Customer Reviews

Konus 114 x 900mm Motor Electronic EQ Reflector Telescope

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I'm a novice when it comes to telescopes and this ended up being my first one. I had looked around quite extensively for awhile, trying to find as much information on a scope as I could. I found this one for a good price used so I picked it up.

My goal for this scope: to look at the lunar surface, to spot deep space objects such as nebulas and galaxies, and probably the most important, look at other planets in our solar system.

It was a breeze to set up -- it didn't take me long at all following the instructions included with the scope. Where it got difficult for me was calibrating the finder scope to be exact with the actual telescope, but this is mainly due to my inexperience with telescopes and not because of the item itself. Note however that the finderscope uses a red dot to point, making sighting it in during the day quite difficult.

It is a reflector scope, which means that it reverses the images (just like looking into a mirror), so navigating around the night sky will take some getting used to. The moon looks upside down in it and I found that panning around while looking at the moon was an excellent way to get acquainted with the control knobs. When I received this scope the batteries were dead in the motor and I've yet to replace them, so I can't say how well the motor works. According to the instructions you'd have to calibrate the scope to work with the motor correctly, so I'm assuming with the correct calibration the motor will work perfectly.

The first planet that I've observed was Saturn just the other night with the two eyepieces that were provided. It was a splendid site. You couldn't make out much detail on the surface of Saturn or in the surface of the rings, however, Saturn was just below the moon, which was fairly bright. On a darker night I'm sure more details would become visible. I would recommend buying a Barlow lens to go along with the ones provided, to allow a little more magnification.

Overall, if you're a beginner, this scope is pretty decent. The fact that it is a reflector may throw you off and will take some getting used to--don't expect to jump right in and start viewing a bunch of DSO's and other planets right away. Once you become accustomed to the controls (and get the finder scope aligned, which is key!) you'll be enjoying yourself immensely. If this is your first time ever with a telescope, consider buying a good pair of binoculars to go along with the scope --it's much easier to find what you're looking for first in the binoculars, which will enable you to find them easier with the telescope (smaller field of vision in the eyepiece). If you purchase this telescope and take the time to get accustomed to it, you will love it.