Orion StarMax 102mm EQ Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope

Rating:
Summary: A pretty cool, pretty powerful little telescope...
Review: I've owned one of these for a couple of years now, and find it to be a pretty good scope for the price. The Mak-Cass design provides a tremendous focal length (1300mm)which means that you can attain alot of magnification per eyepiece used. Alot of magnification... This scope does a good job resolving detail on the Moon and gives decent views of the planets, but it's no rich-field scope- not by any means. I get much better views of nebulae and glalxies through large aperture binoculars. One just doesn't get alot of light thru this tube. Increasingly powerful eyepieces will dim the view exponentially. But this is true of any scope, so don't let that keep you away from this great little scope! It's a snap to set up and the Equatorial mount it comes with is very good. This is a scope which requires very little tinkering with, so you will carry it outside alot more than some bulky, complicated scope. More time under the stars is what it's all about. The Sirius 25mm Plossl eyepiece it comes with will give you 52x in this scope. Best to get some others so you can vary your magnification. Orion offers the back-yard astronomer good quality for the price. It's no Questar, but it's not $7,000.00 either!!! A good
Newtonian reflector with 6 inches of aperture or more will give you better deep sky resolution, but those are big, heavy tubes and folks find lots of excuses for nor hauling them outside onto the back porch on a cold night. The best scope for most of us is one that we'll use alot, and this scope is super-portable! Dark skies, a good planisphere and a cool scope like this one and you're ready learn about your universe. Saturn is overhead tonight, and it looks AWESOME...

Rating:
Summary: An Informal Review
Review: Pro:
- Looks deceptively small, but good power for beginners.
- Sturdy construction: feels really solid.
- Excellent optics - passed the star test near perfect!
- Back to basics: nothing fancy, but this thing simply works.
- Looks beautiful even sitting in a corner!

Cons:
- Don't think that small tube means portability: the mount is too bulky to take camping with you.
- High magnifications add significant vibration to the view.

Conclusion: Highly recommended!


PS:
I was really drawn to those fancy scopes with computerized navigation, but I am glad I bought this fully-mechanical device. Star-hopping and manually navigating the sky is the best way to actually learn about constellations and space. If you are over 16, spend your dollar on quality optics and sturdy mechanics instead of gee-whiz computer controls which reduce astronomy to a slide show.