Originally submitted at Telescopes.com
If you're looking for a dual-purpose telescope appropriate for both terrestrial and celestial viewing, then the AstroMaster Series is for you. Each AstroMaster model is capable of giving correct views of land and sky. The AstroMaster Series produces bright, clear images of the moon and plane...
Good beginner scope
Pros: Strong Construction
Cons: Poor Finder Scope
Best Uses: Astronomy
Describe Yourself: Casual/ Recreational
This is a good beginner scope. This is the second telescope I have owned and I find that the construction and quality are much better than the previous telescope I had owned. This scope is steady once it is balanced and will stay were you point it. It is very difficult to get this telescope on target with the finder-scope and lens which comes with it. The field of view for the lens is much too small. This telescope needs to have a few lenses included to allow the user to line it up with a lower magnification/wider field of view and work your way up to higher magnification/narrower field of view. I can not figure out how the finder-scope is intended to work. (How can you use both eyes to line up the telescope?) I line it up on the object I want to look at and it is no where to be found. Only after playing with Dec and RA controls am I able to find what I am looking for and when I look through the finder-scope it looks like it is still lined up. I am a noob when it comes to using telescopes but in my opinion this telescope needs more lenses with a wider field of view and a much better finder-scope. My other scope had cross hairs and it was much easier to get it right on target. I am sure this should be easier to use but I just don't get it. Right now it is way too cold to spend much time with it so perhaps as the weather warms up I may have more time to spend on figuring this out and perhaps I will get the hang of it.
If you have an older computer the software which comes with the telescope may not work. I tried it on two computers and it would not run as it stated it needed a better video card than what I have.
Even though I have stated several issues I have found with the telescope, I am still convinced that it is a good telescope and am happy with my purchase. It gives you a lot of bang for your buck. Like I said I have not had a great deal of time with it yet but once I have more time I am confident I will be able to work through the shortcomings. I do plan to purchase more lenses for it and possibly a better finder-scope.
(legalese)
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