Celestron 127EQ PowerSeeker Telescope

Celestron 127EQ review

I opted for this telescope to get an idea of the quality of product Celestron produces before investing in a more high-tech and larger telescope.



Out of the box there were parts missing and broken. Celestron wants you to call about product problems and not return merchandise. I tried calling tech support four times and was on hold for over 90 minutes each time before being disconnected.



I submitted a ticket on their website. That was over a month ago and still no answer.



The scope I bought was sturdy and quite heavy and still worked with the broken pieces. The directions required some medium skill so if your not technically inclined avoid this telescope. In addition the telescope is difficult to maneuver and use so be prepared there as well.



But I would seriously encourage anyone interested in a telescope to do thorough research on the different manufacturers before settling on a Celestron. I'm not giving this scope a poor rating but if I had any idea about Celestron's customer service I would have NEVER considered them in the first place. Buyer Beware!!More detail ...

Celestron 31042 AstroMaster 114 EQ Reflector Telescope

Very good bang for the buck

I bought this as my first telescope to explore the sky and I am VERY pleased. It's a high quality scope and the mount and tripod are the kind you get with higher end models. Mine came with an incorrect piece I contacted the Celestron and I had a new piece in 3 days. Very nice service. I to had problems finding stars at first so I went to an astronomy forum and found out the correct way to do it. From there I haven't had a problem finding anything.



The 2 main things are 1) calibrate your finder first and 2) use the right eye piece when looking for something (this scope comes with a 10mm and a 20mm so you would want to use the 20 to find and 10 to magnify once you found what it is your looking for). I have found Astronomy is not a hobby where you can easily learn stuff through trial and error and most frustration comes when you try just that.



The only thing it's lacking is an eyepiece that goes to it's full magnification. I'm buying a 5mm for this but if they included that they would have to up the price. So all in all this in my opinion is the best bang for the buck telescope out there for beginners on a budget!More detail ...

Celestron 31045 AstroMaster 130 EQ Reflector Telescope

Celestron 130 review

I'm very pleased with this telescope. I've always looked up at the stars in wonder now I can see more then I thought were out there. This is a great starter scope from what I've been told by people who love this hobby. The telescope lets you view the sky to see stars you can't see with your eyes. I'm disappointed in the eye piece you receive with it though. The field of view is very narrow hard to find the stars you want to see. I was given a wide angle eye piece to use from a friend which made my viewing pleasure wonderful. I went from looking at a 13" color tv to a 36" color tv. That's the best way to describe it.



I'm glad I got my telescope and will enjoy it for years to come.



Kevin More detail ...

Orion Moon Filter 13% Transmission 1.25"

An excellent filter for beginniners!

This moon filter is a great way to explore the moon for beginniners! This filter can reduce the glare of the bright moon so you can explore the moon easily. But for experts I would recommend to get a Orion Poliarzing Filter (...). This is because somtimes the moon is too dark. With a poliarzing filter you can adjust the filter from 1-40%. For beginniners I would strongly recommened this filter but for experts I would get a Poliarzing filter.More detail ...

Barska BlackBlackhawk 20-60x60 Waterproof Straight Spotting Scope w/Tripod Soft Carry Case & Premium Hard Case

Excellent optics for the price

This scope is worth every penny I was very concerned buying a "cheaper" spotting scope but after my first range session my nerves are at rest. It's very easy to see the .30 cal holes at 200 yards and light transmission and clarity are very adequate. This scope also comes with 2 carrying cases a nice added bonus. When comparing this scope to my friends bushnell of the same power this one wins hands down a definate purchase for someone on a budget and looking to get good quality for limited funds. More detail ...

Celestron 93230 8 to 24mm 1.25 Zoom Eyepiece

Much better than expected

I was a bit leery of buying a "zoom" eyepiece and suspected that the movement within the lens assembly would greatly effect the optics. I took a chance because I wanted a quick and dirty spotting eyepiece that would give me a sneak peak at objects before I bothered switching eyepieces. I have now tried this eyepiece on my Celestron 130SLT and compared it side by side with a set of comparable fixed Celestron Omni Possls which should be of comparable quality. I was very pleasantly surprised as I saw very little visible difference when viewing Mars and Saturn. I had expected the zoom to cause significant distortion outside the center of the viewfield and to give substantially less sharp views. However I found the views very nearly the same. I also tried the zoom over my Celestron Ultima barlow with good results. Some minor refocusing was required with any significant change in zoom but this was not unexpected. That said there was a difference between the zoom and fixed lens eyepieces. I did see some differences at higher magnifications particularly with the barlow. As such I don't think a zoom lens is a replacement for a range of fixed eyepieces particularly if you're doing photography or viewing deep sky objects. However this zoom exceeded my expectations and will probably become my main eyepiece for locating and previewing objects. I should note that the barrel of this eyepiece is a few mm wider than other 1.25" Celestron eyepieces and barlows. It still fits nicely and functions well. It just looks a bit bulky when mounted over a narrower barlow.More detail ...

Celestron 44410 Prepared Microscope Slides (25-Piece Set)

Not too bad

I bought this for my 8 year old who had received a microscope for her birthday. This is a nice set of slides and she found them interesting (and it brought make memories of 7th grade biology for me lol). If I were to suggest any changes they would be to find more specimens that are common objects that kids are likely to be familiar with (she was much less interested in the slides if she didn't know what the thing was to start with). Also the wooden box is a great idea but it's a little too large so the slides slip out of their slots and get jumbled/scratched up.More detail ...

Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium

Great way to start to learn the night sky!

I ordered my SkyScout in September hoping that the initial rush on this item was over and that it would be in stock (as listed) when I ordered it. Sadly it was actually out of stock and took a few months to arrive. The unit powered up and seemed to function but was unable to get a GPS fix in a clear field. Hoping that it was a simple matter of updating the unit I attached it via USB to my computer and followed the simple directions on the screen. It updated quickly and easily but I still was unable to obtain a GPS fix. Using the instructions provided I contacted Celestron and was directed to return the unit to them for evaluation and repair. Less than two weeks passed when a new unit straight from Celestron arrived in the mail. This one worked perfectly and as advertised and without any problems!



Now that I've actually used my SkyScout I can say that it is great fun to use! Now December and January in Wyoming isn't the best time of year to be outside at night...wind chill last night was -40F for example but the SkyScout still works like a champ. Multiple modes of function exist as listed in the description but my personal favorite is being able to identify just about anything you can see with the naked eye in the night sky. Just view the object through the sky scout push a button and you'll get the name of the object as well as at least a few lines of text of information. Brighter objects or better known objects also have an audio commentary that will teach about the history and/or significance of what you're looking at.



While I was disappointed about my first SkyScout not functioning properly the quick customer service and the replacement working flawlessly have overcome my initial disappointment. The SkyScout is quite simple to use and provides a great way for anyone who can read to start to learn the night sky. I highly recommend it for individuals with an interest in astronomy families star parties and youth groups such as the Boy Scouts.More detail ...

PRIME ENTERTAINMENT QX-5 Microscope

excellent piece of kit

The Qx5 microscope is the natural follow-on from the Qx3. Used as a toy with the "child friendly" supplied software it will load onto the latest machines; difficulties with the old Qx3 software on Windows XP Pro were not encountered with the Qx5. I have found this software to be intensely irritating for my use but letting my two young nephews loose on my computer I was delighted to find that the whizzes zips and boings the program generates during its natural operation freed me to be elsewhere in the house without fear that my young guests had given up on the microscope and were trying to sabotage my machine in ways available only to the very young. Not that I need have feared: a simple walk around the local park produced more than enough samples to keep them delighted until dinner. An excellent Christmas game can also be knocked out with the Qx5 and a laptop by wandering around the house taking magnified snaps of the decorations and furniture then challenging guests to identify the objects. (Print thumbnails and you can have a dozen people wandering around different parts of the house peering at ornaments.)



However I have not bought two new Qx5s to supplement the Qx3s I already have just to play games. These `toys' are truly excellent scientific instruments. They allow for rapid inspection of small components provide good images for presentations and an image of a graticule can be used to calibrate distance per pixel providing simple distance and area measurement. These images can be fed to image-processing packages for colour-dependent area measurements and other techniques. Contact angles of droplets on surfaces can also be measured from these images with the 60x magnification matching the best droplet size. The improved pixel count of the Qx5 gives markedly better resolution of crystal morphology and the more intense LED illumination at last makes 200x magnification generally workable. The rectangular grid of pixels on the old Qx3 has been corrected to a square grid meaning circles are now the same number of pixels across as they are high (rather than 10% fatter). They can be used to monitor and record movement because they collect movies as well as stills: with 15 frames per second (up from the Qx3's five) much faster events can be captured.



So what are the downsides? This is a souped-up Qx3 with a better webcam at one end and brighter light at the other so in common with the Qx3 the optics are not perfectly matched. The focal plane for each magnification is therefore in a different position requiring re-focusing after every change as well as producing occasional microscopes with one of their focal planes squeezed quite close to the microscope body. This can mean the plastic stand is at the limit of its movement and bouncing on the last tooth of the cog or if you've built your own holder you may start bumping into the plastic shield around the light. The TWAIN driver is new and has no light control and there is no utility offered to control light separately from your Start Menu. It captures images on command but then you have to select the image to pass it on to your graphics package - an unnecessary extra step for most applications. The automatic colour balance bleaches images of predominantly one colour and with the bluish LED illumination yellow seems to come off particularly badly. This is not true with the interface that opens for capturing movies where all sorts of settings can come under the operator's control but the driver (at least in XP Pro) is a Windows Driver Model (WDM) rather than Video For Windows (VFW) limiting your options to only more recent software and the light is still not accessible.



Generally however I'm delighted with the improvements in image resolution and frames per second that the new camera and light offer and for a price that seems lower than the Qx3 commanded until the very end of its commercial life these `toys' are extremely good value for anyone who wants to peer at small things through the eye of the twenty-first century.



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Celestron 44102 400x Power Laboratory Biological Microscope

Worth It!

Due to the lack of informative reviews this microscope sat in my Amazon shopping cart for nearly a year. When the time came that we really needed to have a microscope for my son's home school science class I went ahead and purchased it. My only regret is that we didn't get it sooner!



The microscope comes packed very well! Every piece was in place safe & sound when we opened it.



It was very easy to 'put together' as we only had to add the 4x 10x and 40x objective lens pieces along with the 10x huygens eyepiece. Too simple. Has a very nice dust cover with it. The thicker plastic nothing cheap.



As for the durability it's heavy enough to remain in place as you're using it just the right weight for moving it around if you need to. The arm is easy to tilt and it's tight enough to stay in place unless you're intentionally tilting it.



Has a mirror to direct sunlight or your artificial lighting up under the specimen stage. Mirror has both a normal and concave side (to focus more light). It flips no taking out pieces to switch them.



Now the best part the magnification. Wow it really works! And so very easy to focus! We had the prepared slides on the specimen stage right away and my son was just in awe (as was I!) at how clear we could see the items on the slides. When looking at the intestine slide my son said "Mom this would be gross if it wasn't so cool!" The 4x lens (along with the 10x eyepiece) has so far been enough magnification but we've tried all three & they're great!



I don't know if the prepared slides are the same with each microscope but the 5 that came with ours are:

1. Intestine

2. Honey Bee Mouth Parts

3. Corn Stem

4. Year Tilia Stem

5. Winter Jasmine Leaf



I would definitely recommend this microscope. It's at least everything that we hoped it would be and need it to be!



Sure hope this helps anyone else thinking about getting one!



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