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Unfortunately, we have had no clear nights in the Pacific Northwest since the ‘scopes arrived (what else is new). A quick test on trees about 200 meters distant resulted in good views. Note the secondary mirror does cause a dark spot if your eye is not aligned correctly.

I’m looking forward to clear skies, but the long range forecast is not good.

Mike

April 21 – OK, last night was the first clear night since I got the ‘scope. I viewed Saturn, and although the ‘scope short focal length means lower magnification, with the included 4mm lens (approx. 70X), the rings were visible. The ‘scope handled well, and handled a large, heavy lens I have with no problems. I had my 10″ dob out also, and of course the dob gave a better view, but I enjoyed using the little ‘scope for scanning the sky. No moon up when I was out, so could not see how it looks. The 21024 mount is stable, and moved smoothly. I tried the included lenses, and then some better lenses from Meade and Orion. These performed better, but the included lenses are not bad for a first scope.

Mike

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The eyepieces that come with it deliver good images. But, the 20mm Huygens low-power “wide field” eyepiece that comes with it simply won’t do. It’s a narrow apparent-field-of-view eyepiece (20 degrees) that only delivers a 1.3-degree field of view. This would make finding anything but the brightest objects (basically the moon, Jupiter and Venus) an exercise in frustration. The 4mm symmetrical high-power eyepiece, in contrast, is fine. It delivers good images in an adequate .4-degree field of view.

Anyone buying this ‘scope would be well advised to buy a better low-power eyepiece, such as a Kellner, RKE, or Plossl, in the 20mm to 28mm range. Most astronomy sales outfits grossly overcharge for these eyepieces, but you can find bargains at the surplus optical sites (run a search for “surplus optics”) — I just bought a 27mm Kellner for $12.50 plus $5 shipping from one. One of these better eyepieces will yield a 3-to-4-degree field of view, which makes finding an object easy just by pointing the ‘scope in the general direction and sweeping until you find it.

From my heavily light-polluted backyard, the views of the brighter nearby clusters (Beehive, Pleiades, etc.) are wonderful in this ‘scope — its field of view is wide enough to allow you to view the entire clusters. I can’t wait to take it out of town next year to check out the summer Milky Way.

Finally, don’t bother with the accessory package. The eyepieces are almost certainly cheap Huygens eyepieces with very narrow fields of view; the finder ‘scope is a toy that’s useless if you have a decent low-power eyepiece; and there are good planetarium programs on the ‘net (such as Stellarium) available for free. You’d be much better off buying a decent medium power — roughly 10mm to 13mm — eyepiece from a surplus optics site.

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However, if you buying it to do astronomy (rather than to learn about optics), some advice :

1) Do *not* buy the accessory kit. There is no way you can get your head into a position where you could use the spot finder. Unless you are a squirrel.

2) *Do* buy some better eyepieces and a Barlow.

With the included eyepieces, Jupiter is a fuzzy orange circle. With a better eyepiece and a Barlow, I could see the bands, the Great Red Spot and the poles.

The weakness of this telescope is the included the eyepieces. However, in my opinion, you could throw them in the garbage and the FirstScope would still be a bargain. Eyepieces are replaceable, and you can use them on just about any other telescope.