Is the Celestron Nexstar 114 GT suitable for a 10 year old?

I want to get my 10 year old a telescope for her birthday.
I wanted to get one from my local Orion store, but
unfortunately the store near me (walking distance!)
keeps bankers hours, and I can't get there when it's open.

I saw that Costco is selling the Celestron Nexstar 114
for $200 (should have got it when it was on sale earlier
in the year, oh well). While I wasn't really looking for
the GoTo feature, maybe it would be okay.

Is this a really junky scope? I can order on-line
from Orion, but I'd rather be able to buy it today or
tomorrow.

Bear in mind that the computer mechanism adds fragility and complication.

On 13 Nov 2003 19:03:03 -0800, (Steven Scharf) wrote:

I want to get my 10 year old a telescope for her birthday.
I wanted to get one from my local Orion store, but
unfortunately the store near me (walking distance!)
keeps bankers hours, and I can't get there when it's open.

Order it online.

I saw that Costco...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

...is selling the Celestron Nexstar 114
for $200 (should have got it when it was on sale earlier
in the year, oh well). While I wasn't really looking for
the GoTo feature, maybe it would be okay.

Is this a really junky scope? I can order on-line
from Orion, but I'd rather be able to buy it today or
tomorrow.

Alan

Steven,

If you have an Orion store within walking distance of you, you'd be
crazy to buy anywhere else (IMHO). BTW, you'd also be crazy to but the
Costco/ Celestron 114. As a previous post said, the computer adds parts
that will be a challenege to learn, and an even bigger challenge to keep
operational.

Costco/ Celestron = cheap, flimsy, frustrating = no (or frustrating)
stargazing for you and your daughter.

An Orion (or other decent) 6 or 8" dobsonian reflector = simplicity,
stability, ease of use and better views of the heavens. You and your
daughter will actually enjoy such a scope.

Avoid the costco scope like the plague.

Clear skies,

Pat

Steven Scharf wrotIf e:
I want to get my 10 year old a telescope for her birthday.
I wanted to get one from my local Orion store, but
unfortunately the store near me (walking distance!)
keeps bankers hours, and I can't get there when it's open.

I saw that Costco is selling the Celestron Nexstar 114
for $200 (should have got it when it was on sale earlier
in the year, oh well). While I wasn't really looking for
the GoTo feature, maybe it would be okay.

Is this a really junky scope? I can order on-line
from Orion, but I'd rather be able to buy it today or
tomorrow.

Steven,

When my 7 year old son started showing a strong interest in astronomy, I
wanted to get him set up. I already owned a NexStar 5 (far superior to the
scope that you've mentioned below), yet I still went out and bought a 6 inch
dob for him to use. The one I got was the Deep Space Hunter 6" from Hardin
Optical. The Orion would also be a good choice.

The main issue that I had with getting him going on the NexStar is that the
scope is nearly useless if you don't get it aligned properly. Now I can get
it aligned and going in 30 seconds, but I doubt my son could do it by
himself.

Also, it's inconvenient to just wander around the sky with a goto scope.
Others will probably disagree with me, but I find it tedious to have to slew
the scope manually. Basically, if you see something in the sky that you
want to look at, you have to set the slewing speed up, and then use the
buttons to get the scope in the general area. Then, once you're close to
the object, you have to change the slewing speed again, down to finding or
centering speed as you zero in on it.

Goto scopes are great if you know the name of what you want to see so that
you can select it on the had controller (and my 3 other scopes are all goto
scopes). But my son's favorite thing to do is to point the scope at
something bright in the sky and then wander around the area looking for
double stars or interesting asterisms.

Finally, I would like to briefly comment on something below: Celestron
itself does not equal cheap, flimsy and frustrating. Celestron makes many
different types of telescopes, and most of them are quality instruments with
a good reputation. Unfortunately, they also make some "junk" on the low end
(so does Meade, by the way), and the ones that Costco is selling fall into
this category.

I hope that this information is useful.

Good luck,
-Wade


"Pat Nealy" wrote in message
...
Steven,

If you have an Orion store within walking distance of you, you'd be
crazy to buy anywhere else (IMHO). BTW, you'd also be crazy to but the
Costco/ Celestron 114. As a previous post said, the computer adds parts
that will be a challenege to learn, and an even bigger challenge to keep
operational.

Costco/ Celestron = cheap, flimsy, frustrating = no (or frustrating)
stargazing for you and your daughter.

An Orion (or other decent) 6 or 8" dobsonian reflector = simplicity,
stability, ease of use and better views of the heavens. You and your
daughter will actually enjoy such a scope.

Avoid the costco scope like the plague.

Clear skies,

Pat

Steven Scharf wrotIf e:
I want to get my 10 year old a telescope for her birthday.
I wanted to get one from my local Orion store, but
unfortunately the store near me (walking distance!)
keeps bankers hours, and I can't get there when it's open.

I saw that Costco is selling the Celestron Nexstar 114
for $200 (should have got it when it was on sale earlier
in the year, oh well). While I wasn't really looking for
the GoTo feature, maybe it would be okay.

Is this a really junky scope? I can order on-line
from Orion, but I'd rather be able to buy it today or
tomorrow.

I saw that Costco is selling the Celestron Nexstar 114 for $200 (should have
got it when it was on sale earlier in the year, oh well). While I wasn't really
looking for
the GoTo feature, maybe it would be okay.

There have been some long threads on this scope, in my view I would avoid it.
The GOTO has some flaws in it, though it does work, the optics are not great.

MY suggestion would be to somehow find a way to get to the Orion Store.
Depending on your price range, there are several options that might be good
choices.

jon

Some things to consider:

a) 114 mm is too puny to see a damn thing.

b) Goto is immoral. She will not learn the sky.

c) Buy her a 6" Dob.

You know, John, there are other ways to learn the night sky than pushing
a Dob around. My first scope was an LX200, and I seemed to do OK. In
fact, my memory of object locations comes mostly from my photography --
I never forget the composition of a photo I take. So it seems as though
the GoTo scope was the perfect way for me to learn the sky.

Lighten up. When you give extreme opinions, they're often discarded.
I've learned that myself, many times ;-)

macnmotion

John Henderson wrote:
Some things to consider:

a) 114 mm is too puny to see a damn thing.

b) Goto is immoral. She will not learn the sky.

c) Buy her a 6" Dob.

Lighten up. When you give extreme opinions, they're often discarded.
I've learned that myself, many times ;-)

macnmotion

John Henderson is one of Shawn Grant's alias's and best to avoid responding to
him/her/it.

One can learn the sky many ways, but I think Starhopping certainly forces one
to learn it while GOTO makes it possible to avoid learning how to navigate.

jon isaacs

"Steven Scharf" wrote in message
om...

While I wasn't really looking for
the GoTo feature, maybe it would be okay.

If the GoTo isn't the main reason you want to buy this scope, then don't
consider it any further. Learning the nuances and shortcomings of these
inexpensive GoTo mounts is both a challenge and a frustration. It takes
determination, and once mastered you are left with a scope that can point
all over kingdom come, that doesn't have the aperture or optical quality to
show you half of what's in the database as more than an indistinct smudge,
or blurry blob.

Having said that, there _are_ objects that look good in smaller apertures,
most notably open clusters, and the little Nexstars in general can tell you
a lot about how you feel about using GoTo, for not a lot of money.

I think these are okay as a project for the experienced person wanting to
experiment with GoTo, and that they're an okay scope for introducing a teen
with an inclination for astronomy and a love of technology. But, you might
have to help them get through the nuances and frustrations..

Personally, if money were an issue, I would buy my kid the largest Dobsonian
that was short enough for them to stand comfortably at the eyepiece, and
then help them find stuff. But, I know how to do that.

(Actually, I'd get my kid a Nexstar 8i, or an LX-90... I could use the
excuse!)

-Stephen