Re: Zhumell vs. Celestron vs. Meade

Mij Adyaw wrote:

> You cannot get a good telescope on a decent mount for $200.

A few years ago, I would have agreed with you. But in Skywatch '05,
we recommended three under-$200 scopes: the Sky Quest 4.5, the
Starblast, and the 3-inch alt-az mounted Space Probe. I can vouch
from personal experience that they're all genuinely enjoyable to
use. Limited by their small aperture, but unquestionably good
scopes on perfectly adequate mounts. And I think it's quite
likely that there are many other irreproachable scopes in this
price range now. In fact, I believe that Skywatch '06 (coming
soon to a newstand near you) will recommend some new ones.

Needless to say, a 6-inch Dob will indeed show more than any of
the aforementioned scopes, and the price is right; they sell for
around $250 these days, not counting shipping and/or tax, which
is a steal considering how capable such a telescope is -- and
easy to use, too.

As for the scopes mentioned by the original poster, they may in
fact be perfectly OK -- I can't say, not having used one. But
the thing to bear in mind is that it is *not* necessary to get
a traditional-looking equatorial mount, and that at the
magnifications supported by these scopes, they're quite easy
to move by hand; motor drive is *not* a necessity. Moreover,
these mounts *certainly* are not smooth or stable enough for
serious, long-exposure, prime-focus astrophotography. For that,
you'd have to spend quite a lot more.

- Tony Flanders
Associate Editor, Sky & Telescope

.

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