Celestron Astromaster 130EQMD MOTOR DRIVE Telescope

Rating:

I bought this for my partner as a Christmas present and he is over the moon with it. It hasn't been used yet but its all built, ready and waiting. Its substantial piece of kit that will need protecting while transporting. Can't wait to take it out and see the night sky.

Rating:

A bit above entry-level, this EQ mounted reflector is designed for lunar and planetary observation and exploration. The optics are good although there've been no suitable nights for observation in the last month since purchase; it comes with 20mm and 10mm basic eyepieces, the 20 with a righting prism ideal for whole lunar observation.

The mount is disappointing: once the clamps are free enough to allow movement there is significant play and wobble; the drive unit has no clutch system and locks out any fine adjustment unless disengaged with a screwdriver, and then it's tricky to re-engage it - you just have to adjust by moving the tube around by hand and, with the play, it will be pointing somewhere a bit different once you tighten the clamp; there was significant scratching and chipping to the paint on the mount when unpacking - well packed, so I imagine this took place during manufacture.

This might be a dodgy mount but it's pretty crude to adjust and the design of the drive - so that you can have drive or fine adjustment but not both - is poor.

So good optics but some disappointments.

Rating:

Quite like this item. I found it easy to set up. As a newbie to the hobby, I need a lot more practise on alignment and viewing, but had first big lunar view and found it amazing

Rating:

This telescope was recommended as a quality telescope for the beginner. However this is not an unpack and go product. There is quite a lot of fiddling to do to get setup but when you do, it's just superb. The mirrors were completely misaligned out of the box which could be due to rough handling during shipping. The realignment of the mirrors is again fiddly and needs heaps of patience though not in itself difficult. Worth persevering with.

Rating:

Really brilliant quality and easy to use super fast delivery to Northern Ireland also!

Rating:

I had been looking for this telescope for ages as a Christmas present and they were sold out everywhere, picstop had it in stock just a few days before the big day, I wasn’t expecting delivery before Christmas but it arrived in just a couple of days... thank you.
The telescope was easy to put together as my 13 year old daughter had no problems putting it together and although she is still finding her feet she has managed to see the moon very clearly and stars too..

Fantastic purchase.

Rating:

The service from the sales team and delivery was fine.

Building the telescope was a bit of a challenge even for me an experienced engineer. The pictures and names of the parts are poor and old fashioned.

The unit comes with a CD.... Hmmm who has a CD player nowadays?

I bought this for my wife and we have started out on the wrong foot with her thinking this is all too complicated. She of course has an ipad, and is bitterly disappointed there is no app for this, and most likely she will have to use my PC to see what the free download is.

Do you have recommendations for the ipad that will help us use the scope?

The starfinder has proved impossible to set up so far.

Rating:

Cheapest on line. Delivered on time no complaints whatsoever. Will deffinetly use again.

Rating:

The telescope is adequate for the price. The red dot finder is useless. I have removed the motor drive as it kept getting stuck on tripod when turning telescope.

Rating:

Great product with high quality.fast delivery and appropriate price.I recommend,especially for novice astronomers!