Aldi Telescope - Any good?

HighWire

http://www.aldi.ie/special_buys/product_412.html

popebenny16

yes, same question from me.

Ghost Train

some opinions here

http://forum.skyatnightmagazine.com/tm.asp?m=50291&mpage=1&key=&#50293

and here

http://www.irishastronomy.org/boards/viewtopic.php?p=51990

mickrourke

Eh, probably not.
The relector size (76mm) is not big enough, you'll need at least 4 inches (114mm) for good deep space viewing, and to view rings on Saturn, etc probably 6 inches.
A good pair of binoculars is excellent for a starter. 10x50 is enough, just make sure they are good quality.

popebenny16

eolhc wrote:

some opinions here

http://forum.skyatnightmagazine.com/tm.asp?m=50291&mpage=1&key=&#50293

and here

http://www.irishastronomy.org/boards/viewtopic.php?p=51990

that's that so, thanks lads!

squonk

Keep an eye out in Dec or so. They do a good line in telescopes around then each year. You're talking far bigger money though. I got a Meade 6" reflector last year for 600 euro but it has a motorised mount and a guiding computer and is generally a 'proper' telescope so keep an eye out over the next while.

squonk

Sorry, I tend to lump Aldi & Lidl together! I got mine from Lidl so if you're interested in getting into buying a scope, sign up for their email newsletter in the next while.

Johnny Storm

FYI
Lidl's, Thurs 8th, €599 - 6’’ Newton computer telescope with Autostar™ #497

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20071108.p.MeadeReflectorTelescopeLXD75

yellowellie

Johnny Storm wrote: »

FYI
Lidl's, Thurs 8th, €599 - 6’’ Newton computer telescope with Autostar™ #497

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20071108.p.MeadeReflectorTelescopeLXD75

Is this a good deal for a beginner? It's a potential present from 4 or 5 people so the cost will be split. My Dad wanted the Aldi one but they were sold out when he went in for it.

squonk

I have this scope since last year. It's the same offer they are running this year. I'd definitely say go for it. I've not had a heap of chances to use the scope but when I have I've found it pretty good. I've purchased some additional eyepieces int he meantime for it and I'm just waiting for them to arrive int he post so I think the scope will be getting out a bit more now.

Last year there were some mixed reactions after people bought their scopes and took them home and assembled them. There were some motor problems but I believe Meade replaced the dodgy motors for the most part and others who didn't want to go that far got refunds from Lidl handy enough.

I don't think you'll be disappointed. The LXD75 is a pretty decent entry level scope and the autostar makes it quite easy to use once you get the hang of it.

MooseJam

squonk wrote: »

I have this scope since last year. It's the same offer they are running this year. I'd definitely say go for it.

is it easy to setup / take down when using, it looks pretty big where do you store it ?

squonk

The initial setup is a bit time consuming and I found the most awkward bit was a C ring that held the screwable shaft in place which holds the eyepiece trya and that the top of the mount must screw onto. Once you get the scope set up though you can disassemble it and reassemble in a few miutes.

It's big enough alright. I usually stored it in the corner of my kitchen. It's handy there because it's near my back yard because it's heavy enough that you wouldn't be bothered carryiing it too far and certainly not up or down stairs.

It comes down to what you want. If you want to get into astronomy and get a good value scope then this is good but you won't be carrying it very far without a car or something but you'd easilly get it into your back yard or whatever.

The Meade ETX series get a lot of good reviews for being protable and easy to set up. They're idea for someone starting out because you don't have to learn an awful lot to get one set up. I think they use GPS to pinpoint their location and the current time so that takes a lot of work out straight away because they can align themselves. I've found though that having to do the align work yourself forces you to get to know the night sky a bit more.

MooseJam

thanks that a great help

squonk

I should clarify what I said above. The ETX series is another series of telescopes produced by Meade. They're very reasonable and have good features. I guess comparing them with the LXD 75 series is like comparing the iPod touch with the Classic iPod

slade_x

squonk wrote: »

I should clarify what I said above. The ETX series is another series of telescopes produced by Meade. They're very reasonable and have good features. I guess comparing them with the LXD 75 series is like comparing the iPod touch with the Classic iPod

I really cant understand the logic behind comparing the difference between ipod and an ipod touch to an ETX and an LXD series telescope

ETX are a different breed of telescope than newtonians mounted on the LXD75, the larger ETX's are (ETX90/105/125) hybrids they come with the best of both worlds, they are Maksutov-Cassegrains.

You cannot compare Newtonians to Cassegrains

The ETX range sport their superior mobility with the largest (about 5") still being incredibly portable, Emphasis on incredibly

The LXD75 is incredibly bulky for a 6" newtonian setup, the 8" is a bit more reasonable and i wouldnt bother sticking a 10" scope on an LXD75 due to questionable stability

I think many would choose the ETX125 over an LXD75 6" even though depending on where you source it from the ETX125PE is slighly more expensive, If the choice was over the 8/10" i'd go the newtonian route however

If Ireland was the ideal place to buy a telescope the "ETX125PE Astro Premier Edition UHTC coatings" would be the easy choice for me, and im sure many others telescopes.com lists it at $999 = €689, be more inclined to go with the non UHTC coatings though for the difference in price, since im not into astrophotography which would make it work out better value than the LXD 6"

Im not saying the LXD75 6" offering is in anyway bad or for the price unreasonable. Ideally the ETX range excels at anything other than deep field viewing but when your talking about a 6" newtonian your not going that much into deep field viewing anyway

The 6" is perfectly capable though, its just as awkward as an 8" and 10" but the 8" and 10" versions would feel a lot more satisfing considering the bulkiness of them

I however do have the old LXD75 6" version here, its out in my shed collecting dust though. My ETX has gotten infinitely more usage though even though its a smaller telescope.

Its a shame we dont have our own version of telescopes.com over here though

Update:

Oh and one thing i'll about the 6" is, the focuser isnt fantastic, id consider it of average quality, which is odd for Meade

Altered_Images

Hi All,

I am thinking of doing some astrophotography and was wondering if this scope would be any good, also could someone advise on what adapters to use with a canone eos camera or what is the best way to connect the two of them up. Appreciate any advice (total newbie). I also have a Meade ETX70 just sitting in my garage as the motor seems to be too erratic for long exposures, is this normal and would it be worth getting this fixed instead of buying a new scope?

Thanks

Redshift

Altered_Images wrote: »

Hi All,

I am thinking of doing some astrophotography and was wondering if this scope would be any good, also could someone advise on what adapters to use with a canone eos camera or what is the best way to connect the two of them up. Appreciate any advice (total newbie). I also have a Meade ETX70 just sitting in my garage as the motor seems to be too erratic for long exposures, is this normal and would it be worth getting this fixed instead of buying a new scope?

Thanks

Have you done a calibrate motors and the train drive? these are found in the autostar menu and need to be done properly to get any sort of accuracy.
Are you running the etx on the battery? I find that the internal batteries are useless for all but the shortest of observing sessions and I use a jump start pack with a 12v cigar lighter connection instead, my scope is an etx125 and accepts 12volts but your etx 70 is only 9 volts so you need to bear that in mind.

Grayarea

Altered_Images wrote: »

Hi All,

I am thinking of doing some astrophotography and was wondering if this scope would be any good, also could someone advise on what adapters to use with a canone eos camera or what is the best way to connect the two of them up. Appreciate any advice (total newbie). I also have a Meade ETX70 just sitting in my garage as the motor seems to be too erratic for long exposures, is this normal and would it be worth getting this fixed instead of buying a new scope?

Thanks

All mounts in this price range will be at best very difficult (it would probably put most people off the hobby) to use for long exposure astro photography.

You will need a mount that has low periodic error (<2 arc seconds total) and some sort of autoguider to remove the residual periodic error.

Really you will need a mount similar to a celestron cg-5 as a minimum and a reasonable mechanical understanding to tune the mount for astro photography use.

Asto photographic optimised mounts like the Losmandy GM-8 start at around $1500 + shipping and tax etc. If your serious you should be looking at $5000+ on a good mount.

Wide field astro photography can be done the system suggested above, and would be a good starting point. Quality control in these types of mounts is not great so if you do want to use one for wide field work you should check the periodic error ASAP and return it if the error is large.

If you think I am kidding, then look at the sort of equipment people use to take good quality astro photos and you will see that deep sky work is a hobby for people willing to invest.

Before anyone points out that his "uncle jack" has a mount made out of the axle from a tractor and gets great photos, I would say that it is possible to make your own mounts but that you would have to be technically very good to get the tolerances needed, and I do know someone with such a mount!

Good luck,