ASSEMBLY
Although, there weren't a ton of parts to put together and it was pretty straigtforward as far as what goes where, it wasn't always clear which way to screw things in. I always follow "righty tighty, lefty loosey" lol. But that didn't seem to work. Still, we were able to put together both telescopes in under 30 minutes.
USE
I'll preface this by saying my son and I are still really new to using telescopes. We had a slightly cheaper one several years ago, but haven't used one in a long time. We do NOT know the easiest way to find celestial objects.
I will say that this telescope is more powerful than the one we had before. We were able to see craters on the moon using the 25mm lens.
However, it was really hard (and super frustrating) to even get to that point. Despite the fact that we're new to this, so the telescope as a tool is only useful if we know how to use it, the telescope itself makes it difficult to use. First of all, the tripod is super short. It's less than 2 feet tall, so unless you have a table or some other surface to put it on, it's hard to get to the level of the eyepiece without holding it or propping it on your leg. And that isn't the best way to do things because if you move AT ALL, you can lose focus on the object you were looking at.
Another big problem is that the mount lock knob (the part of the telescope that is supposed to hold the telescope steady while you look through it) doesn't work at all. We tightened it as much as it will go and even then, if you move the telescope, the whole telescope will flop forward. Boom, you lost focus on whatever you had taken time to locate through the eyepiece.
I'm going to remedy this by buying another tripod that will be taller and hopefully have a way better mount lock knob.
ACCESSORIES + EXTRAS
The telescope comes with a few extras.
Map of the Moon.
It's cool. Unfortunately, most of the words are too blurry to make out. And I don't wear glasses or corrective lenses, so I imagine it's even worse if you have poor eyesight.
Star Map.
I would have assumed, it would show the constellations, but what it actually shows are the sun/planets, some info on them (diameter, rotation, surface and central temp, distance from sun, # of moons, etc) and how much you would weigh on each one. It's a cool extra, but if the listing actually mentions it and calls it a Star Map, know that it's probably not what you are expecting.
Telescope Phone Adapter.
I was excited about this because I wanted to be able to take pictures of what we can see through the telescope to share on social media. However, my phone is a newer version, so it has a camera with 3 lenses. The adapter also won't stick to your phone if it is in any kind of protective case, so you have to take your phone out of the case to use it. If your phone is like mine and has the camera off to the side, instead of in the top center of the phone, it won't really work the way it's designed to.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
We bought this when it was on sale. It was around $50. I think it's great deal at that price. I think if I'd paid full price for it, I would have been disappointed, though. The main problem for me is that the mount lock knob doesn't work and the tripod is way too short. I could have lived with the tripod being short, since we can set it up on a table or on my car. But the mount lock knob is making it necessary for me to buy a different tripod altogether.
That aside, I think the telescope itself is pretty powerful for the price. We were able to make out craters on the moon. Couldn't get a good picture of it with my phone, but I'm going to try to figure that out. You can also look at terrestrial objects like animals. My son was amazed at how much detail we could see on a squirrel that was a good length away from us.
I'd say it's a good investment for beginner telescope-users. Just know that you won't be able to just point and see. You should probably watch some videos or read something aside from the manual in the package to learn how to use a telescope.
You will also probably find that you need to invest in a better tripod to get the best use of it. The length of the tripod is far from ideal, but the biggest issue is that the mount lock knob is useless.
PICS INCLUDED
I'm including a pic of:
- The assembled telescope. I tried to get a pic of it with the telescope part pointing forward, but because the mount lock knob doesn't work, the telescope part immediately flopped forward. That's the issue I described above and the reason I am buying a new telescope. My couch in the pic is a standard-sized one, so you can get an idea of how tall the tripod is. It's extended to it's full height.
- The picture I was able to get of the moon (during daylight hours) with my phone. It wasn't very good.
- A picture of the Map of the Moon.
- A picture of the Star Map.
- A picture of the Telescope Phone Adapter.