This review is from: Orion StarBlast 4.5 Astro Reflector Telescope
I have been interested in astronomy for over 50 years and am familiar with quite a few amateur level scopes. Never had a chance to view with the “big boys” but I do know the difference between a toy and an instrument and this scope is not a toy.. I in fact bought this scope as a gift for a quite remarkable 5 year old thinking that it might spark some interest. Prior to giving it to her, I took it for a test run. Within 10 minutes of taking it out of the box it was ready to go. The tabletop model is extremely to move around and setup is a breeze. It uses a battery powered red dot finder rather than a finder scope but this was basically a blessing.
The alignment is proper on. If the red dot is on target, the object is visible. The night I introduced the youngster to the scope afforded just a few targets. No moon out or major planets were visible. She was fascinated far more by the red dot finder than the targets visible. A few nights later, although, her parents took her out and showed her the moon. Now she can’t seem to get enough.
If I’ve any gripes at all, I would have liked to see eye pieces with a small a lot more relief as both the little girl and I wear glasses. Also a moon filter would have been a nice addition. All in all although, I was so impressed, I am going to have myself the 6″ model. I’m not into photography, just looking and this scope does a fine job.
If you’re the occasional stargazer on a budget, you couldn’t do much much better. And hopefully, I’ve sparked an interest in another that will afford her the same pleasure that astronomy has given me almost all my life.
