Celestron - PowerSeeker 80EQ Telescope - Manual German Equatorial Telescope for Beginners - Compact and Portable - Bonus Astronomy Software Package - 80mm Aperture

I'm giving it five stars because of bang for buck. I bought it after reading Gustav Mahler review and I'm not sure I can add to that review but I will try.First it came very well boxed three times in fact. There was a instruction booklet and for me the assembly was easy. I must say at first un-packing it it did seem intimating but the pictures help (stick to the pictures) because the side RA was turn 180 out to make packing possible. There were nine easy steps. There was a screw driver left over that looked like a part I missed. (Look says screwdriver on it). I didn't need a screw driver. I suggest you do not go any tighter than you need to and that is not tight. Too tight can do damage and many people tend to over do that. Its your baby go easy. Con's - I was not happy with the finder scope. I think that could have been improved. The tripod was OK. It had points on the tips and not rubber feet. I have a Galileo tripod I use for a small 400mm-70mm scope I do bird watching with and I think I like that one better. Pro's - I like the slow motion knobs. I thought I give them a try because too often in my pass I used a short scope with high power lens on a solid base to lessen the shaking due to moving it and near by earth movement, such as trucks going by when out on a patio. Those were better for those earthy harmonics than the long tube type. But with out the slow motion cables I over come the resistance that held the scope at aim and when it broke that hold the scope would over shoot and I would be way off my target. This cable knob type may be the lesser of the two evils and it gives me power like I never had. The lens tray has a lip on it so I can just place my lens in that with there case's on. It came with two CD disks. One instructions that was good but for the Polar alignment I like U-Tube. On that CD I couldn't get into accessory to see what the dove tail fastener was met for. I think its an optional digital camera holder. The second CD ( not II ). Asked for me to download a set up soft ware and I do not down load strange exe. In short, it was like a telescope that cost twice what I paid. That and reviews is what drives Amazon I think... IMPORTANT... This is a heavy scope with lots of cast iron to it. 18 Lps. It is a bad boy so if your female (like me) or not up to moving that weight, it may not be for you. I plan to back-pack the counter weight & my lens if I'm going too far with it. I wouldn't want a scope any more heavy than this. There you have it. Not sure I did better than the Gustav Mahler review. He is right, optics are great. Five stars. I can't believe I got a scope this good for this cost. I have four telescopes now. This one is the power house but I still in-joy the others. They have there place.

So I was in the market for an astroscope for my kids. It's been decades since I used to truck my newtonian reflector around and when I dug it out in the garage, I just didn't want to tackle the job of pulling it back from the brink and getting it into shape. I read some fairly pannish reviews of the Celestron basic scopes online, including a fairly pannish review of this one, but I went with it anyway because it seemed that the price couldn't be beaten for an 80mm refractor. I was apprehensive, but I need not have worried. Optics are great, very well aligned, very easy and smooth to focus, with very little in the way of chromatic aberration or visual defects. Got ahold of a variety of Plossl eyepieces from 26mm down to 4.x mm and have now had a chance to use all of them. Found all to be very usable. The tripod is excellent for this price and I'm not going out on a limb to say that if you had to just buy the tripod from a science shop, you'd pay more in a retail store for the tripod alone. It's well made, the fine adjustments work well and are precise and modular, and it's just generally very robust. This is a delightful beginner scope at a very, very affordable price and I really can't find anything to complain about. The reviews for this scope on hobbyist sites specifically mentioned a lackluster tripod, iffy optics, and a lackluster set of eyepieces included. I find all of these complaints to be either verrry nitpicky or just plain wrong. The kids have already spent several evenings breathlessly exploring the surface of the moon in very good detail, and we've taken a few shots through it as well with a camera phone that turned out very nicely. I guess if you're a serious hobbyist that has a $1k+ scope that you take to meet-ups or something then this may seem like an amateur piece. But if you're just a family looking to explore the sky and get excited while doing it, this fits the bill perfectly, and is a significantly better choice (IMO) than the 70mm scopes or scopes with worse tripods that will only save you $30-$50. I'd argue that this scope strikes precisely the right balance between "serious" and "affordable" for any family with a couple curious, science-minded kids ready to pick up a new hobby. Then, if they get really into it, spend 4x-10x as much later, in a few years, when they really outgrow this scope—which won't happen for a while.

This is a perfect scope for the price range! The whole assembly is moderately heavy. The tripod legs are not very rigid but if you tighten the top screws it will help alot. My first order had to be replaced due to several metal shavings on the back side of the objective lens. I was impressed at first untill i saw the shavings, but i must say my replacement has cured the negativity i had towards the product. The eq mount is solid and tracks very good at 180x magnification. The replacement came quickly and seems to not have any major issues. Rest assured Amazon Customer service has you covered if you have problems. Other than the metal shavings causing distortion in my original order; the replacement seems to be great. Do yourself a favor if you order this and purchase the astromaster accessory kit. The astromaster kit works with this scope and is well worth $50. I also suggest getting a sighting compass (brunton9077) it will really help with polar alignment. This product is capable of showing jupiter quite well and several nebula. Although nothing like the photos most of us see on tv you will still be stunned by the beauty it can reveal. I would not recommend this for anyone under 13 years old. Don't be shy about an eq mounted telesope, the standard manual has enough info to get you accustomed to it. You also get wonderful software with this and it very well could replace the need of buying star charts. The included eye pieces and accessories are of medium low quality but are fine for planet viewing. The 4mm alone is more than enough for this scope @ 225x it will give good veiws of planet and nebulas. Also the astromaster kit comes with color filters that really help contrast the cloud bands of jupiter and the outer rings of saturn. This product would make a teen or adult an awsome holiday present.

Terrific beginner scope for adults or families that can teach older children it's use. A little more complicated to use the Equatorial mount than a simpler alt-az mount but necessary to learn how to find faint objects using the North Star polar aligned mount and star maps. The 80 mm objective lens is a good size for the money and provides good clear sharp images from stunning views of the moon and some planets to nebulla. If you are a beginner, don't be overwhelmed by the appearance and instructions for polar aligning and use of the mount. It's very much worth the effort to learn. I recommend YOUTUBE videos on use of Equatorial mounts. I found Dean Fuller's video too fast but very good and after just a couple of repeated views was an old hat at using the telescope as this was my first Equatorial mount. The eyepieces are very good and I chose to buy a 2x Barlow lens to replace the supplied 3x Barlow lens. The finder scope is a challenge to align and use as it seems to be too close to the tube and difficult to hold a solid alignment. I bought a better finder scope and it works out much better and holds alignment between uses. An issue occurred with the mount still under warranty and I received dependable, fast, rock solid, exemplary service. I also have another Celestron; an Astromaster 130EQ Reflector with similar excellent image clarity. I managed to observe the Cassini divide in the rings of Saturn and the red spot and bands of Jupiter and four moons during moments of atmospheric stability on a good viewing night with the 80 EQ.

Amazing telescope for the money. I purchased it, not knowing fully what to expect because I am new to astronomy. The pictures that people have posted are totally accurate. I was able to zoom into the moon and see tons of details. On my first attempt I was also able to see Jupitor with slight stripes and it's moons! Super cool stuff. I am still very new to it but I did purchase a lens and filter kit and the lenses that came with the new kit are much nicer than what comes with the scope. However the 20mm lens that comes with the scope is great for the moon and seeing groups of stars. I didn't fully understand how huge this scope is, I actually purchased it to put in my camper, but we will make it work. The stand seems sturdy enough for the scope and has lots of little adjusters that help keep things in the field of view since the stars move across the sky pretty quick. When you are zoomed in it shakes quite a bit so you have to be careful. I don't know much about other stands to know how the others are. Update! So I only had this scope for 2 weeks before deciding I wanted to upgrade. The scope was great, but wanted something smaller that would be better for traveling. Got a SE4, stars and things look the same as they did with the 80EQ but I will say the mount is much better on the SE4. It doesn't wobble as much and is much easier to focus -- but at over 2x's the price the 80EQ is a great value.

I bought this telescope after ages of stargazing, but I finally decided to go ahead and buy one, this was the right choice, now that I've been an astronomer for over 6 months I wish I would have learned more helpful tips of this earlier. Some tips - Don't use the latitude control on the mount, that is the screw that causes the scope to angle itself up or down, set that to your current latitude on the earth and leave it like that. - Learn how to use Right Ascension and Declination, that will make finding things in the sky so much easier, just say look up Messier 31 (the Andromeda Galaxy), find the right ascension and declination of that, and you are pointing at it - For right ascension and declination, you have to polar align, this is done by setting the latitude control (AKA the thing I was referring to in the first tip) and point the telescope towards the north, you should be looking at Polaris! (the North Star) and then after that try some right ascension and declination and you should be looking at what you want. If you are not pointing you need to change the declination to negative or positive depending on what way it is, so don't panic if you polar align it and you point it at say M31 and it's not showing, you're just pointing it the wrong way. That being said, this is an amazing beginners scope, easy to set up and take outside, you can see some beautiful things like the rings of Saturn, the stars of Pleiades, and much more!

I bought this as a christmas gift for my daughter. This was her "Santa" gift. While it is a bit advanced for her age (7), we are both learning alot about astronomy in general, and this telescope in particular. I agree with other reviewers that say the tripod and mount could be better, but there are some hacks we are trying to improve them (namely, putting a weight on the tray or legs to give it a bit more stability - at high magnification the slightest breeze or bump will make it hard to see anything clearly). Also, the barlow lens is pretty useless. I would highly recommend buying a better set of optics, as other reviewers have mentioned. The set up was pretty easy via the "quick setup guide". I haven't been through the included CD's yet, but I'm sure they're helpful, too. We also bought the "Nightwatch" book, and it has been a big help. From our suburban backyard we have easily seen Jupiter and it's moons, a faint version of the Orion nebula, and lots of detail on the moon. I'm looking forward to going out someplace away from urban light pollution to see what we can see. In short, this is a great kit for someone not wanting to spend a ton of money on what might be a passing interest. As with any new endeavor, there is a bit of a learning curve, and you will need to do some research on the equipment, as well as the stars. If you are frustrated with an aspect, there are tons of videos online explaining how to do it right. Take some time and you'll be rewarded.

I really wanted to like this telescope. I bought this to replace a 60-series Meade. I enjoy evenings with my kids looking at the moon and planets. For moon watching this telescope is fine, for planets it falls short. Anyone who’s used a telescope for looking at planets like Jupiter or Saturn knows that the planets move very quickly out of view the higher the magnification. To observe distant objects you need a stable mount and micro adjustments to track the object in the sky. The micro adjustments work fine but the stability is terrible. If you just touch the focus knob at higher magnification you loose the object, The Barlow lens is essentially useless because of the stability issues. I can’t imagine trying to observe nebula with this thing. But that’s not the most disappointing shortfall of this telescope, that honor goes to the finder scope. Other reviews have commented the finder scope, rest assured it’s garbage, you can’t calibrate it to line up with your telescope - trust me I’m mechanically inclined and read the instructions. So if you are shelling out $160 and thinking “I’m set up” just know that upgrading the finder another expense you’ll have to incur to make this thing usable. The sad part is that it would have cost Celeron maybe $0.50 to make the finder usable, since it’s the mount that’s garbage - the optics are fine. The 80EQ is just not good enough to investment money into making it better. If you are looking for a telescope for the kids to look at the moon, a $50 telescope will do the trick. Price wise this thing lands right in the middle of too expensive for what it can do and too cheap for what it can’t. Sorry. For me, the this telescope is going back.