NEW Release!! miniASTRO Refracting Telescope
Hey Friends,
Thank you for supporting us all the way along. Do wish you a happy holiday!
After many failed purchases on the telescope, we decide to provide a new scope, for beginners.
We want to make it:
- Well built. Low-quality scope will ruin our interest and passion for astronomy.
- Simple. As users ourselves, we know how important it is to make it simple to use and easy to carry, so it's more likely to end up in travel packs than on shelves. (More on bloody lessons we learned below)
- Essential. Astronomy can be daunting, especially for beginners who don't know what they should start with. We want to make it a no-brainer for beginners. The package only got what has to be there. Nothing more.
- Affordable. Being essential is not enough. It has to be cost-friendly. By selecting models that are in mass production, making countless negotiations with suppliers, and calculating a profit that is barely enough to make our business sustainable, we can guarantee this is the best-valued scope in its class.
Read below before you buy any telescope, especially if this is your first telescope!
1. GoTo or not?
GoTo mount can automatically direct telescope to the astronomical object one selects. The caveat is that it takes time to learn how to use it and a majority of users would end up giving up learning it and using the mount as a normal one at the end of the day.
A typical night in my early days with GoTo mount was like: by the time I got it right after an embarrassingly long period of calibration process (yes, you have to calibrate the system every time before you could actually use it with a keypad controller. It needs to be aligned on a known "alignment star". And sometimes, a second alignment star, as far away as possible from the first and if possible close to the object to be observed, may be used for accuracy purposes), my kids are already bored and sleepy to enjoy it.
For starters, the GoTo solution is like the problem it is trying to solve. If you finally decide that you want to devote yourself to a GoTo mount knowing exactly what you can benefit from it and having the determination to go over the learning curve, it's never late to purchase one later separately.
But how would I find my targets without a GoTo mount? Well, for the first few nights, you could just use the red dot finder scope to aim for stars that interest you most (or is bright enough for you to see). Later on, when you are more and more keen on finding a specific astronomical object that you learned along the way being an amateur astronomer, you can use a star finder app on your phone, such as SkySafari, to help you locate your target.
2. MAK VS Refractor
Mak and refractor utilize 2 different mechanisms. So each one has its pros and cons.
Here is the dilemma for optics. We can not get long focal length and wide view fields at the same time.
- Mak is money wise to achieve a long focal length with little body, but a small view field. (compared with refractor)
- Refractor is good at wide view fields, but it will be super expensive for long focal length with refractor.
What should we do? It depends on what we are looking for. Generally speaking, as a starter, our curiosity drives us to go deeper and deeper, this is our first need. Mak will be the best solution:
All in all:
- Planets, detailed lunar crater views, double stars, planetary nebula, small tight open clusters (eg Wild Duck), and globular clusters are a Mak’s domain, at a fraction of what a refractor would cost to give equal performance on these objects.
- We can then take the saved money and get a rich field telescope (small focal length, low magnification telescope) to give us the big open clusters, big nebula and Milky Way sweeping, that the Mak can’t deliver.
3. Quality VS Others
- In order to ensure high quality. We have screened 100 factories, and finally visited 9 of tops.. We are lucky to find the big brand's OEM factory to work for us.
- So, it's aluminum tube body, genuine high-quality optical lens, top-level workers.
4. Dual Channel Mak VS Single Channel Mak
Single channel Mak (which is common on the market), just have one channel to view. So each time we have to choose between eye or camera.
With dual channel Mak, there are 2 channels to view, so we can do visual observation and astrophotography at the same time.
As a photographer we ourselves, we deeply know that, we are visual animal. We can not miss the chance to observe the beauty with our naked eyes. So, we choose the dual channel way.
5. Price, MSM Dual channel Mak VS other single channel Mak
Currently, without MSM Dual Channel Mak 90, all the Single Channel Mak 90 (Single Mak tube + 2 eyepieces + red dot finder) cost around $270~$390.
What can we do for our users?
Back to our starting point, we want to make astro affordable, that's why we dig for the original factory, one for quality, one for price.
So, here it comes, during the Black Friday sale period, all our users could get the kit (MSM Dual channel Mak tube + 2 eyepieces + Reddot finder) at $189.
Again, with $189, you will get MSM Dual channel Mak, instead of Single channel Mak. Don't forget to checkout with code "BFCM" to achieve the price of $189.
Hope you enjoy it.
What can we do for our users?
Back to our starting point, we want to make astro affordable, that's why we dig for the original factory, one for quality, one for price.
So, here it comes, during the Black Friday sale period, all our users could get the kit (MSM Dual channel Mak tube + 2 eyepieces + Reddot finder) at $189.
Again, with $189, you will get MSM Dual channel Mak, instead of Single channel Mak. Don't forget to checkout with code "BFCM" to achieve the price of $189.
Hope you enjoy it.
Hanna
Overview
This grab-and-go Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope is excellent for all types of near and deep-sky viewing, except for extremely dim objects. The 1250mm focal length optical tube assembly (OTA) comes with 2 eyepieces, 25mm and 12mm, providing 50x and 104x magnifications respectively.
Features
-
Internal 90° Degree Diagonal & Flip Mirror System
The internal flip mirror can direct the light either straight to the rear of the telescope or reflect it 90-degrees to the eyepiece, allowing
-
Viewing with eye
-
Attachment of a camera on the back of the scope (Camera Specific T-Mount Adapters required)
-
BYOD packaging
So you don't pay for what you already have and this gives you a lot of flexibility in how you build your kit. Please note mount and tripod are NOT included and required for proper use.
What's in the box
- Optical Tube Assembly
- Red dot finder
- 1.25" 12mm Plössl Eyepiece
- 1.25" 25mm Plössl Eyepiece
- Adapter for T-ring (Output to M42 x 0.75 T-threads)
Specs
|
Optical Design |
Maksutov-Cassegrain |
|
OTA Tripod Socket |
1/4'' |
|
Aperture (mm) |
90mm |
|
Focal Length |
1250mm |
|
Focal Ratio |
F/13.8 |
|
Eyepiece size |
1.25" |
|
Focal Length of Eyepiece 1 |
25mm |
|
Magnification of Eyepiece 1 |
50 x |
|
Focal Length of Eyepiece 2 |
12mm |
|
Magnification of Eyepiece 2 |
104 x |
|
Finderscope |
Red dot finder |
|
Optical Tube Material |
Aluminum |
|
Adapter for T-ring output
|
M42×0.75 |
|
OTA Weight |
1.6 kg |
|
Box Dimensions (LxWxH) |
391x 202 x 165 mm |