Skywatcher Telescopes

Reviews

This is my first telescope and I couldn't be happier with the overall quality of the construction and ease of setting up, no tools required. This is a great starter telescope for the money paid with no extra taxes and free shipping how could I complain it was a great deal in my opinion.

Overall this was a good purchase. My son is a new star gazer and this is just what we needed. It was easy to put together. It took a little while to find something in the sky. We could see the moon great and even make out its craters. I wish we had more magnification--can get more lens for extra purchase however. It is a sturdy telescope and we are happy with it so far. As for delivery, it was here the next day--that blew my socks off!!

the quality of the item is OK. I am looking for a suitable power telescope to look more details on the planets near us. This item can not do it. I used a camera with digital zoom to look at the moon, the result is better than using this item.

The telescope tube is good, but the only bad on this part is the tripod stand, it does not tighten the telescope to a particular location, it should have been more sophesticated and easy to tighten up. I am not at all happy with the tripod

I was disappointed when the 1st one we received was damaged since it was for Christmas. We sent it back to Santa and received a new one quickly! My son loves his telescope and so does my hubby. It's easy to use and the clarity is good. It's a good, inexpesive option for your little astronomer!

Reviews

My husband has been wanting something better than his binoculars to see the moon and stars. He is satisified with this purchase. Not amazing but good enough for basics.

This is a horrible beginner telescope. I guess this is why the price was so cheap. We got it for our 11 year old daughter for Christmas and she was so disappointed with it. We could not even see the moon with it. We followed all the instructions and could not spot a single object. What a disappointment.

Not what he asked for but just what he needed. Loves the fact he can see onto the moon not just at the moon close up.

Gave this to my daughter for her birthday. She really enjoys it. Good entry level scope for kids that's not too expensive.

The smaller eyepiece for finding the object you want is easier to use than the larger for detailed viewing, but this is a very nice starter telescope for your kids.

Reviews

very nice for grandchild, she loves it and also came ith microscope, well worth the price.

Bought this set for a 9 year old boy's birthday. Bought a star in his own name so that he'd have a reason to use the telescope. He loves it! He hasn't gotten a chance to use the microscope yet but I'm sure he'll have a cure for H1N1 in no time.

Reviews

We purchased this telescope as a starter for our 10 year old son. It is easy to operate for him and us. He was so excited to see a close up view of the moon. It took only a few minutes to assemble, no difficulty there. I would highly recommend this telescope to anyone.

Reviews

This telescope is a great first scope to set up on a deck to watch the lake and also the stars at night. It's a basic good quality beginner scope. Don't believe me? Feel free....I don't know much about them so I went and did my research to find one to meet my needs.....read about it here like I did! This website also recommends other telescopes for celestial viewing. http://www.rocketroberts.com/astro/firstscopes.htm

Reviews

My daughter is very happy with her telescope. It is better than I expected for the price. Low dollar microscopes have been a disappointment. This telescope seems up to any amateur astronomy task.

[...] Originally I got it for myself, and once it came I proceeded to open it up and put it through it's paces. It came with a few different lens atachments with varying degrees of magnification. I used the first lens to look down a long street and could clearly read the street sign and people's licenses plates over on the next street. I used the next lens atachment, and I could see even further down that street and pick up details in the grout of their brickwork. Once nightfall hit, I used the 3rd and most powerful lens in combination with the 3x barlow lens, and was lucky enough to have a full moon that night. The detail available in the moon was really incredible. I could see many craters and holes and different peaks and vallys, it really made me form a closer connection with our moon. Yes you can look at pictures, and some take with far more powerful zoom... but actually beholding it with your own eyes personally is a completely different experience, it's a little tough to understand unless you've actually done that yourself. Anyways, I live in the city and there's not much to look at other than other people's houses, and since I'm not a peeping tom / voyeur, or some kind of spy, I decided to pack this up and send it to my mother as a gift. She lives in Florida on a lakefront, and she has a very nice view across a very large lake. So she can watch wildlife, and there is much less city lights in her area so even celestial viewing I'm sure would be better. She called me and was very excited to receive this out of the blue, she didn't mind that I had already used it. I figured she would get much more use out of this than I could. The included tripod isn't anything fantastic, but it gets the job done. Since it's lightweight and inexpensive, it does tend to move around, so you have to be careful when useing the really powerful lens because a small shake or shift will cause you to lose your target. At least it comes with a tripod at all. It also comes with a 3x barlow lens that I mentioned, which will triple the magnification power of each individual lens, which can make for some pretty powerful magnification. The included software seems powerful, I installed it, but didn't have much of a chance to mess around with it much, but it contains a mind boggling amount of information about celestial objects. The learning curve of the software seemed somewhat steep for newbies, but with some studious application of wit, I'm sure almost any novice could conquer it. Overall, I would recommend this telescope to a beginner, as it can open up a world of astronomy for them, and if nothing else, they will have a nice little toy to do some casual moon gazing or wildlife viewing.

After purching this telescope for myself, I was so pleased with it that I bought 4 more for my grandchildren, ages 10 through 18 for Christmas this year. I liked that it came with additional lens, which I didn't expect. Also, the CD's that came with my telescope are the best I've seen. Thank you for an excellect telescope and price.

I think my dad really liked this telescope a lot. He loves this stuff. Plus it came quickly.

Too many deficiencies to even mention. Too small, poor mount, will vibrate excessively, and very frustrating to use. It will turn you off to astromony, not on. Avoid! Jim "Konedog" Koenig, Astronomy Buff

Reviews

Very happy with the quality. Great telescope for a real beginner. Price was definitely right!!

This may look cool from the picture, but don't be fooled. It is expensive for a cheap scope and does not work. We messed with it for an hour or more and could not get an image - nothing. Not even a blurry color green when we pointed it at the grass. The spoting scope image was upside down. This is truly a sad product. It is from China and to think of all of the people that made great scopes that worked for companies that these cheapo Chinese products put out of work is sad. I don't know why anyone would buy this.

I think this is perhaps the best value for the money to be had in a small, short tube, inexpensive portable scope. Images are crisp and clear for both terrestrial and celestial viewing. The included 1.25" lenses and 45 degree diagonal work well enough. One can, of course, use higher quality lenses and 90 degree diagonals for a better viewing experience. A big advantage of this scope is that the included tripod has fine motor controls for horizontal and vertical movement, making it much easier to track celestial objects as they move across the sky. It appears to be identical to the Celestron Tabletop Tripod that sells alone for $20.95 here on Amazon. It's made of light plastic, but the controls work well enough. Most other short tube scopes in this price range that I'm aware of don't have tripods with this capability. The Barska 40070 is definitely worth your consideration!

Optics planet emailed me and coaxed me into removing my negative feedback on this useless telescope(read similar reviews) with a useless manual.Then they broke every agreement we had on how to ship, exchange, etc. They sent me a link and that was it . No personal service even though I asked them up front for it. Don't buy from this company.

This telepscope is a very good telescope.very powerful and clear.easy to use even for a beginner.the only complaint may be the tripod is small and you need to have a sturdy base to set it on for it is too small to use by itself.but if you have a sturdy deck or outside patio or just happen to have a full sized tripod of your own this makes an excellent telescope for astronomers of all ages and skill levels.