AstroMaster 130EQ–MD Newtonian Reflector Telescope for Beginners – Aluminized Mirror – Motor Drive to Track Stars – Adjustable Tripod – Includes Eyepieces Plus Astronomy Software Package

Long but hopefully informative review. Honestly, this thing can be easy and can be a pain to assemble at the same time. The majority of it was honestly put together for me. I got it with the motor drive, which was already set on. I did still look up on YouTube on how to put it together because instruction manuals can only show so much. So if you want to I recommend looking up "Astro Tourgide". Epically if you're a beginner! The materials used with this feel pretty tough. Doesn't feel cheap at all. The starfinder little red dot wasn't the easiest to get aligned but you'll get it after a little time. The telescope will take time getting used to and is like anything else. Chances are you're not going to be perfect at it first time. For your first telescope, you can't go wrong. You will need to buy a Barlow lens for it, I went with a 2x Barlow lens. You'll also need to buy the planetary filters for it, if that's what you're trying to do. NOW FOR THE SOLAR FILTER! Check out "Thousand Oaks Optical". Please do NOT cheap out on the Solar Filter. Do NOT try to look at the sun without the filter or even with the end cap on the telescope. I don't know if they're all the same size tube, but from what I can tell, the solar filter would be 6.50". I haven't ordered it yet but I'm about to and will update this when I'm for sure. In the long run. If you're trying to find a telescope when you're just starting out, to me this would be a good one to choose.

Pros: * Once it's set up, it produces some nice imagery. The views are relatively clear. * If you set up the red dot finder correctly (YouTube it), you can find pretty much any major star you could see easily with the naked eye. Don't expect anything more, though. * Price -- If you're using this review to determine whether to purchase one, understand: You get what you pay for. The value you get with the imagery for this price range is hard to beat. Period. Please understand that before you read the cons. Cons: * The tripod is shaky. I rate it a 3/10. It's not stable at all, and even with shock absorbers on the feet, you basically have to use this scope hands-off or it's unusable. * EQ mount. To be fair, it's a true EQ mount. However, the engineering quality on the mount is poor. If you want to aim it, you have to manually point it in the right direction. To fine tune it, you can use the RA fine-adjustment knob, but the other knob only works with limited travel. I haven't had a chance to study it and figure out where the bind is, but there's simply too much play to make it useful. I rate it 2/10. * The motor. The motor's mounting location severely restricts how you can turn the scope. Plus, when you have the motor on, you can't use the fine adjustment knob, rendering the ability to fine tune the sighting so the motor can do it's thing useless. Final thoughts: * If you're not imaging, don't get this model. Get the regular AstroMaster 130EQ. It's a great scope, but the motor is not good on this mount / tripod setup. * If you ARE imaging, don't do like I did and get the camera adapter and think you can just go and take great pictures. It's impossible for this stand/mount to balance a SLR. The mount is too unstable / low quality to hand-hold. Go with a lightweight camera -- either amscope or celstron, or get a webcam adapter. * You'll have to fine-tune the red-dot to use it. It took me several sessions before I figured out how to set it properly, and even then, it was more luck than skill. * To really get the most out of this scope, you'll need to buy some better optics. I bought a Barlow 3x and love it. Celestron has some accessory kits, so do some research. If you're really worried about the $$ of upgrading the optics, I think you'd have a hard time buying a reflector scope out of the box that's any better without spending $500. For this price range, it's a decent starter scope. My wife and I like it.

Great first reflector, I have two refractors. EQ mount will require practice if you have never used one. Good laser dot spotter scope, take the time to align it at higher magnification. Alignment wheels cannot be locked, I secure with tape after aligning. Invest in zoom and Barlow lenses; eliminates need to swap lenses while learning the telescope, and doubles your magnification. Motor drive is good, but don't use it until after you learn the telescope. You will want to upgrade the other lenses eventually, start researching early. This is a great hobby I am finally getting back in to.

Fungerade precis som jag hade förväntat mig, bra produkt

ay, mars, jüpiter ve satürn üzerindeki detaylar, bazı kuyruklu yıldızlar ve bazı meteorlar, yakın çift yıldızlar, sönük yıldızlar, bazı yıldız kümeleri, bazı nebulalar, bazı galaksilerin spiral kolları, bazı yeni genel katalog (ngc) ve indeks kataloğu (ic) nesnelerini gözlemlemek için mükemmel bir başlangıç teleskobu. Kargo çok hızlı geldi.

Todo inicio requiere aprendizaje. Me costo hacerlo funcionar en un principio y después de adquirir un lente barlow 2x y otros lentes adecuados, comence a realizar oservaciones planetarias, luna y otras estrellas. No he realizaddo observaciones de cielo profundo, después las realizaré. Buena adquisición, buen precio.

He comprado mi primero instrumento astronomico por curiosidad, sin conocer nada de telescopios, dado el precio bastante barato y el tema que me gusta. Los oculares y el buscador inclusos son un poco débiles, pero se pueden ver facilmente varios planetas. Para ajustar los espejos con precision (el espejo secundario estaba completamente desajustado), he comprado en Amazon un "Cheshire" de Celestron tambien, que facilita la procedura. La montura equatorial necesita un poco de practica, pero parece de buena calidad. Luego he comprado en Amazon.es un ocular Ploss de 4mm y otro buscador de Celestron Firstscope (ver el sitio Web inglés del Astromaster para saber como montarlo) que sea un poco mas potente. En el campo, ademas de los crateres lunarios, he visto Saturno, sus anillos y un satelite, Jupiter, sus bandas y 3 de sus satelites, Venus y Mars. Me queda todavia a utilizar el motor de la montura y a buscar objectos que no se veen sin instrumento.

Company were very supportive and helped without any problems.