Overall Rating: 7
Optics:6 Value:8
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date: 04/16/2002 08:36:33 am PST
By: mtburr
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=82835

>Lots of false color on my copy. Jupiter looks like it's boiling in purple ink. But this is not a planetary scope. It gives nice wide-field views for looking at clusters, and I imagine it would perform admirably as a spotting scope -- which, after all, is what Celestron says it is!

Dear mtburr:

Pop a 9mm Nagler on this scope (make sure to tighten the drawtube screw) and look at M42 in at a darksky site and you'll see its forte.  It is definitely not for the planets, and shows color on bright stars, but then again, you get what you pay for.  I have had mine for almost 7 years and take it on trips for nature and stars. It was great for Hale-Bopp with a 20mm wide field (i.e. 20x) and views of the Pleides are outstanding.
ch