Konus MOTORMAX-130HM

Ratings:Top:Astronomy:Equipment Reviews:Telescope Reviews:Konus MOTORMAX-130HM

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Brand and Model:Konus MOTORMAX-130HM
Price ($USD):569
Type:Maksutov-Cassegrain
Attributes: un-checked Go-To un-checked PEC
Aperture:5.1"
f Ratio:f/15.4
Focal Length:2000mm
Finder:10 x 50
Electric Power:9v
Mount:EQ
Tripod:2" Steel
Weight (lbs):12
Dimensions (w/h/d):
Description:China or Taiwan made Maksutov Cassegrain. comparatively light to my reflector. Pretty good optics. Sold as APM 130mm and Sunlong 130mm too.

Vote Highlights Vote
Konus MOTORMAX-130HM
Very nice little scope. I have been observing the gas giants with it for 4 months now, and am impressed with amount of detail visible for only a 5" scope. Under steady conditions, Jupiter shows very fine details with the excellent contrast typical of maksutov designs. The coatings appear very similar to those used on the ETX and LX-200's by Meade. The focuser is very smooth with little image shift. Star tests show textbook diffraction pattern on both sides of focus. The focus knob is very large, making it easy to achieve fine focus at high powers, unlike the Orion Starmax 127 and ETX 125, both of which haver very frustrating focus knobs.

The mount is very similar to a CG-5, and more than adequate for this little scope - vibrations and damping times are minimal. Tracking appears to be good. That being said, the mount has a few drawbacks. The mount is extremely stiff, due to the sticky grease used in it. I took mine apart and re-greased it with lithium grease, and it now is very smooth. Also, the corrector is counter-intuitive to say the least. The slewing and tracking speeds on both axis are controlled by a thumbwheel - this is to say that tracking speed is not independant of slewing speed. Definitely quirky, but not hard to get used to. I would have preferred the CG-5 type corrector (slew speeds independent of tracking speeds). Nonetheless, the mount is very stable and tracks well.

I recently got a chance to compare this side by side to the Orion Starmax 127, and the Konus provided much better images on both the moon, and on Saturn.

Although I now own four scopes (this is the smallest) , I think this is one of the best values out there right now. This scope is so easy to setup, and provides such good images, that it has become my most used scope for my planetary observations - and you know what they say about the scope you use the most!

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:10 Mount:5 Ease of Use:6 Value:8
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=349451

Konus MOTORMAX-130HM
I have had the 130 now for 3 months and I use it more than

any scope I own, and I own 5 diffrent scopes. The optics

are great and the ease of use is good. I would give it high

marks overall.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:8 Mount:5 Ease of Use:7 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=363038

Konus MOTORMAX-130HM
scope is a over all good value for the buck. needs better
instruction manual.

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:9 Mount:5 Ease of Use:3 Value:8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=351105

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