Home > Consumer Reviews > Celestron C4-R 102mm Refractor Telescope

This was the first real telescope I purchased. The product description fits, but, as I found out later, I should have started with a good pair of binoculars. The mount is the culprit that caused me to give the telescope a 3 rating. It isn't the quality I expected from Celestron. After carefully carrying this heavy (equatorial mount) scope in and out of my van numerous times, there is evident play in the mount. Other than that, I have seen beautiful views of Saturn, Jupiter and Orion Nebula. Another problem is straight up viewing, virtually impossible. Would recommend a good pair of binoculars (7X50 or 10X50) and a dobsonian mount at least 8 to 10 inches for starting astronomers. As you may or not know, what you see in this telescope (as all others) will not look like the beautiful pictures in astronomy mags and books. It takes a lot of viewing to start dectecting any colors, and the size of the object won't be very large, other than the moon. I know I am adding a lot about astronomy, but I learned the hard way, join an astronomy club,and try out all the scopes they offer before you commit to something that will collect dust. Clear Skies, don

This is a good scope for the price. It provides refractor-sharp views of the Cassini division in Saturn`s rings and cloud bands as well as the shadow of the rings on the planet. I`ve also seen as many as 8 cloud bands on Jupiter and the two reddish equatorial belts. The bands look like they`ve been colored in with a very sharp pencil point. The 4 Galilean moons are easily seen and, with good seeing, the Great Red Spot is also visible. Also, views of the moon are contrasty and filled with lots of details. Mercury, the phases of Venus, Mars, 100`s of deep space objects, etc., are also easy targets. For instance, the Orion nebula is a spectacular sight with it`s greenish glow.

Most images are extremely clear, sharp and bright with almost no spurious color on bright objects. One has to sometimes look for the spurious color to see it.

IMHO, the mount-tripod seems to be fine even for high-power views if everything is tightened up all the way and vibration suppression pads are used. In fact, this makes for a very portable set-up which can be carried around pretty easily and can be ready for use at a moment`s notice.

Conclusion: This scope excels at showing low-contrast details. This is one of the refractor`s most superior features and is one of the main reasons why they often make better planetary scopes than other types of scopes much larger. The C-102HD is no exception!

For the money this telescope is hard to beat. The OTA is well made; the 102mm Achromat being housed in a adjustable metal lens cell. The tube has three internal baffles and has a nice focuser which will accomadate 2" eypieces. My focuser was originally rather sloppy but after tinkering with several screws it tightened up nicely and is now quite serviceable. It also includes a 5.5" removeable felt lined aluminum dew cap. The 30mm finder scope is to small and it would be good to replace it with 50mm. The equatorial head is solid and well matched to the OTA. It has the standard(rather small)setting circles with a vernier. The slow motion controls work fine with no backlash although the locks have to have a slight amount of tension otherwise there may be some slippage. It's also supplied with two conterweights one large and one small. The small weight tightend all the way to the end of the counterweight shaft leaves the scope perfectly balanced. The larger weight is to be employed if photography is desired. I added the single axis clock drive and it tracks well. Again there has to be a slight amount of tension(via RA lock)on the RA axis or there will be some slippage. The weakest point of this model is the aluminum legs. Aliminum has the advantage of being light but has a very low dampening coeficent. Thus, focusing at higher powers can be a challenge. My remedy to this problem was to add a JMI electronic focuser. Focusing is a breeze now as I don't have to touch the OTA when adjusting. Another alternative used by some is the addition of wooden tripod legs. The scope is supplied with a nice 20mm Plossl; But figure on buying a couple more plus a barlow as this scope handles 200mag. well. Optically it does very well on the star test with only a slight amount of spherical abberation present. Ronchi grating test shows sraight lines in and out of focus. There is some false color, as to be expected from an achromat, around bright objects. All and all a very nice package. I would have given a five were it not for the tripod. Keep in mind this is a telescope best used for planetary use and double star splitting. Deep sky object are best served by more aperture. So if that's your fancy consider a "light bucket"(Dobsonian). I have heard of some cases of people getting poor optics with this scope, but that seems to be the exception not the rule. So if that happens to you, send it back to the factory till you get a good one.
Cheers.

I finally had a clear night although it was a bit on the windy side, and I was very impressed with the performance of my C102HD refractor. I have never really had a real Telescope I alway's Fell to the ads of those high powered store sold 60mm. refractors, those are junk. I saw more on that one night than I have all of my life, I saw the Orion Nebula for the first time,it was great at 50 power with the 20mm. eyepiece, also the moons of Jupiter were very sharp plus the rings of Saturn, I also bought the Celestron accessory kit so I have plenty of options when it comes to power. I just can't say enough to express my delight with my new scope and probably can't say it right. But this a real quality item,and amazon.com is a great place to purchase it, they have great service and the scope came very well packed. So I would really recommend one of these scopes you will really be pleased and amazed at it's performance.

Ordered The C102HD but believe this is the newer version Celestron C4-R. On just one night of viewing, conditions hazy, Still able to view one of my favorites, Saturn. Cassini division easily visible, nice image at 160X, used one of my own eyepieces 12.5mm plus 2x short focus barlow. A band stood out and well wrapped around the planet. Did not notice any Chromatic Abberation on Saturn. The optics on this 4 inch objective are impressive for such a value priced telescope ! The Mount works very well goes and stops were you want it, the tripod is aluminum, not the stroger tube variety, making the works abit shaky, but otherwise supports well. Another favorite Jupiter started to rise but conditions changed to heavy overcast before I could give a better rating, the two large bands were well separated and detail was starting to appear then clouds moved in. Jupiter did produce some color distortion but not that objectionable to me. Only star tests were Sirius (brightest star in the heavens) and the companion to Polaris (North Star). Sirius did show some of chromatic abberation but not all that bad, Polaris at 160X was satisfying with its blue companion well placed. Managed to view a few open clusters but again sky conditions not favorable, will update in future. UpDATE: Yet to reach a dark sky, intown viewing, the famed Orion Nebula, beautiful flower-like, couldn't resist 160X on the also popular Trapezium (4 tight stars inside the Orion Nebula), actually an overkill at this power, stars filled with black between them, Very Nice! Just above the three star belt of orion is a fainter M78 Nebula,is much smaller, noticeably brighter than the ETX90.

Update: At last a view on Jupiter tho low in the sky above tree level, witnessed a Jupiter Lunar Shadow Transit, beautiful shadow at 160X ! Also for the first time detected a Jupiter Lunar Transit, the actual moon abit more difficult to see but was there ! You can find time tables on these events but a nice program called JupSat Pro keeps you posted in nice visuals and in real time, as well as when to view the Great Red Spot !

The Great Red Spot, actually saw the white area bulging around it, as unfiltered, spot not obvious but was a beautiful visual. Next night a small star party, one seasoned observor, thought he saw the Encke, I could see the Crepe Ring over the planets surface. Saturn is always a crowd pleaser and the new observors gasped as the Magnification was increased in increments of 50X, 100X, to 160X. Cassini was evident for all viewers.

Update: Famed Globular in Hercules M13 was simply majestic, huge even in the 20mm 50X eyepiece, abit higher power as 100X started to break down into stars just off center, averted vision gave clue to its beauty ! Well located objects easy for me but ones alone as M5, again another Globular, tho smaller, I was unable to locate, will invest in 60mm Finder and should help solve my delema. One of the holding rings on the telescope has the standard bolt to fasten a camera or in may case, the larger finder ! Already have fastened my PST Coronado (Solar, Sun, Telescope, Hydorgen Alpha Images as solar promences erupting from the sun), on windy days this works beautifully, can check review on this amazing item under my other reviews. Note Never Look Directly At The Sun Through Any Telescope Without The Required Filters, As Will Cause Permenant Eye Injury Or Loss!

Wish to say this is indeed a wonderful value telescope, looking forward to planetary sessions which this unit will surely excell, also the brighter deep sky objects will keep you busy. Have only an ETX90 with Autostar to compare images, the ETX might be abit sharper, but the 4 inch unobstructed objective quickly passes giving some beautiful viewing pleasure. This is not a highly portable telescope as is the ETX, but you can muscle the 40 plus pounds fully assembled short distances, very reason I personally like the smaller scopes, but the 4 inch adds more muscle in aperture as well. Would give this a higher rating except for the tripod. Deserves a 5 Star rating in Value Tho !! I'm excited about the whole system, would suggest a 6 to 7 mm eypiece as the medium-high powers seem to excel, looking forward to pushing the higher envelope (power) when conditions permit. Out of the box, this unit will be hard to beat in this price range !!