Celestron - AstroMaster 70EQ Refractor Telescope – Refractor Telescope for Beginners - Fully-Coated Glass Optics - Adjustable-Height Tripod - Bonus Astronomy Software Package

I wanted to get my feet wet in backyard astronomy, after getting bitten by the bug using a pair of Nikon 8x42 binoculars. The binoculars still are a must have item, but far to shaky and low magnification to get views of planets. So I researched telescopes, and decided on a refractor, due to having small children and little time to fiddle with collimation. My budget was low, to keep my wife happy. The 70EQ stuck out due to the sturdier CG-2 equatorial mount and tripod, and far more sensible and better eyepieces (Kellner) compared to the powerseeker models. I was able to assemble it in about 20min, got it outside, and found both Jupiter and Saturn in a few minutes. Absolutely amazing seeing both the Galilean Moons and Saturn's rings within minutes of getting it outside. The moon itself is spectacular through this scope at both 45X and 90X. The 10mm has considerably more chromatic aberrations than the 20mm, but it's not bad. After that first night, I got the mount set to my latitude, and polar alignment consists of setting the tripod up with the mount approximately facing North. For generally keeping Saturn in the viewfinder that's good enough. The EQ mount is a must have though. I love it. I have run into a problem with the red dot finder scope, it stopped working after about a week. I swapped in a couple of new batteries and still broken. So I quickly ordered a replacement for $14 and am back up and running. So far the new one hasn't faltered. I'd recommend this scope to anyone. It is usable right out of the box. I've seen all 8 planets through it. Uranus and Neptune are still tiny dots, but you can tell they're blueish color and that they are round, but that's about it. Saturn is my favorite, it's also tiny at 90X, but the rings are clearly visible and separate from the planet itself. Jupiter, I can faintly make out the cloud bands, the planet is small and contrast is low, but with patience and persistence they are visible. I haven't been able to make out the giant red storm, but I'm hoping to get a decent 7mm or possibly 5mm eyepiece to push into the very limits of this scopes capabilities and make it out, along with the Cassini division. But, if not, it gives me a reason to beg for an upgraded scope someday. I've also been mesmerized by the faint grey fuzzies that are up there. I've seen the Andromeda Galaxy, the Dumbbell Nebulae, and the Orion Nebulae, these are faint as the scope is a slow f/12.9, but again, with patience they are there yo see. Have fun, and get something, you can't see Saturn's rings without some sort of scope. 73

I purchased this telescope to use with my 9 year old son. I knew that the EQ mount would be a little complex to set up, but I figured that once I had it figured out and showed it to him, he would be able to work it with ease. All in all, we have been pretty impressed by this scope. By astronomy standards, it's a pretty small scope, though non-astronomers will find it pretty big and intimidating. It has worked well for us. We live in a rural area, and so we have fairly dark skies. Obviously the moon is breathtaking through the scope, and it is a target it find myself coming back to over and over. We were easily able to see Jupiter in the winter as well as its four moons. Be realistic, it's still going to look like a small dot, but it's impressive nonetheless. On a good night I thought I was able to make out a couple of faint cloud bands on Jupiter. Around the same time, we were also able to view Venus, which is fairly unimpressive, though still neat to see. The same goes for Mars, which we have also viewed. As the summer has come, Saturn has risen and it is quite a sight to see! Though the planet is small in the eyepiece, you can clearly make out the ring structure. Every person I have shown it to has gasped when they saw the image. We've also viewed the Pleiades and the Orion Nebula. The Nebula mostly looks like a cloudy area in the sky. I have tried to view other "deep space" objects, but have been unsuccessful, though I think this has more to do with my lack of skill than the quality of the scope. One huge strike that I will give to this package is the red-dot finder. I think it is absolute trash. The first couple of nights I took it out, I tried to use it, but found it utterly worthless. If I had just left my son to try it, he would have likely been so discouraged as to give up--I almost was! I've since put a mount for a green laser pointer on the scope and it is a tremendous improvement. I wish the finder included on the scope was of a little higher quality so as to be worthwhile--as it is, it's a complete waste, and a horrible thing to include for a beginner. The EQ mount works well. I suspect it's not a super high quality mount, but it certainly doesn't look or feel cheap. It works well for tracking after you have polar aligned the mount. It's a little overwhelming at first, but if you will read some tutorials online or watch some videos about how to do it, you'll quickly discover it really isn't too hard. If you are frequently going to be viewing from the same spot (like your backyard), then it's really trivial to set up and align the scope each night--it just takes me a couple of minutes now. I feel like the tripod is strong enough, and it holds the scope steady, even in light to moderate winds. I have attached my DSLR to my scope, and while I think it's probably heavier than the mount was designed for, it has worked even with all that weight on it. Overall, I think this is a great starter scope, and one that most people will be very satisfied with. We have enjoyed this scope enough that I'm now looking into getting a big 8" reflector that would give us a little brighter and higher quality views. If you'd like to get a good quality scope to start out with in astronomy, I think this is a good choice!

At first I was skeptical about the quality of this telescope because of it's price range, but once I received it, I was pleasantly surprised. The build quality is quite good. The tripod is very sturdy and the equatorial mount is well constructed. If I am not mistaken, some of the more expensive Celestron telescopes use this same tripod and mount. This package comes with a software that helps you locate stars and planets, so as long as you set the telescope to the north correctly, trying to locate stars is not a problem. One thing I wished I had paid more attention to is the dimensions of the whole telescope kit. It is much larger than I anticipated; my reasoning was: it is a kid's telescope, it is probably not full sized. Not so! Most telescope books I read said you cannot get a decent telescope for under $300, but for the beginner, the price and quality of this telescope is a great buy.

Gift for my son (13). The product is very easy to mount. It is quite robust and we can see with good precision. We saw already many times the moon. It is spectacular. My son enjoyed a lot his present.

Instructions are not that easy to follow. Good quality product which looks sleek once assembled.

Love it. Not bad for beginners. Can invest in better eyepiece later on, while still enjoying good quality. Good for moon observations

This is my first telescope and it was really easy to set up. First time viewing the night sky i got to see jupiter and its moons and saturn and i could just make out the rings. I was super happy with this and really was an amazing experience. Now buying more equipment like a barlow lens to increase magnification and a colour filter but really wish i spent more money on the 90eq version now. However this telescope is amazing and don’t be put off by people having trouble setting it up. Just be sensible and look at the instructions and its all really self explanatory anyway. You can get apps on your phone that show you where planets/consolations/iss is etc that you can then easily track, making astronomy easy for anyone. Also i am in the centre of a busy city yet i was still able to see both these planets in an amazing way.... Cant wait to see the other planets now when they are visible in the night sky! 10/10 product

First time using a telescope and this is perfect for beginners got some good photos of the moon tonight so hopefully will get some more better ones and see some more planets! The photos were taken from a samsung galaxy