Tasco 302012 900mm Reflector


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Brand and Model:Tasco 302012 900mm Reflector
Price ($USD):289?
Type:Plain Refractor
Attributes: un-checked Go-To un-checked PEC
Aperture:110mm (4.3")
f Ratio:f/0
Focal Length:900mm
Finder:Plastic Imitatio
Electric Power:
Mount:EQ Mechanical
Tripod:Wooden
Weight (lbs):25 lbs.
Dimensions (w/h/d):
Description:

Vote Highlights Vote
Tasco 302012 900mm Reflector
Mention Tasco telescopes and you can't help thinking poor quality!
Poor optics,terrible 0.965" Huygens and Ramsden Eyepieces and a useless 5x24 finderscope that is stopped down to about 10mm(plastic imitation just about sums it up really).

Indeed the 302012 does come with a 5x24 finder and those awful eyepieces I mentioned(the more recent "Luminova"version has awful 1.25" H&R eyepieces and an inadequate EQ1 mount).However If you buy some decent quality eyepieces(this scope has a 1.25" focusser that comes with a 0.965" adapter,not all 0.965"ep's are bad either,I have some 0.965" orthos that take some beating)and a 6x30 finderscope or red-dot finder and make sure it is properly collimated,the result is a very good telecope which is better than many other similar models.

I owned mine for over two years and enjoyed using it a great deal,once I had made those minor improvements.My Son has now had the scope for three years and hasn't bothered me for another one yet,so it must be good!

I don't think you can buy the 302012 new now,the Luminova version has the same tube assembly,but does not have the sturdy wooden tripod and EQ2 style mount.I have seen the 302012 selling at very cheap prices second hand and can highly recommend this underrated telescope.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Mount:8 Ease of Use:9 Value:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=488856


Tasco 302012 900mm Reflector
The best telescope I have ever used! It cannot be beaten. I'd pay at least £200 for one, even second hand! If you see one on ebay, buy it!

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Mount:9 Ease of Use:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=411617


Tasco 302012 900mm Reflector
I bought my "302012" used on Ebay for $58.00 with shipping!! This was my third telescope. I previously had a Konus 114 Short Tube newt that nearly drove me insane trying to collimate it. The Konus mount was a bad set-up that was a major frustration too. The motor drive and stiff control stalks blocked the OTA in a lot of positions. I also had a Celestron 60mm Refractor that was a decent scope for lunar and planet viewing. Of these 3 scopes, the Tasco became my favorite. It is easy to collimate with a Cheshire, the "CG-3" style mount is a step up in precision from the "CG-1" and the images were outstanding. Mine has a 1 1/4" focuser and I use my Konus and Celestron eyepieces along with a Parks 2x Barlow. I got one Tasco eyepiece with it that was pretty crappy. Once I had it well collimated and cleaned up, the images were outstanding. I finally saw the famed "Cassini division" in Saturn - like a black pinstripe arcing through the rings. I've been observing Mars at 180X and can make out the polar ice cap along with the dark areas. The images are truly crisp and the colors come through nicely. I added a simple motor drive to the mount and can track objects pretty well. If I'm careful about leveling the tripod and doing a good polar alignment, I've tracked the planets for 20-30 minutes without making an adjustment. This telescope really taught me the hobby and provided exciting views. Its a shame that Tasco supplies such crappy eyepieces because everything else on the scope is pretty nice. With good eyepieces, the images are outstanding. For the price, it can't be beat.

Overall Rating: 6
Optics:7 Mount:5 Ease of Use:5 Value:9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=278928


Tasco 302012 900mm Reflector
Mediocre Primary optics,useless 0.965 eyepieces,5x24 finderscope is a piece of junk,bin it and buy a starpointer finder.Not that cheap in u.k £199-£249,why bother,when for the same price or cheaper,you can purchase a decent Tal1 or120.

Overall Rating: 5
Optics:5 Mount:7 Value:7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=139256

>Mediocre Primary optics,useless 0.965 eyepieces,5x24 finderscope is a piece of junk,bin it and buy a starpointer finder.Not that cheap in u.k £199-£249,why bother,when for the same price or cheaper,you can purchase a decent Tal1 or120.

Tal 1 is a fantastic scope I agree,the 120 is useless,you can't even collimate it.If you had tried getting a few decent ep's and changed the finderscope you'd have been surprised just how good the 302012 is!

Tasco 302012 900mm Reflector
Very good starter deep space telescope.

Picked up this one at a substantial discount ($75.00) from a local Wal-Mart store that was fire-saleing all of their scopes. Not bad.... this one was an obvious customer return (from at least 4 years earlier) and without docs, (cheesy star chart and moon chart was there though), but with about an hour or two of disassembly, and lubricating and tightening all of the right things on the eq mount, it seems to hold its own.

I can't complain about this thing because I got it so cheap.

However, the standard optics included do suck as is every other "stock" review of Tasco submitted here. Viewing Mars using the 2x barlow and the 20mm eyepiece is about as good as it gets. Going the next step to the 4mm results in only a fuzzball. I'm sure the mirror needs to be collimated, so this is sure to be a limiting factor here.

I do like the tall sturdy tripod, but the eq mount has it's limits when it comes to stability... but when you're "set" on your target, the adjustment knobs work great.

The plastic spotter scope is not that great, and have relegated the "center point", to actually midway in the field of about 230 degrees from center, halfway from center. Getting this thing dead center is almost an un-achieveable event. In view of the fact that this one was virtually "used", I'll leave well enough alone and just deal with it, simply because I've gotten used to the quirks of this thing already.

As for the rating I've suggested here, it's a little biased on both sides.

1. I only paid US $75.00 for this telescope, in that case I give it a 10.
2. If I had paid the list price of around $300 or so, I'd give it a 3.

Then again, what should I expect for an inexpensive scope like this?

So, I give it a 6.

I'm still happy with it and looking forward to the day when I buy some better optics, as well as purchasing a laser collimator to fix the mirror problem... BTW, at full 450x power using the 4 mm stock eyepiece, and the 2x Barlow, the moon really comes in with quite an amazing level of detail.

What on earth is there to a reflector anyway? Besides a good mirror, tube, optics, and a rock solid mount?

Individual ratings:

Optics: 5
Eq Mount: 6
Tripod: 10
Tube and Appearance: 10
Me looking at this monster dreaming of new optics and a properly collimated mirror: 10
Impressing Visitors that don't know anything about telescopes: 10000
(people think I'm related to Galileo... heh heh :-)

Good luck all.

Overall Rating: 6
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=41274

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