My first goto scope ever. Have a look around my homepage, the page is full of images taken with the ETX-70. Somehow the optics are fitting perfectly to (modified) webcams, thereby offering a comparably cheap option to astro-imaging, especially deep sky.
The first nights out, as I remember, were pure fun. By now it's a while ago that I bought the ETX-70, together with a very simple (flimsy) tripod, a 2xBarlow lens, the #494 autostar hand-box and an electronic eyepiece (the dealer tricked me on this, he put a NTSC version into the box, remember, I am living in Europe, where also his store is located – some 30km from my place). The scope came with two eyepieces, a 25mm MA and a 9mm MA and... a compass.
I loved being on my old flats balcony browsing the sky. Optical parameters f=350mm D=70mm resulting in f/5 are making an ideal small rich-field scope, and this is what the telescope is. Looking at open clusters reveals the real power of the little instrument. The eye-relieve of the provided EPs is very comfortable. H and χ Per are an experience... so are M45 (Pleiades) and M44 (Presaepe). A respective result, considering the light pollution of the place and the small aperture of the telescope.
For prime-focus webcam-ing the ETX-70 appears to be ideal. Mounted on the provided simple tripod, up to 10sec exposures are no problem at, have a look around on my webpage, you will find an introduction to alt/az-data evaluation using IRIS. For longer exposure times the ETX-70 should be mounted on a wedge (e.g. the deluxe tripod available from Meade).
I am very happy with the performance of the ETX-70, in all aspects, portability, visual performance and photographical performance. The only draw-back, it is very energy hungry! Batteries (accumulators) do not last for long, have a look at my EXT-70 power supply page to find a solution...
Unfortunately a good portion of the power
the EXT-70 requires, is converted into noise. Fast motor motion
sounds like running coffee-grinders, tracking objects is still not
silent at all...
The beep of the autostar hand-box can be
disabled, which is recommended if you wish that neighbors will talk
to you after extensive night-time use of your ETX-70.
For visual observations the ETX-70 can be used without electricity, when loosening the clutches. The short focal length combined with a low power eyepiece ensures a lot of fun, just gazing around. The ETX-70 is not a telescope I would recommend someone being interested in planetary observations. The instrument should be in the hands of someone interested in larger objects. Techniques such as averted vision should be learned in order to be able to see fainter objects as nebulae.
In my opinion the ETX-70 is not a beginner's scope, the more experienced you are the more fun you will have with the gadget.
Last modified Feb. 6th 2005