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United StatesAbsolutely Brilliant
It would be an understatement to say that I love this telescope. Certainly, the image quality per dollar is unmatched. In the package, you get the OTA itself, rings, a red ***** rail, a very nice 50mm finder scope + crosshair eyepiece, and the required spacers for the main eyepiece. (The spacers are not used for AP) Balance is somewhat challenging with an imaging system on the front, but it is achievable. The scope itself is quite sharp and is awesome for visual and even better for astrophotography. It holds collimation quite well and is fairly easy to collimate. I would recommend some additional upgrades mainly to the collimation screws in the future. I was very surprised by the quality of the focuser. It is very well built and does its job without hassle. A Bahtinov mask is a recommendation for AP - I laser cut mine. It is worth noting that the tube is much longer than it needs to be and the secondary is quite deep. This results in fewer reflections and great dew/frost resistance. Please keep in mind this scope requires a coma corrector for wide-field AP. The Skywatcher Quattro F/4 corrector is the only corrector I would recommend for this application as it produces near-perfect results. This corrector is expensive, but any other corrector will result in sacrificed image quality. The finder scope can also be repurposed as a guide scope for a ZWO ASI120 mini guide camera to produce an ideal guider pixel to main pixel ratio. I machined the backplate of the guide scope to accept the guide camera and locking screws in addition to an eyepiece if need be. The primary screw focuser on the finder scope is suitable for this application and it should also be checked before use as mine was out of focus. This is some serious bang for your buck. The included images are taken by me through this OTA and guided through the finder scope. CC Comparison is courtesy of lefty7283
United StatesGreat value
I’ve not yet used the Tpo, but it arrived only slightly out of collimation. I wish I hadn’t been charged for shipping, but it was the last one. I hope to enjoy it, soon.
United StatesExcellent quality images
Captured 15 images of 15 - 30 minutes total exposure time on the first night out. The image quality was excellent in spite of being unable to achieve perfect collimation. Was unable to adjust the secondary mirror to put the collimator beam exactly in the center of the primary mirror. I will spend more time working on this adjustmen in tbe futuret.
EXCELLENT IMAGING SCOPE FOR THE PRICE
I have owned my scope for nearly a year now and have done many imaging sessions with it. Purchasing a coma corrector is an absolute must! This scope produces excellent images, but I had a few speedbumps to overcome in the beginning. First, with the supplied dovetail and rings I just could not achieve any sort of balance in Dec. I solved this by purchasing a longer dovetail to mount the rings on. Second, the secondary spider is very sensitive. It deforms very easily if you tighten your rings too much. Keep that in mind and check collimation after setting up. Third, the collimation screws in the secondary are virtually useless, I'm unsure if they were too short or what, but I replaced mine with a set up Bob's Knobs for easier and tool free collimation. And finally, the spring loaded collimation screws on the primary have tiny plastic(?) washers on them. If you overtighten, your destroy them. I replaced mine with brass washers and have had no issues. Its not stated in the Included Items list, but this scope also comes with a very nice 50mm Finder scope.
TPO 6' f4 first light
Scope arrived well packaged and was shipped quickly. Too my surprise it was in perfect collimation. Finally got a chance to test it out recently (you know the drill...new scope always causes rain) and was quite happy with the imaging performance. Quick star test revealed no aberrations. My other imaging scopes are longer focal length refractors so this compact scope was a real pleasure to use. Weight of the scope complete with rings is around 13lbs. Loaded up with the guide scope and camera ran it up to 16.5 lbs. I use an Orion EQ-G Atlas mount so the weight was a non issue. Scope came equipped with rings, mounting wedge, finder and focuser extension which certainly made getting going easier. No rummaging around in my telescope junk pile to find the parts I needed. A coma corrector is a must as is true with any fast mirror. Overall a nice scope at a very nice price.