Celestron Travelscope 70

[Desmond_T]

Hi, as a freshy, I am looking for a portable, cheap and easy-to-use telescope. I wanted to get the Celestron Travelscope 70 at the Astro Scientific Centre. But before I do that, I would like to seek some advice from the elders here. How would the performance be like? What are the limitations? Ect.

Of course, I am not expecting it to be a Hubble Telescope, but neither am I expecting it to be a pair of spectacles. Or if you have any other recommendations, please feel free to add. My budget is around $200. Thanks in advance.

[cloud_cover]

Hello!
As a beginner telescope its decent. Has many rough points but is decent.
Generally the scope will do best at giving you low magnification views so your main targets will be bright star clusters and star fields. It should do well on the moon if you're not very sensitive to Chromatic Aberration but do not expect highly detailed views of the planets. In Singapore, do not expect to see most nebulae and even then, only the brightest.
Its main drawback is its aperture - at 70mm its decent but by no means generous. This will limit you to the brighter objects. Practically, with my 80mm achromat, I can see down to about Mag 8 on an average night in Punggol, which is a slightly darker area of Singapore. If I point it towards the light dome of the CBD, the visibility goes down to Mag 6 at best. Being smaller also limits its resolution. This is of no object when seeing stars (except resolving tighter double stars) but planetary views will show less details.
The other drawback is the mount - its somewhat shaky as compared to the somewhat more expensive but much sturdier mount. This again is less of an issue at low power but more of an issue at higher power.
Personally, I would suggest looking at other alternatives - the price is hard to beat but its capabilities are limited. Certainly there, but limited. On the other hand, the Skywatcher Heritage 130p will gather significantly more light and I haven't heard complaints about its mount. It will require a few small modifications to enhance its effectiveness. It is, however, a bit outside your budget. You may also be able to find a cheaper source of a smaller scope, such as the Celestron Firstscope.
Hope it helps!
*Edited: I confused the Travelscope 70 with Powerseeker 70. Irrelevant parts deleted. Sorry!*

[Gary]

Hi, as a freshy, I am looking for a portable, cheap and easy-to-use telescope. I wanted to get the Celestron Travelscope 70 at the Astro Scientific Centre. But before I do that, I would like to seek some advice from the elders here. How would the performance be like? What are the limitations? Ect.

Of course, I am not expecting it to be a Hubble Telescope, but neither am I expecting it to be a pair of spectacles. Or if you have any other recommendations, please feel free to add. My budget is around $200. Thanks in advance.

I suggest you attend a few more public stargazing sessions, look through telescopes of different sizes and designs so you have a better understanding of aperture vs portability vs quality of view. If you do not mind queuing till early Sept, I have a couple of telescopes free for loan to newcomers. More info: http://www.astro.sg/2013/06/free-loan-o ... omers.html

If you can live with the cons of the Sky-Watcher Heritage 130p and stretch your budget for $160+ more, you may consider that dobsonian telescope. Read this thread from start to finish to find out more: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11589&hilit=heritage+130p

Else you may also consider spending the $200 on a quality pair of binocular for astronomy.

[Desmond_T]

Wow, thanks guys. Seems like there are way more cons than pros. Think I will hold the idea of getting a telescope until I am more familiar with the technical knowledge and gain more experience. Gary, I am interested in the loaning of telescope. Could you put me on the list, please? You are doing a wonderful public service, respect!

[Gary]

Gary, I am interested in the loaning of telescope. Could you put me on the list, please?

Done.

[Hardwarezone]

This travelscope70 have decent reviews on the optics in USA at their USD60 price, but SG markup for this specific scope is above 100% so not worth it anymore.

[Desmond_T]

This travelscope70 have decent reviews on the optics in USA at their USD60 price, but SG markup for this specific scope is above 100% so not worth it anymore.

Sadly, every other scope out there in Singapore is also marked up by more than 100%

[Desmond_T]

Gary, I am interested in the loaning of telescope. Could you put me on the list, please?

Done.

Thanks! So do I PM you my number or something like that?

[Gary]

Gary, I am interested in the loaning of telescope. Could you put me on the list, please?

Done.

Thanks! So do I PM you my number or something like that?

Email me your contact number - gary@astro.sg . I will send you a reminder a couple days before your loan period.

[Hardwarezone]

This travelscope70 have decent reviews on the optics in USA at their USD60 price, but SG markup for this specific scope is above 100% so not worth it anymore.

Sadly, every other scope out there in Singapore is also marked up by more than 100%

Not exactly true ... there are some examples with lower ~50% markup ... such as the 130 heritage dob mentioned above or the orion apex127 mak-cas

For those who are adventurous can go www.amazon.fr and get the SGD$380 bresser messier 127mm F15 maksutov but there are no online review on it.