Skywatcher Starquest 102MC Telescope Review - Adjustment and First Light
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.ค. 2024
- Having unboxed and assembled the Skywatcher StarQuest 102MC Maksutov Cassegrain Telescope in my previous video, now I take a look at setting up the scope for use, and it’s performance under the stars. Targets such as planets and double stars are captured, and I give my verdict on this new, lightweight telescope package.
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I’ve not long had this scope. My first foray into astronomy. It’s brill for planet there’s nothing quite like seeing the rings of Saturn through the eyepiece for the first time.
Well done! Looking forward to seeing more!
Thanks! I'm really looking foreward to the follow-up video
looking forward to the next one
Best simple basis tutorial. Thanks man! After watching 5 videos yours made it clear simple and straight forward to me. Thanks!
Thanks Maarten.
@@JenhamsAstro thanks again put all in practice last sunday and its pretty easy point telescope in neutral stance, point it at north star and the use the two top rotations to find your object never letting weight go above horizontal and the if you have object in view you keep it in view with one axis since all stars rotate around the north star on northern hemisphere which the central main axis is still pointed to.
Eventually ill switch to an automatic scope but I wish to know all the principles of how it all works and what better way the to just do it yourself.
I just wish we had more earth days where we go dark @ night...so hard to find dark places in my country, the netherlands. And its such a waste of energy, we should have at least smart lights in small towns and on highways. No motion no light. Or even smart ir tech thats sees if its human. And also test different spectrums.. like green light...
O well thanks again!
Thank you so much for this video! Got my Skywatcher Skymax 102s AZ Pronto for Christmas and used it for the first time tonight. Was baffled at trying to do the alignment but followed your video and got it done quickly! I managed to see Jupiter and it’s 4 moons tonight! So chuffed 😭😂
Excellent! Enjoy the scope!
Thanks - nicely informative. Cheers!
Iv"e just obtained one of these ota's!Looks like it's going to be a superb scope!Being skywatcher,i know it will be!Just ordered a solar filter for it!As being a long focal length"it'll be ideal for solar observing as well as lunar and planetary observing!It's set up as a spotting scope for daytime use!Mainly a 45 degree diagonal!
thanks for this very good video
Its a good scope has one once, cracked Eta Orionis with the 102mm in reasonable seeing and thats at sep 1.78" so a great result for this scope.
Would be interesting to find out how this scope compares optically with the much loved celestron C90 mak. As always thank you Graham with your helpful reviews.
Hi Robert, I hope all is well with you. Yes it has not supplanted the C90 yet, but does make a good package for the money given that you get a decent mount. Maybe I could try a C90-102MC-127 shootout!
@@JenhamsAstro Oh, no! I have absolutely no way to collimate this telescope? It's the exact one I have. Please, tell me there's some kind of hack to get it back into collimation, like loosening those back screws and shaking it like a plate of soup or something!
@@chattywalrus8485 I don’t know of a hack but if it’s really messed up you could remove the rear cell and have a look. I’m not sure if Skywatcher use glue or something else to set it up at the factory. Think you may have a difficult issue to fix here.
Compré uno. Me llamo mucho la atención este modelo.
I have the ota Sky Watcher Sky-Max , I like Albiero in it. I use a Moon filter for a bright Moon or it just washes out. Mine has collimation screws though.
Could you suggest any eyepieces that could be used on this scope for a more clear and detailed view of the planets?
Hi Graham great video as always, i wonder if I could buy this mount separately from the scope?
As I’m looking to mount my skywatcher heritage 150p instead of the dobsonion mount? So I can track objects
Hi Owen, I haven't seen the mount for sale separately, and looking at the 150P I think it's OTA would be too heavy for it anyway (a 3kg payload is quoted, vs around 5 kg for your OTA?).
Hi Graham, thanks for the videos, they’re very well thought out & informative. Can I ask, if you could only own one Mak which one would you choose, taking everything into account?
scott hall Hello Scott. Of the 3 I currently have, the easiest one to discount is the 102. Of the 90 and 127, my head says the 127, as it’s aperture will deliver brighter views, albeit at f/12. My heart would go for the C90 though. It’s a great little scope. But....If you have a mount able to carry the 127 then it makes most sense, for a good price.
@@JenhamsAstro Hi Graham, why would you “discount the 102” so quickly over the 90?
@@michaelsutherland8548 Hi Michael, I think the 102 would be a good choice to someone looking for a light small Mak (the 127 feels much bulkier) but as I already had the C90 it didn’t stand out as being significantly better, that’s all.
@@JenhamsAstro thanks!
@@JenhamsAstro hello this telescope is ideal for beginners that would be both for astronomy and for terrestrial observation.
Hello Jenham, thank you a lot for your review about Maks it's really helpful for choosing.
I have few questions about the Mak90, I would have gratitude if you have time for me.
1°) I can see on the new version of the SkyWatcher Mak90 (the white) that there is not any way to verify or fix miror alignment on the back of telescop. You said we won't have to fix but I'm still worrying about it.
2°) Do you think the optical quality of the new Mak90 version is better than the previous one (full black colour), or is it the same ? In this case, maybe getting an old one could be better to be able to fix alignment.
3°) Is it possible to attach only a camera on this StarQuest tripod ? to make astrophoto with camera lens for example.
4°) considering the low weight of the Mak90, is it necessary or just optional to use the counterweight ? I ask because I have seen people doesn't necessary using it for the StarAdvanturer, and the StarQuest seems to be similar considering the maximum charge (3kg).
Thank you again, and excuse me for my approximative English as I'm not native.
Hello Hannil, for 1), it should not be an issue but in my opinion it is still preferable to have an option to re-align a Mak, in the unlikely event that it is misaligned by a bump. Otherwise not an issue. 2) I haven't used the white 90mm. The Starquest 102 OTA worked well but was of a lighter construction than a standard 102. This may be a benefit if light weight is a priority, but then there was no collimation option... I can only say that my black C90 performs very well. 3) You could add a dovetail bar and bolt a tripod head onto it, or use another type of adapter like that for binoculars perhaps. You can't simply add the camera without some extra parts. 4) With a C90 you can manage without the weights but need to tighten down the friction to stop the scope moving due to the slight imbalance.
@@JenhamsAstro Hey ! Thank you very much for your time and for your detailed answer I understand more now :D
Have a nice sky !!
Nice review! A little disappointing the ‘scope can’t be collimated, but -as you say-if it arrives collimated, it should be fine if you don’t mistreat it.
Thanks. Yes I will make sure i tighten the single screw on the dovetail well!
Not being able to collimate the scope is weird and a bit of a pain. The older blue model of this scope, does have the collimation screws. I wonder why Skywatcher dropped this feature?
Thank you for this review. I live at a low latitude zone. How low can the Starquest latitidue setting go before the counter weight hit the tripod leg?
In case it does not go low enough, is there a pier extension that can be attached in between the mount and tripod legs to solve the low latitude problem?
@@cirrusclouds8295
The polar axis altitude can be set from approximately 15 degrees to 66 degrees.
However, if you need 15 degrees, you will need to mount your equatorial mount so that there is a counterweight between the tripod legs.
Otherwise, the setting range will be approximately 23 degrees to 66 degrees.(Translated by Google)
hello this telescope is ideal for
that would be both for astronomy and for terrestrial observation.
Hi Graham, have you taken this scope to its limits in terms of what size eyepiece have you used? I’m looking at a scope that I can use for all round observing, but have an interest lunar observing. Many thanks 🙏
Hello, I’ve found the 127 a better scope at high powers. The 102 is nice and light but the 127 seems to give more pleasing views with EPs below 10mm FL, or when barlowed. Just my 2p though based on one example.
Wonder how this dose for hight level aircraft say 28,39,000feet
Hi, Can you help me please? My english is very weak. I bought telescope SW 130/650 and clock tracker, on Starquest mount like in your video. But this tracker dont drive my telescope correct way at all. Maybe it is because I dont correct polar align. How to make polar align with this mount? I did not find video about this. Can you make video? I have the impression that no one but me uses such an mount. thank you in advance.
Hi Renata have you watched this video on my channel? th-cam.com/video/vPfpXj0RZ-I/w-d-xo.html it shows how orientate the mount vs Polaris.
Does that diagonal give a mirror-image or do you get a right-way-around image?
Right way up but reversed right to left
The effects of Star Diagonals and other Prisms on Telescope Images
th-cam.com/video/iXCxnWSMOjc/w-d-xo.html
@@JenhamsAstro : OK....thanks for the Info.
Hello, Starquest mechanics more stable than eq2?
Yes the mount is well suited to the OTA and stable considering its light weight.
Hello!! Great video! Can I connect this telescope with an computer and download the app stellarium on my computer ?
Thanks Jenny. Unfortunately the mount on the Starquest range (also called an AZ-EQ Avant mount) is very much a manual, not computerised (or "computerisable!") mount. Many other equatorial mounts can be controlled using Stellarium (or other planetarium software) if they have an interface that will support the ASCOM message protocol, which allows a PC to send "up/down/left/right" commands and similar to the RA and Dec drives in such mounts. Often it involves disconnecting a "Goto" handset from these mounts and using a cable (EQDirect) to connect to a computer via USB. Then you download and configure lots of freeware. A couple of hours later you get it working!
@@JenhamsAstro thank you so much you really helped me !!
can I also observe deep sky objects with this type of telescope?
Kind of. Objects like planetary nebulae or globular clusters are well suited to this sort of scope, as they are small (suited to the scope’s long focal focal length and hence high magnification) and relatively bright (as the scope has a smallish aperture). But for DSOs like emission nebulae and most galaxies then it is not ideal. These fainter objects are best observed with more aperture and lower power. No scope does it all!
The only issue i can see is not being able to rotate the telescope tube .. It just fixed in place ... i can imagine getting into some odd positions trying to locate objects with the finder
It can become awkward!
What is the difference between this scope and the SkyMax 102mm?
Hi Cindy, superficially no, but looking closer I think the StarQuest OTA is a budget version of the Skymax. You cannot collimate the StarQuest but, looking at online images, you can the Skymax. Does the matter? Probably not as Maks hold collimation well. The StarQuest tube construction is lightweight - it weighs no more than my C90, which is odd. Having one sample of 90, 102 & 127 Maks made by Synta, my personal view is that the C90 easily matches the 102 StarQuest in performance, with the 127 better again (no surprise, aperture wins). The StarQuest package is reasonable value, but for me its mount is great and its OTA is only OK. I suggest reading reviews of the Skymax 102 to see if owners are happy. The cat agrees. Clear skies, Graham
@@JenhamsAstro I bought a SkyMax 102 and AZ-GTi package as my first "real" telescope. So far, I'm really having fun with it. The price is allowing me to buy better eyepieces and other toys that I'll need if (when) I upgrade. Your videos on the 127 and 150 make me covet, but for the time being I think I didn't make a bad choice.
Cindy Ballreich That’s good, I’m sure the 102 aperture can deliver great results in combination with that mount. Clear skies.
Im looking for an affordable stand for mine in gonna purchase. Any recs?
Az GTi is one option. Alternatively a AZ5?
Will it work for DSO in astrophotography?
Hello, it would not be my first choice for most DSOs, except globulars. The field of view is not well suited to AP of faint, fuzzy, diffuse DSOs. My C90 Mak video on the topic showed that it was possible, but that was more of a challenge than a recommendation! Graham
Does that mount take a star aligner?
No, it's a very basic mount.
How many adverts!!!?
Brand of the cell phone adaptor please
It’s a Celestron NeXYZ.
@@JenhamsAstro Thanks!
Bueno vídeo ,hola cómo puedo conseguir el adaptador para colocar el max 102 a una montura rq2
Thanks. It is not simple to attach the scope to an EQ2 unless you purchased tube rings. You would be better off looking for a mount which accepts standard vixen dovetail bars.
@@JenhamsAstro muchas gracias