what most talk about, the floating image! Another youtuber "avt astro" vlad, he menioned the same thing as you also. I'm confused yet again lol
@@amarbirk8987 Yes. I remember Vlad mentioning it in his review of less expensive eyepieces. I find it to be a striking effect, particularly on the Orion nebula. That being said, I don't think $100 for a 28mm RKE is a good price. They sell new on Edmund Optics for $111 (this might be New Old Stock), so you'd hope used prices to be quite a bit less than $100. Any chance of your trying one out to see if it is for you? I'm in MN near the Twin Cities if that is nearby for you. Anyway, it does the floating image for my eyes. All things considered, I don't think that's worth $100+ when for other purposes the RKE is only on par (or slightly worse) with a mid-range Plossl. I mean, you can get a Televue Plossl for ~$120. And that will have (IMO) substantially better overall performance. What would I pay for it? Maybe $10 - 20 more than a comparable mid-tier Plossl, so ~$70 tops. And that premium is only worth it if you see the floating effect. All the people who've looked through my RKE have seen the effect, but I can't say that everyone will.
@@brentjablonski3730 thank you for taking the time for such in depth infornation. Really appreciate it! I an in the Uk sadly, they sell here for £94.53 on the uk edmund optics website. I purcashed the svbony 7-21mm zoom for £50 this week, I also have a 6mm and 13.5mm antares which are I think 70degrees,very wide eyepieces and basic celestron 25mm,20mm,10mm,4mm free ones. New to hobby so all the info is very helpful, thank you
I still have mine from 1980. It is a trooper and has taken a beating but keeps on performing. It has some challengers but it is my quick goto telescope.
I've had my USA made Astroscan since 1978 (cost $170) and I still use it occasionally. Never used a tripod, always had it sitting on top of a sturdy garden table. Never used it much for faint DSOs, mostly used mine for the brighter DSOs and, especially, the Moon. Spent my entire teenage years using mine, great memories.
Thanks for this video, Ed! I have loved my Astroscan 2001 since I opened it on Christmas morning in 1980! It sustained my interest in astronomy for many years. And although I've acquired a lot of more sophisticated astronomy gear, sometimes this old scope still hits sweet spot for lunar or planetary observing. It came with the Edmund Sky Guide (Terence Dickinson, c.1977), and I still flip through that concise booklet from time to time as well. Edmund Scientific may not have had the highest quality goods, but the Astroscan 2001 was a huge hit, and I looked forward to ES's catalog as much as I looked forward to Sear's Christmas Wish Book!
I rebuilt 6 of these. Replaced the foam in the back. Realigned the secondaries. These older models have parabolic mirrors. I can push the magnification up to 100x. Excellent diffraction pattern and Airy disk. Can easily resolve the double double in Eta Lyrae. Collimation can be done by shimming the edge of the glass plate. Replaced felts on base. Added stub to use StarSense. Laser cut and bent replacement finders. Very nice. Replaced rollers. One of my favorites.❤ BTW Cloudy Nights has examples of 1-1/4” design for coma correctors using off the shelf parts. With a 19 mm Televue panoptic and home-made coma corrector, stars perfect to edge. ❤❤ pushing magnification I could see 6 bands on Jupiter. Watched Io and Europa transits. BTW I found some aluminum tubing that jackets the focuser tube and I brazed then tapped through to make a nice 1-1/4” adapter with thumb screws!❤
I loved the 1960s-1970s Edmund catalogs, my dream books. I purchased a used Astroscan around 2010, I didn’t like it, so I sold it. I think it’s just a “nostalgia” scope. I bought an Orion StarBlast and love it.
In the mid-1980s, I bought a used model of one of the early scopes. I still use it. It is very convenient for a quick look without the setup time of an EQ mount. I have sat eager kids on the ground, put it in their laps, and let them freely scan the skies. They love it and it inspires them to get more involved in astronomy.
I had an Astroscan back around 1970 and it was an excellent introduction to astronomy. Easy to set up and good image quality. The weight was a plus as it enhanced stability and made for smoothly moving to other parts of the sky. Back then never heard anyone complain about quality.
Was it a blue and white print book called how to use your telescope or something? That's the one that came with my Edmund and I'm sure to this day I almost have it memorized!
Back when these first came out Edmunds had a contest to name the telescope. I had seen this in Sky and Telescope magazine. The chosen name got one of the telescopes as I recall. If you weren't a winner, you got a publication to some magazine or pamphlet that edmunds put out. I think it came out once a month. I still remember the name I entered for the contest, but won't divulge that. I was just a teen at the time, and I don't know what I was thinking. :)
I owned an Astroscan 10 to 15 years ago. It had decent optics and it gave me great views on open clusters. The Pleiades were especially stunning in mine. But I found it cumbersome to use due to the lack of a decent finder and I was afraid I'd knock it off the mount. I sold it on AstroMart or Cloudy Nights and have not missed it a minute since it was sold. Clear skies, Ed and to all!
Ed, you can collimate these by use of shims on the front glass holder for the secondary. Also the sponge material on the primary degrades and often needs to be replaced. Replacement parts are available on CloudyNight there is a member there that 3D prints almost all the common accessories including the must have dew shield.
I still have one. It was my 1st real telescope that I saved up for from a summer job in the 80's. I took it out recently to do some stargazing in the yard. I was surprised how good the views were. I used the original eyepieces and then used some of my Tele Vue eyepieces. What I noticed was the focus is sharp in a small part of the center with a medium 19 mm or high powered 7 mm Nagler eyepiece, but when I used my Pan Optic it was quite nice. The 19 mm Panoptic gave beautiful views of the 1st quarter moon. This telescope helped me to learn to star hop and I learned the sky with it. This was in a dark sky up in northern Canada. Better the giant binoculars that I couldn't afford. I now have an LX-90 GPS 8 inch and strangely the 2 compliment one another. If I want to just sweep the Milkyway I use binocs or the Astroscan. For "dial a galaxy" as I call it I use my LX-90. I must have bought one with pretty good optics or my standards are lower, not sure, but I enjoy many nights with that little scope up north under the stars.
Nice video Ed! If I run across an AstroScan for a decent deal I'll be adding it to the collection. I already have 3", 4", & 5" fracs; 8" & 12" Dobs; and a 3.5" Mak, so I don’t have any holes in my equipment lineup that the AstroScan could fill, but it would look nice sitting in the scope room 😂
It is bigger than it looked in photos. Thanks for all of the details about it. I was under the impression that their bigger reflectors were actually pretty good, but will take your word on that. I am impressed with the stability of the small Edmund Scientific EQ mount I found on Craigslist.
Ah, the Edmund Scientific catalog... When I was 12, I got my dad to agree to go in half on a telescope. I worked a paper route and saved for over a year and was finally able to order a Edmund 6" f/5 reflector on the fork mount. I was happy with it, but regretted the fork mount. Weighed a ton! I gave it away about 8 years ago to a couple of kids in need of a telescope. I've heard that the 3" frac Edmund offered starting in the early 80s had decent optics. (designed by David Rank, who also designed the RKE line) Has anyone looked through one? Thanks for the memories, Ed!
I agree. If only for the history and wacky design, it's relevant. I wanted one as an oddity to just have on a shelf, but decided on more usable astronomy gear. Would I grab one if it crosses my path at the right time at the right price? Probably.
I suggested one of these to a family with young kids to look at bright objects, and they liked it. It also looked nice on a shelf. I built my 6" f/10 newtonian from parts out of the Edmond catalog back in the mid-1960s. The EQ mount was cast iron with no drive, and the altitude adjustment was one bolt. It weighed a ton! About 60 years later, I now have (after a 1988 Super C8 Plus) a complete ZWO AP rig that I run from inside my home from my phone....thank you, ASIAIR!
My personal thoughts as someone who has one? Only buy it if you want it as a cool historical item, or for nostalgia. Don't buy one purely to use it. They're not terrible - mine actually has excellent optics - but a mini-dob does everything the astroscan does and is much easier to collimation and maintain, and has a more functional focuser. You can also get a mini-dob with a bit more aperture, which it really benefits from. Note that even if the optics are good, it isn't a good planetary telescope because of the focuser. It doesn't have enough precision to reliably find a precise focus at the extremely tight margins it needs at F/4.
I found that the Astroscan base fits really well on a cheap Celestron Nexstar SLT style tripod that I had kicking around using a 1/4” coupler and short piece threaded rod from the hardware store. As long as you keep the magnification as low as possible (e.g. use a 32mm Plossl) and understand its limitations, it’s a great scope for a quick view of the skies. The base is actually fun to use and fast to skew around. If I only have 5-10 minutes to view, This is often the scope that gets pulled out. I seem to remember it being advertised as a “Rich Field Telescope” and that’s what It is good at. Treat it like a pair of binoculars and you might actually like it.
Ed love your Vintage reviews I’m interested in a future video on the Unitron and similar classic refrigerators like Goto etc. The showpiece planets are well positioned for a nice review for us vintage refrigerator guys. I have a 1971 mint Unitron 142 3” f16 equatorial with all the bells and whistles. And I’d love to see some content on these and many new amateur astronomers would benefit from some history. Even though I know your Unitron 4” isn’t perfect, it’s still a rather beautiful specimen and a walk through would be amazing.
I bought a mirror grinding kit from Edmund Scientific back in the 60's. Never did finish building that reflector. I wanted to buy a 16, or 8 foot whether baloon.
As a young kid back in the 60's I would memorize every page of the Edmund Scientific catalogue....Hoping to replace my tiny Gilbert reflector telescope with a one of the ones in the catalog. Not sure why but I was always under the impression that Edmund Products for king. Great video...thanks
I own an Edmund 6" F/6 Newtonian (3007) with the fork mount. The fork mount was a lot of work but the scope was and is amazing. The focuser definitely needed replacing when I started using it for photography. I have mine in rings now and run it on one of my German equatorials whenever I need a 900 mm focal length scope (I'm up to 22 scopes now). I also think that the best kellners I own are the Edmund kellners. The 28mm is particularly impressive as kellners go.
I got my kid one of these off ebay for cheap in 2014...it works ok....we look at the big stuff and the occasional big event astronomy stuff....haven't bought anything else yet so i guess it does the job.
I started getting Edmund Scientific catalogs starting around 1972. I'd spend whole afternoons wishing I could afford a telescope, or at least the lenses and mirrors to make one. (Although for some reason buying just the optical components would have cost as much as a completed 'scope.) When the Astroscan was introduced I knew I could never build anything that gorgeous.
Need help............ I am from India and in my locality there are only a few beginner telescope options available which include Astro master 102 National Geographic 150 mm EQ and a pair of 7 X 50 celestron. So which one is if my budget is around 20000 INR and I live in a densely populated city where seven sisters are hardly visible sometimes and most of the time do not, skies in summer are a bit more clear than winter but more or less remain similar. Or Should I quit😅 star gazing BTW love your content with all my heart
I Was Gonna Say That Outweighs My 6se,Wow,Makes It Look Like A Mak In Front,Im Impressed Of What You Could Find And See In It,Another Great Video Ed,Thank You❤️🔭✨
Hi, Which telescope do you recommend to travel with while having a decent image quality and the best bang for my bucks between the Orion SkyQuest XT8i (or just any 8-inch dobsonian), the Orion Observer 134 and the Skywatcher Heritage 150p ? Thank you in advance ! (Also I’m a huge fan of your channel continue like this !)
I worked with a guy back in 86 who had one. I remember looking M81 & 82 with his scope. He would sit indian style with the base resting on his legs. Makes me wonder if I should restore the Criterion 6" I have had since 92? It doesn't have a s/n number, so I'm not sure of its age. Another great video, by Ed.
Great video, Ed. I bought all kinds of "crap" from Edmond's as a young man, abrasives, pitch, and a really crappy Focult tester. I couldn't justify the cost of this bowling ball and my first homemade Newtonian worked pretty good.
I picked up one of the Bushnell copies for cheap a few years ago. It allows for adjustment of the secondary mirror and has a typical eyepiece holder with set screw. Curious how they stack up otherwise as I’ve never had my hands on the Edmunds.
That's a fair review. I had one of the good ones as far as collimation goes. I ended up giving it to the kids of a good friend. Not sure they ever use it or not. One thing of note, mine came with the 28mm eyepiece and another that I don't remember, plus the barlow, strap, peep sight finder, and Edmund Scientific tripod! You mentioned they were either made in the USA or Japan but I seem to remember seeing PRC (People's Republic of China) stickers on some of my accessories. Is that possible?
I had one and sold it within a couple months. Made a profit but I later came to regret selling. Will probably get one again if the right one comes along.
I have one of these. I bought it in the late 1990s . A friend is using it now. It’s giving her an interest in astronomy and viewing the moon. By the way , didn’t Bushnell make a similar scope that looked the same ? I think they were black in color ?
But it's oddly cute!😄Yeh, I've got one with all the parts and case, and while I've also got quite a few much better telescopes and observatory, this little scope is still rather fun when nostalgia hits me. Those catalogs -- very dangerous too!😄Thanks for the review!
I remember the smaller but same design Skywatcher infinity 76 had a product recall due to the strap deemed unsafe for children. Did the ES Astroscan have the same issue
As a dealer I know there are many new ridiculous boxes to fill with safety requirements. Including what not to do. On one item I put in "Do not play Rugby with it" and was accepted. Its a crazy world
Pretty shocking how times have changed... Lucky for me, my 5 inch reflector has been doing me well for 2 years :D I saw all the objects on that list, including m33, as well as many, many others.
i remember when i first saw these in all the astronomy magazines, they really went all in on the advertisements and i was falling for it, even though i had a nice telescope on an eq mount i wanted one. but i came to my senses and after adding up all the extras it was way to expensive and i just couldnt see how the mount would work, i didnt think i would be able to track anything
Was watching your older vids and was wondering if you think a skywatcher 8” dobsonian 200d would be a perfect beginner telescope that would last a life time?
Worth it as a collectors item but as you can't recollimate it or easily clean the innards probably best avoided for serious astronomy.Bushnell do a similar looking scope which I believe is still in production but it generally gets poor reviews.
Hi Ed, we must be the same age! I wanted a good telescope and would get that catalog. My folks got me a telescope from Sears and that effectively made me stop liking astronomy. (I think was their intention) Now I just want that old catalog that you have. 😹😹
Never desired one of those, but have a couple of the RKE eyepieces, a 28mm and 15mm picked up from a camera shop that thought they would make a killing on the Halley comet mania. The owner was so disgusted by the lack of sales that he let me have them for $3 each.
Ive had 3, current own 2 of them. lets be real.. optically they suck. its def not a high power scope... but for low power wide views it works well kinda in between binos and a proper telescope. and they are def fun
Ed, I was a Sky Watcher importer in South Africa back in the 90's, I got given one of these, a made in the USA model and I found it dismal. No ways I would have paid more than $50.00 let alone $200.00.
I'd like one electronic, see all the planets and their moons. will 5-600 dollars get me there? make, model? thank you, i appreciate your time making and editing videos for us. anyone got ideas?
I know astronomy is an "old" hobby. From what Ed says, I couldn't imagine someone buying one of these who wasn't alive at the time of their production. I know I wouldn't. I looked through one briefly at a club outing and although I think the design is super cool., the view was terrible. Maybe it was a bad model?
Used two. Neither was any good. I built a 4.25” F6 with an Edmund mirror. It has a machined collimatable cell and secondary holder. It’s a great OTA. So much better than the Astroscum.
Excellent use for an optically sub-par AstroScan!! You'll be able to explore the galaxy one way or another. I've been looking for a junk PowerSeeker 127 for awhile to make a trashcan for my scope room. Now I'm gonna be looking for a junk AstroScan to turn into a bong for the scope room too....
I used to dream about getting one of these when I was a kid. But, of course, I had no money and $200 was a lot of money for a kid back in the 70's.
Then along came Coulter and I quickly forgot about the Astroscan! But I still had no money and never got a Coulter either!
It's so strange as you were flipping through that Edmund catalog, I remember those pictures and I haven't seen them in over 40 years. I must have spent hours staring at those pictures so that it became ingrained in my mind. Now I think I will try to find one of those old catalogs on eBay just for nostalgic reasons.
I used to look at the Edmund catalog like others looked at the Sears xmas catalog when I was a kid back in the 60's.
😊Ha! I just wrote the same thing in my comment! So glad to share this memory!
Always a good day when Ed posts!
Agree. Was about to buy edmund 28mm rke eyepiece for almost $100,glad I saw Ed make this video! Saved me from buying this eyepiece as I read all the hype
@@amarbirk8987 I dunno. I've had a 28mm RKE for going on 45 years and it does do a cool thing. The image seems almost to float out of it, 3D like. Of course, Ed has used more eyepieces than I have.
@@brentjablonski3730 that is what most talk about, the floating image! Another youtuber "avt astro" vlad, he menioned the same thing as you also. I'm confused yet again lol
@@amarbirk8987 Yes. I remember Vlad mentioning it in his review of less expensive eyepieces. I find it to be a striking effect, particularly on the Orion nebula. That being said, I don't think $100 for a 28mm RKE is a good price. They sell new on Edmund Optics for $111 (this might be New Old Stock), so you'd hope used prices to be quite a bit less than $100.
Any chance of your trying one out to see if it is for you? I'm in MN near the Twin Cities if that is nearby for you.
Anyway, it does the floating image for my eyes. All things considered, I don't think that's worth $100+ when for other purposes the RKE is only on par (or slightly worse) with a mid-range Plossl. I mean, you can get a Televue Plossl for ~$120. And that will have (IMO) substantially better overall performance.
What would I pay for it? Maybe $10 - 20 more than a comparable mid-tier Plossl, so ~$70 tops. And that premium is only worth it if you see the floating effect. All the people who've looked through my RKE have seen the effect, but I can't say that everyone will.
@@brentjablonski3730 thank you for taking the time for such in depth infornation. Really appreciate it! I an in the Uk sadly, they sell here for £94.53 on the uk edmund optics website. I purcashed the svbony 7-21mm zoom for £50 this week, I also have a 6mm and 13.5mm antares which are I think 70degrees,very wide eyepieces and basic celestron 25mm,20mm,10mm,4mm free ones. New to hobby so all the info is very helpful, thank you
I still have mine from 1980. It is a trooper and has taken a beating but keeps on performing. It has some challengers but it is my quick goto telescope.
I've had my USA made Astroscan since 1978 (cost $170) and I still use it occasionally. Never used a tripod, always had it sitting on top of a sturdy garden table. Never used it much for faint DSOs, mostly used mine for the brighter DSOs and, especially, the Moon. Spent my entire teenage years using mine, great memories.
Thanks for this video, Ed! I have loved my Astroscan 2001 since I opened it on Christmas morning in 1980! It sustained my interest in astronomy for many years. And although I've acquired a lot of more sophisticated astronomy gear, sometimes this old scope still hits sweet spot for lunar or planetary observing. It came with the Edmund Sky Guide (Terence Dickinson, c.1977), and I still flip through that concise booklet from time to time as well. Edmund Scientific may not have had the highest quality goods, but the Astroscan 2001 was a huge hit, and I looked forward to ES's catalog as much as I looked forward to Sear's Christmas Wish Book!
I rebuilt 6 of these. Replaced the foam in the back. Realigned the secondaries. These older models have parabolic mirrors. I can push the magnification up to 100x. Excellent diffraction pattern and Airy disk. Can easily resolve the double double in Eta Lyrae. Collimation can be done by shimming the edge of the glass plate. Replaced felts on base. Added stub to use StarSense. Laser cut and bent replacement finders. Very nice. Replaced rollers. One of my favorites.❤ BTW Cloudy Nights has examples of 1-1/4” design for coma correctors using off the shelf parts. With a 19 mm Televue panoptic and home-made coma corrector, stars perfect to edge. ❤❤ pushing magnification I could see 6 bands on Jupiter. Watched Io and Europa transits. BTW I found some aluminum tubing that jackets the focuser tube and I brazed then tapped through to make a nice 1-1/4” adapter with thumb screws!❤
Maybe you can replace the primary with a quest star
I loved the 1960s-1970s Edmund catalogs, my dream books.
I purchased a used Astroscan around 2010, I didn’t like it, so I sold it. I think it’s just a “nostalgia” scope. I bought an Orion StarBlast and love it.
In the mid-1980s, I bought a used model of one of the early scopes. I still use it. It is very convenient for a quick look without the setup time of an EQ mount. I have sat eager kids on the ground, put it in their laps, and let them freely scan the skies. They love it and it inspires them to get more involved in astronomy.
Just wonder what you think about the Orion/ mead news
Me too.
I had an Astroscan back around 1970 and it was an excellent introduction to astronomy. Easy to set up and good image quality. The weight was a plus as it enhanced stability and made for smoothly moving to other parts of the sky. Back then never heard anyone complain about quality.
Was it a blue and white print book called how to use your telescope or something? That's the one that came with my Edmund and I'm sure to this day I almost have it memorized!
Back when these first came out Edmunds had a contest to name the telescope. I had seen this in Sky and Telescope magazine. The chosen name got one of the telescopes as I recall. If you weren't a winner, you got a publication to some magazine or pamphlet that edmunds put out. I think it came out once a month. I still remember the name I entered for the contest, but won't divulge that. I was just a teen at the time, and I don't know what I was thinking. :)
I owned an Astroscan 10 to 15 years ago. It had decent optics and it gave me great views on open clusters. The Pleiades were especially stunning in mine. But I found it cumbersome to use due to the lack of a decent finder and I was afraid I'd knock it off the mount. I sold it on AstroMart or Cloudy Nights and have not missed it a minute since it was sold. Clear skies, Ed and to all!
Ed, you can collimate these by use of shims on the front glass holder for the secondary. Also the sponge material on the primary degrades and often needs to be replaced. Replacement parts are available on CloudyNight there is a member there that 3D prints almost all the common accessories including the must have dew shield.
Thanks for this trip down memory lane. I really wanted one of these when I was a teenager.
I still have one. It was my 1st real telescope that I saved up for from a summer job in the 80's. I took it out recently to do some stargazing in the yard. I was surprised how good the views were. I used the original eyepieces and then used some of my Tele Vue eyepieces. What I noticed was the focus is sharp in a small part of the center with a medium 19 mm or high powered 7 mm Nagler eyepiece, but when I used my Pan Optic it was quite nice. The 19 mm Panoptic gave beautiful views of the 1st quarter moon. This telescope helped me to learn to star hop and I learned the sky with it. This was in a dark sky up in northern Canada. Better the giant binoculars that I couldn't afford. I now have an LX-90 GPS 8 inch and strangely the 2 compliment one another. If I want to just sweep the Milkyway I use binocs or the Astroscan. For "dial a galaxy" as I call it I use my LX-90. I must have bought one with pretty good optics or my standards are lower, not sure, but I enjoy many nights with that little scope up north under the stars.
Nice video Ed!
If I run across an AstroScan for a decent deal I'll be adding it to the collection. I already have 3", 4", & 5" fracs; 8" & 12" Dobs; and a 3.5" Mak, so I don’t have any holes in my equipment lineup that the AstroScan could fill, but it would look nice sitting in the scope room 😂
It is bigger than it looked in photos. Thanks for all of the details about it.
I was under the impression that their bigger reflectors were actually pretty good, but will take your word on that.
I am impressed with the stability of the small Edmund Scientific EQ mount I found on Craigslist.
Ah, the Edmund Scientific catalog...
When I was 12, I got my dad to agree to go in half on a telescope.
I worked a paper route and saved for over a year and was finally able to order a Edmund 6" f/5 reflector on the fork mount.
I was happy with it, but regretted the fork mount. Weighed a ton!
I gave it away about 8 years ago to a couple of kids in need of a telescope.
I've heard that the 3" frac Edmund offered starting in the early 80s had decent optics. (designed by David Rank, who also designed the RKE line) Has anyone looked through one?
Thanks for the memories, Ed!
I agree. If only for the history and wacky design, it's relevant. I wanted one as an oddity to just have on a shelf, but decided on more usable astronomy gear. Would I grab one if it crosses my path at the right time at the right price? Probably.
I suggested one of these to a family with young kids to look at bright objects, and they liked it. It also looked nice on a shelf.
I built my 6" f/10 newtonian from parts out of the Edmond catalog back in the mid-1960s. The EQ mount was cast iron with no drive, and the altitude adjustment was one bolt. It weighed a ton!
About 60 years later, I now have (after a 1988 Super C8 Plus) a complete ZWO AP rig that I run from inside my home from my phone....thank you, ASIAIR!
My personal thoughts as someone who has one? Only buy it if you want it as a cool historical item, or for nostalgia. Don't buy one purely to use it.
They're not terrible - mine actually has excellent optics - but a mini-dob does everything the astroscan does and is much easier to collimation and maintain, and has a more functional focuser. You can also get a mini-dob with a bit more aperture, which it really benefits from.
Note that even if the optics are good, it isn't a good planetary telescope because of the focuser. It doesn't have enough precision to reliably find a precise focus at the extremely tight margins it needs at F/4.
Congrats on 60k! I have watched u for 2 years now my man keep it up!
I found that the Astroscan base fits really well on a cheap Celestron Nexstar SLT style tripod that I had kicking around using a 1/4” coupler and short piece threaded rod from the hardware store. As long as you keep the magnification as low as possible (e.g. use a 32mm Plossl) and understand its limitations, it’s a great scope for a quick view of the skies. The base is actually fun to use and fast to skew around. If I only have 5-10 minutes to view, This is often the scope that gets pulled out. I seem to remember it being advertised as a “Rich Field Telescope” and that’s what It is good at. Treat it like a pair of binoculars and you might actually like it.
Ed love your Vintage reviews I’m interested in a future video on the Unitron and similar classic refrigerators like Goto etc. The showpiece planets are well positioned for a nice review for us vintage refrigerator guys. I have a 1971 mint Unitron 142 3” f16 equatorial with all the bells and whistles. And I’d love to see some content on these and many new amateur astronomers would benefit from some history. Even though I know your Unitron 4” isn’t perfect, it’s still a rather beautiful specimen and a walk through would be amazing.
I loved the Edmund catalogs in the 1980s and absolutely pined for the 6" Newtonian in the catalog, which local science museum also stocked.
I bought a mirror grinding kit from Edmund Scientific back in the 60's. Never did finish building that reflector. I wanted to buy a 16, or 8 foot whether baloon.
As a young kid back in the 60's I would memorize every page of the Edmund Scientific catalogue....Hoping to replace my tiny Gilbert reflector telescope with a one of the ones in the catalog. Not sure why but I was always under the impression that Edmund Products for king. Great video...thanks
Fantastic channel. Thank you for the great information and entertaining presentation style.
i always enjoy Ed's content, even when the test subject is sub-standard.
I own an Edmund 6" F/6 Newtonian (3007) with the fork mount. The fork mount was a lot of work but the scope was and is amazing. The focuser definitely needed replacing when I started using it for photography.
I have mine in rings now and run it on one of my German equatorials whenever I need a 900 mm focal length scope (I'm up to 22 scopes now).
I also think that the best kellners I own are the Edmund kellners. The 28mm is particularly impressive as kellners go.
Just buy a Zhumell Z100 or the Z114 tabletop. I have the Orion version of these and they work great for an inexpensive grab and go travel scope.
Thanks Ed. Always enjoy your vids.
I got my kid one of these off ebay for cheap in 2014...it works ok....we look at the big stuff and the occasional big event astronomy stuff....haven't bought anything else yet so i guess it does the job.
I started getting Edmund Scientific catalogs starting around 1972. I'd spend whole afternoons wishing I could afford a telescope, or at least the lenses and mirrors to make one. (Although for some reason buying just the optical components would have cost as much as a completed 'scope.) When the Astroscan was introduced I knew I could never build anything that gorgeous.
I love the eyepieces they came with ! And yes of course there still a good buy....nice 3d star hopper
Need help............
I am from India and in my locality there are only a few beginner telescope options available which include Astro master 102 National Geographic 150 mm EQ and a pair of 7 X 50 celestron. So which one is if my budget is around 20000 INR and I live in a densely populated city where seven sisters are hardly visible sometimes and most of the time do not, skies in summer are a bit more clear than winter but more or less remain similar.
Or
Should I quit😅 star gazing
BTW love your content with all my heart
Need a couple of these for the Super Huge Interferometric Telescope
I Was Gonna Say That Outweighs My 6se,Wow,Makes It Look Like A Mak In Front,Im Impressed Of What You Could Find And See In It,Another Great Video Ed,Thank You❤️🔭✨
I still have the Astroscan I bought in about 1988. And it still has a Bogen hex plate bolted to it. 😊
ALWAYS informative.
Hi,
Which telescope do you recommend to travel with while having a decent image quality and the best bang for my bucks between the Orion SkyQuest XT8i (or just any 8-inch dobsonian), the Orion Observer 134 and the Skywatcher Heritage 150p ? Thank you in advance !
(Also I’m a huge fan of your channel continue like this !)
No decision here, get an 8" Dob. If you can't find an Orion, get anything else - Apertura, Sky-Watcher, Explore S, etc.
@@edting thank you a lot !
By the way I use a Telerad as the finder. Works great from a table raised on some boards or books.
I worked with a guy back in 86 who had one. I remember looking M81 & 82 with his scope. He would sit indian style with the base resting on his legs. Makes me wonder if I should restore the Criterion 6" I have had since 92? It doesn't have a s/n number, so I'm not sure of its age. Another great video, by Ed.
Great video, Ed. I bought all kinds of "crap" from Edmond's as a young man, abrasives, pitch, and a really crappy Focult tester. I couldn't justify the cost of this bowling ball and my first homemade Newtonian worked pretty good.
I picked up one of the Bushnell copies for cheap a few years ago. It allows for adjustment of the secondary mirror and has a typical eyepiece holder with set screw. Curious how they stack up otherwise as I’ve never had my hands on the Edmunds.
My Dad would always bring home an Edmunds for me in the early 70s....Didn't get my first real scope until late 90's
Great information!
Ed, we got a recent review of bino-viewers, but what about binoculars telescopes. What's your advice?
That's a fair review. I had one of the good ones as far as collimation goes. I ended up giving it to the kids of a good friend. Not sure they ever use it or not. One thing of note, mine came with the 28mm eyepiece and another that I don't remember, plus the barlow, strap, peep sight finder, and Edmund Scientific tripod! You mentioned they were either made in the USA or Japan but I seem to remember seeing PRC (People's Republic of China) stickers on some of my accessories. Is that possible?
Curious your thoughts on Orion going under?
I had one and sold it within a couple months. Made a profit but I later came to regret selling. Will probably get one again if the right one comes along.
I have one of these. I bought it in the late 1990s . A friend is using it now. It’s giving her an interest in astronomy and viewing the moon. By the way , didn’t Bushnell make a similar scope that looked the same ? I think they were black in color ?
But it's oddly cute!😄Yeh, I've got one with all the parts and case, and while I've also got quite a few much better telescopes and observatory, this little scope is still rather fun when nostalgia hits me. Those catalogs -- very dangerous too!😄Thanks for the review!
I always thought these looked cool. Would love to see the "bowling ball" scopes you mentioned.
Oh yes my memories of looking through the Edmund catalog.
I remember the smaller but same design Skywatcher infinity 76 had a product recall due to the strap deemed unsafe for children. Did the ES Astroscan have the same issue
As a dealer I know there are many new ridiculous boxes to fill with safety requirements. Including what not to do. On one item I put in "Do not play Rugby with it" and was accepted. Its a crazy world
Pretty shocking how times have changed...
Lucky for me, my 5 inch reflector has been doing me well for 2 years :D
I saw all the objects on that list, including m33, as well as many, many others.
i remember when i first saw these in all the astronomy magazines, they really went all in on the advertisements and i was falling for it, even though i had a nice telescope on an eq mount i wanted one. but i came to my senses and after adding up all the extras it was way to expensive and i just couldnt see how the mount would work, i didnt think i would be able to track anything
I would like to see the return of Astroscan. with a better build quality. I can see it as a stepping stone to buying more gear.
Was watching your older vids and was wondering if you think a skywatcher 8” dobsonian 200d would be a perfect beginner telescope that would last a life time?
Ed, you may want to reconsider your links on this (and maybe other videos) that reference Orion considering Orion’s demise.
Worth it as a collectors item but as you can't recollimate it or easily clean the innards probably best avoided for serious astronomy.Bushnell do a similar looking scope which I believe is still in production but it generally gets poor reviews.
Hi Ed, we must be the same age! I wanted a good telescope and would get that catalog. My folks got me a telescope from Sears and that effectively made me stop liking astronomy. (I think was their intention) Now I just want that old catalog that you have. 😹😹
Never desired one of those, but have a couple of the RKE eyepieces, a 28mm and 15mm picked up from a camera shop that thought they would make a killing on the Halley comet mania. The owner was so disgusted by the lack of sales that he let me have them for $3 each.
A scope design from the 70s that looks like a bong…herbal inspiration.
Frist post 🎉 i have that scope
Ive had 3, current own 2 of them. lets be real.. optically they suck. its def not a high power scope... but for low power wide views it works well kinda in between binos and a proper telescope. and they are def fun
@Jaurr85 yeah, I've done my best to collimate them, but even with them close, it's near impossible to get them good enough for f4
Ed, I was a Sky Watcher importer in South Africa back in the 90's, I got given one of these, a made in the USA model and I found it dismal.
No ways I would have paid more than $50.00 let alone $200.00.
Those things just scream, "I AM FROM THE 1970s!!!"
I'd like one electronic, see all the planets and their moons. will 5-600 dollars get me there? make, model? thank you, i appreciate your time making and editing videos for us. anyone got ideas?
I entered the "Name this Telescope" contest!
I know astronomy is an "old" hobby. From what Ed says, I couldn't imagine someone buying one of these who wasn't alive at the time of their production. I know I wouldn't. I looked through one briefly at a club outing and although I think the design is super cool., the view was terrible. Maybe it was a bad model?
Real jealous of how it actually looks like fall when you're at
That telescope reminds me of a cannon
2nd
Used two. Neither was any good. I built a 4.25” F6 with an Edmund mirror. It has a machined collimatable cell and secondary holder. It’s a great OTA. So much better than the Astroscum.
1 comment. why does it look like a bong for some reason. goofy looking telescope
😂😂😂Thats All I Can See Now😂
Excellent use for an optically sub-par AstroScan!! You'll be able to explore the galaxy one way or another.
I've been looking for a junk PowerSeeker 127 for awhile to make a trashcan for my scope room. Now I'm gonna be looking for a junk AstroScan to turn into a bong for the scope room too....
@@Astro_Ape 🤣😂🤣Think Spacey Has Really Went To A New Level Here😂😂Im Loving The Trash Can Idea,🤣Imma Look For A 127 Now,lol
1970s indeed
Yep that’s the first thing I thought of
Scared of hiking with 10 lbs? Stay away from the military.
Spoiler alert: No
No thanks. I'll pass on these.