Recently I have been helping my friend to setup the cheapest telescope ever.. less than S$40 Carrefour achromat telescope that includes tripod, barlow, OTA and eyepieces (think got 4 eyepieces).
It is made mainly of plastic and it is so light.. I mean one hand you can carry everything. I have heard about all the very bad reviews of such cheapo telescopes that boast XXX magnifications. Yes this telescopes also boast such magnifications with its 3x barlow and eyepieces it indeed can go to XXX useless magnification.
From what people always say...stay clear of such telescopes! However, after using it, I am sort of surprise that this telescope is indeed WORKING. Of course one cannot compare image quality to proper telescopes that have glass lenses and multicoated and are housed in metal with better tolerances for the lenses. This is made of plastic, uncoated and flimsy; though it is extremely light...grab and go haha.
I tried the telescope for terrestrial and recently just last night aimed it at the moon. I am actually surprised that it does show the craters of the moon and quite well! Ok..magnification better be at most 40x. I mean again, not saying that it has high quality optics, I am saying that for less than S$40, one can actually see the moon better than using binoculars that cost in terms of 100s. Recently there seem to be people asking about cheap binoculars to see the moon... I think this telescope is better than the cheap binoculars or even expensive binoculars when looking for details on the moon.
Actually, for the real beginner who just want to look at bright objects like the moon and planets, I think this cheapo telescope is able to show the major features on the moon. For planets probably it can show the satellites of Jupiter but not much details on Jupiter or none. Well, cannot expect much from a full telescope that is cheaper than a mounting plate or dovetail bar. The surprising thing is that it works quite well...
Cheapo Telescope
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Canopus Lim
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Cheapo Telescope
AstroDuck
I agree. I looked through a display set once and if you are not very particular, it is sufficient for beginners! I was thinking of using it as a guidescope because it is quite light.
[80% Steve, 20% Alfred] ------- Probability of Clear Skies = (Age of newest equipment in days) / [(Number of observers) * (Total Aperture of all telescopes present in mm)]
I believe even amongst the christmas thrash scope category, there are many sub-divisions.
I once owned a Tasco 60mm refractor that most ppl would classify as thrash even by 12 yrs ago standards. But however, considering some of its features, it is definitely a league above the other thrashes.
The optics are made of real glass instead of plastic and have a layer of green coating on it, like those u see on GSO eps. There are no cunning aperture stops and it have at least one light baffle in the middle of scope. I comes with a usuable Huygens 12.5mm and the tripod is made of wood and it is a full length one
I have read this book by Patrick Moore regarding minor modifications one can do to thrash scopes so as increase its redeeming factor.
1) to solve the filmsy tripod issue. One can suspend a heavy load e.g. a jerry can at the bottom of the tripod. This can help to increase the stability.
2) For those lousy 5x24mm finder, he say that one can pop out the lenses and use it as a 1X finder, or you can replace it with a red dot finder
I once owned a Tasco 60mm refractor that most ppl would classify as thrash even by 12 yrs ago standards. But however, considering some of its features, it is definitely a league above the other thrashes.
The optics are made of real glass instead of plastic and have a layer of green coating on it, like those u see on GSO eps. There are no cunning aperture stops and it have at least one light baffle in the middle of scope. I comes with a usuable Huygens 12.5mm and the tripod is made of wood and it is a full length one
I have read this book by Patrick Moore regarding minor modifications one can do to thrash scopes so as increase its redeeming factor.
1) to solve the filmsy tripod issue. One can suspend a heavy load e.g. a jerry can at the bottom of the tripod. This can help to increase the stability.
2) For those lousy 5x24mm finder, he say that one can pop out the lenses and use it as a 1X finder, or you can replace it with a red dot finder
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Dragon Man
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A local kid got one of those cheapos as a christmas present last year and couldn't use it.
He brought it to my place and after several hours af trying to make it work I gave up. The plastic lens looks like it had been melted and gave distorted images, the focuser fell out of the optical tube every time you focussed it, and the EP's kept falling apart. Then I looked at the EP's and the lenses were made of frosted plastic!!!!
And they expect kids to use this rubbish!
I said to his parents that they need to spend a bit more than $39.99 on a telescope if they want one that actually works.
They are buying him a better one this christmas![[smilie=good-job.gif]](./images/smilies/good-job.gif "good-job")
He brought it to my place and after several hours af trying to make it work I gave up. The plastic lens looks like it had been melted and gave distorted images, the focuser fell out of the optical tube every time you focussed it, and the EP's kept falling apart. Then I looked at the EP's and the lenses were made of frosted plastic!!!!
And they expect kids to use this rubbish!
I said to his parents that they need to spend a bit more than $39.99 on a telescope if they want one that actually works.
They are buying him a better one this christmas
Cheers, Ken 
Snake Valley, Australia
President: Snake Valley Astronomical Association
Snake Valley, Australia
President: Snake Valley Astronomical Association
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Canopus Lim
- Posts: 1144
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"A local kid got one of those cheapos as a christmas present last year and couldn't use it.
He brought it to my place and after several hours af trying to make it work I gave up. The plastic lens looks like it had been melted and gave distorted images, the focuser fell out of the optical tube every time you focussed it, and the EP's kept falling apart. Then I looked at the EP's and the lenses were made of frosted plastic!!!!
And they expect kids to use this rubbish!
I said to his parents that they need to spend a bit more than $39.99 on a telescope if they want one that actually works. "
Wow. Well this Carrefour telescope is not like that. The focuser works and it gets the job done. The tripod is of course quite flimsy but if one uses low power it is not too big an issue. It even has gears to do fine movements! The lens elements though plastic is not frosted. Transmission is not good but it is able to give an ok image... if one is not too fussy about its optical performance. At first I was expecting a total thrash and an image that cannot even be focused or seen decently. It is actually quite decent..though definitely not in the league of proper telescopes but it is still workable. I don't consider its performance trash though. One thing about it..is that the manual does not describe how to operate it. There are no instructions at all. It is not an issue for telescope users but for the total newbie, it may be an issue.
He brought it to my place and after several hours af trying to make it work I gave up. The plastic lens looks like it had been melted and gave distorted images, the focuser fell out of the optical tube every time you focussed it, and the EP's kept falling apart. Then I looked at the EP's and the lenses were made of frosted plastic!!!!
And they expect kids to use this rubbish!
I said to his parents that they need to spend a bit more than $39.99 on a telescope if they want one that actually works. "
Wow. Well this Carrefour telescope is not like that. The focuser works and it gets the job done. The tripod is of course quite flimsy but if one uses low power it is not too big an issue. It even has gears to do fine movements! The lens elements though plastic is not frosted. Transmission is not good but it is able to give an ok image... if one is not too fussy about its optical performance. At first I was expecting a total thrash and an image that cannot even be focused or seen decently. It is actually quite decent..though definitely not in the league of proper telescopes but it is still workable. I don't consider its performance trash though. One thing about it..is that the manual does not describe how to operate it. There are no instructions at all. It is not an issue for telescope users but for the total newbie, it may be an issue.
AstroDuck
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Canopus Lim
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Airconvent
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The Tasco scopes are actually ususable. Samuel Ng will attest to this. He carries it on his back like a swordsman when he goes out for obs back in his early days. Of course you get what you paid for. its not going to be a televue but would give a reasonable view under good skies.
The problem with Tasco is they are guilty of extreme marketing, selling these scopes as X525!! when in reality, you'll laugh if you can squeeze out x 100 from them.
I previously started this hobby with an Eduscience 4" Newtonian from Toys-R-Us (Yes! Me too!). It was good at looking at the moon only. The mount was so flimsy and you can never lock the scope at the correct position.
The 4mm eyepiece most certainly was too short for this scope. I returned it after 2 days before finally buying an ETX90 a few weeks later.
If you want to buy your first scope, do some research first. Astro-science, much maligned for high pricing previously, does offer some reasonable offers for entry level scopes that comes with aftersales service and support. Ifs always ok to pay a little more so you can actually talk to a support person live rather than through email, which is the case, if you bought your stuff from overseas.
The problem with Tasco is they are guilty of extreme marketing, selling these scopes as X525!! when in reality, you'll laugh if you can squeeze out x 100 from them.
I previously started this hobby with an Eduscience 4" Newtonian from Toys-R-Us (Yes! Me too!). It was good at looking at the moon only. The mount was so flimsy and you can never lock the scope at the correct position.
The 4mm eyepiece most certainly was too short for this scope. I returned it after 2 days before finally buying an ETX90 a few weeks later.
If you want to buy your first scope, do some research first. Astro-science, much maligned for high pricing previously, does offer some reasonable offers for entry level scopes that comes with aftersales service and support. Ifs always ok to pay a little more so you can actually talk to a support person live rather than through email, which is the case, if you bought your stuff from overseas.
The Boldly Go Where No Meade Has Gone Before
Captain, RSS Enterprise NCC1701R
United Federation of the Planets
Captain, RSS Enterprise NCC1701R
United Federation of the Planets
Hmm.. I wonder if my Pentax XP eyepieces will work on it?Canopus Lim wrote:Haa unfortunately the format is not 1.25". I think it is the 0.9 something inch format.kayheem wrote:Hmmm...maybe a Nagler can improve the view further and push it to maybe 100X!
[80% Steve, 20% Alfred] ------- Probability of Clear Skies = (Age of newest equipment in days) / [(Number of observers) * (Total Aperture of all telescopes present in mm)]
0.965" to be exact.Canopus Lim wrote:Haa unfortunately the format is not 1.25". I think it is the 0.9 something inch format.kayheem wrote:Hmmm...maybe a Nagler can improve the view further and push it to maybe 100X!
Most of the "toy" scopes use that size.....
Infact, some earlier Celestron/Meade refractors were also using 0.965". I think I have a bunch of Meade 0.965" eyepieces given away...