Celestron Powerseeker 80EQ Review
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- Here's an inexpensive Telescope, the Celestron Powerseeker 80EQ. I review this telescope and show you features of the telescope. This Telescope is actually the same scope as an Old Orion 80mm F/11.7 telescope I use for Auto Guiding. This Telescope with its HIGH Magnification makes a good Auto Guider Scope if you decide to upgrade later on. Out of the box, this scope OK, a 2 star rating. Some areas I wish were upgraded and other items I wish they would have simply not included them. This Telescope is best used during the day because of its very high magnification; you could possibly use it at night as a planetary imaging scope. The night views are too wobbly combined with the HIGH magnification. I was able to see M45 (Pleiades) and M42 (Orion Nebula). This telescope comes with a 20mm and 4mm eyepieces...Also included is a 3X barlow. However, the only eyepiece you can use is the 20mm eyepiece...You're actually better off using a 30mm or 40mm eyepiece. The eye relief on the included eyepieces is very small, and if you have glasses, you may not be able to get your eye close enough without hitting your glass lens.
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I have the same telescope without the electric motor. Ive seen mercury and venus which doesnt look like much but bright dots in the sky. But have observed juipter and its 4 moons saturn and its rings with decent detail. Can see the bands on juipter with both 4mm and 20mm. I also purchased another 23mm 10mm eyepeices. All seem to work fine on mine. I agree that the finder scope is horrible but i can make it work. As long as i dont touch or bump it. But can easily align it again by veiwing a land object first. Overall im happy with it. Now if the clouds would just go away lol.
I think it's a wise choice to purchase additional eyepieces. Thanks for confirming the Finder Scope. It's a weak part of the system. But, it does work! Congrats on your telescope!
@@Myastroimages: If one really wants to find out what a 80 mm telescope can do, look up. Journal of double Stars, 3" Tasco The picture is me with the Tasco. This paper was for a physics class taken in 2007. This paper was peer reviewed by professional astronomers. Properly set up even small telescopes can be useful. Oh! I got an A for being published in a scientific Journal and was a lot of fun. Class was taken at the Junior College in San Luis Obispo CA and the teacher was Russell Genet PHD resident scientist at the University Cal Poly.
@@ohwell2790 Congratulations on your publication Long Knight! Yes, there are many ways to enjoy the night sky, and long focal lengths definitely help split double star systems. Again, congratulations on your astronomy education and adventures in science!
Doug
Got this a year ago for my birthday, thinking about finally setting it up 😅
Never really used a telescope before, so I'm pretty excited! Can't wait to see the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and even just the mountains around my house at higher definition!!
im using the 60AZ and it came with an additional 10mm wide-view lens which is rather nice. viewing planets is ok, closer items even better. on a 60mm aperture!
Nice!
Actually, this was my first scope and I still enjoy views through it. Yes, the finder is junk. Yes, the EQ-1 mount is laughably too small for this scope. Yes, the eyepieces are trash. Yes, the diagonal is a plastic toy. But, the OTA is superb for this price, with an excellent objective lens and a heavy aluminum focuser. The OTA is virtually identical to the Vixen 2603 A80Mf, which is a very good thing. The only other scope I can think of that packs as much bang for the buck is Orion's beloved Astroview 90 (if I'm not mistaken, these three scopes are made in the same factory).
The very low quality of accessories in these low-cost beginner packages is nearly universal across brands and models, so I would not compare beginner scopes by this metric. The Orion Astroview 90 package actually comes with perfectly usable eyepieces, but the package is around $270--and that is a monumental bargain.
I find the aperture of the Powerseeker 80eq to be perfect for beginning amateur visual astronomy. OTA build quality is terrific at this price point. I purchased a nice right-angle finder from Orion. I added a cheap, thirty-dollar diagonal--which still is a major improvement over the stock junk that came with the scope. The views are wonderful through the 32mm and 12mm Celestron Omni Plössl eyepieces I collected; they're not expensive. I eventually placed this scope on a used Orion Astroview mount that I picked up from Cloudy Nights for cheap. The whole lot is now my favorite grab-and-go.
The slow focal length is actually one of the reasons I chose this scope over other popular beginner refractors, even the aforementioned Astroview 90, which is f/10. There is virtually no CA with the Powerseeker 80. So, unless you're going to shell out a chunk of a college fund for an APO, then this scope performs well for visual (and you probably wouldn't be watching reviews of this scope if you were interested in an APO rich-field refractor). This is, of course, not a good choice of scope for astrophotography, but few beginner scopes are. It is a good idea to steer clear of long focal lengths for AP, and instead favor extremely "fast," short focal length rich-field designs. As mentioned, refractors in that category carry eye-popping prices. There are a handful of beginner Newtonians for not a lot of money that would probably do a fair job at AP, but they require collimation.
Get yourself a decent right-angle finder, a couple of decent eyepieces, a couple of nice planetary filters, and a planisphere and hit the star parties. The OTA quality stands up to a future mount upgrade.
Thanks Silas for a detail reply. I enjoyed reading your comments. Doug
I agree. I also got a 12mm Omnie plössl and a Omni 2X barlow Plössl. I can get a nice planetary views, but definitely need a filter to reduce the brightness, also for photography through my phone through the phone mount. Phone’s optic and then a little digital zoom makes a nice view as well…
Thanks a lot. I'm used to dobsonians and now i'm going to take the first step with refractors. May be i pull the trigger with an used 80/900 Powerseeker.
@@Pedrusko Nice. Even better to get ahold of an Astroview 90. It's a terrific value and has a bit more muscle. I'd still replace the finder o the Orion Astroview 90 with a right-angle model. It comes with a halfway decent straight finder, but lord using it sure is an uncomfortable experience.
Still, the Powerseeker 80 is a bit lighter, with an even slower focal length. A toss up, maybe.
I just bought the optical tube only. Brand new. This is my review of this package. A few years ago i did buy the whole package. The mount and tripod is garbage. The eyepieces, finderscope and Star diaganol also garbage. By far the best part of this package is the the optical tube. 80mm glass is fully multi coated doublet that has a greenish tint. The 900mm focal length tube is well made and made out of metal with a nice shiny black finish. The dew shield is plastic but long enough. The focusing tube is metal. If you use a good quality star diagonal with good quality eyepieces you will get a very sharp image in daytime observing and on objects in the night sky especially with a low power eyepiece. The optical tube I just bought now will be used as a secondary telescope for a quick look. Celestron would be best to sell the optical tube by itself. I found someone who just was selling only the tube new. No rings, finder, eyepieces or diagonal. I will use meades super plossl 4000 series eyepieces. 26mm 20mm, 15mm, 9.7mm. Plus a solid made all metal 90 degree mirror star diagonal. In my opinion the better the star diagonal is made the better the image is. Brighter and sharper. I have tested a very cheap one and compared it to a well made stellarvue one. The stellarvue one is brighter and sharper then the cheaply made ones. So I would say if you can just buy the optical tube and add to it. The optics is worth it. If you do buy the whole package at least upgrade the eyepieces and Star diagonal to a regular 90 degree mirror one. The finder although very small and cheap does show sharp images on daytime objects and is good enough for night time objects. Just it’s hard to align with the main tube and hold its alignment but it can be done. You can avoid that area and use the dovetail shoe at the end of the tube. Just call up Celestron and they will give you the set screw for free. I did that and put a Orion 6x30mm finderscope in the shoe using the set screw i got from celestron. My regular telescope is the APM APO ED 152mm 1200mm. Also I have a 8 inch reflector 1000mm focal length. I use a large computerized mount for both of those telescopes and will mount the power seeker optical tube on that mount also. I bough a cheap 5x24 to use as a finder. But this 5x24 is better made then the one that originally came with this telescope. A good telescope for beginners but you should upgrade it to get the best results from this telescope.
Good points Anthony. I think you nailed it I agree, the scope is a good scope, but the cheap accessories really would frustrate the entry level user. I agree with you! Thanks for posting your comments.
Doug
Honestly the 80eq isn't that bad it was my first telescope I did get some nice images from it you can call Celestron and get that set screw for the finder scope they will send you it for free.
I've done a few videos of the 80eq upgrades will help but when you start putting money into it if you're not gonna stick with astronomy then your only gonna be throwing money away. I upgraded my 80eq because I knew I was going all in so I could use the upgrades with future telescopes.
Hi Matthew,
Thanks for the tip...I'll see if Celestron will send me a set screw. I'm sure the scope is capable of planetary. Also, I have a similar scope I use for autoguiding. My 80mm Orion guide scope is identical to the Celestron Powerseeker, it works very good as an autoguider. I think the same factory in china makes these scopes and each distributor puts their own label on the scope.
Thanks again for your comments and suggestions.
Doug
Could this be used to see things like the andromeda galaxy or the Orion nebula
Yes, you can. I did use it to view M42 (Orion Nebula) and M31 Andromeda galaxy is big and bright so you should be able to see that too. The one thing is the High Magnification makes it hard to steady your target on wobbly tripod. As a beginner scope this will work, just be prepared to challenge yourself with the high magnification. A 40 mm eyepiece would help reduce the magnification.
@@Myastroimages thanks
I think reviews of entry-level equipment is nice idea, you could do one about a planetary camera like zwo asi120mc, altair gpcam2 imx224 or something similar
Thanks Pawel. I realize there are many different pieces of equipment and I can't buy all of these. If a vendor sends me one I would review it or better yet, if a viewer has some equipment they'd like to review, I'd be happy to post the video here. I've always offered an open door to people to be guests. Do you have one of these cameras? Or are you thinking of purchasing one? I know with all the choices it's sometimes hard to decide. Thanks for the suggestion!
Doug
I have neither of them, but I think it'd be great to make review of them. Many people can't decide between some cameras and review like this could help them :)
is the background image from about 4:18-5:12 taken from the telescope?
Hi Rachel, No that background image was taken with another telescope, an EON 72mm refractor telescope, that telescope has a wider FOV, than this telescope has. The EON72 isn't made anymore, but there are plenty of nice 72mm Telescopes out there. I always thought the 72MM Refractor scope was one of the best imaging scopes. There are of course challenges with any telescope you use to image with. The 72MM needs a field flattener for most cameras. Thanks for watching. I hope this helped. Doug
Excellent video, how about this telescope to begin with? Can I learn to see the deep field with this telescope? Does the planets look excellent?
Hi Juan,
This telescope will provide some good deep seeing, but, the eyepieces that come with the telescope are the weak point. If you buy some additional eyepieces then you'll get "excellent" planet views. Before you buy additional eyepieces, you will be able to see Saturn and it's ring, Jupiter, and the moon. The moon is a great treat to view, wear your sunglasses! Mars looks like an orange star, not much planet details you can see with your eye.
Overall, not a bad beginner scope to start with. Any telescope will provide you plenty of fun.
Thanks for watching!
Doug
Easier fonder scope option would be a class 3 green laser. I mounted one loosely with zip ties and then slowly fine tuned it by tightening them slowly to what i had in the sighted in the scope (venus). Works perfectly now. I just push the laser button and wherever it points is where youl be looking. Takes seconds now to find even small stars or planets
Thanks Rob! Good suggestion!
I have this very one... I was able to see Jupiter and three of it's moons.....😮😊
That's Great! I'll bet you can see Saturn and the moon too!
What about your opinion on its star diagonal? I have one I found at a second hand store and Ive kept it in my equipment box along with my other accessories. Just interested on what you think of its performance compared to other diagonals you've dealt with.
I think a diagonal serves a purpose for visual viewing, not so much for AP. Remember, each time the light must bounce off a surface, it loses some definition. A diagonal allows you to see in more comfortable. I too have diagonals, but, most of the time they sit in my case. I wouldn't worry about losing definition if you viewing, it would be minimal unless the diagonal is in really bad shape.
You'll find people claiming one is better than another. . . that's just how this hobby rolls. The bottom line is they all are about the same. If stored properly, they should give you many years of service. . . even second hand stores are good. If you ever run into another hobbyist, trade diagonals as a test before you pour money on another diagonal only to find you get the same results.
@@Myastroimages Thank you for your reply and you have great videos.
What’s a bit better of a telescope that’s a little higher but under $200 or $250. ?
Hi Josey,
The best telescope is the one you can afford. Checking craigslist and cloudynights forums is a good places to start finding ideas.
You may have no idea what you want right now, but basically there are two categories for telescopes:
1) Visual (Less Expensive)
2) Photographic (More Expensive)
Take a look around for used and you may find some good local deals to start.
Then after you've experimented with a telescope you can afford now, then you'll have a better idea where you want to go next.
Get something and start enjoying the night sky. Good Luck!
Doug
Wouldn't a Dobsonian have been better? They probably cost about that amount as well and are of way higher quality. Ofcourse, no motors, but might be more fun.
Vincent Groenewold I think preforming collimation and a lack of motors would be very frustrating for his nephew which I assume is a younger kid.
Ah that's a good point indeed, forgot about collimation (it's second nature to me now, so slipped the mind).
Vincent Groenewold ya, I would have to agree, it becomes second nature when setting up.
Yes, a dob is a great visual scope, but, most dobs are more than $130, unless you get one of those mini table top dobs, but, is that really a dob? = )
I think just having a telescope in the hands of a young person gives them the ability to explore and try things they may not have ever thought of before. I do have to say, one of the best parts of SCAE, the owners recognize how important it is for a child to have some kind of cheap telescope. This plants the seed for future customers. SCAE gives every child in attendance a Telescope, binoculars, or microscope as a prize. It's one of the best parts of the raffle to see all the kids get some exposure to science and astronomy.
Doug
does skywatcher 80ed or 100ed is good for deep sky astrophotography...??
Do you have some links? Most refractors with ED glass will work for astrophotography. Keep in my the F/speed. If the scope has F/6 you'll get a wider FOV than a F/10 scope. Most AP scopes are in the range of F/6 to F/7.5. With reducers you can make a F/6 scope even wider FOV. Example, with a F/6 scope using a focal reducer of 0.8 you would have F/4.8. The smaller the F/speed is a wider FOV and the larger the F/Speed is a more magnified narrower FOV. Another thing to consider with refractor scopes using a larger (DSLR) imaging chip is the corners of your image will show "football" stars. To correct this problem, you get a Field Flattener/Reducer part. Depending on the scope, I really Like the Televue TRF-2008 FF/FR.
The advantage of lower F/Speeds is you can gather MORE LIGHT quicker than a Higher F/Speed. That's why many AP people use the lower F/Speeds because light traveling millions of light years is very faint...making lower F/Speeds ideal for DeepSky AP.
However, if you wanted to shoot planets, and get the all the details of planetary AP, then you would consider a LONG Focal length, or HIGHER F/Speed because it will magnify more detail for you.
can i do deep sky imaging with motor drive?
Hi Achilles,
It would be very difficult. Two things that would make it almost impossible.
1) Long Focal Length
2) Mount.
This scope is best used for visual use.
However, I've been surprised what people are able to do with any given equipment. If you have access to this scope, then give it a try. It's a great learning experience. If you don't accomplish what you want with this scope, then you'll learn, and be prepared for the next scope.
Good luck!
Doug
@@Myastroimages 100% right..
Just got this telescope for cheap and wondering where I can find some lenses
Congrats on your new Telescope Gabe!
The unfortunate thing is you'll spend more money on Lens (Eyepieces) then you did for this cheap scope. But, a good eyepiece always helps any telescope. You can take these eyepieces you buy now and use them on other telescopes in the future. I would recommend a Televue Plossl Eyepiece...something like a 32mm or 40mm eyepiece in any brand would be better than the eyepieces that come with this telescope. Remember, lower number eyepieces means HIGHER magnification and this telescope already has a lot of magnification natively at nearly F/12.
Doug
Amazon or E-Bay are good bets for eye pieces.
@@Myastroimages what finderscope did you use for upgrade?
@@night8862 Here would be my first choice, it has an illuminated reticle. www.telescope.com/Orion/9x50-Orion-Illuminated-Finder-Scope-with-Bracket/rc/2160/p/7023.uts
Budget version, second choice:
www.telescope.com/Orion/Black-6x30-Orion-Achromatic-Finder-Scope/rc/2160/p/7210.uts
Any finder scope that doesn't have an "Angle" view finder will work.
Take note of the bracket in the two links above, the 80 will do well with any finder scope with that type of bracket.
www.telescope.com/catalog/search.cmd?form_state=searchForm&siteCode=US&keyword=Finder+scope
Good luck Pluto!
Doug
@@Myastroimages thanks man, I appreciate It 👍🏼
So its a no go junker
I would say don't expect too much out of this scope for night time sky viewing. The Telescope is decent, but the mount is what really prevents it from being used at night. It would be great for stationary targets. As you know the sky is in constant motion, add the high magnification of the scope, this makes night time star viewing more difficult. I have the same scope I use on a different mount for autoguiding, works very well with a proper mount. It's inexpensive which is an attractive feature for most people. Not a complete junker. Just don't expect too much "as is".
thats celestron for you only the cheapest finder scope that money can buy
Not a bad scope, the finder is the problem.
Thank you for saving me money. I will not buy this telescope.
I use this scope for a guide scope on my AP system. Not a bad scope for autoguiding. Just bad tripod and bad accessories.
@@Myastroimages i want get a finder scope and im living at turkey what can i write and get that finder scope or i buy a synscan hand controller please can you help me for accesoires
@@mhmmt1103 Hi Mehmet,
Your best bet is try one of the online telescope retailers. Orion Telescopes is a good place to start, or there are many other shops, just search, and you'll find a source.
Doug
This tele probably made your nephew hate astronomy my ideal entry level telescope would be a Celestron 102 slt
Yes, that's a great scope the 102, with tracking and computer aided star charts. Most of the time people can get a lot out of whatever's available to them.
I got this one for free
That's a great price Leah! Congrats! Doug
nampaknya kamu tidak pandai guna telescope ni
Ya, awak jauh lebih baik daripada saya. Terima kasih kerana memberi komen.