Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescopes for Adults Astronomy, 60mm Aperture 830mm Catadioptric Compound Telescope

I was looking for a small scope for travel. Small enough to go on a plane. I was not expecting too much for $99 (60 mm version), but was pleasantly surprised. Let me summarize: pros: 1. small enough for travel on an airplane. 2. good optics. The included eye pieces suck (always with small scopes. see below. Large scopes usually don't even include eyepieces). BUT, with my high-end Baader 13mm or my 7mm Astronomics 100 degree ultrawide I get fantastic views. 3. unlike other scopes in this price category, small body and fairly long focal length. The tube is about as big as a large (0.5l) beer can. A 830mm refractor would be 3ft long, at least. 4. At this price you don't expect a usable tripod, but I find this one quite sturdy. Sure, a bit wobbly with extended legs, but anything less wobbly would weigh 10 times as much. Simple trick: hang a weight in the middle and it will be much better. Or put it on a table with short legs. Also more comfy in most situations. 5. The alt/az head is quite sturdy and fairly accurate. Not a goto, but hardly any slack and neither too fast or too slow. Of course, fine tune knobs would be nice, but at this price point? cons: 1. A 45 degree prism would be better than the 90 degree it comes with to stay out of the way of the finderscope. A decent 40 deg prism is $25 at Amazon, get it. 2. The finderscope is flimsy, as expected. I'm trying to put a laser pointer into its holder instead for easier pointing. I'm also considering mounting (velcro or magnet) an electronic digital angle finder on top, so I can adjust the azimuth of objects before starting to hunt. 3. As I said, the eye pieces suck. Get better pieces. At a minimum "SVBONY 4mm 10mm 23mm Telescope Eyepieces Lens Fully Coated Lens Accessories Kit 62 Degree Wide Angle for 1.25 inches Astronomic Telescope" for $40. The 4mm will be barely usable (too much magnification for this small scope, but may be ok for moon and planets). Note that apparent field of view (AFOV) matters more than magnifications. mag = 830mm/xxmm, so for the 10mm you get mag=83. True FOV is the AFOV/mag, so for the 62deg SVBONY TFOV=62deg/83 = 0.75 degrees. The moon ois 0.5 degrees wide, so you just fit the moon. Unfortunately pieces with large AFOV get expensive, but they are a good investment because they fit pretty much any scope. Note that 23mm is about the lowest useful magnification (mag=36, TFOV=1.7 deg). Just OK for large objects like clusters (Pleiades) or the Orion nebula, but larger TFOV requires 2 inch barrels. Maximum magnification is around the 4mm, mag=200, limited by the optics. I'd say mag=100 is about usable for a 60mm, that's what my 7mm Astronomics does just fine, but at a price. 4. The focus knob is just about OK. A bit too fast, 2x slower would be better. Summary: In spite of the cons, which are rather minor, and the $99 price tag, a great value. Excellent for beginners and kids, but even serious amateurs will get something out of it because it's small and easy to set up. If the extra $100 and extra weight/size don't bother you I'd say get the 80mm (gets ~2x the light), otherwise the next step up would be a 100mm or 120mm (4-6 time the light) but at considerably more cost. Better get good eyepieces first.

I have several telescopes and this one is becoming one of my favorites. Easy to move and set up. Images are clear. Takes a second to realize that the focus knobs are on the top and bottom when it is mounted sideways. I love the hand grip for making quick moves and the fine moving knobs for staying on the object. Well worth the money. Quality scope.

I purchased this telescope as a Christmas present for my grandson. At the sale price posted I was not expecting the level of quality I received. The optical tube assembly (OTA) is aluminum, which is necessary to support the thick meniscus lens at the front end that Maksutov-Cassegrain telescopes are known for. As such, this is not a lightweight dime store scope. The OTA has an aperture of 80mm, and a focal length of 850mm, resulting in a focal ratio of just under 11. This means that objects such as the moon and planets are the intended targets (less so for galaxies and nebulae). An 80mm aperture would support a theoretical maximum power of 157x, but the choice of included eyepieces (10 and 20 mm) yields more realistic magnifications of 85x and 42x. (If higher powers are desired, any standard 1 and 1/4 inch eyepiece can be used.) The included eyepieces are well made and deliver a pleasing image and a reasonable field of view. Since this telescope was also designed for terrestrial viewing, the manufacturer included an amici prism star diagonal rather than a mirror diagonal, which means that images viewed through the scope are correctly oriented visually (up/down, left/right) rather than left/right reversed. The scope has twin focus controls, which operate smoothly. Also included is a small finderscope, which must be mounted and aligned with the main scope (not a particularly easy task). It also does not include a star diagonal, which means the image is upside down--potentially very confusing for a beginner. A phone accessory is also included for taking pictures, but this is likely to result in excessive shaking of the image. The provided mount is an alt-az, which means that motions are up/down and left/right. The large handle can be used to swing the scope in the desired direction of the target and then locked in place. Target acquisition is completed using the slow motion controls on both axes. The inclusion of slow motion controls is absolutely critical in a higher magnification telescope, which sets this particular telescope apart from so many others offered at a similar price point. Many reviewers have pointed out that the tripod is too light and results in a shaky images. This is true only if the tripod legs are extended. For a tripod of this size and weight, it should only be used on a tabletop with the legs fully retracted. If used in this manner the image is quite stable. If a user needs a full height viewing situation, the scope is also equipped with a vixen-style dovetail mounting plate, which can be used with almost any tripod designed for astronomy. One small caveat: because the scope mounts on the left side of the tripod base, all the weight is on that side, resulting in imbalance and a potential for the tripod to tip over. If used with legs retracted, make sure that one leg is located directly under the OTA to prevent this from happening. This is a quality piece of equipment for the price. A better tripod and finderscope would earn it 5 stars, but would also probably increase the price significantly.

This telescope has plastic screws. I had them snap with little effort. Amazon customer service was useless and said their hands were tied and could not help me in the replacement parts or sending a new one without me disassembling, re-boxing and going through the boxing and driving to UPS to sending back to them. HUGE inconvenience for cheap defective products. I am unhappy and disappointed in my lost hour and a half of back and forth with 6 agents at Amazon to get zero results that were accommodating to me as a customer. Who does customer service like this, in this economy and still wants you to return as a customer. Look for something of better quality if you don’t have time to deal with the consequences. As for Horox please use metal screws!

El mejor telescopio que podras tener por este precio, la calidad optica es realmente muy buena, no vas a conseguir una mejor imagen por este precio, el telescopio por ser catadiotrico no tiene aberracion cromatica, aunque la montura es altazimutal viene con unas perillas de movimiento fino que nos permiten hacer un seguimiento muy preciso de los objetos que observamos, incluso con esta montura he sido capaz de hacerle seguimiento a un avion en movimiento sin problema. la luna se ve con un nivel de detalle increible, jupiter veras las franjas de nubes en la superficie y podras ver los anillos de saturno. El buscador aunque es basico, tiene una base que nos permite alinearlo de una manera muy facil ya que tiene 2 tornillos para ajustar y un resorte que mantiene siempre ajustado el buscador par que no se suelte totalmente.

It's a nice beginner telescope. Has nice knobs for observing but 4 in very small makes planets very hard to keep in view, but once you get used to running it and using it, it's well worth $199

Can see the balls on a pool table across the Hudson River.

Impressive daytime contrast for a small Maksutov telescope. I like the novel quick focus mechanism. Finder works good enough for what it isn't. Nice mount/tripod combo. Easy slow motions. A bargain @ $94. The optics really are good. I made telescopes for a living, so... Glad I got one. Light to move around.

Very nice and portable, did purchase aditional lenses and a barlow X2

Good value, limited aperture, but good for moon and planets. Nice slo-mo controls but tripod a bit on the flimsy side. Good package for the price.

Excelente, muy portátil y fácil de usar

A fine telescope . I am pleased with it

No lo recomiendo porque no tiene buena calidad de imagen y venía roto el plástico del lente secundario y venía medio rayado el lentey venía medio rayado el lente