Celestron Omni 102AZ Telescope with Smartphone Adapter and Bluetooth Remote - $219.99 ($80 off)

Bought one from Etobicoke today, 279.99-80=199.99. My thinking was "at least kids can see moon craters with this right?" ... right?

Anyone owns this and can comment on it? Thank you!

whitevitz wrote: ↑ Anyone owns this and can comment on it? Thank you!

I think this is the same one.

pigjr wrote: ↑Bought one from Etobicoke today, 279.99-80=199.99. My thinking was "at least kids can see moon craters with this right?" ... right?

Have this one, could see the moons of Jupiter and barely see the rings of Saturn

These are garbage. Dont waste your money.

umadbrah wrote: ↑ These are garbage. Dont waste your money.

Any recommendations at a similar or lower price point?

Gravydip wrote: ↑
Any recommendations at a similar or lower price point?

No. All telescopes in this price point are junk, unfortunately.

You are much better off just finding your local Royal Astronomical Society and see if they have a "side walk astronomy" event or open viewing to get view of the moon craters. Because it gets old fast. And even with $3000 of gear, you're not gonna get that great of a view of Saturn and Jupiter. All these great planet photos you see are a composite of hundreds of photos stacked together to get those details. A live view of those planets look nothing like those photos.

I did a bunch of astrophotography and hugely regret all the money spent and endless cold nights spent out at a dark site.

umadbrah wrote: ↑ No. All telescopes in this price point are junk, unfortunately.

You are much better off just finding your local Royal Astronomical Society and see if they have a "side walk astronomy" event or open viewing to get view of the moon craters. Because it gets old fast. And even with $3000 of gear, you're not gonna get that great of a view of Saturn and Jupiter. All these great planet photos you see are a composite of hundreds of photos stacked together to get those details. A live view of those planets look nothing like those photos.

I did a bunch of astrophotography and hugely regret all the money spent and endless cold nights spent out at a dark site.

Agree with this. I bought a telescope last year when they were on sale and spent hours trying to focus on Jupiter, but because these models are so cheap it's really difficult to actually even locate the planets in the viewfinder to begin with. It was neat to see the craters of the moon, but for price it really wasn't worth it. I ended up returning mine because it was really only useful for looking at the moon unless you have the patience to spend hours and hours looking for the planet in your scope. Also because these lower end models don't have any motors in them you have to manually adjust for the rotation of the earth. When you're looking at the moon and the planets through a telescope, it actually moves really fast, so it requires constant readjusting which just drove me nuts.

Here is a cool blog and photos (some translation required for older posts).

https://www.othercomputer.com

Looking at a LOT of $$ to get into this hobby at this level. There's probably something in between that works as well.

A few things to google related to this setup:

Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED telescope
Optron CEM60 equatorial mount
ZWO ASI2600MM camera

MikeyCanuck wrote: ↑ Here is a cool blog and photos (some translation required for older posts).

https://www.othercomputer.com

Looking at a LOT of $$ to get into this hobby at this level. There's probably something in between that works as well.

A few things to google related to this setup:

Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED telescope
Optron CEM60 equatorial mount
ZWO ASI2600MM camera

It's a lot of time investment too. thats one thing they dont tell you. i use to drive 30min out of town, 20-40min setup up, be out taking exposures for probably 3-4 hours or whenever the moon or sun came up, 15min pack, another 30min to drive home. and then feel like a zombie at work the next day. And I did this a lot.

Trust me, there are way better hobbies to get into than this.

@umadbrah After reading all your comments I want to drive down and give you a hug of support.

umadbrah wrote: ↑ No. All telescopes in this price point are junk, unfortunately.

You are much better off just finding your local Royal Astronomical Society and see if they have a "side walk astronomy" event or open viewing to get view of the moon craters. Because it gets old fast. And even with $3000 of gear, you're not gonna get that great of a view of Saturn and Jupiter. All these great planet photos you see are a composite of hundreds of photos stacked together to get those details. A live view of those planets look nothing like those photos.

I did a bunch of astrophotography and hugely regret all the money spent and endless cold nights spent out at a dark site.

Pretty much my experience as well, going to a legit observatory seems like a better experience with the professionals able to help

Thanks for the feedback

That being said, if its for a kid, it might be good if it kindled their interest in space

For anyone wanting to have just a good time looking at the moon etc just get a pair of 15x70 celestron skymaster binoculars. Added bonus you can use these throughout the day as binoculars too hiking etc.

One could go astro binoculars route,like this one. If you already have a decent photography tripod it will be cheaper for almost the same performance, but don't quote me on it since I don't own this particular model. However I own this model , which does alright for the moon but I do not remember for the planets. I used to use this bino mounted on a tripod as a scout/finder for my SkyMaster 8" dobsonian (which I highly recommend if one is into dobs).

On a personal note, I used to watch the sky, no astrophoto though, and I do not regret one second. It is amazing, cold fingers included. Now I can get back to it and I have planned some trips to some amazing dark sites for next summer. I do not own any GoTo stuff, 50% of the fun is finding what I'm looking for.
If you're in the hobby , or want to get into it, be prepared to spend major $$$ on gear. The most expensive are the eyepieces and the stands. Don't ever go cheap on these.

+1 on this telescope being money wasted, not that it is not a good product (I don't know, never owned it) but you will outgrow it fast.

canadianclub wrote: ↑ Have this one, could see the moons of Jupiter and barely see the rings of Saturn

Could you see Uranus though?

whitevitz wrote: ↑ Anyone owns this and can comment on it? Thank you!

I don’t own it but instead of listening to comments from the peanut gallery, how about using some informed comments. The posting below should help those evaluate this telescope.
Owners comments from Cloudy Nights

I think a summary of that thread is that it is definitely not junk. However expect to spend at least another $200 for another eyepiece for additional magnification. Depends on what you want.

Craters are easily seen with binoculars or a camera with a decent telephoto capability. There is a certain visceral pleasing aspect to viewing the objects in the sky live thru a telescope that is not experienced by viewing a photo online. Beyond that initial fascination will be the bigger decision of how much interest do you really have.

There is a significant time/learning investment regardless of the quality of the scope. For most people, any telescope will go unused very rapidly and anything unused can be turned into junk...

amac wrote: ↑ I don’t own it but instead of listening to comments from the peanut gallery, how about using some informed comments. The posting below should help those evaluate this telescope.
Owners comments from Cloudy Nights

...

No peanut gallery over here bro, quite informed... Not an expert though.
That being clarified, I would take advice from cloudy nights with a major grain of salt. There's a lot of hearsay and folklore on those threads. Plus all they do is recommend TeleVue Panoptic.
Good starting point, sure, but if you want actual good advice find a astronomy club. Plus you get to try some gear for yourself.

It’s more fun to use it as a flashlight lens. You can get sick beam shots.

StraightCashHomie wrote: ↑

I think this is the same one.

Now that US game is over I had time to watch this guy review. What a bunch of bs
The guy takes photos with a $1500 mount to give ppl the idea of what looking through the scope is like? Lol
Also in the wow factor part the eyepiece looked like an Orion Stratus eyepiece and not the included eyepieces, usually these are garbage on any scope.

1. Vibrations are a bitch, that's why a decent stand is $1500. A good one is double.
2. A decent eyepiece is $150 on its own.

Not saying this is a bad scope but def take the review with a grain of salt and do not expect much of it out of the box.