lidl telescopes

ednwireland

anyone any opinions ?
http://www.lidl.ie/ie/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20041122.p.Telescope

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20041122.p.Refractor

fromm 22/11, i know people mentioned the refractor last year and saisd it was ok if the eyepeice was changed - anything else, considering the refractor would it be better than my mini binoculars 10x25?

albertw

More dicussion: http://www.irishastronomy.org/boards/viewtopic.php?t=1169

Both are good telescopes. The expensive one is a Meade ETX-70, The main benefit of that is the mount is motorised. The controller is good but I have the next one up the line on my scope and to be honest I never use it for looking up objects.

The other one looks the same as they had last year and I have one. The eyepieces wernt bad, but at high magnification you will notice the quality of the eyepiece a bit. Thats my opinion though, I've heard others say that they are fine so perhaps the eyepieces I got with mine were defective. Since this cheaper one has a longer focal length it probably would be better suited to picking up planetary detail at higher magnifications than the ETX, though I have never compared them both side by side.

The ETX with the lower focal length, would give a wider field of view and a slightly brighter image, so would be better for nebulae etc. Though its only a 70mm lens diameter which really isnt big enough for picking out any details in nebulae.

They both are refractors with 70mm objective lenses so the light gathering power on them is the same. Optically the difference is just the focal length with the etx being 300mm and the skylux being I think 900mm. [For those reading up on focal ratios thats f/4.3 for the ETX and f/12 or so for the skylux]

Your choice will be down to whether you think you would actually make use of the motorised mount or whether the longer focal length and an extra 100euro in your pocket is more important.

Better than 10*25's? Yep a 70mm lens gives an area of 3848mm^2 while the 2 25mm diameter lenses on binoculars gives only 981. So they would get more light and give you more magnification than these binoculars. However the scopes gather about the same amount of light as a pair of 10x50's so you could easily argue that for viewing constellations, the milky way, nebulae etc. a pair of 10 (or 20)x50's would be better than these scopes.

Cheers,
~Al

Seanie M

I have the Skylux from last year. It has superb images if you discard the eyepieces that come with it and use good ones. I already have lots of Celestron eyepieces, so I was already set. Got nice views of Jupiter, Saturn, the phases of Venus and the Moon, and great images of sunspots through projection. Orion Nebula is bright enough, the Pleaides are spectacular, and you can make out the faint oval shape of the Andromeda galaxy, all as examples of what You can see through it.


Seanie.

Standard Toaster

I might go for the €59.99 one. Meaning to get a telescope now for some time.
The motorised mount doesn't really appeal to me anyway.

albertw

Some comments from Terry Mosley regarding the telescopes:

Hi all,

Further to the last email on the Lidl Telescopes; some clarification of their website info may be helpful!

A. The ETX-70 Computer telescope.

1. It refers to 3 eyepieces, but only gives details for one - a MA25mm (MA = Modified Achromat - a fairly basic type)

2. The reference to "planetarial fog" should of course be "planetary nebulae" (the joys of translation!)

3. By a process of deduction & some simple maths the highest power eyepiece of the three must be a 4mm (type not known).

4. That then explains the odd description given under "Magnification" as: "14x -262, 5x". It should be "14x - 262.5x" the latter figure being the power of the 4mm eyepiece + 3x Barlow used with a 350mm FL telescope!

5. The other eyepiece must be a medium power one, say about 10mm, giving a power of approx. 35x, or 105x if used with the Barlow.

NB: Although I'm sure that the GoTo will indeed point the telescope, once it's set up properly, to any of the 1400 objects in the database, bear in mind that you may not be able to see all of them through that telescope! For example, if you input "M76", it will probably point to get it in the field of view, but as it's magnitude 11.5, you may not see it, unless you have very clear, very dark, skies! Some of the NGC objects will be even fainter, and even harder to see!

B. The 70mm Skylux Refractor.

1. It doesn't specifically mention it, but a 3x Barlow is also included.

2. Again, the website doesn't specifically mention it, but there are slow motion controls on both axes.

3. If the telescope package is exactly the same as last year, it will also include an accessory / stabilising tray on the tripod, and maybe an erecting (terrestrial) eyepiece too.

General:

My personal opinion is that for a reasonably competent & knowledgeable amateur, it's not worth paying the extra for the GoTo telescope. A telescope of that size will perform best on bright objects such as the Moon & major planets, & the Sun by projection or with a Mylar filter (but don't try observing the Sun unless you KNOW what ALL the risks are!), and bright objects such as the Pleiades, M31, M42, M13 etc. Most of you don't need 'GoTo' to find them! Also, with an F/ratio of F/5, it won't give as good images as the F/10 Skylux. It also has the benefit of powered tracking, but is that worth the extra €110? But that's just my personal opinion, and if you want the convenience of battery-powered drive, & GoTo to find your targets, then it's good value.

Clear Skies,

Terry Moseley

____________________________
IFAS, www.irishastronomy.org

Is1ldur

Anyone know if there are any of these left anywhere around Dublin? I am looking for the 60EUR scope.

Capt'n Midnight

I didn't see any in Lucan this evening - there were 7 on Saturday..
could you ring the stores - or maybe ask if there are any returns ?

tk123

They had some in the new Lidl in Panell/Moore St on saturday afternoon...

Is1ldur

Itried Parnell Street/Moore Street, but no luck, I think they do have a couple of the more expensive one, but I just want to get something to see if I have the interest. So I am still looking.
Actually, was just outside with the Binoculars and can see an awful lot tonight, even though artificial light is a problem in the suburbs. Anyone know a site with up to date star charts, what to look out for?

Capt'n Midnight

http://www.lidl.it/it/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20041206.p.Telescopio_rifrattore

For once somewhere more expensive than Ireland..
it's the 70mm manual one for a whopping €99 !

johnnystress

Hi- i bought one of these Lidl telescopes as a christmas present.
I don't have all the details but the person I bought it for, who is a complete novice says he can't get it to work- that he can't see anything through any of the lenses!


Can anyone think of a reason why this would be?(And yes- he has removed the dust cover )

Any suggestions would be great- sorry for the lack of information

thanks

johnny

sliabh

johnnystress wrote:

Hi- i bought one of these Lidl telescopes as a christmas present.
I don't have all the details but the person I bought it for, who is a complete novice says he can't get it to work- that he can't see anything through any of the lenses!

Without seeing exactly how it is being used your problems could be with the small lever on the left side below the eyepiece. This flips the internal mirror between the two viewing positions. Try that.

johnnystress

sliabh wrote:

Without seeing exactly how it is being used your problems could be with the small lever on the left side below the eyepiece. This flips the internal mirror between the two viewing positions. Try that.

Thanks sliabh- I'll pass that suggestion on to him

Seanie M

sliabh wrote:

your problems could be with the small lever on the left side below the eyepiece. This flips the internal mirror between the two viewing positions.

Thats if its the Meade scope they have! If its the Skylux, remove the eyepiece in daylight and see if you can see the light of the sky (NOT the sun!!) bounce off the diagonal mirror. Sometimes there is a cardboard piece place over the diagonal in transit.

Seanie.

sliabh

Seanie M wrote:

Thats if its the Meade scope they have!

Wooops. Very true.

I got the Meade for Christmas and I am very happy with it. It's a shame I can't say the same about the weather at the moment.

I will need to get some of the accessories for it. I was looking what is available at the Scopetronix site. In particular I think I will need the Flexi-Focus shaft, planetary filters and the photo adapter.

Does anyone know if there are suppliers for these in Ireland or will I Have to order from the US?

albertw

sliabh wrote:

I will need to get some of the accessories for it. I was looking what is available at the Scopetronix site. In particular I think I will need the Flexi-Focus shaft, planetary filters and the photo adapter.

Does anyone know if there are suppliers for these in Ireland or will I Have to order from the US?

Andromeaoptics.com are the ROI Meade scope dealers. Drop them a mail.
North Down telescopes should also be able to get you what you need.

sliabh

albertw wrote:

Andromeaoptics.com are the ROI Meade scope dealers. Drop them a mail.
North Down telescopes should also be able to get you what you need.

Thanks for that. But I will slightly correct the URL to: Andromedaoptics.com

johnnystress

Seanie M wrote:

Thats if its the Meade scope they have! If its the Skylux, remove the eyepiece in daylight and see if you can see the light of the sky (NOT the sun!!) bounce off the diagonal mirror. Sometimes there is a cardboard piece place over the diagonal in transit.

Seanie.

Its a Skylux alright- no wonder my Dad couldnt find that lever!
I've passed this info on to him- hope thats the probelm- it sounds like it could be

Thanks for that