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Bigger then expected but quality is outstanding - Review by Daniel
Excellent Customer Service with scope arriving within 2 business days of ordering (I must admit I was slightly skeptical of this claim).
Caution, for those new to astronomy, the scope is much bigger then it looks in the pictures and much heavier. The scope came in two large boxes and the best part of these boxes were scope and tripod.
The set up was VERY quick and easy (I am no handyman) with the entire setup complete from out of the box to observing ready in 30 minutes. There were a couple of quirks however such as having to remove two screws from the optical tube assembly (OTA) in order to install the mounting bracket for the finderscope and the differing positions for the accessory tray (one of those duh moments). A point also is that once all the bits and pieces were attached it can take no more then five-ten minutes from OTA and tripod assembly to alignment to observing, it really is that quick. This is important if you have kids (or impatient adults) etc who don't want to be standing around for 30 minutes while you are fumbling around in the dark trying to set everything up.
In my opinion however there is one unforgivable error with this product. It comes supplied with a 12V car adaptor to power the motorised fork mount. There is NO internal battery. For a couple of bucks they could have either chucked in an adaptor that could be plugged into the mains or at the very least explained how to do it correctly. This can (and is my experience, was) be an issue as the motor in the scope is quite picky when it comes to drawing power. I plugged my scope into the mains with a 12V adaptor and found that although the motorised mount worked it was clearly sub-optimal (and would not align). This could be that the power coming from the mains is different to that supplied by the car battery when run through an adaptor but I am no electrician. In either case you either have to be within distance of car (around 5 metres max I think) or purchase a portable power supply (more $$$). This is my main gripe about the scope otherwise is a gem.
The scope is large but portable. If you intend on driving to dark sites to observe just be aware that while it may fit in the boot of a small sedan/hatchback, if you are bringing along kids, camping equipment etc space will be a premium.
If you are planning to do astro-imaging (especially deep sky objects) you will need to buy an equatorial wedge. This is because while the scope does track objects in the eyepiece, during long exposure photography, the object will rotate around the field of view (due to earth's rotation). This is not an issue of you are observing only or doing short exposure work.
In terms of optical quality, the scope did not need to be collminated. Images are sharp and detailed with the supplied eyepice but as always, the better quality eyepieces etc will really show how good the scope is.
The build quality is also very impressive.
Overall it is a larger then expected scope that is very quick and easy to use and one which will give you years of enjoyment. (Posted on 21/07/10)
Caution, for those new to astronomy, the scope is much bigger then it looks in the pictures and much heavier. The scope came in two large boxes and the best part of these boxes were scope and tripod.
The set up was VERY quick and easy (I am no handyman) with the entire setup complete from out of the box to observing ready in 30 minutes. There were a couple of quirks however such as having to remove two screws from the optical tube assembly (OTA) in order to install the mounting bracket for the finderscope and the differing positions for the accessory tray (one of those duh moments). A point also is that once all the bits and pieces were attached it can take no more then five-ten minutes from OTA and tripod assembly to alignment to observing, it really is that quick. This is important if you have kids (or impatient adults) etc who don't want to be standing around for 30 minutes while you are fumbling around in the dark trying to set everything up.
In my opinion however there is one unforgivable error with this product. It comes supplied with a 12V car adaptor to power the motorised fork mount. There is NO internal battery. For a couple of bucks they could have either chucked in an adaptor that could be plugged into the mains or at the very least explained how to do it correctly. This can (and is my experience, was) be an issue as the motor in the scope is quite picky when it comes to drawing power. I plugged my scope into the mains with a 12V adaptor and found that although the motorised mount worked it was clearly sub-optimal (and would not align). This could be that the power coming from the mains is different to that supplied by the car battery when run through an adaptor but I am no electrician. In either case you either have to be within distance of car (around 5 metres max I think) or purchase a portable power supply (more $$$). This is my main gripe about the scope otherwise is a gem.
The scope is large but portable. If you intend on driving to dark sites to observe just be aware that while it may fit in the boot of a small sedan/hatchback, if you are bringing along kids, camping equipment etc space will be a premium.
If you are planning to do astro-imaging (especially deep sky objects) you will need to buy an equatorial wedge. This is because while the scope does track objects in the eyepiece, during long exposure photography, the object will rotate around the field of view (due to earth's rotation). This is not an issue of you are observing only or doing short exposure work.
In terms of optical quality, the scope did not need to be collminated. Images are sharp and detailed with the supplied eyepice but as always, the better quality eyepieces etc will really show how good the scope is.
The build quality is also very impressive.
Overall it is a larger then expected scope that is very quick and easy to use and one which will give you years of enjoyment. (Posted on 21/07/10)












