Celestron CR150-HD

Ratings:Top:Astronomy:Equipment Reviews:Telescope Reviews:Celestron CR150-HD

 Info  Votes  Messages  More Stats  Up One Level
Vote
First Prev Page 3 of 5 Next Last

Celestron CR150-HD
Hi! I've just ordered a Helios Evostar 150 here in England, which is the same as the Celestron CR-150HD. All your comments were very helpful in my choice - and the fact that I previously owned the 120mm (4.7inch) version of this scope meant I know what quality I can expect - very good! More when I receive the scope and have the chance to give it a good shakedown. Stuart Williams, Bloxwich, England.

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39927

Celestron CR150-HD
Since this is the identical scope to the Skywatcher 150 including the mount (which I have) go to the Skywatcher 150 reviews for my extensive review posted 10-19-2000.
Bob Berta

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39928

Celestron CR150-HD
Great scope for the money! But I think that the PRONTO will give it a run for the money!

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39929

Celestron CR150-HD
A Pronto couldn't get close to my Skywatcher 150(same as the Celestron). And I'm not just talking about planet observing,
but the Pronto would be way out of it's league with deep sky objects. Remember, if both scopes have good optics(which
mine does) aperture ALWAYS wins.

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39930

Celestron CR150-HD
To the above post, I own both the Pronto and the Cr-150-HD. In the real estate business it's "location, location, location." It's "aperture, aperture, aperture" with astronomy. The only real reason that I still have the Pronto is because I can't "carry-on" the 6" and put it in the overhead compartment or under the seat on the plane. I've modified the 6" with the JMI Motofocus unit, hooked up the dual-axis drives, mounted it on a pier, put a Telrad on it, stuck a 2" Televue diagonal in it and with a 35mm or 27mm Panoptic in this baby, I'm cooking.

Heck, my wife even comes out of the house now and says, "Wow".

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39932

Celestron CR150-HD
I've owned many telescopes in the last 25 years or so. Each have had their advantages and disadvantages. As many of you are well aware, there is no perfect scope. My CR 150 HD was purchased about 3 months ago, and is definitely one of the best scopes I have ever owned, as it excels in many different areas. I wanted to wait to write this review to give myself time to put this scope through its paces and give an accurate account of its capabilities. The OTA is large and heavy, but very well-built and attractive. I mount it on my CG5 with hardwood tripod legs I built myself. The CG5 is just a tad too weak for this size scope, but it holds up fairly well. With my hardwood legs, it dampens out in about one second when the legs are closed, and 3 seconds when fully extended, which is very acceptable. I use a Celestron single-axis drive, as I mainly am interested in visual observation. The focuser works well, but I removed the stock grease which is very thick, and replaced it with white lithium grease. I had to play with the tension screws until I got the feel I wanted. There was one serious problem with the scope that I became aware of early on. I noticed that the defocused star image was circular on one side of focus, and slightly elliptical on the other. I soon discovered that this was a collimation problem. The objective lens was not out of alignment; it was the focuser mechanism. When I inserted a sight tube into the focuser, the cross-hairs were way off. To compensate, I removed the focuser and elongated the holes in the OTA where the bolts attach the focuser. This gave me some lee-way to adjust the focuser relative to the objective. I put lock-washers and regular washers under the bolts, lined everything up with the sight tube, tightened the bolts, and the star images became circular on both sides of focus. If you have this problem, be sure to performm the test without the diagonal, as that may introduce astigmatism on its own. Once the collimation problem was fixed, the scope performed very well. The star test is excellent. The defocused star images appear nearly identical inside and outside of focus. There have been times when I have walked away from the scope for whatever reason, returned, and been unable to tell whether the image was inside or outside of focus at first glance. This is especially pleasing to me, because several refractors I have owned in the past didn't even show rings outside of focus, let alone being close to the inside of focus image. How about actual optical performance besides the star test? Pretty darn good. A 12.5mm Ultima eyepiece shows clean separation on the double-double. Jupiter is amazing; the GRS is easily visible although more of a pale salmon color these days, numerous bands are seen, and the moons look like moons instead of stars. Saturn is awesome; the Cassini Division is always visible, even in lousy conditions. The Crepe ring is seen when the seeing permits. On one extraordinarily steady night I got glimpses of the Enke Minima at 240X using a middle-of-the-road 10mm plossl and a Celestron Ultima barlow. The Orion Nebula is very nice at all powers. With a wide angle 2 inch eyepiece, it is a sight to behold, even under moderate light pollution. The moon is incredible, and very sharp even at high power. As for the chromatic aberration, there is some, but it's inherent in a F/8.3 refractor system. It is very well controlled, and with a light blue and light yellow filter, it disappears completely. Remember, this is not a Takahashi or an AP, and one should not expect color-free performance. However, for the price, you can't beat it. It will crush a C-8 on planetary performance, and not be far behind on deep sky. It shows much more detail than a 100 or 120mm refractor, due to the extra light gathering capability. Will a 4 inch apo show it up? Definitely, on color correction. As far as planetary detail, I think the CR 150 would do better, despite the secondary spectrum. This OTA goes for $500-$600. Will a $2,500 4 inch apo be $2,000 better? I'd honestly like to put the two side by side to see. Anyway, I have heard of some CR 150 lemons out there, so if you want to purchase one, get it from a dealer willing to hand-select one or to swap yours out if you get a bad one. I would highly recommend this scope if you have a substantial mount, room to store it, and the energy to carry it outside. (It IS big and heavy.) The 9 rating is due to the collimation problem which SHOULD have been checked at the factory. I would never have sent this back, however, because the optics were so good. On a whole, an outstanding value.

Tony Cannata

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39934

Celestron CR150-HD
I ALSO OWN THIS REFRACTOR AND I LOVE IT, EXCEPT FOR THE TRIPOD. I GOT AROUND THIS BY MAKING A PIER MOUNT FOR MYSELF. I HAVE MY SCOPE ABOUT FIFTEEN FEET IN THE AIR SITTING ON A CONCRETE COLUMN IN HAVE IN THE CENTER OF A TEN FOOT HIGH DECK THAT I HAD BUILT SPECIFCALY FOR MY SCOPE VIEWING. THE PIER MOUNT IS INDEPENDENT OF THE DECK SO THAT I WILL NOT GET ANY VIBRATION TO MY SCOPE. I HAVE SPENT NUMEROUS HOURS OBSERVING WITH THIS SCOPE,AND LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT. I ALSO HAVE A SKY SENSOR 2000 ON MY SCOPE , AND IT WORKS FANTASTICALLY AS I SAID I SPENT NUMEROUS HOURS JUST VIEWING ALL THE MESSIER OBJECTS THAT I CAN SKY SENSOR IS GREAT, AND SO IS MY CR-150. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMEND BOTH PRODUCTS TO ANYONE. I'M BLESSED.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39935

Celestron CR150-HD
I wrote a previous comment on my cr-150. I just would like to ask someone out there if they could help me with a problem that I might or might not have. When I go out viewing with my scope all my views of the moon, star clusters, and nebulas are very good. when I view jupiter and saturn, it seems that I can't really get them into focus the way I think I should. I was just wondering if there is some kind of test to do, to see what is causing this problem. I have been hearing about there being some lemons out there. I'm an amature and would like to use my scope to its fullest potential. How would I know if my scope needs to be collimated? I appreiate someones response to guestions.

thank you,
Tony Carraturo

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39936

Celestron CR150-HD
Tony,

I think you've just discovered the perils of chromatic aberration! Brighter objects that lack extensive angular diameter will be difficult to achieve optimum focus with an "uncorrected" refractor of such aperture. This is the drawback you must live with, unless you'd rather pay $2500 for a TeleVue or other high-performance 4" refractor. It must be remembered that chromatic aberration is nothing more than a doublet lens' inability to bring all colors of the spectrum to focus at the same time...thus, you are left with images that are essentially slightly out-of-focus, and the contrast suffers. It is much easier to distinguish this problem on smaller, brighter objects, thus the explanation for why the other objects you mentioned look OK.

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39937

Celestron CR150-HD
Tony Carraturo: Email me at "scopewiz@aol.com". I can help you with your problem. Tony Cannata.

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39938

Celestron CR150-HD
I've found that a Watten #8 (very light yellow) filter helps quite a bit to reduce chromatic ab. A #12 kills it totally but yellow then becomes the dominate color.

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39939

Celestron CR150-HD
I have read all of the "raves" here. In fact, Ive seen enough ccd
& film (lunar/planetary) phots done with several CR150's to say
I'm impressed, but ... lets get down to brass tacks here!
How does this CR150 really do for stellar work ... binaries?
I keep reading "pinpoint" in the reviews ... well how pinpoint?
Please be as specific as possible. Frankly, I will be surprised
if this cheap scope is as "pinpoint" as some of you are saying
but I would be glad to be proven wrong. How does this CR150
really stack up as a "stellar" performer ... binary resolution?
Be as specific and concise as possible ....
Thanks very much!
JW

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39940

Celestron CR150-HD
dear jw:
go get one and find out for yourself
do like i did and order the ota and pair it with an everbright w/ Naglers

p.s. do not look at vega using 750x you will be disappointed

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39941

Celestron CR150-HD
I have had the CR-150 HD since Nov. 2000 and it has mostly lived up to my expectations.The main drawback is the cheap tripod.Very shaky at even medium powers.I have seen a couple of improvement to try without having to purchase a pier or heavier tripod. Also, the diagonal is real cheesey.I would think that a company of Celestrons stature would do better quality control.The very big up-side is the optics a phenominal in a refractor in this price range. The images are sharp(even with the cheap diagonal).I turned it on M-31 and the central bulge was as bright as I have ever seen it.I also have a reflector and thought M-42 was a very good image with it.Now I'll say O.K. after comparing the image to the CR-150.I never saw so much detail in it and other deep-sky objects.I don't regret this purchase at all.Got mine from Astronomics and had a couple of part problems that were rectified very promptly.If anyone has any suggestions as to how I can solve the tripod problems please e-mail me at:royfludd@yahoo.com. If anyone is considering purchasing this scope,please don't hesitate.I think you will be surprised.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39942

Celestron CR150-HD
As a potential purchaser of this scope can anyone give me a detailed description of the planets Saturn and Jupiter through the scope at 300x or greater magnification? If you use a 2x barlow lens will the false color from the doublet lens be reduced significantly? Has anyone used a TeleVue Zoom with the scope--if so do the images viewed greatly degrade using a zoom eyepiece? Thank you!

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39943

Celestron CR150-HD
Hi everyone..I am considering the purchase of this telescope as well as the Celestron 102EQ, Meade 4" ACR300 Refractor, and the Orion 120 Skywatcher 4.7" Refractor. I already own a Nexstar 8 and a Meade ETX90EC. I am curious as to how portable this telescope is as well as how it performs on Jupiter and Saturn. i love looking at the planets and want to add a Refractor to round out my telescope collection. Is this telescope too big for the average person to set up and breakdown? What about storage? I do not have a garage. How are the images? I appreciate your help!!! Thank you!!!


Please e-mail me at: jeffk1965@sega.net

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39944

Celestron CR150-HD
To the post above: Try looking at the 37 posts above yours!

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39945

Celestron CR150-HD
I have looked at them but I was hoping for more information on its portability.

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39946

Celestron CR150-HD
In answer Spider, I generally "shop" before I buy. Ive generally
talked to 14 CR150 owners beyond reading these posts. All rate
the scope high in lunar-planetary performance, handles high mag-
nification surprisingly well on lunar-planetary, all said the
scope excells over a C8 in this catagory in terms of detail seen
and optical stability under poor seeing (a sign of a good refrctr)
and the cr150 ccd and film work Ive seen showed very high image
quality at high power, in fact it was this ccd and film work that
stunned me somewhat for what by most standards should be an average
quality general use telescope. With this alone given the cost Im
inclined to say this sounds like a good choice, except for the
high weight. All say this scope is "heavy" and requires at least
a GP to mount for real strability so if you dont mind a little a
little vibration and lower portability this scope sounds like a
good option. This is probably not a portable scope, strictly
speaking? Likewise as already noted most people replace the 2lb
dew shield with a homemade plastic version - one wonders if the
designer had 'lens cell and dewshield' on the brain and if so
that may have been a good focus since the lens design seems to
perform well by all accounts, which of course is the heart of
any worthwhile refractor telescope! Concerning "pinpoint - sharp"
stellar images however, not one owner I have talked to has failed
to finally admit they 'stop down' the 6" ap. to 5 or 4 inches to
achieve "their" ... pinpoint star images. The good news is, one
owner I spoke with who does do binary splitting said he was sur-
prised how easily and cleanly with good contrast, his cr150 split
the double-double (Ly) at low power .. after stopping the scope
down to 4 inches. At 5 inches he said the split was less clean.
At the full six inches at high power he said the split was
"muddy". This same general theme was conveyed by all of the other
cr150 owners I spoke with. In fact one owner commented to me:
"If I could get the brightness I get with a C8 and the sharpness
I can get with my cr150, that would be a really great scope for
the money". So what we are talking about here are averages and
this refractor may stack up well in that catagory, if you can
handle the weight, poor stock mount, and have space to store?
jw

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39947

Celestron CR150-HD
I find that this scope is a very good planetary and globular cluster
scope. The CG5 mount is good and the drives are also good. The only
bad thing is that dam tripod.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39948

First Prev Page 3 of 5 Next Last

[Click Here to Login]
Don't have a login? Register!

Checking Your Telescope
Starting out in Amateur Astronomy
 
How to use This Site
Why Register?
[Get rid of the ads!]
Voting Guide