My Story With This Telescope
I picked this telescope up as an “open box” special on Ebay. I wasn’t expecting it to be in great shape and was very pleasantly surprised that the telescope was in outstanding condition when it arrived at my door.
I bought this as a “Grab and Go Reflector” to allow me to toss a lightweight reflector into my Mustang or F-150 for a quick observing session without a lot of difficulty. This telescope fit the bill perfectly weighing in at just shy of 19 pounds, it is a telescope that will literally fit in a carrying bag with all the benefits of a German Equatorial Mount (GEM) and a stable tripod to view objects with.
The Amazon price comes in at a wallet loving $115 dollars. I paid significantly less for my open box unit on Ebay. The box it comes in is not a box I would use for storage of the telescope, so investing in a telescope carry bag is a must. Oddly, I found Meade was the best choice of provider for the carry bags and purchased one off Amazon to store this telescope.
What I like
As mentioned earlier, this is a lightweight offering, perfect for a person with handicaps similar to mine to transport to a front yard or to a star party and to get some good observations in.
The GEM is a quality design and more than accommodates the OTA with ease. Assembly is quick and for a handicapped person with good control of their hands and legs like my situation, this telescope should go together easily. For entirely manual operation, this GEM is perfectly adequate and provides the ultimate in simplicity for those nights you just want to get out and observe and not be wading deep into a technology swamp.
Celestron provides a R/A Single Axis Motor Drive for the Astromaster and Powerseeker series of telescopes and the GEM on this model of telescope allows for installation of the drive, which is powered by a single 9 volt battery. As if this writing, I have yet to install the drive, but will update this page when I have tried it out.
The point of this classic 4.5 inch reflector is that it is SIMPLE. A perfect next step for young minds wanting to step up from an ALT-AZ based telescope to a GEM mount with good quality glass. And for handicapped folks like me, this is a perfect slow-mirror Newtonian to get great views of deep sky objects and solar system objects with.
The finder is a 5×24 optical finder and not one of the open sight red-dot finders. I may add a red dot open sight finder as a future modification. I have yet to try this out with this telescope and will comment more when I get it into the field.
The eyepieces that come with this telescope include a 3x Barlow Lens (1.25″), a 20mm erect image Kellnar eyepiece and a 4mm Ramsden eyepiece. I would recommend investing in some better eyepieces but these are a good start.
What I didn’t like
Too soon to tell! I do suspect there will be some shaky mount issues to overcome, but will document this and suggest fixes. I am about to receive the vibration suppression pads designed for this purpose, so we will test these on this mount as well as my other telescopes.
The eyepieces, as is usual for a off-the-shelf telescope, leave much to be desired. However, for a first telescope, they get the job done. I recommend that you progress to better eyepieces as soon as possible.
My Modifications
- Added a Celestron R/A Single Axis Motor Drive for the Astromaster. (Soon will be detailing the installation and operation of the telescope with this drive).
To be modified:
- n/a
The Bottom Line
I have yet to test the optics so more when that happens.
Description
Per Celestron: “PowerSeeker telescopes are a great way to open up the wonders of the Universe to the aspiring astronomer! The Celestron PowerSeeker series of telescopes is designed to give the first-time buyer the perfect combination of quality, value, features and power. Offering exceptional value, these telescopes feature portable yet powerful designs with ample optical performance to excite any newcomer to the world of amateur astronomy.”
Specs (as supplied by Celestron:
- Made of highest quality material
- Manufacturer: Celestron
- Celestron Powerseeker 114Eq telescope
- Affordable telescope for beginning astronomer; portable yet powerful
- All-glass optical components with high transmission coatings for enhanced image brighness and clarity
- Newtonian optical design with a 114mm aperture and 900mm focal length
Equatorial mount for tracking the sky - Includes 3x Barlow Lens (1.25″), 20mm eyepiece, 4mm eyepiece, aluminum tripod with accessory tray
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