Here is the place to talk about all those equipment(Telescope, Mounts, Eyepieces, etc...) you have. Not sure which scope/eyepiece is best for you? Trash it out here!
Hi folks, recently I purchased a Celestron Explora scope100, which resembles the classical edmund scientific astroscan scope. Yep, I am talking abt those bowl shaped scope supported by 3 felt pad at the base.
I was wondering can a light weight red dot finder be attached to that setup? I mean of course those heavy Telrad equivalent finders are out as they are quite heavy. Pls recommend me one, second hand is also ok for me. Another matter is where can I possibly mount this finder?
is still my favourite red dot finder. It is cheap, you can mount using the supplied double-sided tape. The tape is made by 3M, think before you stick it on. It is also essentially weightless and the brightness range control is also better than the deluxe ones.
Wad do u mean by using the double side tape to stick. Do you mean you are recommending me to not to use the suggested base plate?. Btw, this red dot system u recommend seems very attractive, but a little too expensive. So any folks know any more cheap, generic, brandless equivalent of these stuff?
Oh, for this red dot finder, it comes as 2 ways of mounting:
1) Use the stalk as seen in the photo and mount it on the suggested base plate, but for your scope, you need to drill holes to put the base plate on.
2) remove the stalk by loosening the 2 silver screws as seen in the photo. Then slide the finder over a small plastic base plate. This plastic base plate can be attached to the scope by drilling 2 holes or by using the double-sided tape supplied in the package.
How abt about the Rigel Quickfinder? Is there any significant advantage over the Orion? If I am just using it as a casual viewing scope, with cost issues in mind, which is better? I have read of some parallax issue abt the quickfinder, so anyone used it before, any comments?
Hi,
I am currently using the Telrad and Quickfinder and did own the normal red dot finder before.
I find that for quality of the bullseye, (least parallax), the Telrad is better than the Quickfinder. In fact the parallax of the Telrad is so low that it is less than 2 arc min. The Quickfinder has a bit of parallax but it does have the 2 degree and 0.5 degree circles which are useful for starhopping.
One thing about the Quickfinder and Telrad is that the 'collimation' remains well unlike red dot finders whereby the adjustments are easily knocked out of position. So that is another advantage.
I have the Telrad, Quikfinder, EZ Finder II and others.
I find the Telrad best for starhopping, with Quikfinder a close second. Both of them have a clear aperture, very faint red reticle and graduated scales which are 3 important factors for starhopping in dark skies.
The Telrad is the easiest to view through and starhop with, and are appropriately sized for big scopes.
The Quikfinder does have an parallax issue only if you didn't view it straight in alignment, but its small light compact size makes it appropriate for compact scopes and small scopes, or for scopes which require critical balancing.
An RDF like the EZ Finder II have a few issues which made them not so appropriate for starhopping in dark skies: reticle too bright, tinted aperture dims out faint stars, and no graduated scales. The RDFs are alright if used for bright star alignment in GOTO scopes, scopes with DSCs, for a big finder, and for a big binocular.
For my 114mm Starblast, I prefer to use the Quikfinder, and parallax is not an issue for me. For a rich field scope like your Explora, it should be a good choice, and better than a RDF, in my opinion.
How abt mounting it on the scope? As we all know, the Explora is a small grab and go kinda of scope, the only fustrating thing is that they dont provide a finder!! So if I get a finder, where can I possibly mount it? I am thinking of the area near the opening of the scope or the area just above the bowl of the scope
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