Jovian 90 WP Spotting Scope Package

Rating:
Summary: Parks Jovian 90 WP
Review: My Parks Jovian 90 WP package is a tale of two boxes. One box came with the scope, three eyepieces, finder scope, 45 degree diagonal, and the 2x barlow all neatly tucked in their custom fitted, hard sided, canvas type case. All of these are labeled with the Parks logo, and if your convinced of Parks quality, this box is truly impressive. It continued to impress even out of the box, delivering clear images at 150x, with promise of more. I am very pleased with the contents of the first box.

The second box however is a different story. The tripod and the tripod case, although labeled with Parks logo, lack in expected quality. When trying to lock the tripod onto an image, the tripod wants to flex, this of course shifts the image out of view. Locking onto a planet takes alot of trial and error. Often it is easier to leave the knobs a bit loose, and just hold the handle to keep image centered. This of course effects the image stability. The tripod case zipper isn't much better, it broke on only the second closing. Overall the contents of the second box are a bit suspect.

If and when the tripod gets locked down on image, there are some very sharp images to see. The moon at 150x is crystal clear. From amongst some bright city lights Jupiter's bands and at least 4 moons were clearly seen. Saturns rings came through very sharp and clear. I'm fairly new at all this so not sure how this compares with other scopes.

I have a budding interest in astronomy, but also wanted a good terrestial scope that could handle a hunting trip or two. Experience with assorted binoculars, monoculars, and rifle scopes leads me to say this is definitely a high quality scope. In good lighting it delivers very clear, very detailed images. At its higher magnifications the images are still sharp and full of detail. I've already ordered a 3x barlow to see how it does at even higher mags.

The Jovian 90 WP package attracted me because of its portability, quality of optics, completeness of package and cost. The tripod performance is disappointing but otherwise give a high rating for the telescope and accessories.