Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
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Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
https://mashable.com/article/unistellar ... astronomy/
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
Gary C
Celestron Astro Master 130mm f5 Newtonian GEM
Meade 114-EQ-DH f7.9 Newtonian w/ manual GEM
Bushnell 90mm f13.9 Catadioptric
Gskyer 80mm f5 Alt/Az refractor
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
They have their place in the demonstration of the science to involve people in astronomy. But not for scientific advancement, that really is to overstate the usefulness of these ‘advanced’ telescopes.
Tony.
Smart Scope: Dwarf II - Club and outreach work.
AP Refractor: Altair 72EDF Deluxe F6;1x & 0.8 Flatteners; Antares Versascope 60mm finder. ASIAir Pro.Li battery pack for grab & go.
Celestron AVX Mount; X-cel LX eyepieces & Barlows 2x 3x, ZWO 2” Filter holder,
Cameras: main DSO ASI533MC; DSO guide ASI120MM; Planetary ASI224MC; DSLR Canon EOS100 stock.
Filters: Astronomik IR cut; Optolong L-Pro; Optolong L-Enhance.
Binoculars: Celestron 15 x 70.
Latitude: 52.219853
Longitude: -1.034471
Accuracy: 5 m
Bortle 4 site. https://maps.google.com/?q=52.21985,-1.03447
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
As usual, I thought of the proper analogy an hour after I posted.Greenman wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:35 pm Hmm, hyperbole central by the look of it these ‘citizen astronomers’ have very little input or need for understanding astronomy. To that end the description astronomer is very complimentary to what is essentially an IT exercise. Bland and boring astronomy for those with money to waste to appear to be amateur astronomers.
They have their place in the demonstration of the science to involve people in astronomy. But not for scientific advancement, that really is to overstate the usefulness of these ‘advanced’ telescopes.
Them: "I got a great video of the concert last night!"
Me: "What did they play?"
Them: "?"
Gary C
Celestron Astro Master 130mm f5 Newtonian GEM
Meade 114-EQ-DH f7.9 Newtonian w/ manual GEM
Bushnell 90mm f13.9 Catadioptric
Gskyer 80mm f5 Alt/Az refractor
Jason 10x50 Binoculars
Celestron 7x50 Binoculars
Svbony 2.1x42 Binoculars
(And a bunch of stuff I'm still trying to fix or find parts for.)
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
No I hadn't seen it. But now I am going to check it out.
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
Personally not for me, but I am kinda old school.
-Jeff
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
1) Please make this thread a sticky? That way it will be easy to direct a newbie to it if the question should come up.
2) Since the Unistellar is a reflector shouldn't the thread be under reflector type scopes not refractors? Or maybe at the top of scope types since it is a bit of an odd duck?
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
The video reference above is very biased against these types of telescopes though. It basically says we could do this all the time already for decades with much better telescopes. What the video author does not mention is the difficulty of polar alignment, finding and tracking the target and focusing which is a lot of nontrivial work for the archaic systems that we use. Just ask any astrophotographer how long it took them to get their system automated to the point where you can just enter a target and all these things are taken care of automatically, and how much time and money it cost them to get to that point. And, if you want to compare it with regular visual scopes, how many users have complained that all they see is faint fuzzies instead of a lively image in color, and drop out of the hobby. While it's not our cup of tea I think there's a legitimate market for it, and it is innovative.notFritzArgelander wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:37 pm I have two suggestions.
1) Please make this thread a sticky? That way it will be easy to direct a newbie to it if the question should come up.
2) Since the Unistellar is a reflector shouldn't the thread be under reflector type scopes not refractors? Or maybe at the top of scope types since it is a bit of an odd duck?
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
Agreed! This should not be compared to visual scopes but rather toSkyHiker wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 11:08 pmThe video reference above is very biased against these types of telescopes though. It basically says we could do this all the time already for decades with much better telescopes. What the video author does not mention is the difficulty of polar alignment, finding and tracking the target and focusing which is a lot of nontrivial work for the archaic systems that we use. Just ask any astrophotographer how long it took them to get their system automated to the point where you can just enter a target and all these things are taken care of automatically, and how much time and money it cost them to get to that point. And, if you want to compare it with regular visual scopes, how many users have complained that all they see is faint fuzzies instead of a lively image in color, and drop out of the hobby. While it's not our cup of tea I think there's a legitimate market for it, and it is innovative.notFritzArgelander wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:37 pm I have two suggestions.
1) Please make this thread a sticky? That way it will be easy to direct a newbie to it if the question should come up.
2) Since the Unistellar is a reflector shouldn't the thread be under reflector type scopes not refractors? Or maybe at the top of scope types since it is a bit of an odd duck?
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Delos, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.
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Observing: DSOs: 3122 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2196, S110: 77). Doubles: 2461, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 261
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
OK,I am going to agree on this point, and it maybe is not a minor point either. Faint fuzzies are just that at the eyepiece. Now, chasing faint fuzzies is a legitimate exercise also, but not in the context of the newbie wanting a 'Hubble' like view right out of the box.SkyHiker wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 11:08 pm And, if you want to compare it with regular visual scopes, how many users have complained that all they see is faint fuzzies instead of a lively image in color, and drop out of the hobby. While it's not our cup of tea I think there's a legitimate market for it, and it is innovative.
So, bottom line, there is a market for this type of scope, maybe for the 'more-money-than-brains' type, but it is there none the less.
Just random thoughts,
Steve
Cameras; Atik 460ex mono, Zwo ASI1600MC-cool, QHY5L-II color and mono
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
That's a slippery slope there. Following the same logic
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Delos, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.
Solar: HA: Lunt 50mm single stack, W/L: Meade Herschel wedge.
Observing: DSOs: 3122 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2196, S110: 77). Doubles: 2461, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 261
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
That could be levelled, as an argument, but
Tony.
Smart Scope: Dwarf II - Club and outreach work.
AP Refractor: Altair 72EDF Deluxe F6;1x & 0.8 Flatteners; Antares Versascope 60mm finder. ASIAir Pro.Li battery pack for grab & go.
Celestron AVX Mount; X-cel LX eyepieces & Barlows 2x 3x, ZWO 2” Filter holder,
Cameras: main DSO ASI533MC; DSO guide ASI120MM; Planetary ASI224MC; DSLR Canon EOS100 stock.
Filters: Astronomik IR cut; Optolong L-Pro; Optolong L-Enhance.
Binoculars: Celestron 15 x 70.
Latitude: 52.219853
Longitude: -1.034471
Accuracy: 5 m
Bortle 4 site. https://maps.google.com/?q=52.21985,-1.03447
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
My astro club does a lot of schools outreach. The president was loaned one of these scopes by the astronomy/ astrophysics dept of the university of southern qld. He worked for the dept for many years and had only just retired.
He found it very useful for school group outreach. All the kids could use the
Saves them getting too bored while waiting.
They found it was so useful that the club decided to buy one for the outreach group's use.
I agree that it may not be the best scope for many applications but it does have its uses.
Joe
Amateur astronomer since 1978...................Web site : http://joe-cali.com/
Scopes: ATM 18" Dob, Vixen VC200L, ATM 6"f7, Stellarvue 102ED, Saxon ED80, WO M70 ED, Orion 102 Maksutov, ST80.
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Re: Overpriced Unistellar Gets Another Plug (not from me)
It could be argued that something like an ASIAir in Live mode on a more conventional scope with a detector of your choice could be a more affordable alternate.
Tony.
Smart Scope: Dwarf II - Club and outreach work.
AP Refractor: Altair 72EDF Deluxe F6;1x & 0.8 Flatteners; Antares Versascope 60mm finder. ASIAir Pro.Li battery pack for grab & go.
Celestron AVX Mount; X-cel LX eyepieces & Barlows 2x 3x, ZWO 2” Filter holder,
Cameras: main DSO ASI533MC; DSO guide ASI120MM; Planetary ASI224MC; DSLR Canon EOS100 stock.
Filters: Astronomik IR cut; Optolong L-Pro; Optolong L-Enhance.
Binoculars: Celestron 15 x 70.
Latitude: 52.219853
Longitude: -1.034471
Accuracy: 5 m
Bortle 4 site. https://maps.google.com/?q=52.21985,-1.03447
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