Konus Konuspace-5 Telescope

For how much the Konus Konuspace-5 Telescope cost, I was not expecting much, but a first telescope does not need much. My first telescope decades ago certainly looked similar on paper and eventually saw me get a real telescope when I could, so I figured this would make a perfect early Christmas gift for my niece and nephews: who knows, perhaps they like it enough to warrant a real telescope when they grow up a bit and if they don't, no problem. On paper, all the specs are right for a beginner's scope. A small aperture and short focal length, but multiple objectives, expandable tripod and viewfinder provide it at least with the bare essentials. Setup was quite easy, thanks in large part to its simplistic design, but you get an alt-azimuth mount and you don't need much more. The viewfinder was easy to align with a few adjuster screws, just like on any other scope. So far, all was well, right up until you try to use it: the tripod is so flimsy you cannot even breathe near it or have your image vibrate all over the place, let alone touch it. Ever tried to get young kids not to touch the telescope they are supposed to look through? Yeah, that was not going to happen. Even on a clear day looking at nearby trees shows a very fuzzy image that no amount of focusing cleared up, testifying to the low quality of the lenses used. At night, looking at the moon shows you beautiful craters, but also two ghost images overlapping right with the real image thanks most likely to a complete lack of anti-reflective coating in the lenses (or they're simply misshapen). Looking inside the tube, it's clear the shiny metal on the outside is also found on the inside. If the lenses were removable one could try to spray-paint the inside with a matte coating to reduce scatter, but they're not so this is a design flaw you'll have to live with. Finding smaller objects is a pain since the viewfinder is placed so far backwards on the telescope tube that your bashing your head against the objective when you try to look through the viewfinder. This problem is exacerbated by the flimsy mount that ensures the slightest touch moves the object you try to view out of sight. Furthermore the control handle does not tighten very well, so the weight of the scope moves it ever so slightly when you try to lock it down in one position. Again, an obvious design flaw that can only be solved by manually drilling new holes for the viewfinder and rebuilding the mount. But as mentioned above, you'd also want to use a new tube, and replace the lenses, and really get a better mount, so it's quite likely the only usable part on this whole telescope is the viewfinder and maybe the objectives, but only just. In short: if you are looking for a small, cheap telescope to get your kids hooked on astronomy, this looks great on paper, but really: buy something better instead.

Great for beginners. Easily see Jupiter and its moons. The main frustration is the tripod but overall great value for money