Bushnell Northstar 300 x 90mm Motorized Telescope w/ Real Voice Output

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Product Details

Product Manual [3.54mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 28 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0001GMIS0
• Item model number: 78-8890
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank

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  #9 in	Camera & Photo > Accessories > Telescope Accessories > Motor Drives
  #11 in	Camera & Photo > Binoculars, Telescopes & Optics > Telescopes > Catadioptric

• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 4, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Bushnell's NorthStar telescopes offer amateur astronomers state-of-the-art computer-driven location and tracking capability with simple, push-button control. With a built-in data base of 20,000 celestial objects, you simply call up your target on the hand-held control module, enter a simple "Go To" command and the NorthStar computer does the rest. Once locked on, tracking the object for prolonged viewing is automatic. Our innovative RVO (Real Voice Output) feature provides a fun, interactive way to explore the night sky. The remote, hand-held control module features red, backlit push buttons and a red, illuminated LCD read-out for easy viewing without impairing your night vision. The telescope also features our new 1x wide-angle, red dot finderscope. Additional features include a quick-release tripod and accessory tray for fast, easy assembly.

Specifications

• Magnification: 60x and 300x
• Objective lens: 90mm
• Mount: Kinematic
• Eyepieces: 4mm, 20mm

Tech Talk
Maksutov-Cassegrain: A design that utilizes a spherically curved front lens element in conjunction with a similarly curved primary mirror. This configuration provides incredibly sharp images in a compact folded-light path package. The total optical system provides a focal length much longer than the actual optical tube body length. GO TO Computerized Star Locator: This feature utilizes an on-board computer and advanced motorized technology to allow you to quickly locate and automatically follow over 20,000 pre-programmed astronomical objects with the touch of a button. Educational descriptions of each object are also provided. Barlow Lens: An auxiliary lens that increases the power by a factor. For example, a 2x Barlow doubles the magnification of the telescope.

Product Description

Computer-driven 90 mm Maksutov GoTo NorthStar Telescope with remote automatically finds planets and more. SAVE BIG BUCKS! Explore deep space without guesswork! Amateur astronomers can now locate hundreds of deep-space celestial bodies up-close and personal with simple push-button control. Powerful Scope has on-board computer-assist tracking with warp speed and precision. Along with a built-in data base of 20,000 celestial objects, you simply call up your "target" on the hand-held controller. Enter an easy "Go To" command. And presto, the NorthStar computer does all the rest, hassle free. Look, there's Jupiter's moons. How about a glimpse of Saturn's rings? Once locked on, tracking an object for prolonged viewing is automatic. It's the next generation of cutting-edge viewing! Plus, you can focus on saving, thanks to my special overstock purchase! Details: Real Voice Output provides a fun, interactive way to explore the sky; 1,250 mm focal length; Includes 4 mm and 20 mm eyepieces; Erect image diagonal mirror for land viewing; 1X wide-angle red dot LED finderscope; Remote, hand-held controller has red backlit buttons and a red LCD read-out for easy viewing at night; Full size, quick-release tripod; GoTo computerized tracking uses a 9V battery (not included); Kinematic mount; Accessory tray; Weights: Body: 3 3/4 lbs., Remote: 1 1/2 lbs. and Tripod: 8 1/2 lbs. Space, the final frontier. Discover the fun, now made easy as pie. Order Today! NorthStar 90 mm Maksutov GoTo Telescope

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Satisfactory optics...completely lacking documentation..., March 20, 2007

By	Amerature Astonomer (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews

All in all a great backyard scope for those getting interested in Astronomy. The optics are good for planet viewing and star gazing. Deep sky objects will be faint so don't expect Hubble clarity. Moon gazing is unbeatable and Saturn is quite clear even without any filters. A good filter/lens kit really makes this scope go a long way. Once set up the "Go To" software works pretty good. Sometimes it says we are there and it requires a little hunting and pecking to find as it is just out of the field of view. For the money (Sam's club had these for as little as $200 on sale) this scope is a great starter. The cons are the complete lack of documentation included for set up and alignment procedures as well as total lack of any kind of support on Bushnell's web site. Even the astronomy links on the site are bad (as in do not work). Shame on you Bushnell for not properly supporting what is an otherwise very good product for the money. Value 10/10 Construction 10/10 Ease of use 7/10
Portability 10/10 Optics 9/10 Included accessories 6/10 Documentation 2/10
Website 0/10. Hope this helps. I really like it and would recommend it for the 200 - 300 price range but no more.

3.0 out of 5 stars Better than department store quality, July 20, 2009

By	Daniel C. Houser "houseman" (Glenmoore, Pa United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a decent telescope for the money and is a great instrument for a beginner or an amateur who needs a light weight portable scope that can perform reasonably well. Its a cut above those department store, Tasco specials. The 25 mm eyepiece that comes with scope is nice but the 4 mm is a joke because with the focal length of this telescope, it would magnify at 300x, which is way beyond its capabilities. I suspect they included that so they could advertise 300x for the uninformed. The 1.25 inch eyepiece adapter means you can upgrade to better eyepieces, if you so desire. I use a 12 mm eyepiece which I bought from Orion that gives me 100x and can really do the job on the moon, planets and the brighter Messier objects.

The red dot finder needs to be aligned at first, of course, and works well on brighter objects up to magnitude 2. Its a bit tricky on fainter objects since they cannot be seen through the plastic lens of the finder. You need to align to an area rather than the object and use your 25 mm lens to scan.

The biggest beef I have is with the GoTo unit. It often is inaccurate and takes you to an area close to the target and you end up scanning anyway. The worst thing is the red backlit LCD display with black letters. The red is so dark you can't see the letters in the dark so you end up using a white flashlight to read it which defeats the purpose. The voice narration is also annoying, after a while. The GoTo, is however, good for tracking objects as the drift across the sky.

1.0 out of 5 stars Save up for a much better telescope, December 30, 2007

By	F. Campbell "Doc Morbius" (East Coast) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This had the potential to be a nice way for my daughter and I to explore the night sky. But I cannot recommend this scope for several reasons. First, it is almost impossible to align the tracking scope with a centered object in the main scope making the next steps impossible. Second, the backlight LED display for the handheld computer is a very dark red and impossible to see - even in my very dark backyard. I fail to understand Bushnell's point in using a display you cannot see.

Save your pennies and purchase a wider aperature telescope if you really want to see celestial bodies.