Just went to a begginers telescope class for people got one for xmas and dont know how to use it, around 11 people showed up, 5 were the 127 eq powerseeker, they were excited, they think they got a very good one because so many people did just hope they don't give up on their curiosity of looking up because of the complications than come with this telescope.

Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 7 posts:

• "Ed Ting reviews the internet's most hated telescope" by u/darkskymatters
• "If only I had seen this sub earlier. But thankfully refunds exist!" by u/IntrepidTension
• "All I want for Christmas." by u/Gusto88
• "Now you can have a Powerseeker in Meade-flavour" by u/walnutbrocookie
• "Happy Cakeday, r/dontbuyapowerseeker! Today you're 4" by u/AutoModerator
• "My Powerseeker 127eq correcting lens melted!" by u/lazzy_8
• "Is there any difference between an Astromaster 114EQ and a Powerseeker XX?" by u/Silverwhite2

I was given (for free, don't worry) a semi-complete powerseeker 127eq. Given that it isn't worth investing in replacement parts, does anyone have any interesting project suggestions. Maybe turning it into a monocular or something? Anything anyone has ever wanted to do to these but been too afraid to ruin?

Right now I've got: -telescope body -single eyepiece without Barlow -finderscope -equatorial mount

Don't have: -tripod -any other eyepieces -counterweight -slow motion cables

Thank goodness it's easy to cancel orders on Amazon

I ordered the Orion Skyscanner 100mm tabletop telescope instead, but now I'm nervous. It seems like anything that's reliable and has a large enough aperture to make the telescope fun is $250-$350. Are sub-$200 telescopes even worth it?

I have the Astromaster 114EQ and it's seemed to be OK so far. After I spent three days figuring out how to collimate it, the picture I see through it looks alright, but honestly I don't know what a better picture would look like, as I haven't yet looked through a better telescope.

I hear the Astromaster 114EQ has a spherical mirror, but apparently the spherical mirror has about the same performance as a parabolic one.

Okay so I didn’t know this thing was a piece of junk and the plastic part that holds in the correcting lens melted. Maybe I left the dust cap off in the sun? Well, any suggestions on what to do with this thing? Should I throw it away or try to repair it?

https://www.meade.com/catalog/product/view/id/190/s/polaristm-127mm-reflector-telescope/category/2/

Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 10 posts:

• "A modded powerseeker can split i promise" by u/talos707
• "Hi! I'm your local powerseeker!" by u/schorhr
• "Collimation requirements difficulty chart" by u/schorhr
• "My next telescope" by u/schorhr
• "Possumseeker" by u/schorhr
• "Three wishes" by u/schorhr
• "My PowerSeeker 127EQ Journey - From Christmas Delight to Easter Frustration" by u/Redditaurus-Rex
• "W" by u/TubbsterTV
• "So I managed to get the rings of saturn using a crappy powerseeker 80azs. Sorry can’t transfer images yet" by u/PerchloratePenguin
• "This sub saved me from buying the dreaded powerseeker!" by u/TheIndominusGamer420

So 2 years ago i got a 50mm powerseeker which i was absolutely excited for (i didnt knew a thing about astro backthen). My experience was bitter than i remember. Shitty tripod and control, low magnification and shitty tripod. I didnt get demotivated with that, though. I use to see moon for as long as can and try seeing planets(i never did but it was exciting). 2 years passed, and im fairly into astrophotography, by my luck. With a decent camera lenses, did untracked then tracked. Ok i wasted your time;can i use it for astrophotography? Not astro with that F/12 aperture but can i just do moon and planets?

So a few years ago, when I was young and stupid, I got a Celestron Powerseeker 80 AZS. And at first, I really enjoyed it, it helped me get into the hobby, BUT, it has a lot of cons that made me wish I saw this subreddit earlier. What pushed me into getting the 80 AZS?? Well as you would expect from an idiot tween: marveled by the pretty pictures on the box, the lack of options (Celestron was the only brand present in my country, the Philippines), and finally, the lack of research. Now I’m stuck with it, but trying to make the most of it. At least I could see Saturn.

I read many posts here that how awful Powerseekers are. But I am too late to come across this fact. I am already stuck with a Powerseeker 127EQ. I don't even have the option to return it now. Is there any way that I can use it and get satisfactory results? Or I just wasted my money?

So I have a 127EQ that I got a few years back as a gift. it's sat forever as a decorative piece in my living room, but since COVID I've got the bug. I got some good views of the moon and Jupiter this summer, but I can't aim the damned thing at much else with any success. My question is, can I 'save' this thing and make it at least cheap-mediocre with new eyepiece(s) and a new finder? I can get a good experience with the 20mm (I loved seeing 3 of Jupiter's moons for the first time!) but I find the 4mm totally useless and unfocusable, and I struggle with using the EQ mount with clutches that don't actually clutch that well. It also doesn't help that the finder-scope is dogsh!t and gets knocked out of alignment with the slightest touch. Aaaannnyway, would investment in some improved aftermarket components make sense, or just chalk it up to being a first timer and get a new one when I can afford it?

I'll admit, I should have come to Reddit before telling my wife what telescope to get me for Christmas. I am a total noob and went with the recommendation from a number of different websites & YouTube videos and asked for a 127EQ for Christmas - it was in our price range and seemed like a good "bang for buck" option.

I assembled it on Christmas Day and was lucky enough to have clear skies Christmas night to test it out. I will admit I had fun finding the moon and checking it out, but really struggled when pointing it at Mars - adjusting it was a real pain the the arse. "No worries" I thought "I just need to learn how to operate an EQ mount" and I packed it up for the night.

Over the next few months, I basically never got inspired to take it out again because I knew how much I had to learn to get the most out of it. However, approaching Easter we were going away out of the city and I was so excited to take my (still new to me) telescope out for some dark sky viewing.

In the lead-up I bought a collimating laser and had an incredibly frustrating experience trying to collimate - it took about 2 hours when the videos I watched suggested it would take 10 minutes. The screws seemed to be the wrong size for the holes and just wouldn't budge, I ended up getting blisters on my thumb & index finger from having to use so much torque on my tools to move the screws.

Then, when we got to our holiday destination I literally could not get the mount set up. Basically, the thread where the giant hand screw went in under the tripod to secure the mount to the tripod was stripped and it could no longer tighten - it just spun lose and the whole mount would fall off. This was the first time I had disassembled and reassembled since Christmas so I have no idea how it happened on the ~2 hour car trip. Given how badly sized the collimating screws were, it wouldn't surprise me if there was a thread mismatch between the hand screw & mount as well.

So, with the blisters still not healed from my collimating attempt, I sadly packed the scope away and knew there would be no telescope fun this trip.

When we got back from our trip, I contacted Amazon to see what we could do. It was outside the return window, however due to the faulty mount and Australian consumer law they offered a refund. I had to pay $160 AUD to ship it back to the USA, but Amazon has reimbursed that amount and provided a full refund as well.

It wasn't until the telescope was on its way back that I finally started digging around to see what scopes people recommended. I had never heard of dobs before, but after much research and searching through second-hand sellers I managed to get my hands on an 8inch GSO dob (branded as Bintel in Australia).

I have had it for 4 days and have already had one night of amazing viewing on the only clear night we've had. Tracking and focusing is a breeze and everything about it is 100x easier and 100x more impressive than the power seeker. As it was second hand I collimated it which literally took 5 minutes with zero blisters.

I am so happy that the mount broke and I was able to get a full refund. I think my astronomy hobby would have died an early death had I continued to try and use that piece of junk. It was so fiddly and hard to use, I just wasn't excited about getting it out (which is why it sat in the corner of my lounge room for 4 months untouched). Right now, I just can't wait for the next clear night to take my dob out again. I can actually focus on learning the sky and what is out there, rather than fighting with a piece of crap mount and scope.

TLDR - Got a PowerSeeker 127EQ for Christmas, had a terrible time and barely used it before the mount broke. Got a full refund and recently got an 8 inch dob to replace it. The difference is night and day and I couldn't be happier.

From a complete astronomy newbie.